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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
You have it backwards - if you're paying in USD, that would be rounding DOWN. If you owe somebody $100JA, you owe them $1.15US. If you owe somebody $500JA and give him a $5US bill, you have short-changed him $.75US, not given him a tip.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo
Seems odd to me, but I see this happen all the time, and the Jamaicans may be unhappy but accept it.
I don't find it difficult at all to stop at the bank or a cambio, change money - INCLUDING asking for small bills - and then just pay in Jamaican.
I stand corrected...No wonder I get those looks....I guess I better keep tipping well
No problem.
They just think you're a GINNAL. :)
B
But if Mr Rambo was paying in Jamaican currency, and the prices he was being quoted to him were in US currency.
EG: 10 US was the price and he paid 1000 JMD He would not be short changing.
It all depends how you look at it.
B
I always conduct business in Jamaican dollars. That way there's no confusion.
I never even calculate the US equivalent
neither me CaptainD, i like to keep things as simple as possible - i convert $$ and use local currency wherever i travel. much easier to just carry one kind of money in my pocket, and not have to think about equivalencies or conversion, ever. plus some smaller places will not be able to make change for a small purchase, or for a US $ bill. For me it's just simpler all around to use local currency; also i find it's a great way to get into the spirit of a place when i'm on "their" system; for me it's more fun that way.
One way or another I feel really dumb. LOL.
I don't earn U$ dollars, Euro,Pounds or Yen.
So in Jamaica I only ever spend dollars, Jamaican dollars.
It's not difficult to make any conversions especially with the cheat sheets available.
I had a friend visit Jamaica from Europe for the first time and I sent her each Jamaican coin and bank note to familiarise herself with them.
I still have never seen or been issued a 5000 JMD bank note.
I can imagine it would be a problem spending/changing it in a lot of places.LOL
Simply for security reasons and the lack of change.
B
I'd be afraid to think its a 500.....
If you look at the $5000, you will note the edges are cut off, like they made a mistake in printing it. But I guess that's the way they want it to be. I would imagine it would be difficult to cash on the beach. I used the ones I received to buy appliances in Sav with no problem.
And watch the count if you end up going to a "street bankah" (or don't go at all). Last trip dude tried to fleece me during the count by sliding out a bills when he handed it back.
I got 80,000 in 5,000s last December
Hon. Hugh Shearer is on the bill. He was PM when I first came to Jamaica