US$ to CUC math....

US citizens should know that when you exchange money, you pay a 13% Fee. So changing $US 100 gets you 87 CUC.

Other world wide currencies don't have this fee.

But that does not mean you should go and buy $CDN or Euros- gotta do the math to make sure.

We live near Canada, so converting is pretty easy. But not free, and unless we wanted to spend a few days going to Canada to an ATM, we are still forced with exchange fees.

Anyway, let's say that you want to have 1000 CUCs, and at the end you have 200 CUC's left.

To do that in $US- to make 1000 CUC, you need just under $US1150. And when you convert 200 CUC back, you get $174;

But to save money, you use $CDN (and it doesn't really matter for Euros, as the fees are roughly the same).

So to get 1000CUC, based on a pretty current exchange rate, it's .8 $CD to 1000 CUC, so you need $CDN1250. To get $C 1250, the best exchange rate to buy Canadian dollars looks to be AAA- far better than banks, and way better than the exchange at airports. To buy $CDN, it will cost you $US 0.83766, so to get those $C 1250, you need $US1047.

That seems like a great deal, as you save $US100.

But to exchange 200CUC back to $CDN and then back to $US- the only place you can do that is at the airport- as AAA nor banks will buy $CDN (which kinda is bad, since we are so close to Canada, here). All you end up with is $US189.

So, yes, you can save money by converting you $US to $CDN. You save $100 to get 1000 CUC, and return $14 more going back to US. IF you have this option, easily, it can be worth it. And for sure, if you pre-pay excursions in $US, there's a fee of 13% when that gets converted in CUC.

(If you use TRAVEX on both ends- which is what you see at airports, the inital savings drops to $40)

BTW, getting info for buying $CDN is pretty easy- right on line. Getting the exchange to sell $CDN was like pulling teeth from TRAVEX.

Changing 200 CUCs back to USD gets you $194 not $174. The 10% surcharge for USD is only on the way in.

The exchange issue has been treated on this forum several times previously, but mostly focusing on exchanging to Euros vs. using US dollars.

The salient point for overnight cruisers and other short term stay visitors who earn in US dollars is that those who spend very little money may not find the time and effort of exchanging US dollars to Euros or CDN worthwhile for the small savings.

If you have leftover Euro or CDN currency from a trip, do think about bringing it to exchange, though.

If you are planning a longer land based trip, planning on spending closer to U$1000, you might save (depending on exchange rates which change daily) about U$40 or so by exchanging to Euros in the US and then to CUC in Cuba.

You have to do the math, based on the exchange rates at the time of departure.

Recently 1 Euro has gotten between 1.04 and 1.13 CUC (as the exchange rate fluctuated).

The fee to exchange any exchangeable currency (not all are able to be exchanged in Cuba) to CUC is 3%.

The penalty imposed on changing US dollars to CUC (because of the difficulty the embargo causes for Cuba to trade in dollars) is 10%. This is only on buying CUC with dollars. As pbenjamin points out, there is only the 3% fee to change CUC back to dollars.

The official rate of exchange for US dollars in Cuba is fixed at banks, cadecas and hotels at 87CUC for U$100.

Note: Land based travelers staying at a casa particular may be able to exchange US dollars with their host or a trusted family friend for between 90 and 97 CUC for U$100 in a private transaction. This has the potential to be the best value exchange rate for dollars, better than Euros or CDN.

Good idea! The calc on my phone will come in handy.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147270-i91-k7342442-All_you_need_to_know_about_Cuban_currency-Cuba.html

More good info from one of the Cuba experts/long-time posters.

Changing 200 CUCs back to USD gets you $194 not $174. The 10% surcharge for USD is only on the way in.

Thank you for the clarification. Which does change the math of going to $cdn or not. Makes staying in $US a little better.

One thing to note- the CUC is fixed to the $US, so the real issue will be the fees paid for the conversion to the Euro or $CDN.

But one does need to run their own math to know the cost either way. That's the core point.

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Example (using rates from March 2017):

U$1000 bought 888 Euros. (at BofA, including 5% transaction fee)

888 Euros bought 910 CUC in Cuba.

U$1000 would have bought 870 CUC directly

"Savings" of 40 CUC on U$1000.

Worth the effort? Maybe for U$1000 spent.

Worth it for U$4.00 savings on U$100?

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Note: rate for Euro to CUC currently is a bit better

(Rate for USD to Euro currently, up or down???)

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Relative values:

40 CUC buys a very nice dinner and drinks for 2

4 CUC doesn't even buy 1 mojito in a tourist bar

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The best rate of all for USD cash, as noted previously, may be with your casa particular host (if on a land based trip).

Changing 200 CUCs back to USD gets you $194 not $174. The 10% surcharge for USD is only on the way in.

