Hi,
I am wondering how far is it, and what would be the best way to get there, price included.
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Hi,
I am wondering how far is it, and what would be the best way to get there, price included.
Can someone help me out if you can get this before you arrive at the airport in Puerto Plata?
Or, is the only way to get it is to pay the $20 for it at the PP airport?
I can't find any info on it and rather just get it out of way prior to heading out if possible. I'm heading there in a month and half.
Thanks for the help.
Koz
[QUOTE=Kozban]Can someone help me out if you can get this before you arrive at the airport in Puerto Plata?
Or, is the only way to get it is to pay the $20 for it at the PP airport?
I can't find any info on it and rather just get it out of way prior to heading out if possible. I'm heading there in a month and half.
Thanks for the help.
Koz[/QUOTE]I think the only way to get it is to buy it at the airport when you arrive. It cost $10 US, thats what I paid when I was there last month.
[QUOTE=Kozban]Can someone help me out if you can get this before you arrive at the airport in Puerto Plata?
Or, is the only way to get it is to pay the $20 for it at the PP airport?
I can't find any info on it and rather just get it out of way prior to heading out if possible. I'm heading there in a month and half.
Thanks for the help.
Koz[/QUOTE]
It's basically a $10 entry tax. You pay the $10 for a card before you clear DR immigration, and they take the card away from you 30 feet away, less than a minute later. It's simply a tax, that you cannot avoid - but the way that it is structured is literally comical: Wait on a line, pay $10 to be handed a card, and walk 30 feet to the next station, where they collect the card from you - it seems to be a bureaucratic make-work program.
[QUOTE=Kozban]Can someone help me out if you can get this before you arrive at the airport in Puerto Plata?
Or, is the only way to get it is to pay the $20 for it at the PP airport?
I can't find any info on it and rather just get it out of way prior to heading out if possible. I'm heading there in a month and half.
Thanks for the help.
Koz[/QUOTE]
you can get the tourist card prior to arriving in the DR. from the dominican embassy in the US.
the webpage of the dominican embassy in the US is [url]www.domrep.org[/url]
they have a contact buttom and you can send them an email easily concerning your regard.
The webpage also says that the tourist card costs 11 bucks. click on consular section and then click on tariffs and you will find it in the middle of the page.
[QUOTE=Kozban]Can someone help me out if you can get this before you arrive at the airport in Puerto Plata?
Or, is the only way to get it is to pay the $20 for it at the PP airport?
I can't find any info on it and rather just get it out of way prior to heading out if possible. I'm heading there in a month and half.
Thanks for the help.
Koz[/QUOTE]
I don't know from where you travel, but at Newark Liberty, you can buy the tourist card when you check in for $11. Saves time when you arrive in DR
[QUOTE=Patrk39]I don't know from where you travel, but at Newark Liberty, you can buy the tourist card when you check in for $11. Saves time when you arrive in DR[/QUOTE]
Patrk,
Where do you get this? At the ticket counter for Continental???
There is a site called Ezforex.com that allows people to buy foreign currency in advance of travel to many countries. Example, today you could buy 27,500 DOP for $ 1000.52 U.S. with an $ 11.00 delivery fee. Total cost $ 1011.52 delivered to your door. I was curious to know if anyone has used this service.
Might be a great time saver for those of us who do not want to continuously run around with ATM cards and search out cambios. One stop shopping might be a convienience for some. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.
I'll be coming thru Miami airport, so will have time to get it there if they do that. I did email Embassy and it came back as bad email, I'll probably try it again.
If not, I'll just get in the line and pay and give it to the guy then right afterwards at POP. Seems easy enough but I just didn't want to be waiting around like hour or something to take care of something that is so simple.
Thanks for the help.
[QUOTE=Kozban]Can someone help me out if you can get this before you arrive at the airport in Puerto Plata?
Or, is the only way to get it is to pay the $20 for it at the PP airport?
I can't find any info on it and rather just get it out of way prior to heading out if possible. I'm heading there in a month and half.
Thanks for the help.
Koz[/QUOTE]
Unless the raised the price recently, the tourist card costs $10, and it just takes a few minutes to get it, if there's someone in front of you, otherwise it won't take even a minute.
Why do you worry about that? It's not really a big deal.
When I was planning my trip there I was concerned about everything, once I got there, I found out that everything was easy.
