Going to Japan next week, would like to buy some Japanese Yen.
Anyone know where is the best place to buy Yen ?
Thanks.
Best Foreign Currency Exchange shop ?
punter1 on 09/10/2009 - 15:17
closed Comments
What we do when we go overseas is we bring a small amount of money changed in advance (say enough for a taxi + a bit) and we bring a lot of AUD. When we arrive in the country we find a dodgy sort of money exchange place and exchange some of it for local currency. Larger purchases go on the credit card too (from reputable stores).
For Japan I think you will need slightly more cash or USD, since I am going to Japan at the end of this month as well, I did some research and realise that it is rather difficult to change for yen with AUD in Japan itself. Appearently the commonly accepted notes would be USD instead, where as if you use credit card for the purchases, don't forget you will be paying a slightly higher exchange rate which the bank often charge.
Slightly higher? As far as I know the credit card exchange rates are still a lot better than those shop outlet exchange places. Your credit card might add 2.5% on the current rate whereas fees and profit margins at the airport are up to 8% (as per link above), and I know that local traders in the streets of Bali for instance deliberately miscalculate in their favour.
One trick to help if you're not sure overseas is to change modest round amounts at a time, say $100AUD so it's easier to calculate what you should be getting, and count it yourself in front of them!
I once had a shonky (commission) changer in Sanur try to stitch me up with a dodgy calculator and creative counting; nice try, but I'm so tight if a penny drops I can tell you how much copper's been worn off it; I ended up getting him so bamboozled (they're not used to tourists catching them out) he forgot to charge me the commission so I got the good inflated rate and by the time he realised I was on the footpath! ;)
Also, look for Aussie ex-pats who will happily tell you which changers are honest in the vicinity! :)
Most frequently travellers like myself never uses the travelex at the airport, what we usually do is have either one or mulitple currency exchange shops that we head to locally before we travel overseas. (For some unknown reasons, all the one with better rates that I ran into are operated by Indians, so that might be a sign) And of course, if you are obviously a foreigner trading for local curreny in another country, it is expected that you will be charged more then what they usually should. This is particularlly true for Caucasians visitng Asia country. The rates I usually get is often lower then what the bank charges, especially when I do it in large quantity.
Found probably the best forex shop in sydney.
When the spot rate was around 80.5 yesterday, I managed to get 79.5 with the following shop:
KVB KunLun
Level 18, Citigroup Centre, 2 Park St
Sydney 2000
Tel: 02 82 63 0188Warning, the above shop is very busy. My wife had to wait 1.5 hours yesterday to complete the transactions.
Agreed! have been using these guys for years. Changed USD today at 97.5 for AU$10k, official rate was 98.5, comm bank was 94.7 (plus charges). Ended up with almost $300 more :D
Thankfully my friend agreed to wait there in her uni break and called me as my ticket number approached, it was 2 hours! Dont be alarmed i they ask you to come back the next day to collect the equivalent foreign currency as they have to order it in due to the large amounts they change on a daily basis.
Japan's exchange rates at their money changers are terrible.
Given their technological advancements, surprisingly Japan is still predominantly a cash society
Withdrawing from ATMs while there will give you a better rate than a money changer.
However only ATMs in 7-11s, Citibank and Japan Post's will work.The best way of getting cash anywhere in the world is still the Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard.
Agreed that the exchange rates in Japan are rotten - regardless of whether you exchange at the airport (where you're always going to get a bad rate!) or at a local bank (and it can be very difficult to find one that will exchange AUD).
I would recommend getting $100 exchanged in Aus somewhere, airport, Travelex etc, and then when you get to Japan, withdraw money from an ATM (I known for a fact that there are ATMs at both Kansai (Osaka) and Narita (Tokyo) that accept Australian credit/eftpos cards.
apart from thailand.. vast majority of ATM's now charge a 150THB ($5) fee for foreign cards :-(
+1, don't bother to change yen before you go, get a Wizard Clear Advantage MC, put some money into it before leaving, and when you get there look for a 7-11 or ask: sebun erebun wa doko desuka?
Be sure you know your daily withdrawal limit. I thought my card was not accepted when I got a cryptic error message. Then I asked for less and the transaction went through.
I usually go to ANZ Bank as they seem to have the best rates.
When doing the reverse - foreign back to AUD, I found the best places are the casinos. They have excellent rates and no fees and open 24/7.
When I arrived in Canada and needed CAD, it was late, and no one was open, and the only place open was the casino, where I found that it was the best place to do FX. So I've been going to casinos to do FX ever since.
Agreed, never rule out your local bank, I've hit the jackpot on exchange rates (and low fees) myself a couple of times at my local CBA - one time was for Yen as well, they beat Travelex online (next best) hands down! ;)
Travelex ONLINE seems to have the best exchange rate going.
I use Travelex because I can pickup my cash at the airport terminal as I'm leaving.
Agree with Bob81 Travelex Online at Travelex - after shopping around with local cheapies (who never publish their fees), Order online for collection at the airport a few days in advance.
I just bought some yen from everforex (website everforex.com.au). Went down to their branch here in Melbourne, shop seems a little dodgy but they offered the best rate I could find in the city (83.59 as the other shop gave the best rate of 80.9). And they do provided the hourly updated exchange rate on their website, so pretty good I would say.
There is no everforex.com.au - are you sure that is the right web address?
my bad, it's just everforex.com
Do you know if they open on Sunday ??
I had left Melbourne for a couple of years now. Back then they only opened on weekdays.
has anyone used this everforex.com?
I just been reading on their website and it sounds pretty good.
Is it just like trading where you buy and sell at market price??
Anyone have more information about this company/trading style?
I used to use KVB Kunlun quite often in the past(2005/2006) and they offer reasonably good rates. However, I now use HiFx(www.hifx.com.au) - good for larger transactions(2000$ and above). KVB Kunlun is ok if you just need a bit of cash handy for travel overseas.
Bankwest seems to do pretty well on www.bestexchangerates.net as suggested by http://perthhacks.blogspot.com/2010/10/best-places-to-change…
Personally I would let my credit card handle it (e.g. put excess funds into it and withdraw as yen once you're there). Also have a look at this link (2 pages to article):
http://www.choice.com.au/Reviews-and-Tests/Money/Banking/Tra…