Air New Zealand Air Points - one smart card and currency q's

Has anyone here been using their onesmart card to load currencies when travelling overseas. Any thoughts. Easy enough to use? I need to find out a bit more and contemplate using it. (Was very handy when I wanted to buy some extra APD to get my confirmed upgrade I have to admit)

How long does it take for money loaded onto your OneSmart account to appear?

I loaded the money overnight, perhaps it depends on your bank (eg I think ASB can do immediate transfers cant they, dont know why national cant??)

I've been using mine for the last 3 trips I'd done over the past few months.

Money on my card was loaded in overnight.

On my first use in Australia, the ATM asked me if I wanted to accept the conversion rate. At the time I was unsure why it was asking me this as I had AUD$ loaded. I selected no and machine dispensed the cash. Still unsure why it asked me the conversion question, but only explanation I have was that I also had Euro's loaded too. I checked my account later that day to confirm that the AUD$ wallet had been debited, which it was.

On my latest trip which was to the USA, the ATM at LAX Airport, had a malfunction just as it was about to dispense my money, so after about 1 minute of major mechanical noises within the machine, no money came out and a message displayed saying it couldn't complete the transaction, then the machine went into Out of Order mode. When I got to my final destination 8 hours later, I checked my account and saw nothing withdrawn, so went to a local ATM and withdrew my funds. A few days later both withdrawals were listed, but a re-credit of the original transaction was also shown. But in the meantime all my other wallets; NZD & EUR, had been converted to USD by "the system". I only had less that $8 combined in those wallets, so it wasn't a major issue, but still disputed the transactions nonetheless. This was rectified to my satisfaction by the One Smart team.

No other issues really on the other 3 or 4 occassions of withdrawing cash.

Sorry for the long post.

I've used in Singapore, Australia and USA without any problems, although only rarely took cash out at ATMs. I find it pretty handy and the exchange rate isn't too bad when I don't have time to go exchange in person.

Ok so excuse my silly questions, but I assume I can just use it as I would a normal credit(debit) card. So if I am in Hong Kong and go to pay at a restaurant, the transaction will be in HKD. If I am in France at a supermarket, (or a vineyard :) ) the transaction will come off my Euro wallet. The only issue is if I dont have enough money in a wallet and then it will use NZD and convert... that is my understanding?? Correct?? I should probably just ring someone at OneSmart and talk it through, but I know FTers are way smarter :)

Ok so excuse my silly questions, but I assume I can just use it as I would a normal credit(debit) card. So if I am in Hong Kong and go to pay at a restaurant, the transaction will be in HKD. If I am in France at a supermarket, (or a vineyard :) ) the transaction will come off my Euro wallet. The only issue is if I dont have enough money in a wallet and then it will use NZD and convert... that is my understanding?? Correct?? I should probably just ring someone at OneSmart and talk it through, but I know FTers are way smarter :)

My understanding is it will first use the same currency, then your NZD wallet, then whatever wallet you have balance of.

My understanding is it will first use the same currency, then your NZD wallet, then whatever wallet you have balance of.

I used my OneSmart extensively in Bali at numerous ATM [15 times as most had a 500,000 RPH limit]; never charged a fee but avoided CBA ATM as it told me I'd be charged a fee.

It was very clever in that I'd only loaded USD on the card and the first transaction was converted from USD to NZD and then to RPH. But I loaded NZD that night using NBNZ and then OneSmart took it from the NZD wallet 2-3 days later when the transaction was finalised. I reason here that a hold on the funds was made at the time the ATM was used but when it went to finalise the purchase saw funds in the NZD wallet.

The ATM like to be told the card is a credit card which patently it is not.

I also used it to buy something from Amazon in the USA while in Bali and PayPal was happy to see the USD wallet and so no second currency charge [apart from the 1 USD PayPal ping you]

I also used it to buy a tour package for the elephant rides and the company wanted to bill me in USD which was fine; again, it came from the USD wallet without extra conversion. I'm sold on the card.

Don't allow Hotels to place a hold on funds using your OneSmart though, as it may block you from using a large proportion of the funds in either your NZD or other currency wallets. If you can, use a normal credit card for this purpose.

Don't allow Hotels to place a hold on funds using your OneSmart though, as it may block you from using a large proportion of the funds in either your NZD or other currency wallets. If you can, use a normal credit card for this purpose.

I've just learned this one the hard way

Don't allow Hotels to place a hold on funds using your OneSmart though, as it may block you from using a large proportion of the funds in either your NZD or other currency wallets. If you can, use a normal credit card for this purpose.

thanks for the advice

Don't allow Hotels to place a hold on funds using your OneSmart though, as it may block you from using a large proportion of the funds in either your NZD or other currency wallets. If you can, use a normal credit card for this purpose.Same principle applies for any debit card.

