USD vs Lira Cash Tips for Lebanon Travel
Summary
In r/Lebanon this announcement asks how everyday payments are split between USD and lira and what items are normally priced in LBP versus USD. It seeks practical guidance on price thresholds, useful USD denominations, and whether using $50 or $100 notes is reasonable. The discussion helps travelers decide a sensible mix of dollars and Lebanese pounds for visits to towns and villages.
USD/lira usage
Hi! I’ll be travelling around Lebanon for a few weeks, including quite a few smaller towns and villages, and I’m trying to understand how cash actually works in everyday life now.
- Roughly what percentage of everyday payments would you say are made in USD vs lira
- What kinds of things are normally priced/paid in LBP, and what things are normally paid in USD?
- Is there a rough price level below which people usually prefer LBP? For example, would you pay the equivalent of $1–5 in lira, but $20+ in dollars?
- Which USD denominations are actually useful? I assume $1, $5, $10 and $20 notes are useful, but what about $50 and $100?
- Is paying for something relatively cheap with a $100 bill considered annoying/unusual because getting change is difficult? At roughly what purchase value would using a 50 or $100 bill become reasonable?
Basically, I’m trying to work out what a sensible mix would be — e.g. lots of $1/$5/$10/$20 notes + some LBP, with $50/$100 mainly as backup.
Thanks!
Post Author: /u/4alz
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