Alinlondon

I never have much luck with money changeing, can anyone please advise on the best way to bring and change UK£'s to Hong Kong $', change it in London or Hong Kong? or just use my current account atm card in Hong Kong?

christep

In order of preference:

1) Use your credit card
2) Get cash from an ATM; if you bank with HSBC then use an HSBC ATM here
a very distant 3) Change GBP to HKD in HKG

This assumes that your credit card doesn't impose lots of charges on overseas transactions. I understand that a Nationwide card is the best in the UK in this respect, but in any case, the exchange rate tends to be the best.

Also, just in case anyone offers, insist that all transactions are done in HK$. On no account accept a point-of-sale conversion and sign a credit card bill in GBP - you will always lose out compared to taking the bill in HK$ and letting the credit card company do the exchange.

Alinlondon

Thanks Christep ^

MW147

If you want to change some cash, definitely do it in Hong Kong. Don't know where you are staying, but there are lots of money changers in HK. Rates can vary considerably, so check first. I always go into the Chung King Mansion arcade on Nathan Road in Tsimshatsui. There are a couple of money changers right by the entrance, but walk a little further in and the rates get better. There are 3 or 4 of them. Their rates should be similar, but double check anyway.

Clipper801

You can also exchange at a local bank on arrival in HKG, e.g., HSBC, Hang Seng, Standard Chartered.

HKtraveller

Banks have considerable charges if you don't have an account with them. Opening and maintaining an account is (almost if not completely) free of charge. Rules vary from bank to bank, as well as the amount of foreign cash you can deposit/withdraw per day without charges.

For a quick one time change transaction, Chungking Mansion is the best option. But make sure you go a bit deeper inside, since the first shops give bad rates. The change shop on the first floor is likely to give the best rates, second to the Western Union shops. Chungking Mansions looks scary, but it is safe. I have never seen an incident other than (2 in 17 years) personal fights. The Changers are trustable, buying/selling rates are published. So shop around a bit.

Clipper801

This statement is INCORRECT unless one defines "considerable" as being greater than HK$0.01.

HkCaGu

Back in January 2004, I exchanged 200 USD to HKD at a Hang Seng branch, and the charge was 50 HKD, this is about equivalent to my other transaction of withdrawing 1000 HKD with a bank charge back home at 3 USD.

HKtraveller

Well, as you can see proved here, even correctness is not only in politics a matter of the view angle. Most if not all banks charge 50 HK$ per transaction. When changing small amounts 50 HK$ is considerable to me, especially if it is very easily avoidable.
The word considerable may be incorrect to you in this case, your figure of 0.01 is definitely incorrect to me.

Leviticus

Does anybody know how it is to change US dollars at the aiport ? Most people I have talked to warned me about that because they are supposed to have the worst rates, I would only need about HK$2750 in total so would that still be a big loss ? And how about just using the ATMs at the aiport ? Any input is greaty appreciated, thank you.

Aus_Mal

I'd recommend *not* changing money around tourist areas.

I saw rates around the Star Ferry terminal nowhere near the rates you'd get at other locations.

Shop around!

HKtraveller

I do not know the rates in the Airport(never changed there), but I would guess that you get shortchanged about 3-5%. With ATMs it all depends how much service charge you have to pay, depending on your home country. But in your case even 5% on 2750 would just buy you the trainticket to downtown.

The rate you should expect is around 7.76 for cash. When I change in HSBC where I have an account (TT rate) I get 7.7875 (as today). For cash transactions in places where you get really good rates (like in Chungking Mansions) you are likely to get slightly less at weekends/holidays.
This applies less to USD than other more fluctuating currencies.

Leviticus

Thanks for the info, especially regarding the exchange rates.
Being an HSBC customer (as myself) do you happen to know how common their ATMs around town are with the cirrus/maestro system ? Could there be one at the airport even ? I just realized that I can use my ATM card and the only fee I would have to pay would be the 1% on the exchange rate.

HKtraveller

There are HSBC ATMs all around the city almost at every corner (and some in the airport). HSBC being the major share holder of Hang Seng Bank, you can equally use their ATMs. They have one in every MTR station.

I happened to be in Chungking Mansions today. Here the rates of today (Saturday, Jan 13 2007):
The first shop at the entrance: 7.078 - 7.885 (buying - selling)
all other shops in the ground floor: 7.73 - 7.8
Pacific Exchange, 1st floor: 7.77-7.8 (closed on sunday, while most others are open)

Still there are people stupid enough to change at the first shop, the second one being only 3 feet away.

Update: Weekdays rates (monday Jan 15 2007):
The first shop at the entrance: 7.078 - 7.885 (buying - selling) (unchanged)
all other shops in the ground floor: 7.775 - 7.80 to 7.81 (much lower spread)
Pacific Exchange, 1st floor: 7.78-7.80 (a spread as low as it gets)

jleh

Bumping up a somewhat old thread just to mention another alternative to Chungking:

I've been using Chungking the past few times in HK based on posts on FlyerTalk, but I recently learnt of the Berlin Company Exchange in Central from the GeoExpat forum. The nice thing is they post their rates up daily on their website.

hktraveller on GeoExpat (same as HKtraveller here? ) did a detailed comparison, and found that Berlin's rates were better than CKM. I did an informal comparison today (Feb 20, 2010) and found it to be true as well. Berlin was buying USD at 7.7530 while most of CKM (and next door Mirador Mansions) was at 7.70, with one I saw at 7.72.

Separately, I found that using the ATM gave me the best rate (I have a PNC card that doesn't charge for international ATM transactions and even reimburses ATM fees if charged by the ATM operator).