Originally Posted by
craz
used my Citi ATM card @ a citiBank ATM in SYD the other day, got hit with the expected 3% fee. Most Exchange places were some 10% off the reg Forex rate. So as much as I hate it 3% is alot better then 10%
Taxis do take CCs but add on a 10% fee then add on to that whatever your CC adds on for a Forex transaction
lastly in regards to Australia 2 weeks ago it was $1 = $1.43 AUD, today its $1.29 AUD
Westpac is everywhere in both Australia and New Zealand. Westpac is member of BofA's Global ATM Network for downunder. There is no fee other than the 1% Visa network fee built in the exchange rate.
Thanks to Fed printing money, the commodities prices have gone back up in the last 2 months. Australia dollar went up 17% since late March. NZ dollar went up 20%. I have some hotels booked prepaid back in March when Accor chain went on sale. The exchange rate was 1AUD = 0.6560 USD on my Citi statement (of course I got hit by the 3% forex as separate item). Yesterday's rate was 0.76893 per XE site. That is 17% increase in about 6 weeks.
P.S. The Schwab Invest First Visa arrived yesterday, in time for the upcoming 6.5 week trip to Asia Pacific. I haven't had time to open Schwab One and their checking account, so the 2% rebate would cumulate on the card but I wouldn't see it until the Schwab One is opened to take the rebate in. Will bring Fidelity's mySmartCash card with us for cash needs. I will try to use CC as much as possible for this trip due to so many currencies involved (11 different currencies!)