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exchanging foreign money for Yen 2009/6/26 09:44
Hi,

What is the best way to get Japanese Yen from foreign currencies? I'm from Australia and I wonder if it's more profitable to exchange a wad of AUD for YEN from a forex exchange centre or should would it be better to do it in Japan and if so, where?

Thanks!
by nix1016  

Yen 2009/6/26 15:13
Some of us go to a ATM in Japan (Post office and 7-11 convenience stores) and get yens out of our bank account back home (in my case North America).I do buy about Yen 20 000 back home before departure so I don't have to fret about it for the first day, and don't worry too much about the exchange rate..So what if it cost me the price of a small sandwich!!
by Red frog (guest) rate this post as useful

yen here 2009/6/26 18:43
We used our Westpac Master card debit card at the Osaka GPO and took out 50,000Y, about $700AUS at the time (mid April) It ended up costing us an extra $30+ in costs from Westpac, PLUS the $5.00 ATM fee, and the exchange rate was no great difference from here at home. I recommend Travelex ONLINE [not instore] (others disagree, though, in other posts) as they will return your unused currency at the rate at which you bought it, so you don't lose anything, and don't charge commission over $500 AUS. If you are only going for a relatively short time I recommend taking Yen from Australia and save the hassle of exchanging in Japan.
by fmj rate this post as useful

my findings 2009/6/26 19:20
nix, im from AUS too and have a few things i could share:

1. Withdrawing from ATM using your Debit Card(such as the Westpac one which i also have) costs more. I think its 5% charge of the amount you draw.

2. Withdrawing from ATM using your ATM card costs abit less, i think its 2% instead of 5%.

3. Note when you withdraw from Westpac you use the CASH exchange rate which is lower than the T/T exchange rate. And not all ATM's accept Cirrus cards which are the type you are looking for.

4. I found HSBC to be cheaper in withdrawing, they charged 1.1% perhaps because they are a foreign bank, AND they had a higher exchange rate for withdrawing overseas.

5. The method i used mostly however was depositing a huge sum of money to my j-gf's account through T/T(which is $20 flat) using Westpac and withdrawing this at no extra cost plus the highest T/T exchange rate possible.

Now, this all applies to exchanging IN japan. Best luck however, is to convert as much cash in AUS before going(of course you carry the risk of carrying more cash). After visiting all the banks in 1 day, i found from best to worst:

1. Flight Centre money exchange outlet(in George St. Sydney)
2. Westpac bank
3. Comm bank
4. Travelex in HSBC
5. Independant Money exchange shops

The Flight centre outlet charged 60yen per dollar during feb when i went there and it charged NO commission, while the other banks gave 59,58,55 iirc respectively with about $10 commission. Independant Money exchange shops were appalling and not worth mentioning.

Hope that helps.
All in all, i think you shouldn't be too calculative about money to enjoy the holiday although it does get to you sometimes.

Cheers
by sonny (guest) rate this post as useful

best exchange rate 2009/6/26 19:59
to sonny and the original poster.

i'm also from sydney and i found the best rates at globel forex KVB kunlun at park street in the city (citigroup centre building). if it's 76 yen to AU $1 i'd be getting about 74 yen which is excellent! best rates i've found. i exchanged most of my cash before i went coz i didn't think i'd find rates as good in japan, and withdrew a few hundred dollars towards the last few days i was there because i really needed to, but did so with my commonwealth bank keycard at a seven eleven ATM. didn't really worry too much about the charges because seven eleven was most convenient and easy to find.
by chuts rate this post as useful

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