Don't allow Hotels to place a hold on funds using your OneSmart though, as it may block you from using a large proportion of the funds in either your NZD or other currency wallets. If you can, use a normal credit card for this purpose.


Yep, what I've done is use a regular credit card on check-in to hotels, then just pay with OneSmart on check-out when I've wanted to use it.

Yep, what I've done is use a regular credit card on check-in to hotels, then just pay with OneSmart on check-out when I've wanted to use it.

the bit i dont understand is why would you (or any others) use onesmart card at places where credit cards are accepted?

while you do save 2.25-2.5% on commission fee where credit card/bank typically charged and lock in the exchange rate, but you would lose credit card rewards and saving account interest. not to mention you have to pre-load, foreign (cash) exchange fee and the onesmart fee(s).

the bit i dont understand is why would you (or any others) use onesmart card at places where credit cards are accepted?

while you do save 2.25-2.5% on commission fee where credit card/bank typically charged and lock in the exchange rate, but you would lose credit card rewards and saving account interest. not to mention you have to pre-load, foreign (cash) exchange fee and the onesmart fee(s).

The short answer is that using OneSmart for me means less fees, better exchange rate (unless I use an exchange service, for example e-trans on Queen St). Also, since we can buy APD now, it's less of a perk to earn through rewards cards as others have pointed out.

the bit i dont understand is why would you (or any others) use onesmart card at places where credit cards are accepted?

while you do save 2.25-2.5% on commission fee where credit card/bank typically charged and lock in the exchange rate, but you would lose credit card rewards and saving account interest. not to mention you have to pre-load, foreign (cash) exchange fee and the onesmart fee(s).

The use of a multi-denomination prepaid card would allow one to lock in the exchange rate ahead of time. Whether that were to chance favourable forex rates, or simply for budgetary reasons. I'm sure that is appealing to the vast majority of OneSmart users.

That said, I just use a [no forex fees, and pretty favourable rates] credit card when traveling and have no intention of activating my OneSmart card.

Ok so excuse my silly questions, but I assume I can just use it as I would a normal credit(debit) card. So if I am in Hong Kong and go to pay at a restaurant, the transaction will be in HKD. If I am in France at a supermarket, (or a vineyard :) ) the transaction will come off my Euro wallet. The only issue is if I dont have enough money in a wallet and then it will use NZD and convert... that is my understanding?? Correct?? I should probably just ring someone at OneSmart and talk it through, but I know FTers are way smarter :)
Yes correct. Just remember to decline the conversion that the merchant offers (ie the bill is stated in nzd instead of local currency) as this coverts before it gets to OneSmart therefore will be treated as spending in NZD. The rate is never favorable so pay in local currency! Good luck it works well.

The use of a multi-denomination prepaid card would allow one to lock in the exchange rate ahead of time. Whether that were to chance favourable forex rates, or simply for budgetary reasons. I'm sure that is appealing to the vast majority of OneSmart users.

That said, I just use a [no forex fees, and pretty favourable rates] credit card when traveling and have no intention of activating my OneSmart card.

i have no intention to activating my onesmart card either, and no intention to top up my APD.

i still see the fees would "break even" if i use a credit card. (Amex cards preferred, but always have a back up visa or mastercard)

currency exchange rates goes up and down so its hard to predicate.

by leaving my cash in a saving account or term deposit. i would have earn some interests by the time the credit card payment is due which is a 55 day interest free period.

depends on what credit card you use, some cards offer much much better rewards than others. (in this case not APD)

conclusion: i would happily pay 2.25% commission fee to amex using my card anywhere!

Also of note. The exchange rate applied by credit card companies varies widely. I use Amex for my extensive overseas travel as they offer a much better exchange rate than Visa. It has often been 1 cent better for same day transactions overseas.
And in my experience the exchange rate Amex provide is better than what I get on the cash I take from my NZ based bank for small expenses (including commissions).
This experience is directly from expense reconciliations from 15 international trips in the last two years.

In general:
I really like that it automatically sends you an email every time you make a transaction, and tells you how much you have remaining. Very useful for checking from your smartphone while traveling, so you don't have to keep track or worry about whether you have enough left on your card to cover a purchase.

