Currency exchange (in Sydney)

[Yossarian]

Mrs Yoss and myself are heading off to the states next year. I'm thinking of exchanging some cash soon (probably around $1k AUD) to hedge against the dollar dropping again.

Anyone have some advice on who has the best exchange rates (taking into account commissions and the like)? Travelex and Aus Post are suggesting around US$1005\. Bankwest say US$1027 but It's hard to see if they've factored all their charges in (I am a BW account holder).

Keep in mind I work in the CBD and live on the Central Coast so if you know a milk bar in Auburn it's not going to be of much use to me…

 

[underdog]

Mrs Yoss and myself are heading off to the states next year. I'm thinking of exchanging some cash soon (probably around $1k AUD) to hedge against the dollar dropping again.

Anyone have some advice on who has the best exchange rates (taking into account commissions and the like)? Travelex and Aus Post are suggesting around US$1005\. Bankwest say US$1027 but It's hard to see if they've factored all their charges in (I am a BW account holder).

Keep in mind I work in the CBD and live on the Central Coast so if you know a milk bar in Auburn it's not going to be of much use to me…

Your major financial institution should be able to sort something like that out - they will "order in" US currency for you and you can then go and pick it up - they also should be fairly competitive against most currency traders, as unlike some of the sharks, ahem… i mean "traders" its not their sole source of income.

 

[alex]

Yoss,

I travel to the States every year so have spent a lot of time investigating this!

I use Flight Centre Exchange on George St in the city. It's between Market and King St, opposite the big Dymocks store. In the past 3 years I've never seen a bank or currency trader have a better rate than them. Plus, they don't charge any commission (I think only if you exchange cash for cash, but I could be wrong). Even my own bank wanted to charge me commission and gave me a rate which was 1.5% lower than Flight Centre. When exchanging $1,500, using my bank was going to cost an extra $20-30.. Totally not worth it.

As Underdog said, banks usually have to order the currency and can sometimes take a few days. Flight Centre always has plenty of currency on hand, especially the popular ones like the USD.

I bank with Westpac and as such, can use any Bank of America ATMs with NO CHARGE! I only discovered that on my last trip and was so useful!

When I go to the States I'm usually there for a month, so what I do is exchange $1,000-2000 before I leave and then whilst I'm there keep an eye on exchange rates and then use either cash or ATMs depending on what the exchange rate is doing.

Definitely DO NOT leave it until you get to the airport. Rates there can sometimes be 10% lower than in other areas.

Hope that helps

 

[tigerbenji]

Yoss, I get my U.S currency from the Post Offfice & find it a good rate & a lot better then the banks, but you can only get a grand @ a time.

 

[Yossarian]

Thanks for the tips. This will be my 4th trip to the US - normally I just get currency from Aus Post just before I go but the currency rates have been a rollercoaster lately. It's over $1.07 now so I'm thinking it's a good time to lock some in as a hedge. Of course when I first went back in 2006, low 90c would have been a dream - now it is a bad result! Gotta love economics!

I'll check out Flight Centre in the afternoon - that sounds like a good tip. If that doesn't check out BankWest seem the second best option. Over $1-$1.05 on the actual exchange and only a $10 fee puts in just ahead of the Post Office.