# Help with money matters in Moorea & Tahiti



## Judy (Aug 25, 2009)

We will be responsible for getting ourselves from the airport in Papeete to the ferry dock and then to Moorea.  How do we get local currency (CFP) ?  Our ATM card is on the "Plus" network.  

Can we use MasterCard and Visa for most expenses in Tahiti and Moorea?


----------



## Poobah (Aug 26, 2009)

*Money Exchange*

Judy,

There is a money exchange in the Papetee Airport. If I remember, it is right by the snack bar.

Credit Cards in French Polynesia are a crap shoot. It is not your card, it is their electronic banking system and the hotels/restaurants know it. We had a lot of trouble with our US Bank Visa Signature Card both on Bora Bora and Moorea. We never had any trouble with our Citi Bank Master Card. If you really get stuck the you can call and get a "manual authorization."

The Bali Hai will exchange dollars for CPF, but there is a limit per day. Maybe things have changed but the ATM nearest the Bali Hai is a 2000CPF round trip cab ride. A couple we met there need cash at the same time so we were able to split the fare.

You can also exchange dollars at any of the banks.

If you haven't already, set up both cards to get cash. That way you have a back up. The fees are a bit much, but I prefer not to carry a lot of cash on me when I travel.

Cheers,

Paul


----------



## AKE (Aug 28, 2009)

I assume you are flying to Tahiti from the west coast.  All the major airports have currency exchanges and the rate at the exchanges is better than what you get at the ATM's in Tahiti.  Credit cards with chips in them have more problems (both in Tahiti and elsewhere, even Europe) than the older cards without chips.  The problem is in the card reader.  Merchants are responsible for their card reader and as such, always don't upgrade when they should (software and / or hardware) because of cost.  As such, almost all of the card  readers read old cards fine MOST OF THE TIME but some have problems with the chip technology in newer cards.  We also found that some merchants in Tahiti did not know how to use card readers which DID accomodate chip technology and if they swipe the card too many times then the bank will shut the card down (and then you have to call the CC company collect). 

Bottom line - bring a good amount of cash and then have at least 2 different credit cards with you. Our experience in Tahiti / Moorea/ Bora-Bora, both this year and some years ago was that we never had problems with VISA (basic card, no chip) BUT we had problems with MasterCard (basic card as well as card with a chip) and there was no consistency as the card would work one minute at one merchant in the market at Papeetee, but go over a stall and 5 minutes later it would no longer work EVEN THOUGH the same card reader was used (some merchants shared a card reader).


----------



## Judy (Sep 18, 2009)

I will take your advice.  Thank you.


----------

