[brisbull]

Hi everyone

I am looking for some advice on the best way to obtain foreign currency overseas. I will going to USA, UK and Europe, so there will be 3 major currencies that I will encounter.

I bank with ANZ, and they charge AU$5 for each transaction performed overseas. While this is not too bad when taking out large amounts of cash, I am not sure if their exchange rates are all that competitive.

I have thought about getting some travellers cheques, but dont know how easy they will be to cash - or if there is a fee to cash them in. The fact that they can be replaced is not a bad feature, though... and ANZ is offering them commission free for the next month.

The other option, which I know very little about, is using a VISA for cash withdrawls in other currencies - does anyone here know what fees are involved?

At this stage, the ATM method might win out based on ease, but it may be good to complement this with some TCs.

All advice welcome

[cssaus]

Some points to keep in mind.

Using an ATM card in the USA doesn't present too many problems but in Europe and the UK you can easily be caught out.

In Europe, most of the ATMs do not give you the option to specify whether or not you want to withdraw your cash from a Savings or Cheque account, but instead wants to default to withdraw from your savings account. If your primary account from which you draw funds from is designated as a "cheque" account, you'll find will not be able to withdraw a cent.

Also, in a lot of cases, most ATMs in Europe and the UK expect you to use a numeric pin number and quite often the pin number is meant to be 4 digits. You need to ask your Bank what happens if you were to encounter an ATM that only expects a 4 digit pin as against a 6 character pin which you might use here.

The ATM keypads do not show the alpha characters. A tip: if you run into one of these ATMS, grab your mobile phone and use the alpha/numeric mapping to see what number corresponds to which letter.

About 12 months ago I opened up an account with HSBC and it's easily used throughout the world in all ATMs and doesn't have the problems described above. You can find HSBC bank branched pretty much all over the world...very convenient.

Some friends of mine were recently in a 12 hr stopover in Tokyo and all they had was a VISA card. When they tried a cash advance from an ATM it just wouldn't work. As there were no banks open during the time they were there they had to survive on about $A10 which they managed to pick up a couple of pieces of Sushi with. I believe that ATM VISA cash advances in Europe may be equally difficult but I have no experience on this.

As for fees, sure you'll get hit all over the place but in the end the convenience far outweighs the cost.

One final hint, take two ATM cards and keep one well concealed and completely separate from the other. If you lose your luggage, or run into a bag snatcher, your not going to be left begging on the streets.

[Kiwi Flyer]

Always have some cash that is readily accepted or convertible on you (eg US$ or euros).

Relying on ATMs - machines may be down or out of money.

Relying on TCs - bureau may be closed as happened to me in Istanbul.

[serfty]

G'day brisbull, there is a recent thread on this topic in the Your Questions forum of this board. Here is a link to it: CURRENCY EXCHANGE ...!.

I think you should have a look at WestPac, where most cards (Debit/Credit/Savings AC etc) have a "Fee Free" deal with the following O/S banks:

Institutions participating in the "Global ATM Alliance" are Bank of America (USA), Deutsche Bank (Germany/Spain/Italy/Poland), Barclays Bank (UK/Africa/Spain/France/Portugal/Gibraltar), ScotiaBank (Canada/Caribbean/Mexico), BNP Paribas (France), Westpac (Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand).

[HardieBoys]

I also suggest that you consider opening a Westpac account if you have time, due to the fee-free withdrawals. The participating banks, such as Bank of America in the US, and Barclays in the UK, are quite widespread. Sometimes it´s been easier to access money fee-free overseas than in Australia.

[bigjobs]

'in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses ...'

i also offer you my thoughts on using westpac, as others have. very simple, fee free, your cash is secure (in the bank) and you can get it most places. i've never had a hassle and found their partner institutions are plentiful.

cheers

[Warks]

Back before you could use your ATM cards overseas the best way was to load up your credit card with cash (MC or VISA) and get cash advances at the banks. There was the odd small fee but I think things have changed since then and there seems to be a fee everywhere you look. Another problem with this method is that you may exhaust your cash reserves by paying for things like hotels effectively with your cash. You could carry a second card though to get around this.

[drron]

Travellers cheques are easy to use in the US.I use them in stores,restaurants and hotels without problems.You get your change in cash to build up your reserves and this way there is no fee for cashing them.So if you can get them commission free then this is the most economical way to go.
I havent travelled to europe for some time so cant comment on there.

[netaddict]

I've just recently come back from the UK & Europe so have experienced some of this first hand.

Travellers CHQ's that I got from AMEX you can cash commission free at any of there office's in UK & Europe commission free. Certain other places also allow you to do the same.

Be careful of what card you use in ATM's in UK & Europe. As previous posts have mentioned you can only ever use your default account on the linked card. Say hypothetically you got a MasterCard with your savings account linked; your credit account will be the primary account so any withdrawal you make will always be debited from the credit account hence a cash advance on the card.

When I travelled some of the people I was with used the Travelex cash passport system. This seemed to work well for them. Not sure how cost effective it is but worth a looking at. Check it out at www.cashpassport.com.au Also know most credit unions and Suncorp resell them.

Another card recently launched is the Wizard clear advantage MasterCard. It has no fee's except the interest rate from what I can see.

Finally my advice is to ensure you take atleast 2 cards and keep them seperate, if possible more then that.

[NM]

I use a Citibank Readicredit card for overseas cash withdrawls. There are no foreign exchange fees or ATM fees. I have been able to use it almost everywhere. The only exceptions I have found have been one day in Helsinki (None of my cards works, including Mastercard, Cirrus or Readicredit, so perhaps a local problem on that day for foreign authorizations), and in Malaysia I had 100% success with Maybank ATMs, but no success as the few other banks I tried - Maybank is by far the largest bank in Malaysia. Be aware that most ATMs in Malaysia are not 24 hour accessible, just s few at places like the airport, main centres like Maybank's Menara head office etc.

I have not had to do over-the-counter exchanges in many years. Always just use ATMs and make sure I carry a few cards just in case one gets lost, compromised or eaten by a machine (as happened to me in Luzern in Switzerland on a Saturday night).