Havana Journeys wants USD for payment

I'm posting this here but will also post on the Cuba board.

We are on the Sky and will be in Havana in a few weeks. Yesterday, I contacted a few private tour operators including Havana Journeys, which has great reviews on TripAdvisor and here. They want to be paid in USD for the tour.

Everything I have read everywhere else indicates that dollars need to be exchanged into CUCs. Why would they want USD? Will I get into trouble for doing so? The email indicated that we will need CUCs for meals and any other expenses but for the tour and guide, USD.

There was also this: "Havana Journeys only hires legal taxi drivers who pay taxes to the Cuban government."

I was in Havana 1.5 years ago and had to use CUCs everywhere.

Not to hijack this, but will they accept Euro?

Here's what they say on their website:

Currency

In Cuba two currencies are used: CUC and CUP. The CUP is mostly used by locals to pay taxes, buy vegetables and food from local farmers or from street vendors. The CUC, on the other hand, is widely used both by tourists and locals since most of the things are available in this currency. Therefore, once in Cuba you are going to need to exchange your money into CUC. Avoid US Dollars if you can because there is a 10% tax on each US Dollar so you will end up losing more. Euros and Pounds are NOT subject to the 10% tax. We suggest you exchange your money either at a bank or at an Exchange House (CADECA) where the rate is better. If requested, we can take you to a bank during our tour. For you to exchange money at the bank, you will need to show your passport. There was also a link to this same paragraph in their email reply.

In the reply, they have stated they want USD 15 times!

Will I get into trouble for doing so? The email indicated that we will need CUCs for meals and any other expenses but for the tour and guide, USD.

There was also this: "Havana Journeys only hires legal taxi drivers who pay taxes to the Cuban government."

I was in Havana 1.5 years ago and had to use CUCs everywhere.

Some places happily accept USD. They just exchange them themselves when necessary. There is a lot of off-island trading that goes on (that's a nice way of saying grey market and black market) and USD is helpful for those kinds of endeavors.

You will not get in trouble paying in USD. They may get in trouble for accepting it but that's their problem. And either way it means someone from their staff will have to go to one of the money exchange houses (casa de cambio), stand in line, and convert it to CUC.

FYI, you benefit by paying in USD. You'll lose 13% of your USD in the conversion to CUC. (10% penalty and 3% change fee.) Since the CUC is pegged to the USD, consider that a 13% discount on your tour.

BTW... If you want a walking tour, I highly recommend Free Walking Tour Havana. (freewalkingtourhavana.com or the same name on FB or TA.) Email them ahead of time and ask for a reservation. The tip-based walking tour companies are in a cat-and-mouse game with the state currently. (I assume at the behest of some well funded tour operator.) They can usually arrange meeting up somewhere for a tour even if they are not permitted to gather people on the street for tours. I'm just back from Cuba on the April 9th sailing of the Sky. We did the NCL farm-to-table tour and we did the "free" walking tour. Beatrice and Jaime were amazing. I actually enjoyed the content of the "free" tour way more than the paid NCL excursion. Beatrice is a college student with a mind for history and facts.

Almost everybody takes USD and EUR.

There's never been a Communist country on earth without a thriving black-market/currency exchange.

DPRK included.

Just tried the site for the free walking tours, and it states that it is closed (since April 16) - so I guess the government did shut them down. Sounds like a great tour - sorry to have missed it.

Because the country is corrupt just like Mexico. The american $$ will get them more

another reason why want to USD dollars, it is easier to give back change in a currency that the tourist already use. in some ports, the stores will accept USD but give your charge to their currency

Just an update on this:

I received a second reply last night from a different person and there is no mention now of USD. Same canned response except now they want CUCs for everything!

Just tried the site for the free walking tours, and it states that it is closed (since April 16) - so I guess the government did shut them down. Sounds like a great tour - sorry to have missed it.

Just saw this on TripAdvisor.

Dragan L, Manager at Free Walking Tour Havana, responded to this reviewResponded 3 days ago

Our deepest apologies for the inconvenience and lost time.

Cuba is currently going through transition time (election) and our efforts with authorities have slowed down. We were recently granted status of cultural representatives of the city of Havana, granting us permission to run tours in the city. Due to sensitive political situation, this information has not made it to city police and we were forced to stop the tour for the time being. We update our internet channels as situation on the ground changes.

Unfortunately, these limitations are beyond our control, however, we are working closely with authorities in Havana to get this resolved ASAP.

Once again, we apology for inconvenience this has caused.

Hi. My wife and I just booked a tour with Havana Journeys for our upcoming cruise on NCL Sun this June. The initial quote said we were to pay the tour guide in $CUC. When we confirmed the tour, the reply email said to pay the tour guide in $USD. When we asked for clarification, they responded that it would be okay to pay in either $CUC or $USD and that they would take $USD at par with no exchange penalty. Havana Journey's has been very prompt in returning our emails and have been good to deal with thus far. We booked them based on their sterling Trip Advisor rating and several rave reviews that we have read online and heard in podcasts.

Hi. My wife and I just booked a tour with Havana Journeys for our upcoming cruise on NCL Sun this June. The initial quote said we were to pay the tour guide in $CUC. When we confirmed the tour, the reply email said to pay the tour guide in $USD. When we asked for clarification, they responded that it would be okay to pay in either $CUC or $USD and that they would take $USD at par with no exchange penalty. Havana Journey's has been very prompt in returning our emails and have been good to deal with thus far. We booked them based on their sterling Trip Advisor rating and several rave reviews that we have read online and heard in podcasts.

Thanks for chiming in. I decided to go with Blexie instead. Have a good tour with Havana Journeys.