6 most common “Money” Mistakes While Traveling within Dominican Republic
(and How to Avoid Them)
While it is true that the traveller does not know how much money he will need exactly during his stay, it is true that there are some secret tricks to fresh visitors that can actually save your bank account as well as your purse.
For the start:
Be sure to sum up and change all your Euro or Dollar Coins into bills before you enter the country
Foreign coins aren't treated with the same respect as bills inside the country - the value drops drastically. So be sure to convert them into bills and later change them within the country for the excellent value that you deserve.
Never change your money at the dominican airports
When you're arriving, never change your money into Pesos at the airport. The fees are ridiculously high and will take up a lot of the money you would eventually get elsewhere in the country. When you're leaving, better buy food or other goods with the remains - unless you don't mind losing money to the changing agency.
When you're in the country, don't hold too many bills of great value
For a lot of dominicans, especially those who want to sell you something, it is an invitation to raise up the price of the item or service they're providing if you make them see that you obviously hold a lot of money and are in search for a smaller bill. So keep your money changed into small "portions" of Hundreds or Fivehundreds - keep the bills of Thousand and Twothousand hidden - if you can.
Paying Taxi-fares to regular cars, conchos or motorconchos
Know: Transportation within the country should not be too expensive, unless someone really wants to trick you. Usually a transport within a city or province is from 20 to 50 pesos - the maximum should be 100 pesos and if it's a more modern car (for example with air condition or a cab that is exclusively transporting you and/or your family) it could start from 150 to, if you're going far, 300 pesos. The most expensive taxis in the country are airport taxis. They charge dollar fares and it's hard to negotiate with them.
Not negotiating for wanting to "help" with money
It is common for dominicans (and many other people in the world who share the principles of market negotiacions) to set a price higher than they actually want to sell it. So be prepared to bring the price down whenever you're not in an official restaurant, supermarket or similar public institution. But to be true: even at the doctor you could bring the price down if you do it the right way. Dominicans are very open to negotiation, because so many people work selfemployed to make a living. On the other hand, because of so many people working for a small wage, I understand if you think you'll have to give in to rather expensive prices. It's on you to choose to have some money left at the end of the day or having "helped" a few lucky dominicans when the sun goes down and you go to sleep!
Depending on taxi drivers or other foreign people to help you get through the country
A lot of first-time visitors don't think about the value of someone you can trust when you're far away from home. Someone to speak your language, to know the country well and someone who's always there with a helping hand or good advice when you're in need. A lot of strangers or even traveling agencies are interested only in the money or their good relation to hotels and tour booking agencies and don't really treat their customers personally and with priority. That's why it is good to contract someone who will personally help you with check-ins and negotiations until you learn to get along by yourself in the country. Those people usually also can be consulted before you leave on your holiday - they help you with getting the cheapeast flights or the most comfortable appartments and hotels booked and they usually also know what's "hot" or not in the city or province you're visiting. To find one of them, check out: http://dominicandrtours.yolasite.com
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