Any recommendation where to buy USD in cash & traveler's Cheques.
I want the best value for AUD.
I called CBA, they are charging 1% or $8 fees.
Best place to buy USD Cash/TC
virtualds on 21/03/2013 - 13:16
Comments
I second this opinion.
This is by far the best option. Anywhere in Australia is going to give you a pretty poor rate excluding fees, so you're best off getting a 28 degrees mastercard (credit) or a Citibank visa debit (both offer the best international rates and no fees). I recently travelled with a citibank visa debit and got near exact XE.com conversion rates when withdrawing from ATMs, and most had no withdrawal fees (I think I paid $4 in fees from 1 atm that I desperately needed to withdraw from, everything else was free!).
Honestly I wouldn't worry about not having cash when going there, there is bound to be an ATM, possibly even a citibank one, at the airport (there have been at most intl airports i've visited). The only thing is to make sure the card will work, so always take at least one backup card just incase (eg. your usual credit or debit card, even if the fees are bad you know it will probably work in an emergency).
Forex Rates are generally better in the country you're visiting, especially if it's the third world. For example go to a bank here and expect to see the Thai Baht/A$ for notes to be for example 28-33 so you get 28baht for each dollar but if selling baht for A$ you would have to give them 33 for a dollar. So they rip you off by having such a huge range between their buying and selling rates. At a Bangkok bank they might offer 30-31 as their spread and unlike with Aussie banks they don't hit you up for a commission fee on top. If you must buy currency here, then Australia Post is possibly best, their rates are similar to the banks, but no commission fee. You can get an idea of what the rates are like in the Country you intend visiting by going to a main banks website.
Try UAE Exchange - http://www.uaeexchange.com/
We have used them for a few years and have always found their exchange rates for cash to be very good, with no commission.
Can't comment on what they're like for TCs - haven't used them in years!
This may not be an option for you, but I generally find getting a card with low/no atm fees and low/no conversion fees and pulling cash out of an ATM to always beat the conversion places.