USD or Dong?

I%26#39;m going to Hanoi soon. Wondering is using USD or Dong more worth when buying things? I heard if its a large amount then better use USD e.g paying accomodation or package tours. However, can i request they quote the price in Dong? Will it be cheaper? If i buy something along the street, can i pay wf Dong although they are showing the price tag in USD? Thx..

USD or Dong?

You can pay in VND for pretty well anything except Visa on Arrival. USD is more convenient for large amount but VND is fine. The price isn%26#39;t different, they just do a conversion, which may or may not be close to the actual conversion rate. VND is better for bargaining as its smaller- you can%26#39;t go less than $1US but that%26#39;s about 17,000VND. Unless you have USD laying around at home I wouldn%26#39;t bother getting them specially- just get VND once you are in VN, or you will end up paying two lots of conversion fees.

USD or Dong?

Hi there

We were in Vietnam last year travelled from North all the way down to the south and across to the Mekong Delta and everywhere we went we had no problem using either USD or VND. Would agree for small amounts VND is useful

Have a wonderful trip it is a great country!

Cheers

LW-UK :-)

Hi,Here%26#39;s a few tips.Change your $ at the gold shops,its legal.Bank rate today $= 17440 dong,Gold shop $= 17700.

So if you know the rates and how many dong you got for your dollars then when buying something big(hotels,tours,flights etc)ask them the dong/dollar price and work out what its best to pay in.It can make a diffrence over time.

Yes it is legal to change at gold shops but also remember it is a free market situation. I am told they are not governed to any exchange rate.