Originally Posted by
bmwe92fan
Yes - you need the card. And - NO -- do NOT change your USD to Yen in the states -- and NEVER in the airport -- it's a total ripoff...
To be honest -- the best way to maximize the conversion rate in Japan is to use your US bank card to withdraw cash at any Japanese ATM -- and when you pay for anything in Japan ALWAYS pay in Yen -- NEVER take the offer to convert to USD... Most major banks will give you the spot rate on that day for the conversion -- no need to worry about hedging....
We use Chase in the US and for the past few years Japan has been "on sale" for 20-30% off! One strategy we have used is that when the yen is very weak we exchange a ton of dollars for yen and just leave it in Japan (we live there too so it's easy).... But since we are not currency traders we just do as outlined above....
1. My local currency exchange quoted me 142 JPY/1 USD today, is this a ripoff? I though it was a decently fare rate.
2. What do you mean by "pay for anything in Japan always in yen"? Do you mean with an American credit card?
3. You mentioned you exchange a ton of dollars for yen when it is weak, I'm assuming you do this in Japan right?