Hi, I'm travelling to Japan later this year (Late November) and was curious as to what others would do in relation to conversion rates. I'm not sure what the outlook is in terms of AUD - JPY in the current year but it's currently around 1AUD = 85 Yen. Would you just convert now or wait it out? Not sure if it will even make a difference. Thanks
Purchase Japanese Yen Now or Later?
slosh on 18/02/2017 - 13:50
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I just checked these guys out, I guess they have their place if you need foreign currency before you land.
I just got back from Bali Yesterday and we were achieving around 10.200 IDR. TMO are offering 9047.03.
As a comparison, the currency exchange at Depensar Airport was offering 9700.
A quick search online shows Travellex at 9508.9401
Its always better to buy currency yesterday or yesteryear when the rate was better
It wont be as good as 2013 or 2015. Novermber is a long way away and the Jpy yen looks like it has been climbing since jul last year.
I'd hold off and see… but that is just me.
well, it's been improving for the last 9 months after a 22 month slow decline. maybe hold off for a while
If we genuinely knew we would become millionaires overnight. If it hit 90 I would buy, but I usually just load up my card in A$ and take it out at a 7-11 ATM when I'm there. There have been times it has gone down and times it has gone up.
If you live in Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, there is a small bank that offers excellent rates with no fees, which most people don't seem to know about.
It's called Anying - https://www.anying.com/au/. Their JPY minimum order is 5000 yen, roughly $58.
You need to order online and pickup from branch in a few days. They usually have limited cash in-store. I've used them before with no issues at all.
- Anying: 1 AUD = 84.85 JPY
- Travel Money Oz: 1 AUD = 80.72 JPY
- Travelex: 1 AUD = 84.61 JPY (online rate which is pretty good, but minimum $500 order)
- XE's current rate: 1 AUD = 86.50 JPY
Also checkout KVB Kunlun
Ever Forex. Trades at spot market rate, e.g. website currently states 86.5. The only problem is they don't always have JPY on hand and it's worth calling in advance to check.
Wait, any deal in Crystal ball on ozb? Need it to help op with his question
Ask and ye shall receive.
The monthly chart shows an increase in the AUD against the JPY for the last six months but is now approaching a monthly resistance area (red dotted line) so will 'probably' do a bit of a retrace (barring any global catastrophes of course). The JPY has traditionally been a safe-haven currency for when others are not doing so well.
See monthly chart here:
https://www.mql5.com/en/charts/6607797/audjpy-r-mn1-first-pr…
The weekly chart is also showing signs of a pullback after retreating from the monthly support area AND the 200 moving average (the wavey red line on the chart).
https://www.mql5.com/en/charts/6607809/audjpy-r-w1-first-pru…
My guess is that over the next few months the price will retreat on the monthly chart to test support of the 200 MA but will have to wait and see what happens at that time. The weelky chart also shows signs of being a bit overbought. As your target time is 9 months away a lot of things can happen between now and then. I'm not an elliot wave expert but it could also be completing a 5th wave of an elliot cycle which is traditionally a short wave. So I don't 'think' it's going to get to much higher for a little while. Maybe get some now and some later?
(Not meant to be taken as financial advice, DYOR, I'm not to blame for Trumpapocalypse)
My guess
Yep.
What's your guess?
My guess is leaving it in the bank until I go and getting it via a fee free Citibank ATM card will offer a good rate
You're pretty much asking us to help you pick black or red!
Black
Don't be racist! hahaha
Yellow?
It's coming up from a drop. No guarantees, but I would change it over later.
If you can afford to put aside a few hundred dollars each month, I'd be doing that now instead of risking a massive rise or drop closer to your trip. Play it safe instead. This way, you're buffered in the event of a drop, but as it rises, you can also put more towards it at that time.
//the great dilemma of when to exchange. The Yens a hard thing, such an industrialized economy, and a relatively safe currency bet haven keeps it high. Not to mention the chinese trying to artificially inflate it to protect their own exports. Despite Abe's great efforts to get it down in order to benefit Japanese exports it's been a long road.
I'm in the same boat as you and have been watching it for over 10 years now. It will hit parity again but when.. crystal ball.. our interest rates will need to rise to achieve it. I found setting up a Citibank account in Japan and transferring from here gave the best rate of all, you will pay zero fees. Next to that Kings Currency are very good if it's cash in hand were talking. Having said all that if it's not significant amounts I would be happy atm with anything above 85.
Does Citibank still operate in Japan ? I was there May last year and found the Japanese Citibank (well, the local retail bricks-and-mortar branches) had been taken over by another bank (SMBC ?).
Like another poster, I used my Oz Citibank Debit Mastercard (transferring funds from my TransactionPlus account) and withdrawing at 7-11 ATMs (but not Lawsons, which no longer recognized the card !)
Well that'd be bloody right, find a great option and it gets cut off. Another archaic crap Japanese bank wins out to screw over yet more people. I HATE the Japanese banking system, it's an absolute rort and throwback to the 80's or even worse. You can go through fourex for a good rate but the problem is always going to be incoming charges and don't worry cause the Jap banks will screw you every time. Thats where citibank came in and was the only one without the incoming ridiculous transfer charges.
We though we'd found another option with Shinsei bank but it turned out to have the incoming fees as well. Problem is they're so vague, ring their customer service and they'll basically tell you they dont know if there will be incoming fees or not. Its a joke.
Back to the drawing board for me, thanks for the heads up though guys.
What's wrong with just withdrawing fee-free through JP Post or 7-Elevens which are nearly everywhere?
@tanoshiiki: Thats fine for the average tourist Joe but as a family we go for months at a time, last time was for a year. Transfers in excess of 10k so as you can imagine I need to find the most efficient method to transfer large sums (I prob should have clarified this in my original post)
@ninjataki: Fair enough, that makes more sense. A year is a long time, do you have more stronger ties there, e.g. family, work, etc? Does Sumitomo still have offer the same benefits as Citibank for any legacy accounts you may have held in Citibank JP? It may be worth trying to find what you're looking for through ex-pat forums or the like as most OzBargainers are only short-term visitors to Jp.
@tanoshiiki: Yeah good advice, will start the search all over. Mrs is Nihonjin, next time we go will be to put the kids into school there, so I gotta find a good transfer method. Cheers man
We went with MoneyOz recently. They have a best rates guarantee you might want to use. Theres abit more haggling you can do depending on your skills. They will allow you to match against online rates too.
http://www.travelmoneyoz.com/best-rates-guarantee