TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Euro?

Looking forward to our late may trip and wondering what people think about bringing euros to use in sxm instead of dollars. Is it necessary, does it matter?

Necessary? No. U.S. currency is accepted just about everywhere from my past experiences. But, I do typically bring a small supply of euros to SXM for dining purposes for those situations where the prices in USD are set much higher than in euros. You will only encounter this on French St. Martin, and not on the Dutch side. The last time I checked one U.S. dollar is worth .84 euros. Kind of weak IMO. It's been much higher than that in past years. So, if you encounter a restaurant in Marigot or Grand Case that, for example, applies a 30 percent surcharge if you pay in USD, you could be better off just paying in euros or using a major credit card. Menus usually list prices in both currencies, or will have small type print at the bottom which will show the amount of exchange. If nothing is displayed I usually ask this question before ordering. In addition, if you plan to shop on the French side for groceries I prefer to pay in euros rather than trying to figure out if I'm being overcharged if I pay in USD. On the Dutch side I use U.S. currency for everything I do.

Thanks Sammy.

Current rate is 1.198 to 1.

For the majority of our past trips to St. Martin and Martinique, we took out some euros at an ATM when we arrived but primarily used a credit card. For our most recent trip to St. Martin in December, we didn’t make it to the ATM for the first few days and never had any issue paying with USD or a card. We eventually decided to just skip the euros completely and were fine. We stayed in Orient, so most places seemed OK with either a card or USD. Our credit card doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee, which made things easier. We did occasionally have to ask to be charged in euros, though. Some places assumed we preferred USD. I’m not really sure if this impacted the exchange rate, but I figured choosing euros couldn’t hurt. The only time I wished I had euros was to tip in cash. We were able to tip in dollars, but I would have preferred euros since that's what we were paying in for the meal on the credit card and I thought it might have been easier for the servers to eventually use.

Yup.....on the French side CC if allowed, Euro if the establishment makes it's own rate which may be higher than the official rate (except for Super U which usually has an advantageous USD cash rate....and Cadisco near Orient for gas which was still 1:1 USD:Euro)

..and I would not "bring Euro" to SXm. Just get them at an ATM on the French side which will give you the best exchange rate.....assuming no ATM fee with your card

always request to be charged in local currency, then your bank will do the conversion to USD...don't allow the CC machine/terminal to do the conversion for you into USD, it won't come out in your favor

This discussion reminds me of a problem we had in Jamaica two years ago. There was a little grocery store across the street from our hotel in Negril, and we shopped there quite a bit during our stay. A couple of days into the trip, I asked to pay in Jamaican dollars when buying a few things since I was using a credit card. The total should have been 3,800 Jamaican dollars, or about $25 US. Somehow, the cashier mistakenly charged me 3,800 USD instead. I didn't even notice until I came back into the store the next day. The owner had been trying to track me down to refund the money, and my credit card company apparently didn't have any issue with that amount being charged in a foreign country at a grocery store. Everything worked out OK, but it's something to double check when dealing with these types of transactions.

We will be traveling from the airport to Anne Marcel marina on the French side by taxi and a week later make the return trip. How are taxi fares handled (currency) traveling to and from the different countries?

dvesc,

I actually left my card at l'express in Hope Estates and didn't notice until I paid for lunch the next day. I instantly remembered that I left the card on the counter. Thankfully, the cashier stored it safely for me, I was able to retrieve it no problem.

For taxis, which we have often used on St. Martin, you can always pay in cash in USD regardless of what side of the island you are on. Taxis (at least the ones I have used) don't take credit cards.

Some do take credit cards, we always use Patrick at Silverline Tours and Taxi, he has a CC option but we have never used it

Thanks for pointing that out. Nice to know that some taxis may take a credit card in case the cash starts to run low!

US Dollars works everywhere on island. Taxis and all.