Currency prices

[sparky-elpaso]

Just out of curiosity. I'm in the US and right now the exchange rate is around $1.06 US to $1 AUD (plus a couple of cents per dollar for bank processing fees. I'm watching (and hoping) it gets better.

 

What's the rate for you going from $AUD to $US. Do you get a better deal?

[Debsta]

Hey Sparky

 

We're loving the USD/AUD exchange rate :D We commiserate with our US friends who want to travel Downunder :( as for a very long time we have been on the reverse scenario but we hope it doesn't drop as we are finally getting more bang for our buck to come to the States :)! At present it's fluctuating between AUD1.00 = USD1.02 to USD1.08, give or take a few cents.

[Kiwicruiser25]

Try www.banksa.com.au 1/2 way down on righthand side in RED WRITING it says View Foreign Exchange Rates, also has a calculator which you can have some fun with.

 

Also have www.westpac.com.au www.anz.com.au couple of other bank websites to try.

 

Better still try www.xe.com/ucc/ I use this to try all the different currencies.

 

Hope this helps.

[sparky-elpaso]

Thanks. I'll just keep watching the rates and get some $AUD when the rates are good. I'd rather use cash where I've sort of controlled what I pay. The only thing we're using our credit card for is hotel before and after our cruise so I'll be stuck with the prevailing rate for that. At this point anything below $1.10 or so looks good.

[Kinkacruiser]

It must be getting close to parity now for AUD to USD conversion...but will it improve???

[NSWP]

Just out of curiosity. I'm in the US and right now the exchange rate is around $1.06 US to $1 AUD (plus a couple of cents per dollar for bank processing fees. I'm watching (and hoping) it gets better.

 

What's the rate for you going from $AUD to $US. Do you get a better deal?

I just purchased some USD from the Post Office, order it in, pick it up in a couple of days.

 

Got US$1.01 for AU$1.

 

Never get taken in by the exhange rates you see in the media, always 2 or 3 cents commission in there somewhere.

 

So you could say USD AUD are currently pretty much on par with exchange rates.

[room010]

The US and Aussie dollars have been more or less at parity for several months now. It does fluctuate slightly but unless you are planning to convert huge amounts of money then it should make only a very small difference. I'm not complaining - it wasn't so long ago that one Aussie dollar bought only 60 US cents!

[sparky-elpaso]

The US and Aussie dollars have been more or less at parity for several months now. It does fluctuate slightly but unless you are planning to convert huge amounts of money then it should make only a very small difference. I'm not complaining - it wasn't so long ago that one Aussie dollar bought only 60 US cents!

 

Ouch - that's bad. I figure if it's under $1.10 US (that includes about 2 cents processing fee) then it's not to too bad.

[moyaroo]

Unless it changes for the worse dramatically (and I am betting that it won't as it has held pretty well and goes in the US favor when the market goes really sour) I would not buy in advance as the extra fees you pay in the US are more than the exchange rate you get when drawing Aussie dollars out of an ATM.) There are bank machines just outside of the customs hall in MEL, SYD and BNE so I am sure that your will be covered.

[Debsta]

I keep my finger on the financial pulse (I am an investor) and The news is not good this afternoon and the USD/AUD is dropping..........and not in our favour. I won't post any links...Google will provide plenty of info on the economic BS, but many financial whizzes say it is going down down down and bottom-line it is down this afternoon, and at the moment I am posting the best you can get is AUD1 = USD0.9857 with Travelex. Aust Post/Amex is USD0.9856.

 

I'm not going to tell anyone what to do, as sometimes the voyeuristic approach can backfire, however...................I'm buying up tonight through Travelex! They reset their rate at 9.00amish each morning so the other alternative is to see what happens overnight on the markets and buy before 8.00 am (they might get cheeky and change their changeover time).

 

It was going to happen, it was only a matter of time.......the US cannot continue on as they are and it is their exchange rate that is keeping their economy stuffed. Of course Europe ain't helping.

 

Anyway, Just sayin'

[The_Big_M]

Day by day, I'm expecting another recovery bounce tomorrow.

 

It all depends what time frame you're looking at though, days, weeks, months and years will all have different results. Nothing goes up, or down, in a straight line. And then you can look at how long we've been in this current 1.02-1.10 range - 6 months - and the 0.96-1.02 range for the 6 months before that.

