currency exchange
 

How do most folks take money into Japan? Do you take cash and exchange at the airport or other exchanges? Do you rely on ATMs? Do you take travelers checks?

I realize this topic has been covered extensively, but I've gotten a bit confused as different sources say different things at different times.

In general, my research seems to indicate travelers checks can be taken but must be exchanged at a bank or currency exchange, cash can be exchanged and that airport rates are about average, ATMS are often available, that exchanging dollars in Japan is generally better than doing so in the US, and that exchanging dollars in the US is a fast way to a bad exchange rate.

dcman2

First time I was in Japan I got 20000 JPY at bad rate beforehand. After that I've only had whatever leftover change there is from previous trip (sometimes zero) and relied on ATMs. However, I always travel with some emergency cash in euros in case there is some problem with international ATM networks but I've never have had to resort to that.

The minor inconvenience is that majority of Japanese ATMs don't accept foreign cards. But it does not matter too much if you plan ahead a little. And I'm pretty sure there is a suitable ATM in every international airport in Japan.

ATM is the most convenient method, but many banks have myriad of fees. Find out what they are or you will get blindsided. My account is with a bank that charges no foreign ATM fee and the minimal interbank+1% exchange rate so ATM is my preferred choice.

My second choice is traveler checks. The exchange counters at NRT give TC slightly better rate than cash.

Like you have already found out, exchanging foreign currency in US is a very bad idea. It is different in countries like Hong Kong or Singapore, where they do a lot of trading in many currencies, the banks can offer the most competitive rates. I purchased yen beforehand when visited Japan from HKG. But it is not something I would do in the US.

Outside the airport look for a 7-11, e.g. Seven Bank. Have had no problem w/ US-based ATM cards.

1. no-fee traveller's cheques, cashed at Japanese airports (5 minutes) or banks/post offices (20 minutes)

2. ATM

When I first went to Japan 35 years ago, cashing traveler's checks or cash at a bank was the ONLY way to go, and it was a bureaucratic process. First, you had to wait till at least 10AM for the latest quotations to come in. Then you filled out a form in a special office and handed it to the employee with your foreign cash or traveler's checks.

Then you waited for about 20 minutes while the form and the traveler's checks were passed around to a series of desks to be added to each person's pile of papers to be stamped.

Finally, the first employer gave you another piece of paper and told you to go down to the main teller area to wait some more until a teller with a voice like Minnie Mouse called your name and handed you a tray of cash.

It was that way for years.

Advances on credit cards became possible in the early 1990s, and Citibank ATMs appeared in scattered locations.

Finally, when Japan shared the World Cup with South Korea in 2002, the post office ATMs began accepting foreign cards. Once that happened, I never used traveler's checks again.

My last trip was after a gap of five years, and I was delighted to find that I could use the 7/11 ATMs.

Use of credit cards is much more widespread, too.

I'm a little confused. Why is exchanging money in the US a bad thing? My bank gives me the current rate, they use XE.com and only charge $7.50 for the transaction. Is the rate better at the airport in Japan?

If true, that that would be a deal. I find it hard to believe, however. Please provide the name of your bank and a link to the information that supports what you say - I'm sure many would be interested.

In most cases, you'll find that the exchange rate used by banks or other institutions in the US is very different from the actual rate that day. For example, the Travelex booths in many US airports use an exchange rate that's about 14% different from the actual exchange rate, even though they say "No Commission". Whatever they want to call it, they're making 14% on each exchange. Banks do this too. Be careful to know what you're really getting. Get an actual quote for an actual date, and compare with the actual rate - don't believe anything they tell you about "no commissions!"

The rates charged at the airport exchange booths in Japan are consistent over time: 0.5% for Travelers Cheques, and 2.5% for Cash. Compare this with 14% found at many US airports.

If you go the T/C route, be sure to get them denominated in US Dollars. Some banks and others can offer you the option to get T/C's that are yen-denominated, which can then be exchanged at par in Japan. The thing is, they will build a handsome profit into the exchange rate at which they sell you the yen T/Cs that are paid for with USD: often at 6% or more.

In terms of cost and convenience.

1. No foreign fee credit card. (Use anywhere, no fees)
2. ATM (Widely available, no fx but a service charge)
3. Travelers Cheques (1 yen per $ fx plus any upfront fees, fewer places to cash)
4. Most other credit cards (3% fee for using overseas)
5. Cash (3 yen per $ on the fx, need to exchange a bank, hotel, etc).

