🚨⚠️ IMPORTANT-TO-READ⚠️🚨
💲🇨🇦 —> 💲🇨🇺Cuban Peso🇨🇺💲<— 🇺🇸US💲
Peso - CUP - CUC - Canadian - US - Euro - MLC
*(I will try to keep the information up to date according to the changes and relevant comments, do not hesitate to share your experiences with the cards that work or not!)
The agent, always the money…! 🙄
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🚨⚠️🚫🚧ATTENTION🚧🚫⚠️🚨
➡️…No one has the absolute truth!…⬅️
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Every day we receive requests for publications concerning money, whether for restaurants, tips, excursions or souvenirs (Gift/Rum/Cigars)
Every day we have to refuse them because it is really redundant and most of them do not take the time to read the page or do a little research with the magnifying glass 🔍
And when it becomes redundant, unfortunately we feel it in the answers and the way members respond, not to mention, of course, those who have “THE” truth or “THE” solution, but always according to their own experiences which do not necessarily correspond to the one who asks the question…
Currently, on this day of 02/01/2024
the exchange hoped for directly with the Cubans and not at the airport, hotels, exchange offices and bank looks like this.
For:
🇨🇦 $1 Canadian = 160/175 Cuban Pesos🇨🇺
🇺🇸 $1 US = 240/275 Cuban Pesos 🇨🇺
🇪🇺 $1 EURO = 250/285 Cuban Pesos 🇨🇺
💳 MLC = $230/240
🚨Also, beware of counterfeit bills if you change money with a stranger on the road, it's better to have a few real pesos than a handful of fake pesos…🚨
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As for which one to use for our expenses and the maximum way to pay, it depends on the situation.
At the restaurant:
First of all, check if they accept Cuban pesos, because, despite what some members on the page may say, it remains the most economical way to pay our bill!
Then, check the exchange rate displayed at the restaurant.
—> An example with simple and fictitious numbers.
Price of the meal:
19000 CUP🇨🇺 or
140 EUR🇪🇺 or
150 USD🇺🇸 or
200 CAD🇨🇦
****If you exchanged CAD at say
$1 🇨🇦for 150 🇨🇺
Your 19000 CUP lunch will cost you $126.66 🇨🇦 for a nice saving of $73.34 on a single bill!
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Tips:
You should know that Cuban pesos are mostly accepted everywhere even if sometimes they give the impression that they are not, because no matter what you think, they also use them in several places.
🇨🇺So if you have changed money into pesos you can give them as a tip, with the conversion rate of course!
🇨🇦They will of course accept tips in Canadian, but you should know and understand that $1 and $2 currency is not accepted in their banks, so for them it is much more manipulation, it is like money in transit or a kind of tokens, because as long as they have them (the time to exchange them) it does not give them anything!
If you want to use it you don't have to bring it to Cuba, they already have more than enough, they will be happy to exchange it for Canadian...
🇺🇸The US (*in my opinion) the easiest for us and for them.
The US has a great value for Cubans, they can use it almost everywhere!
So if you normally give $50, $75, $100 or more as a tip you can go to the bank before leaving, call a few days before to have it prepared and go change your money into $1 US (because they are paper $1 US) of course you don't have to give just 1 at a time 😅
For the rest the Canadian and the pesos will do the trick very well...
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💳 Cards
***Everything you pay with a credit card will be charged at the US rate on your card, most government stores, rum, cigars only work this way now!***
Not all credit cards work in Cuba, no card issued by an American institution will work, example MasterCard CapitalOne.
The majority of visas will work because Visa is divided into 3 companies, the visas we receive here come 99.99% from Canada so they work!
Not all and even very few Visa/Debit cards will work, because it is impossible for them to verify if the funds are available.
And prepaid cards do not work either
MasterCard Canada Post and
MasterCard PC Money yes!
⚠️Warning⚠️
Make sure you know your PIN
Since contactless payments, many tend to forget their PIN (like our contacts in our cell phones)
—-> In Varadero there is no contactless payment, so do a refresh before leaving! <—-
Wow this deserves to be clear thank you!
Also, several places in the Caribbean where credit cards with 5-digit PINs do not work but only those with 4 digits and the first digit of the PIN must not be a 0
🚨⚠️Also to know, the counters and banks in Cuba do not give Canadian or American money but only Cuban pesos CUP!
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Ok
Of course there are some who do not change money for several reasons.
Either they stay at the hotel
Or they go to the restaurant only once
Either they find it too complicated or
Either they don't care...
But please if you are one of them, don't answer anything, take the time to read the question and if you have a relevant answer and not an experience or a personal choice and that is not what is asked, then abstain. 🤷🏻♂️
A request for information does not mean wanting to know an experience X of a person Y in a situation Z, and this applies to all publications. Read and understand the question before answering it, information or an opinion are different, for example, with what money it is most advantageous to pay at the restaurant is not the same thing as someone who gives 5 choices of hotels and asks for your opinion and where personal experience at these hotels..!
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🔴Please note:
The CUC (which was the equivalent of the US dollar) the old tourist currency no longer exists, now there is only the CUP!
Even though we have repeated it often, on the Internet, there are practically no sites that have adjusted to the new exchange rate of the Cuban government (August 2022) which is (currently) around $1🇨🇦 for 92 Cuban pesos.
There are often people who persist in consulting these sites that still display the old rates.
The old rate (before August 2022) was around $1🇨🇦 for 21 CUP, the government was forced to adjust, because already the Cubans were giving double and triple in exchange, so the government decided to pull the rug out from under their feet by setting the rate at 94.54 (at the time) but the Cubans readjusted!
Also in 2022 the US was no longer depositable in the bank…
By exchanging with Cubans who need foreign money you get much more…
Look here for the official government rate (bank, hotel, airport, exchange office:
And this one which roughly reflects the street rate:
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Also, we have noticed for some time that (new) members are very curt and rude in their answers, opinions and even judgment, you don't see it all the time but we expel them!
We do not tolerate this type of behavior, and if you receive any in private, do not hesitate to tell us…!
Thank you!