{"id":377,"date":"2026-10-04T03:55:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T03:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/before-you-go\/money-tipping-vietnam\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T09:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T09:45:53","slug":"money-tipping-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/before-you-go\/money-tipping-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"Dinero y propinas en Vietnam: dong, cajeros ATM, tarjetas y propinas (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Last checked: October 2026.<\/strong> Rules, fees and exchange rates change; check with your bank and official sources before you travel.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"dong-basics\">The Vietnamese dong in a nutshell<\/h2>\n<p>The currency is the Vietnamese dong (VND, \u20ab). Prices are quoted in dong and you should pay in dong. The State Bank of Vietnam issues 12 banknotes, and all of them remain legal tender:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Polymer notes (the ones you will use)<\/th>\n<th>Small cotton-paper notes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>500,000 \/ 200,000 \/ 100,000 \/ 50,000 \/ 20,000 \/ 10,000<\/td>\n<td>5,000 \/ 2,000 \/ 1,000 \/ 500 \/ 200 \/ 100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Coins are legal tender too, but you will rarely see them; in practice you will use notes. As a rough guide to value, in January 2026 a 500,000 VND note was worth about US$19 and a 20,000 note about US$0.76. Check a live rate before you travel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"eta-g-note eta-g-tip\">\n<p><strong>Local tip:<\/strong> a common traveller mistake is mixing up the 20,000 and 500,000 notes, which are both blue. Count the zeros (four on the 20,000, five on the 500,000), keep big and small notes in separate pockets, and count your change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you carry more than 15,000,000 VND or US$5,000 (or the equivalent) in cash, you must declare it when you enter or leave Vietnam.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"atms\">ATMs: limits and fees<\/h2>\n<p>International cards work at a large network of ATMs (more than 20,000 nationwide, according to Vietnam&#8217;s national tourism site), including outside the arrival gates at major airports.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"eta-g-check\">\n<li><strong>Limits:<\/strong> typically 2\u20133 million VND per withdrawal at local banks and 5\u201310 million VND at some international-bank ATMs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fees vary by bank.<\/strong> Many ATMs charge a fixed fee per withdrawal, and your home bank may add its own. Check the screen for any fee before you confirm.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose dong, not your home currency,<\/strong> if the machine offers to convert for you. That &#8220;dynamic currency conversion&#8221; usually comes with a worse rate.<\/li>\n<li>Use ATMs inside banks or malls where you can, and cover the keypad.<\/li>\n<li>US advice notes that machines sometimes malfunction, so do not wait until you are down to your last note.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"cards-cash\">Cards, cash and QR codes<\/h2>\n<p>Visa and other major cards are widely accepted at hotels, tour operators, boutiques, larger restaurants, supermarkets and spas, and contactless payment is increasingly available. Some places add a card fee.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cash is still the safe default for small spending.<\/strong> A street-food meal typically costs around 45,000 VND, and stalls, small caf\u00e9s, markets and taxis are where you will want small notes. Many Vietnamese pay by scanning QR codes with local bank apps, and QR payment links now exist for visitors from China, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Laos and Cambodia. For most visitors from Europe, North America and Australia, cash is still the easiest option at small stalls.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"eta-g-check\">\n<li>Carry a mix of 10,000\u2013100,000 notes for food, coffee and short rides.<\/li>\n<li>Break 500,000 notes at hotels, supermarkets or larger restaurants.<\/li>\n<li>Keep a card as back-up for hotels and bigger bills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"exchange\">Exchanging money legally<\/h2>\n<p>In Vietnam, buying or selling foreign currency is only legal at banks and licensed exchange points. The UK government warns that changing money anywhere else is illegal and risks losing your money.<\/p>\n<p>This is enforced. A newer decree, <strong>Decree 340\/2025\/ND-CP<\/strong>, has applied since 9 February 2026 to buying or selling foreign currency at a place without an exchange licence. According to Vietnamese press summaries of the decree, small amounts can bring a warning and larger amounts fines that rise with the sum exchanged, reaching tens of millions of dong. We have not reproduced the exact thresholds here; the rule of thumb is simply not to exchange at unlicensed places at all.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"eta-g-check\">\n<li>Exchange at a bank or a counter that clearly displays its licence.<\/li>\n<li>Some gold and jewellery shops are licensed and some are not. If a shop doesn&#8217;t display a licence, don&#8217;t use it.<\/li>\n<li>Airport counters are convenient for a small first amount; rates in town are often better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"tipping\">Tipping in Vietnam<\/h2>\n<p>Tipping is <strong>not mandatory<\/strong> and is not a traditional part of Vietnamese culture. According to Vietnam&#8217;s national tourism site, it is becoming more common for tour guides and in spas and beauty salons, and is appreciated but not expected in restaurants.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Situation<\/th>\n<th>Common practice<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Tour guide<\/td>\n<td>Lonely Planet suggests about US$10\u201320 per day (the upper end for couples or families)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Driver<\/td>\n<td>About half of the guide&#8217;s tip, per the same Lonely Planet guidance; you can give the total to the guide to share<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Taxi<\/td>\n<td>Rounding up the fare is appreciated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hotel porter<\/td>\n<td>US$1\u20132 per bag is fine; hotels usually include a service charge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Restaurants<\/td>\n<td>Not expected; leave something if service was good<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Tip in dong where you can. If a service charge already appears on your bill, an extra tip is your choice.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"on-our-tours\">Paying for an Eco Trip Asia tour<\/h2>\n<div class=\"eta-g-note eta-g-local\">\n<p><strong>On our tours:<\/strong> you secure your booking with a small online deposit (15% of the total for bookings under US$100, 10% for bookings of US$100 or more) and pay the rest in cash on the tour day. Tips for your guide, riders or driver are optional and not included in the price. On public holidays such as Lunar New Year a surcharge applies, payable on site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you are unsure which currency or amount to bring for the balance, check your booking confirmation or message us on WhatsApp and we will confirm. Full details: <a href=\"\/before-you-go\/booking-payment-date-change\/\">booking, payment &amp; date changes<\/a>. Food and drinks listed in the itinerary of our <a href=\"\/hanoi-food-tour\/\">food tours<\/a> are already included, so you only need cash for extras.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>C\u00f3mo usar el dinero en Vietnam: el dong, comisiones y l\u00edmites de cajeros ATM, tarjetas frente a efectivo, cambio legal y cu\u00e1nto dejar de propina a gu\u00edas y en restaurantes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":367,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-377","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/377\/revisions\/392"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}