Do we know the status of mastercard at 7-11 machines? Frustrating since my HSBC and C1 cards are both mastercards and they don't offer visa options.
Cheers
Howie

AFAIK they still don't work at 7-11 but you can use them at post office, Citi or Shinsei ATMs.

The bank I was going to use is TD Bank. I've talked to people at two different banks and they said the same thing. I will check into it and see what I come up with. I have another bank I can use, but they charge $15 for the transaction. I will check with both to see about any hidden commissions.

Thanks

currency exchange
 

Our bank (very nice people) promised us the current exchange rate, but couldn't tell us what that was. It looked like they were subbing the conversion through Wells Fargo. In short, at least here, I couldn't trust their rate because as a smaller bank they didn't do a lot of these exchanges and I couldn't confirm the information they had been told was actually correct.

EDIT: double post. oops.

Chase's CC lineup at the $95 level seems to be the new king of FX fee free cards. If you're an AMEX Plat member, that works too. Several banks that have premier banking account levels such as Citi also have fee free withdrawals.

You should not have to worry about swiping your card at lodging places or major electronics/department stores (like Yodobashi/Bic Camera/Hankyu/Seibu/etc). Even convenience stores are now allowing you to use CCs.

The only type of place I have yet to be able to use my CC and this is a big one, is the train station, when you need to recharge Suica cards. You still have to use cash for that one (unless they changed it in the last 6 months :D).

There are three rates. The mid-rates at which banks (and your credit card company) actually trade currency with one another, the TTS/TTB rates (used for telegraphic transfer (i.e. wire) transactions which are each one yen on either side of the mid-rate, and the Cash Selling/Buying rates which are 3 yen on either side of the mid rate. In all likelihood when your bank says the "current" rate, they're talking about the cash rates or the TT rates.

Thank you everyone - I appreciate the assistance

I think what I will do is take travelers checks (in dollars) and exchange them for yen when we hit Narita.

Does anyone have a bank/exchange that they prefer?

dcman2

I cashed T/C at bank and post office just to see how it works. Pretty much the same. Fill out a form, sign the cheques. Wait 15-20 minutes. Number called and collect the cash. So there is some improvement from 30 years ago.

At the airport, you save the wait time and you deal with 1 clerk.

Rates are pretty much the same between different banks at the airport.

Exchange rates at Narita Airport: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/exchange_e/index.html

Actually, if you arrive during normal business hours, the post office bank tends to give the best rates in Japan. It's in the commercial/store part of the airport, not obvious like the other bank-run exchange places.

There is absolutely no reason to use traveller's checks anymore. ATM all the way. I have had absolutely no problem recently using my Citibank ATM card (which is MasterCard branded) at 7-11 ATMs.

So I finally got to talk to someone on the phone at my bank and got her to admit what they do with exchanges. They use their own rate, which at my guess is 3 to 4 points lower than the current rate(I was useing XE.com) So the rate(when I was on the phone) was $1 = 98Y and she told me their's was $1 = 94Y. But I do not know if that was today's or yesterday's rate, mine was todays and yesterday's was $1 = 97Y. Plus the $7.50 tranaction fee. Does that seem to be reasonable? Do you think I should exchange money at the airport in Japan?

It also boils down to how much you plan on spending ahead of time. Why bother carrying around all that cash unless you need it? You're going to end up with spare change likely, and then will have to find a way to spend it or keep it around (which may not be a bad thing if you want to keep it as a souvenir).

Most places these days will let you swipe your CC, and if it's one of Chase's $95+ tier cards, an AMEX Platinum, or even one of BofA's cash rewards card, you won't incur transaction fees, and the rate is very close to the closing spot price.
e.g. with AMEX Plat, had a transaction posted 2/23 this year for 2980 JPY, effective rate was 93.125 ($32). Closing spot rate on 2/22 was 93.4.

Note: Citigold waives the foreign transaction fee, but still charges a non-Citibank ATM fee for withdrawing at...you guessed it, Citibank ATMs in Japan. :rolleyes:

Another thread on this...... Capital One has no fee CC and no fee ATM. Use both all the time in Japan. The exchange rate is interbank so no forex fees either. USD/JPY is quite volatile lately so you might see discrepancies vs. spot. Not sure when they fix it.

You can get the same with Chase but need to get an annual fee type CC.

Your bank would have to be awful to have higher ATM fees than using travelers cheques. Time to change bank!

Awful. Is this for an ATM withdrawal?? Criminal. Change bank.

