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Sorry I am a newbie here so this might be a dumb question. Is it necessary to exchange money? I was thinking of spending a day of our vacation on 7 Mile Beach and was wondering if vendors/bars/resteraunts prefer Jamaican over American or vice versa. Is it better to tip in American currency as opposed to Jamaican?
IMO, its better to exchange your money, my experience when dealing with vendors is that they give you their price in Jamaican, and that can lead to confusion and sometimes dishonesty when you ask them how much that is in $US.
but don't exchange all of your money at once, exchange as you go.
you can tip either way..$1= 86J$
It's easier to keep plenty of Jamaican on you. We brought lots of US 1's and 5's with us for tipping as was suggest on here once before. Sometimes it can be hard to find small Jamaican bills and when you do have them they tend to disappear rather quickly.
REMEMBER......if you are in a hurry to compute the exchange in your head.............just round up to 100 J to 1 US Dollar........
you will only LOOSE .16 cents for every hundred you would have to spend 600 Jamaican to lose a buck.........Tip Money ?
As has been said, having Ja dollars can help level the playing field. No guessing/doing math.
As a note: the ATMs all dispense Jamaican dollars. That is the easiest way to get cash, and the correct exchange rate, in my opinion. I go to the ATM, then I mite stop at a random shop and buy a Ting or Stripe...ask for small bills as change. Essential for cabs etc...
Like Kevin suggested, if you bring $100 worth of US ones and fives...it gives you smaller chunks....for on the way in from and the way out to the airport etc...you can't get hurt too badly.
If you use $20 or larger bills you'll eventually get shortchanged. No doubt. Have fun!!!!!!!!!
EDIT:
I agree with rounding, except when it comes to bigger amounts, it starts to add up.
JA US
$1000=$11.50
$2000=$23
$3000=$34.50
$4000=$46
$5000=$57.50
A few guys I know count 100 to 1, I tell them over the course of the vacation they are spending 15% more...which if you drop a grand during a week's stay is $150...that's a night's stay in Negril, with a nice dinner, and many drinks.
LOL.....I dont come NEAR "Dropping" a Grand..lol I wish I could......
beside air fare/lodging we average bout 75 US per day .......dont buy many souvenirs as a rule after all these years......
so its food, drink and xtras.........I always Tip the Herb Man.....
Until the exchange rate changes the conversion is second nature for me,
1.15 to 1 is the conversion from knots to mph .85 is mph to knots
I tip about 25% on food/drink service and 500 a day for house keeping
I don't pay for herb
I usually bring a lot of small bills, 1s and 5s (US) with me as well as some 20s. This is to get me started till I get to the cambio or the ATM to get J dollars. I prefer paying in Jamaican dollars instead of relying on myself to be in the right mind to do conversions--but that said US dollars are taken everywhere and prices are sometimes posted in US and JA dollars. Money is money--so whatever you are comfortable with I think would be fine. You mentioned spending just one day at the beach--if you are only looking at one day and are not using JA anywhere else, than US is fine. Just keep in mind whatever the current exchange rate is or have a conversion chart handy.
Tip..... dont pay him.........:)
here is a currency converter you can print and put in your wallet
http://www.gocurrency.com/cgi-bin/fx...&value=&crib=1