currency exchange

[rm]

I don't know that any of you will have opinions on this -- but where is your preferred place to do currency exchange in NYC before a trip.

I don't want to just order everything i need from Amex online, because they charge too many fees. Iw ill probably have to go into an Amex office to get some travellers checks in $A, but I also want to have some actual $A on me for when I get off the plane (which can obviously be done at Amex or a different currency exchange place) -- offices with the least drama, waiting and fees are what I'm trying to figure out.

Also, travellers insurance recs? Just so like the hospital will treat me if a critter gets me in Oz. Yes, I've been reading the dangerous animal warnings again. Also, on the set last week, everyone was all, "dude, a shark just ate a model!", which might just be a stock response to "I'm going to Australia."

Comments

[zarq.livejournal.com]

Any major bank will do a currency exchange for you at no fee and the best current rate. You can usually also get Amex Travellers Checks through them, too. An account with them may be required to do so.

When I need to convert currency, I use Bank of America (formerly Fleet) and Chase Bank. Both have tellers' windows that specialize in conversion in most of their branches.

As for Shark Repellent.... you're on your own there. ;-)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Brilliant, thanks. Ah, more fun and games at Citibank. I'm guesisng my ghetto branch doesn't do currency conversion.

No problemo!

[zarq.livejournal.com]

You might be able to check online or by phone before you stop in to your local branch. :)

My wife also had a suggestion: (she's a much more seasoned traveler than me) don't change your money at airports. They have the absolute worst currency exchange rate and you'll get screwed. Likewise, be careful paying for things via credit card because there might be fees. Oh, and fees can be outrageous when withdrawing money at foreign ATMs. She took money out of a branch in London a number of years ago and was slapped with a $US7.50 fee. Something to keep in mind.

Re: No problemo!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yup, those were like the two things I knew from last time I went abroad, and I figured if banks could come up with fee excuses, that probably hadn't changed.

That said, I just found out there is Citibank in Australia, so that might actually make things less of a clusterfuck for me (although I doubt it). I am calling and inquiring tonight. I want to buy Australian dollars before our dollar decides to plunge further.

[lawnrrd]

If I remember correctly, the Citibank office on 53rd between Lex and Park has a few ATMs that will dispense foreign currency on request.

[rahalia-cat.livejournal.com]

I can't help with any of the stuff you'll need, but you just have to read Terry Pratchett's The Lost Continent, if only for this classic quote [ I should note that 'Fourecks' is the name given to the Oz-like continent, after that well-known Aussie brew Castlemaine 'XXXX' ] :


Death held out a hand. I WANT, he said, A BOOK ABOUT THE DANGEROUS CREATURES OF FOURECKS-

Albert looked up and dived for cover, receiving only mild bruising because he had the foresight to curl into a ball.

After a while Death, his voice a little muffled, said: ALBERT, I WOULD BE SO GREATEFUL IF YOU COULD GIVE ME A HAND HERE.

Albert scrambled up and pulled at some of the huge volumes, finally dislodging enough of them to allow his master to clamber free.

HMM... Death picked up a book at random and read the cover.

DANGEROUS MAMMALS, REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS, BIRDS, FISH, JELLYFISH, INSECTS, SPIDERS, CRUSTACEANS, GRASSES, TREES, MOSSES, AND LICHENS OF TERROR INCOGNITA, he read. His gaze moved down the spine. [i]VOLUME 29C, he added. OH. PART THREE, I SEE.

He glanced up at the listening shelves. POSSIBLY IT WOULD BE SIMPLER IF I ASKED FOR A LIST OF THE HARMLESS CREATURES OF THE AFORESAID CONTINENT?

They waited.

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT-

"No, wait, master. Here it comes."

Albert pointed to something white zigzagging lazily through the air. Finally Death reached up and caught the single sheet of paper.

He read it carefully and then turned it over briefly just in case anything was written on the other side.

"May I?" said Albert. Death handed him the paper.

"'Some of the sheep'," Albert read aloud.

Nice quote. :)

[zarq.livejournal.com]

That book contains my absolute favorite line ever uttered by Death:

"PEOPLE'S WHOLE LIVES DO PASS IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES BEFORE THEY DIE. THE PROCESS IS CALLED 'LIVING'."

:-D

Re: Nice quote. :)

[rahalia-cat.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's an absolute classic. Pratchett is a genius :O)

[kalyx.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this will be helpful for trips to Oz, but when I went to my bank to get some currency before heading off to Nova Scotia for 10 days, they told me not to bother, just to find an ATM with a certain designation (which sounded much harder than it turned out to be, almost every ATM I encountered worked) and there was only a small service fee ($1-2 canadian) to get Canadian funds once there. They said I would save money and save myself a lot of hassle trying to get non-US currency.

Might be worth a trip to your bank to find out what they suggest for traveling down under as like you, I was about to purchase traveler's checks and pay a fee to get some currency, that it turned out I didn't need. I just went to an ATM at the airport after arriving to get enough cash for a shuttle and food.

AAA

[espidre.livejournal.com]

AAA is supposed to give fee free traveler's cheques if you can find someone's membership to use. You might have to call around and see which offices carry Australian dollars though.

[rezendi.livejournal.com]

Travellers' checks are not worth the hassle. Neither is getting Aussie dollars in the USA. Really. I swear. There are plenty of ATMs at Kingsford Smith (sic?), and you can bring some cash US dollars and change them in Oz in case of some kind of problem. Take out relatively large amounts each time you use an Australian ATM and the fees/exchange-rate gouging works out to be basically the same.