Originally Posted by
whughes3
MNL is in fact one of the few places in the world where it makes sense to change money at the airport: the rates on offer are as good or even better than you will get elsewhere. All the banks there clearly display the current applicable rates, so I don't understand how the OP could have done so badly.
Yes, all the rates were on display and the national bank was slightly better (maybe 1 %) then the other money changers.
My next cash I will get without any fees from an atm on the official banking rate. But sometimes it makes sense to have some dollars or pesos in cash. Not everywhere you may pay with credit card.