IN JAPAN / MYSTERIOUS BALANCE FLUCTUATIONS :confused:
Japan's infamous for not being very card friendly, but I was able to use it easily anywhere credit was accepted. I also found it very easy to withdraw cash from Japanese ATMs as well, and appreciated not being charged any ATM fees (ATMS at Japanese 7-11's don't charge any transaction fees, so OneSmart turned out the be the cheapest way around to change NZD into Japanese cash.

I did have one odd situation though... I was using it in Japan in January, right after the card was launched. So maybe they were still working out the bugs, but....

I was keeping track of how much I was spending as I went along, and just about used every yen off it by the end of my trip.

Then when I got home and checked my OneSmart card balance, it was actually NZ$14 IN DEBT! I had no idea you could go into the red on your OneSmart Card, I assumed the transaction would have been declined... I reckon one of my transactions at the time must not have been processed in real time, meaning my balance wasn't adjusted immediately, so I could continue to make other charges, and then that rogue transaction must have finally gotten processed after I had emptied the card? that's the only thing I can think of.

I let the debt sit there for a few weeks to see what would happen. Would I get charged interest? would OneSmart send me a notification asking me to pay it? Would it magically disappear? But no, nothing.

After about 6 weeks, I eventually paid it, 'cos I got annoyed seeing that negative number there on MyAirNZ homepage. I transferred $14 exactly, to cover the debt, but forgot they charge you $1 to load your card, so I was still $1 in debt. So I had to transfer another $2 to clear that off.

My balance was then showing as $0, and I removed my JPY wallet so only my NZD wallet was attached to the card.

When I went to OZ last month, I added a AUD wallet, loaded that up, used that for my trip, then transfered the leftovers back to NZD and emptied it. Balance back at $0.

Going back to Japan this week, so added a Japanese yen wallet back to my card. Was very surprised to see this JPY wallet had a balance of 2830 yen sitting in it! I don't know when it ended up in there, as the JPY wallet was empty when I removed it from my card in Feb, and my card was showing as empty until i added the wallet back on. Very confusing. but it's ~$35 I didn't know I had, so that's cool- It was like putting on your winter coat for the first cold day of the year and finding a forgotten bill in the pocket :) Still, no idea how it got there. Maybe it was a delayed readjustment from some purchase from when i was in Japan? My transaction history doesn't give me any clues. Very mysterious. Doesn't inspire much confidence.

But it's still the cheapest way to change NZD to JYP cash, so I'm going to keep using it. Hoping it was just a 1-off fluke.


IN AUSTRALIA / CREDIT SURCHARGES :(
I ran into a bit of confusion in Australia. Retailers there often add surcharges to your bill if you're paying by credit. My first purchase, at SYdney duty free, the clerk asked me if I was using EFTPOS or Credit, and I didn't know what to answer cos I wasn't sure if EFTPOS and Debit meant the same thing. So I told the cashier it was a "pre-loaded travel card" and asked him what that meant. I figured he'd know, as he worked in an airport and surely I wasn't the first person using a travel card, but he didn't know the answer. I DID remember something in the OneSmart literature saying "when paying electroinically or at ATMs, always choose "Credit"", so that's what I ended up going with, and got charged the credit surcharge. A couple of other places in australia charged me with the surcharge too, although it was hit or miss.

When I got home I called up OneSmart to ask, and they confirmed it is NOT A CREDIT CARD. They said there ARE instances of the card not working if you select "checking" when you make a payment, but it will ALWAYS work if you hit the credit button, which is why they recommend doing so. But it is NOT processed as a credit card, so you shouldn't have to pay surcharges.^

So complicated.....

Hi, ejiana. I think I am almost able to answer your questions.

Japan

As you know, when you make a credit card purchase, there are 2 dates involved. First is the transaction date and then there is the post date. Transaction date would be the actual date you make the transaction and post date is the date it appears on your statement. The exchange rate the credit card issuers use usually is the rate on the post date. When your card was used and approved on the transaction date, the exchange rate mush have been in your favour but when the transaction posted to your card a few days later the rate must have changed against you. That' might have been why your NZD wallet had a negative balance.

Australia

Even though Onesmart is not a credit card, it operates the same way as a credit card. That's why you will always need to press the CREDIT key. In Australia, they treat anything as a credit card when CREDIT is selected. You are also not abe to use your New Zealand issued EFTPOS cards in Australia, ie CHQ and SAV options cannot be used internationally.

Japan

As you know, when you make a credit card purchase, there are 2 dates involved. First is the transaction date and then there is the post date. Transaction date would be the actual date you make the transaction and post date is the date it appears on your statement. The exchange rate the credit card issuers use usually is the rate on the post date. When your card was used and approved on the transaction date, the exchange rate mush have been in your favour but when the transaction posted to your card a few days later the rate must have changed against you. That' might have been why your NZD wallet had a negative balance.
That doesn't make sense - the transactions were in JPY against a JPY "wallet". There should be no currency exchange fluctuation.

