Over Seas Currency

[CamRay12]

To all my Aussie travellers.

When traveling OS, be it to a singular or multiple country with multiple currencies.

What is the best way you find to exchange money for your trip.

Do you just use your normal cards from your bank, credit cards and pay exchange rates/ATM fees, cash passports, or just the traditional currency exchange before you leave and take cash.

Thanks.

 

 

Cam & Ray.

Townsville, Qld, Au.

 

First time Cruisers.

[Andyinmacksville]

It really depends where you are going, most South Pacific islands will accept Australian currency, take small notes eg $5 & $10 notes as they often wouldn't give change. In Noumea I used a bank ATM to get some local currency, the rate was much better than buying in Australia. For Singapore I took Australian currency and changed it at one of the many money changers in Singapore, got an extra 5 cents per dollar compared to buying the currency in Australia. Doesn't sound like much but when you convert $1000 that's $50 which is better in my pocket.

 

 

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[Kinkacruiser]

For sheer convenience, I choose to buy the specific currency of the country I'm visiting. Most popular currencies can be purchased at Auspost outlets. I use the ordering online service provided by the BOQ, as the minimum purchase is much lower than Auspost..

[OzKiwiJJ]

We just use local ATMs to get cash. The only exception to that was when we did a PNG cruise where we bought Kina before we embarked.

 

We use a 28 Degrees Mastercard which doesn't charge foreign transaction fees.

[Aus Traveller]

As others mentioned, it depends where you are going. If we need foreign currency we get it before we go. For Pacific islands we use AUD. In many countries the good old US$ is accepted. If we need US$ we usually get it from the bank in a 'pack' because there are small notes included. When we have got US$ from the Post Office it has always been large denomination notes that can be hard to use.

[GUT2407]

Yep a card without OS transaction fees and grab a small amount of cash at an ATM, unless we know we'll be grabbing a cab as soon as we arrive then I might grab a small amount of cash.

[Gwendy]

I buy small amounts of cash from Amex online before I go, pick up at local PO. You can specify what type of notes you get, eg small, medium etc. Exchange rates fair but I am only buying small amounts. Larger purchases use credit cards.

Be careful of currencies, I specified small notes for South Africa and ended up with a huge pile of 100 ZAR notes. Each one worth A$10.00. Lol

Remember if you use other currencies in a country, the shopkeeper will have to pay exchange commission when he/she banks them, so they will calculate their exchange rate accordingly.

[Aus Traveller]

We have found if we use US$ or AUD overseas, the shopkeeper will check the bank rate for the day and usually show us the figures on line, or in the past, the rate printed in the newspaper. Then they calculate how much we have to pay. Once when we were buying in Noumea, the exchange rate they used was better (for us) than we would have got at home if we bought XPF.

[vrogers]

Cam & Ray - as others have advised - it is dependent on where you are sailing to?

 

South Pacific

USA

Europe

 

As I use different methods for each of these destinations.

South Pacific - just take AUD

USA - small amount of cash and use CC

Europe - mainly take Euros and use CC

[Suzbluz]

Outside of local cruising, I load spending money onto a travel card and withdraw at the other end from ATM in the local currency. Then you can watch exchange rate here and load money on when rate is favourable. Also a fee/OS transaction free credit card for back up.

[Elorac123]

I use my Citibank Visa card plus,no exchange rates in most countries and no charge for using much the same is my 28 degrees credit card.

The very worst rate you will get is a travel card from any bank.

Countries like Thailand ,Cambodia,take cash and you get a great rate from money changers (not the airport)

If you want small amounts to start you off with small mixed notes I use the money exchange in the larger shopping centres ( not the post office)

Cheers Carole

[MicCanberra]

Depending on the country, I usually take some cash especially if they accept AUD, USD, Euros or GBP. I use a 28 degrees credit card for purchases, as it has no international transaction fees and their currency conversion is reasonable. I also use a Citibank debit card for cash withdrawals at ATMs, no international fees but there may be an ATM fee (around $2.50-3).

In the past, I had used numerous methods like Travellers Cheques, travel cards and such but have found each has good points but also drawbacks. Now, after weighing up the ease of use, convenience in both carrying it around and in case of loss and the costs involved before, during and after travel, I have settled for the credit card, debit card and some cash.

Edited June 5, 2017 by MicCanberra

[kobecat]

I use my Citibank Visa card plus,no exchange rates in most countries and no charge for using much the same is my 28 degrees credit card.

The very worst rate you will get is a travel card from any bank.

Countries like Thailand ,Cambodia,take cash and you get a great rate from money changers (not the airport)

If you want small amounts to start you off with small mixed notes I use the money exchange in the larger shopping centres ( not the post office)

Cheers Carole

 

 

I agree with Carole and Mic. We use Citibank Visa Debit for withdrawal of money from ATMs. No foreign currency conversion charges or ATM fees. 28 Degrees card now charges ATM fees for cash withdrawals so we use that card for purchases, no foreign currency conversion there.

 

 

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[MicCanberra]

I agree with Carole and Mic. We use Citibank Visa Debit for withdrawal of money from ATMs. No foreign currency conversion charges or ATM fees. 28 Degrees card now charges ATM fees for cash withdrawals so we use that card for purchases, no foreign currency conversion there.

 

 

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That is right, I was getting away with just the 28 degrees card until 1 January 2015 when they introduced the cash withdrawal fees. I then had to go looking again.

