How Do I Exchange Convertible Cuban Pesos into U.S. Dollars in the U.S.?
January 2, 2019 10:20 AM Subscribe
I have 312 Cuban convertible pesos that mistakenly I brought back from a recent trip to Cuba. Is there any way to convert them to dollars in the U.S.?
I'm an American who took a wonderful 6 day trip to Cuba with a friend this past November. That country is highly recommended! I was confused by the fact that they have two separate currencies, though. Our last day in Cuba was hectic and I decided that I would just exchange my remaining 312 Cuban convertible pesos when I got home, like I could any other major world currency. However, I realized upon my return to the US that apparently I can't exchange these into dollars anywhere but Cuba. This is very disappointing, since as the currency is pegged 1:1 to the USD, I've basically lost USD $312 due to my lack of understanding. Short of traveling back to Cuba, do any of you have any ideas about how I can exchange these into dollars? Thank you so kindly!
I'm an American who took a wonderful 6 day trip to Cuba with a friend this past November. That country is highly recommended! I was confused by the fact that they have two separate currencies, though. Our last day in Cuba was hectic and I decided that I would just exchange my remaining 312 Cuban convertible pesos when I got home, like I could any other major world currency. However, I realized upon my return to the US that apparently I can't exchange these into dollars anywhere but Cuba. This is very disappointing, since as the currency is pegged 1:1 to the USD, I've basically lost USD $312 due to my lack of understanding. Short of traveling back to Cuba, do any of you have any ideas about how I can exchange these into dollars? Thank you so kindly!
When we ended up with some CUCs after our trip reaching out to friends/ family/ co-workers found someone going to Cuba surprisingly quick.
posted by zeikka at 10:44 AM on January 2, 2019
posted by zeikka at 10:44 AM on January 2, 2019
Yeah, this is the sort of thing that's trivially easy to do face-to-face with people you've got even the slightest community ties with, and really hard to with totally unconnected strangers or (as jacquilynne says) remotely.
In addition to friends and coworkers, if you're on something like a local-hobby-related mailing list that accepts chatty messages, or a neighborhood list, or etc., those would all be easier than putting it on Craigslist or something and then trying to generate enough mutual trust to make it happen not-stressfully.
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:26 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
In addition to friends and coworkers, if you're on something like a local-hobby-related mailing list that accepts chatty messages, or a neighborhood list, or etc., those would all be easier than putting it on Craigslist or something and then trying to generate enough mutual trust to make it happen not-stressfully.
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:26 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
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That said, lots and lots of Canadians go to Cuban resorts. You might find some success by looking for Canadian travel forums (RedFlagDeals has a fairly active travel forum) and offering to sell them to a Canadian (likely at a discount to face value). Trading currency through the mail in that way is a pretty high trust transaction, though. Still, if you're already out $312, running the risk that you might still be out $312 if someone stiffs you on a transaction might still be worth it.
If you know any Canadians who could broker a deal for you via Facebook or email, that might work, since they could potentially vouch for both sides of the transaction. There are probably relatively few Canadians who don't know *somebody* who is going to Cuba this winter.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:39 AM on January 2, 2019