Sorry that I seem to have struck a nerve. I always pay in ja. Remember that not everyone comes with US cash which adds another layer to the conversion. Needing to convert a U.S. price to ja and then the ja to ca for a Canadian perspective IS a bit of a pain. It's just as simple as that.
Last edited by Craig123; 08-20-2015 at 11:42 PM.
Darn it! I was planning to bring my Drachmas and pay for things on my next visit and now you tell me paying in Jamaican Dollars in Jamaica is a better deal? Who would have thunk it??
Just a joke!
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Criag123,Originally Posted by Craig123
You are not striking a nerve, I am just trying to correct inaccuracies. In your first post you state some businesses here "insist" on being paid in US$. That is illegal. ALL Jamaican businesses must accept Jamaican dollars. With about 70% of all visitors to the island being from the US$, bills are often presented in US$ as a convenience to 70% of Jamaica's visitors. If the JA$ amount is not on the bill, just ask them for it as you intend to pay in Jamaican dollars. We deal with this often in bars or restaurants in other parts of the island. And yes, they assume Lisa/Bnewb is American.
You then say that if a visitor pays in Jamaican currency they always get the "short end". That is not accurate. If a visitor or local pays in the Jamaican dollar, they never get the "short end". Visitors and locals will always get the best value possible by paying in Jamaican dollars.
Now about this extra "layer" of conversion for Canadians. Lisa is Canadian understands the Canadian perspective intimately. There is no need for any non-American to have any US$ on them at any time. Canadians and visitors from the European Union, Britain, Russia, Japan, Cayman Island, Mexico, Brazil and even Greece (grin), etc. can change their local currency at the cambio or bank into the Jamaican local currency and get the best deal possible.
You admit you always pay in JA$. That is smart advice for everyone to follow as paying in any other currency you will not get the going cambio/bank rate. The exchange rate you get from the bar or restaurant will have a convenience charge as businesses are doing this as service for their clients and not acting as a cambio.
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Here's what I learned:
1 - Pricing in US dollars = lower price if paying with JA.
2 - There are no exceptions to rule 1
Sarcastic Question - Is that a discount for using JA or a surcharge for using US?
My pet peeve is the pricing in US dollars and that remains. Saying that's because it's the most stable currency is a pretty weak argument. I'm SO done with this topic.
Your "sarcastic question" is actually rather on point. Paying in Jamaican dollars is an easy way for businesses to give a "local discount" without officially announcing one. The US$ is the base price. The JA$ price is the discount price.
I know Canadians are sensitive on this subject. I live with one! I understand your pet peeve, I hear it from Lisa on a regular basis. And while I sympathize, that does not change the reality of the world we live in today. As Dash pointed out, the global standard currency, like it or not, is the US$. One hundred years ago it was the British Pound. One hundred years from now it may be something else. But today it is the US$.
Jamaica, being a small developing island nation imports an incredible amount of items. And unfortunately those items are paid for in US$. While there is local milk production, the machines that process the milk into the cartons are imported. All vehicles are imported. All oil and gasoline is imported. When the JA$ falls against the US$, prices go up.
This peeves Jamaicans. The ones that price in Jamaican, such as HiLo and other major stores are constantly having to change their shelf prices. In HiLo in Negril, you can sometimes see multiple prices for the same item on the shelf as the old price tag was not removed when the new price tag was placed. And when you get to the register, you find out that the "new" price has been replaced with a newer, higher price that they havent had time to print the new tags yet.
This is an ongoing battle for Jamaican businesses and one simple solution, especially in tourist areas, is to simply price the items in US$. That way they dont have to continually change their prices. Mangogirl owns a business here as do I, and pricing in US$ is an easy solution to an difficult problem.
None of us like to do it, but it is the world we currently live in...
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I have only brought Canadian money to Negril for the last several years. As far as paying for a room in Canadian that only happens when you buy a vacation package from a Canadian tour company. Luckily there are several packages available to Negril from Canada. I used to always book a flight and find my own transfers and rooms, but not now with the weak Canadian dollar,I have even switched back to the AI option as the exchange rate is a deal breaker.
Trip #59 most of February
Putting things in perspective, that dollar you spend on a Canadian AI tour package could be paid with @ 0.68 U.S. Dollars. Meaning there is still no advantage to paying in Canadian currency.
There are costs for moving one currency to another. In all cases it is the consumer who ends up paying those costs. The currency market is like Vegas. The house always comes out ahead.
Blame the Saudis. They're trying to make oil so cheap that Russia and North American companies companies fold. The Saudis can afford to produce cheap oil. US our hat and Russia can't.
CAD is based heavily on price of oil. Since it's the number 1 export.
Me. I'm not complaining. I have a 72 mile round trip to work every day. 2.30 cent a gallon gas is way better than 3.85 we were paying a year or 2 ago.
Actually Flip there is a strong theory that the oil price was engineered by the West(USA) to destabilize the Russian Kleptocracy created by Putin to overthrow the Oligarchs. But theories are cheap!!
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