Hi,
I'm going on a trip to New Zealand with my girlfriend in early November this year.
I noticed the Australian Dollar getting weaker, so I thought I should purchase a Travel card sooner rather than later.
Is now a good time to get a Travel card, and do you recommend any particular travel card? Is CashPassport.com.au any good?
Cheers
Rather than walking around with a massive amount of cash, I was investigating travel cards as that seems more safe. What would you do?
Cash out on my visa debit, take cash where I can.
Least you know it is market rates.
I would hedge my bets. I would take a small amount of cash (because you'd probably find that you'd need it at a few places), and use a international fee free credit or debit card (credit is preferred because the rates are better). Just keep an eye out on the rates and when it's good, get a little, and slowly accumulate as much as required.
Currency is always a gamble, you never know, the AUD could go up in value at the time you are holidaying as well, so if you lock in a rate now you'll lose.
You're better off getting cash now if you think the AUD will drop further. Otherwise take something like a 28 degrees credit card (which is generally better than the cash rates at the time) and use that. NZ is very credit friendly. Most places I visited had no minimum credit card charge + most places didn't have a credit card surcharge.
I have noticed that there has been a drop in AUD vs the NZD, but it's been roughly the same rate for almost the whole year? Correct me if I'm wrong here.
Lock in rates not even close to market. 3% fee. Charges and fees with everything including cash out.
I wouldn't use one.