Air Asia Pop-Tastic Sale. OOL/MEL/SYD/PER to KUL for $179 One Way or $279 RT and Other Specials

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    INFIDEL on 07/12/2012 - 09:12

    Travel or Financial Forums have discussion about both cards. (Use the Search box in the top right.)
    Raise your questions there so we all can give you ideas! Sharing ideas helps everyone & the advice is there for others long after this deal is forgotten. Got to love OzBargain as a community of ideas, bargains, & laughs.

    Travelling by yourself can be great. People assume a sole traveller would like a chat, whereas a couple are often left to themselves. I am often taken to peoples homes, introduced to their friends or the entire village, and have a great time. In Asia, I find people think you must be very brave to travel by your self. You will get lots of personal questions about your marital status. But of course don't risk your safety. My liver was at the greatest risk - as you often have to drink with everyone, so as not to offend. (In August in Malaysia, I found I can no longer drink even a small amount of alcohol withought becoming very sick - so am concerned my travel adventures may be affected!)

    Both cards are free, free access to local money from ATMs, no foreign exchange fees, best exchange rates, etc. Never paid a cent to withdraw at ATMs outside Oz. No real difference between the two, except one is a Credit Card & the other a Debit Card. But putting money into a CC defeats getting free use of the banks money (use it to pay for accommodation etc). I did that with the 28Degrees since 2006, until OB taught me a better way - Citibank's debit card. Now travel with both cards. Always wise to have more than 1 source of money! Had problem with a card in Japan. Had no money to get from mountain village to airport to fly home - lucky I had another Credit Card.

    Citibank Plus - Totally Free Unlimited Transaction Account: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61969
    Choice awarded 28Degrees Best Travel Money Card of 2012! (Citibank had only introduced its card.) http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/74594
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/74594

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    INFIDEL on 07/12/2012 - 10:24

    If you don't have some form of device to communicate wirelessly (smart phone, tablet, netbook etc) - think about getting one. I use a $69 Huawei IDEOS X3 bought from Woolies months ago - about as cheap as smartphones come. Unlocked free, so can insert local (cheap) SIM, saving expensive roaming costs. Best thing is using free WiFi (at accommodation, coffee shops etc) to make bookings, emails, look up reviews & VOIP calls on Skype etc. Also can load travel guides (scanned library books or downloaded cheap), apps, etc.

    www.tripadvisor.com is great & up to date advice from their community. Download their free city apps you can use without the internet - great guides for best sights.

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  joannejyz on 11/12/2012 - 16:43

  Hey Bruce,

  SO…….28 degrees rejected me :( I went to the link that you showed me regarding the citibank plus card, but when reading people difficulties trying to access money and deal with the bank (As they are only contacted via phone and no actual store). I was wondering, so, you can only deposit money at an NAB or post office in australia? Can you transfer money from NAB bank online to the account if I need more money? Or even from my comm bank account, can I transfer money via netbank?

  In japan, the card that you have trouble with, which one was it?

  I have my iphone 4s, which I am thinking to bring overseas and use, will it be sufficient? I have also downloaded the travel advisor app, :) I am also thinking to download the lonely planet ones, which is only $1.99, do you know if are they the same as the hard copy books?

  Thanks heaps for your help again! I really appreciate it! Im still in uni atm and this will be my last summer holiday I actually have, next year will be having to do intern, SO…I really have never traveled alone! but It will be awesome, since i did live in china for 3 years! So i do have a bit of experience living in ASIA hehe

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    INFIDEL on 11/12/2012 - 18:14

    SO…….28 degrees rejected me
    Bugger! Must be fussy. But they accepted me & all I do is travel. Have been rejected by a bank once, but found others were also rejected. I remember 28Degrees asking for my Credit Card details. As I had a large credit, they welcomed me. I started with a few hundred dollars credit, & built my way up. Didn't need the credit, as I was depositing my own money. Any family member want to open account in their (and second card in your) name???
    Much easier to get a Debit card - hello CitiBank!

    difficulties trying to access money and deal with the bank
    Never had a problem depositing money with Citibank or other banks - as I rarely see cash, just transfer online - very easy. Best to get used to online transfers, as that can be necessary while travelling.
    As I said, have already set up the automatic deposits for my next trip. (In Myanmar for 4 weeks - need to take crisp US$ there, as no ATMs for Foreigners. Only need to withdraw some money from CitiBank card in Malaysia & Singapore for 2 weeks before/after Myanmar - a short trip this time.)
    There are branches in CBD locations, & normally find CitiBank at overseas airports. Hundreds of CitiBank ATMs/branches in places like Singapore. Use their App or site to find them. I used their ATMs on OS airports, on the 28Degrees card before I had a CitiBank account. I withdraw my balance online when I return.
    And you get a free bottle of wine at some cafes & restaurants if you pay on the card! "Garcon, a bottle of your best CitiBank selected wine with my burger."

    In japan, the card that you have trouble with, which one was it?
    28Degrees! In 2007, they suspended my card as a statement sent to my home was returned. I had notified I would be out of the country. GE Money appologised & paid me twice my costs of withdrawing money from my Visa card to pay for my ticket. Not an issue now as get statements online. But to get an apology & compensation from a bank - very rare!

    iphone 4s
    Being Android, I can't answer that. Should be no problem on WiFi. Same answer about LP - check out reviews. But for the price you can't go wrong. But I find TripAdvisor all I need now, with a look at LP for general advice & plan where to go. I've got latest copy (12 month old) of LP Myanmar, borrowed from the library. Book full price is $38. Amazon Kindle version is about $14. But before it was printed, it was out of date! Myanmar changes overnight. Countries like Japan hardly change, with some prices lower than last trip!

    i did live in china for 3 years!
    If you could survive that, there should be no problems. I have had some difficulties in areas of western China, with language, scams, & dealing with officials. Eastern China/Beijing is so much easier.

    Happy travels!
    PM me questions if you want. Easier than stumbling across them here.

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