[Sparky74]

I agree with Carole and Mic. We use Citibank Visa Debit for withdrawal of money from ATMs. No foreign currency conversion charges or ATM fees. 28 Degrees card now charges ATM fees for cash withdrawals so we use that card for purchases, no foreign currency conversion there.

 

 

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I also use a Citibank Visa Debit Card as it has no fees (including no foreign transaction fees) and the exchange rate is comparable to that offered by the big 4.

 

It can be used to get cash from ATMs or as EFTPOS. RCI accept it as a "credit card" to set up the onboard expense account and the Tap and Go feature works on the London Underground (Tube) and buses.

 

When we're not travelling I just keep a small balance (<$100) in the account unless I'm buying something from overseas online (eg eBay) in which case I transfer funds from my regular bank account.

[cheznandy]

Another vote for the Citibank Visa Debit card and 28 Degrees Mastercard for all the reasons other posters have mentioned.

We have a Citibank account each, set up on our internet banking, so easy to transfer money while overseas.

Also have two 28 Degrees, I have the partner card, just incase we have one stolen or an ATM decides to keep one. One set of each card is usually locked in the safe of hotel or ship.

 

They changed the 28 Degrees as people were loading it up with cash and using it as a debit card, it can still be done but they charge a fee for it now. We use it for a hold on hotels, the ship if it is not in AUD, and anything we can charge on Mastercard while travelling.

[mrs and mrs]

I would comment ,but I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the 100 million dong we have left over.

 

Have tried using them as serviettes and napkins, NUP, even the kids laugh at them. Maybe next trip.

[MicCanberra]

I would comment ,but I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the 100 million dong we have left over.

 

Have tried using them as serviettes and napkins, NUP, even the kids laugh at them. Maybe next trip.

Now for some reason I wouldn't have thought you would have trouble using dong.;p

[Jayceemac]

It really depends where you are going, most South Pacific islands will accept Australian currency, take small notes eg $5 & $10 notes as they often wouldn't give change. In Noumea I used a bank ATM to get some local currency, the rate was much better than buying in Australia. For Singapore I took Australian currency and changed it at one of the many money changers in Singapore, got an extra 5 cents per dollar compared to buying the currency in Australia. Doesn't sound like much but when you convert $1000 that's $50 which is better in my pocket.

 

 

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We use a Citibank Visa debit card which you just load with Australian currency and use at ATM in each place. Good exchange rates and usually no extra costs. Sometimes there is a small fee at some ATMs and you can also use it in Australia.

 

 

 

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[gogo65]

I just returned from a Baltic cruise this week.

I took a small amount of USD and also ordered some Russian rubles (we did not have access to an ATM with our guide).

Everything else we used tap and pay using our Citibank debit card or used our bankwest MasterCard (also fee free).

I found it much easier to tap and pay then to work out how much we would spend in each port each day. Some ports I spent a lot, others was just a coffee. Better than taking out $50 or $100 each day and then trying to spend it.

[Hawka]

my velocity card has wallets fot different currencies used that in NZ has the euro the us and a few others in it that you can use not sure if it didnt have it what happens i think still can use it but have not needed to find out yet

[OzKiwiJJ]

The problem with the travel cards that have currency wallets is that if you don't use all the funds in one wallet they sting you both ways with poor exchange rates - converting to that currency and converting the left-over currency bakc to AUD.

 

Also make sure you have a second card on that travel card "account". I had my handbag stolen in the UK a few years ago. In it was one of our travel cards - the one that didn't issue a spare card on the account. It happened on the second week of a seven week trip so there we ended up with thousands of pounds that we couldn't access until we got home and could get a replacement card. Then it cost us hundreds of dollars to convert the pound back to AUD. Never again!

[mr walker]

For our 6 week Canada/US & cruise trip in '14, we obtained a CBA travel money card (well one each, useful taking into account OzKiwiJJ's point about 'losing' the card). We loaded ahead of time with CAN$ and US$ . We also took some US and CAN cash & of course had our regular (A$) transaction & credit cards.

 

We found this a very convenient way to 'carry' foreign currency & used the cards to withdraw cash (nominal ATM fee each time) + used it to pay for purchases (meals, souvenirs, sightseeing etc) just like a credit/debit card.

We were also able to lodge this card for our RC on-board expense card, so the account was settled directly in US$.

 

We did transfer the CAN$ balance after the Canadian leg into US$ on the card at the prevailing rate, but it was <$100 so no big deal. At the end of the trip we left whatever was left in US$ on the card for 'another day'. In fact, when the was dire predictions for the little A$ last year, I topped up the US$ balance for future use. I see we have around US$3600 on the card now. At an on-board spend of around $50 per day, maybe less now we have higher C&A status, that's around 70 days worth & we only have 21 days of cruising booked!!! Need to get our fingers out :D

[cheznandy]

Reason we like the Citibank Plus is that we dont have to load it with different currencies, can just draw out the currency from which ever country we are in.

 

As Ozkiwi said, we had an ANZ travel card, had to choose which currency, then when we wanted to convert into something different they charged. It was a while ago, but I think we even got charged to draw the rest out in AUD.

We still have about $200 in the Citibank plus after our last trip, ready for the next one where ever we go, or I can use our local ATM to draw out AUD, no charges.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We're thinking of seeing if we can get a Citibank debit card. These days I'd rather have a debit card that isn't linked to our main bank account, so the debot card account only contains travel funds.