Trying to confirm whether there is or is not a 10% surcharge to change CUC back to USD. On the Royal Caribbean Cuba Sailing Facebook page, I am being told that the surcharge is both ways. My plan was to get CAD to exchange for CUC (my bank does not charge a fee if you get $300 CAD) and then planned to exchange the CUC back to USD at the end of the day (hopefully bypassing the 10% surcharge in each direction). Anybody with a definitive answer? Thank you in advance.

Trying to confirm whether there is or is not a 10% surcharge to change CUC back to USD. On the Royal Caribbean Cuba Sailing Facebook page, I am being told that the surcharge is both ways. My plan was to get CAD to exchange for CUC (my bank does not charge a fee if you get $300 CAD) and then planned to exchange the CUC back to USD at the end of the day (hopefully bypassing the 10% surcharge in each direction). Anybody with a definitive answer? Thank you in advance.

I guess you'll just have to believe me (and VidaNaPraia). There is no 10% surcharge to change CUCs back to USD. We went to 3 ports (Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, 2 days in Havana). I exchanged $800 Canadian to CUCs in Santiago and exchanged back about 100 CUCs when leaving Havana, no 10% surcharge. The people on that Facebook page don't know what they are talking about.

Based on your correction, we are staying with the US$ exchange.

Even though we are near Canada, the exchange rates are not that good. Not good enough for the trouble. And the exchange back makes it much better for that decision.

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We just returned from a cruise last week to Havana on NCL. Since we were only going to be there 2 days we chose the easiest/less costly route for conversion of our USD. To avoid the surcharge/penalty for converting usd to cuc we decided to convert our $$ on the ship. We chose to convert to canadian instead of euros but both options were available therfore we avoided the surcharge. We actually spent all of our cucs and ended up paying for some purchases (rum/cigars) with canadian currency. Canadian currency and euros are accepted in many businesses in Havana. We paid our private tour guide with cucs but she would have accepted canadian/euros too.

I guess you'll just have to believe me (and VidaNaPraia). There is no 10% surcharge to change CUCs back to USD. We went to 3 ports (Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, 2 days in Havana). I exchanged $800 Canadian to CUCs in Santiago and exchanged back about 100 CUCs when leaving Havana, no 10% surcharge. The people on that Facebook page don't know what they are talking about.

Thank you for the clarification. I thought I had correctly read there was no surcharge from CUC to USD.

Not to beat a dead horse but please check my math. If I convert $500 USD to Canadian dollars at an exchange rate of 1.26 I will have $630 CAD, -$10 bank fee= $620. I then exchange the Canadian for CUC with the 3% fee and will have $601 CUC.

If I did the same staying with just USD to CUC, I would only have $435cuc. (After 13% fee). Is this correct? Is there no variable exchange rate from CAN to CUC or just the flat 3%?

Not to beat a dead horse but please check my math. If I convert $500 USD to Canadian dollars at an exchange rate of 1.26 I will have $630 CAD, -$10 bank fee= $620. I then exchange the Canadian for CUC with the 3% fee and will have $601 CUC.

If I did the same staying with just USD to CUC, I would only have $435cuc. (After 13% fee). Is this correct? Is there no variable exchange rate from CAN to CUC or just the flat 3%?

No, there's a variable exchange rate fro $CDN to CUC- which is the same exchange rate for $US to $CDN. Right now (since it changes) $CDN 1 will get you 0.79 CUC, so your $CDN 620 is 489 CUC.

BTW, if you can get your bank to sell you $CDN at the exact exchange rate + $10, that's pretty awesome. I can't find anyplace willing to do that.

My daughter just told me that TD Bank charges flat $7.00 to convert USD to Euros. Might be good idea to call/check them out.

Thank you, Cruising Princess.

I just checked and the fee is $7.50 for orders over $250. I will definitely be checking exchange rates over the next few weeks.

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I recently spoke with my bank and they can exchange US dollar to Canadian dollar for me. My biggest question is that with the little bit that I gain in the exchange from USD to CAD to CUC really worth the exchange rates and fees that I have to pay. I was thinking of only exchangiing $500 over for the 1 night in Havana which I believe would be around $435 CUC if I exchange at the port while I can exchange for CAD AND only spend about $440 to get to $500 CAD and then exchange. Any help would be great.

My math shows very little difference in using dollars or euros.

If I exchange $300 to Euros (with the fee and current exchange rate of $1.19), then to CUC, I end up with 268 CUC.

If I directly change $300 into CUC, I get 261 CUC. Just a difference of 7. Not worth the hassle of exchanges and an additional fee.

Quick update, just confirming the lack of fee to convert CUC back to US$. We are heading home today from Havana.

We will stick with the straight US$ to CUC conversion from here out.

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