[bobhsv]

Day by day, I'm expecting another recovery bounce tomorrow.

 

It all depends what time frame you're looking at though, days, weeks, months and years will all have different results. Nothing goes up, or down, in a straight line. And then you can look at how long we've been in this current 1.02-1.10 range - 6 months - and the 0.96-1.02 range for the 6 months before that.

 

 

Agree with every word you say. We too watch closely, and expect 'bouncing' for quite a while yet.

Jen

[Janet&Carl]

Ouch is right - it pays not to leave it until the last minute to exchange if you see a good rate - ;)

[NSWP]

Going down, today 1 AUD = 1.01 USD and on exchange you will only get about 98 US cents for $AU1. We have slipped from parity. Not good for us cruising on the 'American ships.'

 

Ah well, bring more wine on the ships. As usual we will be taking a couple of Banrock Sem/Chard 2 lit casks in our cases to board Ruby, just to get us started. LOL. Better than carrying all those bottles on, they might break going up the gangway.

[bobhsv]

We had US$660 left over from our last cruise. The other day we thought we may as well just change the $US into $NZ for our upcoming cruise. Well, by the time they do the double exchange ie US to AU to NZ....we were left with NZ$551. Not a good deal. So we decided to keep the $US for later on. Todays exchange from the Post Office ie no commission, AU$1,000 got us NZ$1240. We are happy with that. Now we are set to go!

Apart from the wine purchases.

Jen

[oskarNZ]

Gosh, the NZ dollar has also taken a tumble today aginst the US. It's the lowest it's been since the end of May.

[bobhsv]

Gosh, the NZ dollar has also taken a tumble today aginst the US. It's the lowest it's been since the end of May.

 

Yes, the aussies lost a motza today on the share market. The only main currencies to gain were yours (NZ$) and the Japanese Yen. The other main players all went down. Tomorrow may be a different story.....I still think we are bouncing around....but who knows.

Jen

[The_Big_M]

Not optimistic about tomorrow - a lot of fear around. Fair chance it will prevail for a few days given some technical thresholds have been broken.

[thied]

I see today the australian $ is at 98 cents usd

[Kinkacruiser]

We had US$660 left over from our last cruise. The other day we thought we may as well just change the $US into $NZ for our upcoming cruise. Well, by the time they do the double exchange ie US to AU to NZ....we were left with NZ$551. Not a good deal. So we decided to keep the $US for later on. Todays exchange from the Post Office ie no commission, AU$1,000 got us NZ$1240. We are happy with that. Now we are set to go!

Apart from the wine purchases.

Jen

 

Always a good idea to hang onto leftover USD...especially while you are cruising. Sydney Travelex were offering a pittance exchange rate after we returned from the Feb cruise March. I'm glad I kept them now.

[rugbypopsie]

I am hoping for a bounce....below parity no good for me!:(

[moyaroo]

Headed to Oz in three weeks, praying for a continued trend (and still wishing I had bought a wad of NZD several years ago when the rate was 1.90 NZD for every USD)

[NSWP]

I see today the australian $ is at 98 cents usd

thied you have spolit my day, we have 44 days soon on Ruby Princess/Coral Princess, USD on board spending for drinks, tours and the rest. Way things are going we will be down to 90 cents.

 

We have 17 ports in Europe too, our AUD against the Euro is down to around 71 euro cents.

 

Ah, who cares, you cannot take it with you.

 

SKI - Spend Kid's Inheritance.

[sparky-elpaso]

I decided to order some Aussie and Kiwi dollars from our bank this week. The rate was pretty good and I wanted to see how long it would take, etc. Only took 4 days so I was impressed. You guys have cool money - pretty colors, etc. :D Makes ours look kind of blah.

 

The teller at the bank was interested since she had never seen currency from "down under".

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

I decided to order some Aussie and Kiwi dollars from our bank this week. The rate was pretty good and I wanted to see how long it would take, etc. Only took 4 days so I was impressed. You guys have cool money - pretty colors, etc. :D Makes ours look kind of blah.

 

The teller at the bank was interested since she had never seen currency from "down under".

 

The problem I have with your money is that it is so easy to mix up the notes. You have to be really careful you are giving $1 and not $10. Different coloured notes stop that.