[QUOTE=QuinnyJeff]There is a site called Ezforex.com that allows people to buy foreign currency in advance of travel to many countries. Example, today you could buy 27,500 DOP for $ 1000.52 U.S. with an $ 11.00 delivery fee. Total cost $ 1011.52 delivered to your door. I was curious to know if anyone has used this service.
Might be a great time saver for those of us who do not want to continuously run around with ATM cards and search out cambios. One stop shopping might be a convienience for some. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]
Sure, if you want to pay 25% over the odds. Look, you can carry a few $100 bills with you to change when you get there, and carry an ATM card for backup. There is an ATM on the outside concourse at both SDQ and POP where you get the taxis, and if they aren't working, there are money changers hanging around. It is no problem at all. Cambios are everywhere.
Just don't pay absurdly extortionate prices for currency before you come, there is no point. If you are planning to return you might take a few hundred pesos home with you for next time, but really there is no need. I have been to DR well in excess of 30 times.
[QUOTE=Smith Yves]It's almost impossible for those girls to get a visa. There a two option:
1. It's easier to have a student visa. but you have to provide a bank statement showing that u have the money to pay for school. Around $20,000 will be enough.
Bringing a girl here is not a good idea. because she will be depending on you.[/QUOTE]
I think for a student visa these days they have to show that they have already been accepted by the school. And I think this is confirmed with the school. As Ben Hur said, 9.9 out of 10 pros in Latin America/Caribbean have not even finished secondary education, so there is no way for them to perpetrate that they will attend a university.
But like you said, why would you want to import dead weight that will be a burden on you? Better to get a real gf who has been to school and has a good job and speaks English.
[QUOTE=Ponderosa]Patrk,
Where do you get this? At the ticket counter for Continental???[/QUOTE]On all european airlines (Iberia,Martinair,KLM,BA,Lufthansa and a few others) they hand out the turist visa card in the plane 1-2 hours before landing in the DR. You can fill it out (questions are both in spanish and English) right there while still being in the air.
Upon arrival you show that card...pay your 10 bucks (when last year it still was 10 USD) get a stamp in your pasport and listo!
Last year while coming from NY JFK (on a stopover becoz Iberia had f*cked up my connection in Madrid) with AA they also hand out turist cards while still being in the air! So IMHO there is no need to buy that card on forehand. In case they run out of cards there are many cards availeble when you get into the customs arrival hall in SD airport. (don't know for POP)
I mean i have been in the DR 3 times now, and thats how i have been doing it. so far no probs getting in.
Johan
[QUOTE=QuinnyJeff]There is a site called Ezforex.com that allows people to buy foreign currency in advance of travel to many countries. Example, today you could buy 27,500 DOP for $ 1000.52 U.S. with an $ 11.00 delivery fee. Total cost $ 1011.52 delivered to your door. I was curious to know if anyone has used this service.
Might be a great time saver for those of us who do not want to continuously run around with ATM cards and search out cambios. One stop shopping might be a convienience for some. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]
In this example if you instead simply took the US cash with you and exchanged it as needed you would have an extra 6385 DOP - which if you are a decent shopper translates into two full nights of wild sex with a top shelf chica plus a fifth of Brughal Anejo. As a extra bonus you don't risk getting stuck with more pesos than you need or taking another hit exchanging them back.
I prefer to take at least 1000 in cash with me overseas just in case there are problems with communications/credit cards. It has happened to me more than once that ATMs/credit cards were down for hours to days. Just keep it in a hidden location - not your wallet- and put it in the safe when you get to your room - along with credit cards, passport, etc.
Cambios and ATMs are everywhere in tourist areas and quite common elsewhere.
[QUOTE=QuinnyJeff]There is a site called Ezforex.com that allows people to buy foreign currency in advance of travel to many countries. Example, today you could buy 27,500 DOP for $ 1000.52 U.S. with an $ 11.00 delivery fee. Total cost $ 1011.52 delivered to your door. I was curious to know if anyone has used this service.
Might be a great time saver for those of us who do not want to continuously run around with ATM cards and search out cambios. One stop shopping might be a convienience for some. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]
FYI, the going rate in the banks in Sosua for changing USD was 33.2 per dollar last week, and the guys in the street gave 33.5. Changing big amounts of money at a rate of 27 is just crazy. Oh, and "searching for cambios" is a non-issue - you, like every other gringo, will be swatting them off like mosquitos.