So I'm off to the US this October for 3 weeks and was wondering whether I should exchange my AUD for USD here in Australia before I leave or wait and do it once in the US?
Any advice would be great.
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So I'm off to the US this October for 3 weeks and was wondering whether I should exchange my AUD for USD here in Australia before I leave or wait and do it once in the US?
Any advice would be great.
Google broken? can't look up exchange rates here and near where you're staying?
Need some $ on arrival for transfers
As far as I know exchange rates differ slightly from outlet to outlet.
Yeah I've read plenty of stuff on Tips.
Apparently Aussies are terrible tippers, mostly because we're not familiar with tipping.
The exchange rates at the airport kiosks are terrible. Best get some small stuff here at a bank.
Watch for overseas ATM charges. Sometimes can be up to $8 or so for a withdrawal that cuts out the better exchange you might get.
Retail exchange rates anywhere in Oz (Travellex , Amex etc) are shit.
HTH.
http://www.investopedia.com/articles...y-honolulu.asp
I'm with Westpac & took a Global Currency Card ... free but open to FX rates and charges, but safer than taking cash.
It's a credit card in another currency, I used it in NZ and eventually logged on to see how much was left, only to see a trail of Wellington bars ... useful for memory jogging of that weekend !!!
While we're on the subject; we always used 28 Degrees Mastercard. No FX conversion fee, no annual fee and no cash advance fee. Only what the OS bank charged at the ATM. Could load the card before leaving. Still not too bad, although they now charge 3% or minimum $4 per withdrawal to take your own dough out plus the OS bank fee. Zilch on purchases.
Anyone know anything better nowadays?
No need to use currency exchange at all.
Get a Citibank Plus account - no overseas ATM fees or currency conversion fees.
Also a Bankwest Platinum Zero Mastercard ($0 annual fee) has no currency conversion fees as well as other perks (like free travel insurance),
or
ANZ Travel Adventures Credit Card (similar to the bankwest, but has a $220 annual fee but you also get a free return domestic flight each year and ANZ reward points)
Australia Post has a card that you can top up as you go. no fees etc.
https://auspost.com.au/travel-id/tra...y/travel-cards
exchange rate at the moment is very good-maybe worth buying a few US dollars now-I'm thinking of doing that now,with my Patagonia trip coming up in January
I use my Qantas frequent flyer card it has a prepaid mastercard on it.
You load on Oz dollars and can then either transfer the loaded money into one of the 17 supported currencies whenever a good rate is offered I.e now for a trip in two months. Or just use it and it will give you the exchange rate on the day.
No fees when using to pay for things eftpos etc, but there is a $2 fee for atm withdrawals.