What is more likely is that a vendor conducted an authorization for a transaction which was not settled (probably because a second auth/settlement was used), thus deducting funds from the wallet temporarily. Eventually the authorization would expire and 'release' the held funds back into the wallet.

That doesn't make sense - the transactions were in JPY against a JPY "wallet". There should be no currency exchange fluctuation.


When the balance of JPY wallet becomes zero, the JPY wallet probably would be deemed "closed". As a result, NZD was deducted by default. I think I have seen BNZ say somewhere that only NZD could become negative. I agree it might have been due to pre-authorisation.

Hi

Thanks to the poster who put the info up about using onesmart in Japan. We are going there soon and after trawling through the internet and consumer reports to try and minimise fees (my husband says just pay whatever the fees are - it's a cost of travel) I think I'll use the onesmart. I'm just wondering how the onesmart exchange rates for NZD to Yen compare with the credit cards and other travel cards. Are they similar? Also is the airpoints earning also applicable when you withdraw cash using the onesmart card. Sorry just trying to get my head round this card. Thanks for any advice.

The short answer is that using OneSmart for me means less fees, better exchange rate (unless I use an exchange service, for example e-trans on Queen St).

Unless I've missed something (or NZ banks have decided to really screw their customers (what are the odds? ;> )) in the last few years, using a normal debit/eftpos card in an overseas ATM for cash will, globally, still give you the best exchange rate possible, and certainly better than any dedicated money change place. The margin on exchange through an ATM withdrawal I've seen is usually around 1-1.5 points over mid-market rates, with whatever the international transaction fee might be (usually zero).

Is the OneSmart card offering a better margin that that or have I built up some unrealized money exchange karma somehow?!

Unless I've missed something (or NZ banks have decided to really screw their customers (what are the odds? ;> )) in the last few years, using a normal debit/eftpos card in an overseas ATM for cash will, globally, still give you the best exchange rate possible, and certainly better than any dedicated money change place. The margin on exchange through an ATM withdrawal I've seen is usually around 1-1.5 points over mid-market rates, with whatever the international transaction fee might be (usually zero).

Is the OneSmart card offering a better margin that that or have I built up some unrealized money exchange karma somehow?!

I found the best rate is by TT into a bank account
So I have accounts in all my frequently travel places

Hi
I just came back from Japan, didn't notice that warning from another poster about not handing your onesmart card over at check in at a hotel so the hotel we stayed at put a hold on the funds for the total amount of the accomodation, as though I had paid the accomodation already. The confusing thing is that some of the funds taken were from the Yen balance I had and the rest came from the NZD balance I had. When I convert all to yen it is quite a lot more than what I contracted to pay the hotel for our stay. I've rung onesmart to find out what the story is and they said till the hotel put through the actaul charges they won't be able to do anything. (at the moment they're pending) So just waiting to see how this works out.

Apart from that I found onesmart very good to use with the free withdrawals. Thanks to the poster who tipped off to use the ATM's in 7/11 stores. ATM's in Japan seem to be just about non existent. You could run out of cash if you're not careful!! I also like being able to top up the card via your normal internet banking and also getting the email confirmation immediately after the transaction. We had our iphones and prepaid data cards from econnect and the transactions came through immediately. My husband and both had onesmart cards loaded with cash. For most of the transactions we didn't have to put a pin in, had to make sure that we handed over the cards with the mastercard logo up or they didn't know what the card was for.

Hopefully I can sort the hold situation out and reconcile my actual payment to the hotel invoice eventually.

I have used the OneSmart card in NZ, US, Australia, UK, France and China.

I too like the email giving you balance updates as you spend.

However some transactions can take several days to appear on your OneSmart account - and so the balance via the emails can appear to be better than it is... I overspent >200 Euros but using the email balance - and had assumed all transactions were debit/immediate..

I too have had confusion as to whether its a debit card or credit card - Australia in particular seem to assume its a credit card - with credit card fees being added.. :-(

Its also helpful as a debit card for the family - as they can use the card - and I know it has a fixed amount on it.. and I get emails telling me what / where and $ was spent..
Havent done all the calcs yet to determine if the effort of using / managing another card/wallet warrants it vs credit card that earns miles..

Peter
Peter

Anyone had experience in withdrawing Hong Kong cash from an ATM in Hong Kong using the One Smart Card? Which ones do not attract fees for cash withdrawal?