Capital One is the best and good national branch coverage. Sometimes local banks offer good rates and no ATM fee as well. I had one in Boston but it was acquired in the mid-2000s.

Just like I said on the last thread on this topic, these okish rates for TC are misleading because of the following footnote:

The US/C buy rate is for traveler's checks issued by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Rates will be different for traveler's checks issued by other operators - inquire at the counter for details.

And right above that it says:

"Sell" = rate applicable when customer purchases T/C or foreign cash using JPY.
"Buy" = rate applicable when converting T/C or foreign cash back to JPY.

So if I understand this correctly, the rate is the same for all TC issuers when buying yen, but you need to have MUFJ TCs in order to get the best rate for buying foreign currency.

[Edited to add] This is supported by http://www.bk.mufg.jp/gdocs/kinri/li...tvl_check.html (Japanese website) which shows a very slightly better rate for using MUFJ TCs but only when exchanging yen-denominated TCs for foreign currency.

[Edited again to add] Actually, I misread that. It appears from the MUFJ website that you get a slightly better rate for using MUFJ TCs to buy yen but the difference in the rate is only around 0.1%.

Are many restaurants these days changing their tune for plastic? Heck, even Konami has proxy cards these days that charge your [Japan-local] credit card when you run low on arcade game credits.

This last trip was the first time I arrived at NRT with < 500 yen left, and I had withdrawn only once, 14 days prior from the NRT ATMs. I don't think I can recommend using cash anymore, except maybe before going to restaurants. Of course, if you head into the inaka that might be another story...

I use much less than 10,000 yen in cash per month, probably.

I now use a CC for almost all purchases including <$1 at convenience stores.

No that is for a cash exchange for US into Yen.

I got myself an unlocked Japanese smartphone and Mobile Suica. Accepts most foreign credit cards for Suica reloads for a fixed 1k yen annually. I think it's worth it to significantly extend the effective acceptance rate of my credit cards (though everything codes as whatever Suica reloads count as- when they show up on my online banking it's always as "transport-railroads" or something like that- I tried to see if it was travel for 2x on the CSP but it wouldn't accept that credit card). Just don't try to link it to a Bluebird or other prepaid/debit card for reloads; two badly-timed loss of signal incidents led to thousands of yen tied up in holds with nothing to show for it. The holds took a week to release.

Seconded on the "never exchange cash". The worst rate I saw was at an automatic bill exchanger at the Aeon Mall in Narita yesterday- 88 yen per US$.

On the topic of ATM cards, though, if you can get a UnionPay card, get one. I always keep some money in my Chinese bank account because of significantly higher ATM acceptance.

currency exchange
 

Again - thank you everyone for the suggestions and conversations on this topic - helpful and much appreciated

Yeah, that's a tough one. The machines are different depending on the train line. I have seen some that have a slot for a credit card. I tried once or twice (with a Japanese CC) and it rejected it after I entered my pin. Maybe it doesn't allow it for this specific transaction (re charging Suica/Pasmo).

Yes. I think mobile SUICA with an annual fee - as Jamar describes - is the only way to load your SUICA with a CC.

For the last year or two, this inane fee seems to have gone away for me.

IF you can get Japanese CCs, then you can get a View card to load from with no additional annual fee. Since I can't, I just pay the fee and keep racking up Avios/UA miles/etc at places I otherwise couldn't.

Thanks for getting me to double check Steve M. I just went to my bank to day and got a quote. If I buy 3008.94 worth of yen, I get 282,000Y. So that's 6% if my math is right? Plus $7.50 for the transaction fee.

I'm thinking of getting some TCs and maybe a couple of Visa gift cards. Any thoughts on the gift cards, instead of CCs?

I think you will do better getting a US bank account with a Visa/Mastercard debit card, and simply using Japanese ATMs with that.

Traveler's checks get a better rate in Japan but you will probably have to pay a substantial fee to have them issued in the US. Gift cards also have extra fees IIRC.

So I'll skip the gift card and go with TCs and cash. I'm on a budget and need to stick to cash to stay on budget. I'd lose track of spending to quickly with a bank card(not knowing fees or exchange rates wouldn't help either) I'll be able to keep more track of spending with cash and TCs.

Thanks

Well, the places you exchange your cash at will be happy campers, that's for sure. Personally I'm not fond of letting middlemen needlessly take a cut (and in some cases, a pretty big one, like I saw with the bill exchanger at the Aeon Mall).

So basically exchanging cash is a bad idea in general, or are there places where the spreads are decent and comparable to doing an ATM withdrawal to pick up some Yen?