have travelled se asia before and am looking to do it again for 6 month to a year. i will be using my australian bank account cash this time which i found out is going to cost me 3% of what i take out for each transaction in addition to $5 per withdrawal and whatever the atm costs me.
options at the moment are:
pay ther fees
transfer my $AUD to UK account and use that which is cheaper but by time i pay the fees to get money to my UK account i dont imagine there will be much differed
travellers cheques, not widely used in se asia
take cash, i drink a lot and will most likely lose it.
any other options?
thanks in advance
Reply to this Can you find a different bank account that doesn't charge so much for withdrawals?
Cash for a year sounds like a dangerously huge amount of money to be carrying.
Reply to this i'm with anz and i'm sure they dont charge that amount??? i went to thailand abotu a month ago so i'll have a look. Is it different for cash v visa in restarants etc as well as you could pay for as much as possible on visa to limit the cash you need to actually carry. Otherwise i'd minimise your withdrawals to once every 3 days or something so that you are minimising the $5 fee??? are the newer visa debit cards cheaper?
Reply to this I used a travel cash card. Plenty of them out there. Simply load up your card (done online) and off you go. Minimal fees and good exchange rates. Just do your research.
Reply to this For
THAILAND it is easy to cash travelers checks. Other countries not as easy but you can do it. In Thailand the fee to cash a travelers check is 33 baht. The fee to use an ATM in Thailand is 150 baht. If you do use travelers checks only bring the largest sizes you can get to cut down on fees. When you make ATM withdrawals take out the most you can at one time so you do not have lots of fees for small amounts. If you use an ATM overseas for cash you must first notify your bank that you will be using their card overseas - or your withdrawal may be denied!
The only debit cards I use in Asia now are through credit unions. Their fees are low, they even pay for some of my ATM fees even overseas (within limits.) I have more than one credit union account to take advantage of their low fees. These same credit unions also provide travelers checks without any charges. With 2 different debit cards I can take out around $1000 a day if I had to. Even if I paid for the ATM withdrawal fee that amount of money would cost $10 (150 baht X 2.) Check the limits your hometown bank has for daily withdrawals. If they are low bump the limits up or change banks.
Maybe look into a CU or at least a different, smaller bank that is not so expensive! If your bank has limits use more than one bank. I can transfer cash from my bank accounts to my credit union accounts using the internet. I set up PayPal years a go so I can transfer funds between accounts.
Six months is a long time but I have friends retired in Thailand who only use ATMs for their cash. There are some ATMs in Thailand that do not charge the 150 baht fee, AEON is one. If you will be in Thailand most of the time you could have money transferred to a Thai bank account. The fee for that service might be cheaper than several ATM withdrawals.
If you do bring a whole wad of cash only stick with the largest denominations you can get. Make sure the currency is not old, dirty or torn. When I am on the road I only choose hotels that have safes or safety boxes and use those safes for my cash. There are times when I record my serial numbers of my hundred dollar bills and travelers checks just in case they are stolen. I save this info in an email that I send to myself and then save in a folder.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #145608
This is very useful, as I'm heading to Thailand in a few months and need a lot of cash on me, so will follow your travellers cheques suggestion - thanks!
Re the opening post and the amount charged. The $5 dollar amount is the fee, but the 3%!i(MISSING)s the currency exchange charge. Almost all Australian banks impose this currency exchange charge, it is either built into the exchange rate (as with the major banks) or is charged separately. This charge also applies to Visa and Mastercard transactions in foreign currency.
Reply to this Shane, Dallas.
Check out some credit unions in your city! Free checking, free travelers checks and low charges for ATM use! I have no problems with MasterCard and Visa cards in Thailand. But if you will need lots of cash overseas maybe more than one CU or small savings bank account will be a good idea.
When I make a withdrawal using my debit card in Thailand a few hours later I check my account to see how much came out of my account. I compute what the rate is that I got for the cash and it is always fair. I don't see a big problem with the fees my CU charges.
No problem changing US dollars over to Thai baht in Thailand. The $100 dollar and $50 dollar bills will get a little more than $5's and $20's. Just stick with $100 bills when bringing cash. Cash comes in handy too. Cash, travelers checks and ATM withdrawals usually works out okay. A credit card for emergencies also is a big help. You never know when you will need a few thousand in a hurry.
In case it is not clear.
WAIT until you get to Thailand to change your currency over to Thai baht for the best return. Most major currencies accepted. There are bank money changers available at the airport 24 hours a day, coming and going.
Reply to this thanks a lot for the info. i think i will be taking a mix of cash, travellers cheques and maybe put some $ on a travel card as a result of the responses.
cheers ppl
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