andynap
Senior Insider
No of course not. It's whatever you have. I'm just used to getting euros at the ATM. I'm sure they waiters didn't give it back.
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Bringing $$ to St Barts
- Thread starter Jackjudd7
- Start date
No of course not. It's whatever you have. I'm just used to getting euros at the ATM. I'm sure they waiters didn't give it back.
Pkulick
SBH Insider
You are absolutely correct. Cash is good no matter who receives it!!! I'll take euros or American dollars anytime.
KevinS
Senior Insider
Tipping in dollars is fine, and most especially fine if you're leaving a typical american tip percentage 
. Many of the restaurant workers travel to the US on holiday or on their way back to their home country. All of them can get currency exchanged at multiple places on the island - either at the two currency exchanges, or any of the grocery stores.
While I usually tip in €, I'll tip in $ if I only have large € bills - the ATM that I use tends to give out mostly €100 bills.
. Many of the restaurant workers travel to the US on holiday or on their way back to their home country. All of them can get currency exchanged at multiple places on the island - either at the two currency exchanges, or any of the grocery stores. While I usually tip in €, I'll tip in $ if I only have large € bills - the ATM that I use tends to give out mostly €100 bills.
Is this true with all the restaurants at St. Barts? I remember writing tips on the credit card slip before signing. I'm now wondering if those people got their tips. Is it best to leave euros on the table?
cassidain
Senior Insider
JEK
Senior Insider
You must have a Platinum card."Small amounts of cash" don't go very far on Saint-Barth.
KevinS
Senior Insider
Some rubberstamp a tip line on the slip, but only for american customers.
cassidain
Senior Insider
Intuitively, I've always thought it best to hand le pourboire to the server, and have never, in France, left un pourboire on the table or (in Saint-Barth) on the credit card slip. Yours is a valid question, though. Is their any doubt that un pourboire left on a credit card slip in Saint-Barth goes 100% to the server? Ellen? Islander? Pascale? Daddy le Cool?
pascaleschmidt
Senior Insider
a tip line on any receipt in a resto in st barts is a rip off... but hey if you insist on doing it....
elgreaux
Senior Insider
It's illegal, you should report them...
KevinS
Senior Insider
Do you also have a 4-digit PIN to go with the chip? If so, you can get gas at night and on Sundays and holidays. Without a PIN you still have to sign a charge slip.
KevinS
Senior Insider
Great. You should be able use it anywhere, but you won't know for sure until you try. Give it a try in a restaurant. In SBH, they use handheld machines. They insert the card into the machine if it has a chip, or swipe it on the side of the machine if it doesn't. If they hand you the machine to enter your PIN then you can use it everywhere, including the gas station by the airport at night. (They'll print you a receipt.) If they print out a slip for you to sign, then chip or not, you can only use it when there is an attendant at the gas station.
cassidain
Senior Insider
BTW, one of the reasons I insist on handing le pourboire to the server (and, I not infrequently ask the server to break a larger bill for that purpose as I'm handing him or her my credit card to pay l'addition) is that I consider it too large a risk that some passerby might snag the cash since, unlike here in the USA, the server is not looking for or expecting un pourboire at all and so is not returning to the table immediately to retreive it.
