Too much work to go back to show exact amounts. I get instant notifications when I do this so I see the amounts in $.

All visas were the same rates and Amex was better.

Same results at Duty Free at Narita when I've purchased the same exact amounts on different cards at the same time.

Rates change moment to moment. I wonder if they reconcile at the end of day or do the exchange in real-time.

Ive generally found AMEX the best as well.

That's excellent - basically you're getting close to the spot bank rate.

Here's some of my transactions (Chase Explorer) rounded to the nearest dime.:

June 17th �15000 was $113.50
June 24 �15000 was $111.70
Jul 14 �14000 was $102.40

These were all for charging Mobile Suica.

We can still enjoy pocketing the exchange rate difference on Japanese-made goods rather than imports, so not a big deal overall, though a 35% savings on an Apple Macbook Air or tablet would have been nice.

Apple jacked up prices on tablets and phones a week or two ago due to the exchange rate.

The new MacBook Air is �164800 for the base model, which is $1199 in the US. That's �137/$1. I'm seeing this across their entire product line from �134-137/$1.

Yes, I just saw this on the Apple Japan website. However, Amazon Japan still has Macbook Air inventory priced at 134,800 (the same model that Apple jacked up to 164,800), so if you use a US Amex card to buy, you'll pay $974.70, which is about $25.00 less than the $999.00 price on the US website. Not a big saving compared to US price, but about $200 cheaper than Apple Japan is now selling it for.

I have a question for the frequent travelers here:

I may want to stock up on JPY on the upcoming trip. I bank exclusively through my Credit Union, which does not offer foreign exchange services - so they are out of the picture.

How can I convert USD to JPY without getting fleeced at the usual places? A lot of the banks in the outlying areas of Tokyo that used to do it now no longer do (per my wife that is already there). What I typically do while there is use my Suica on my iPhone and charge it with my no-fee Explorer card, but this does not help me with obtaining cash, just using less of it when out and about. I am open to doing the exchange in the US or in Japan, but I've never seen a US based currency exchange that offered decent rates.

If you think the rate will continue to drop (meaning US dollar getting stronger) then you can just wait until you get to Japan, and use your ATM card to withdraw cash (or just use your US credit card). If you want to lock in today's rate, then the best I can think of is to charge up your Suica. But I don't know what the cap is on that, or whether you can get multiple transportation type cards (交通系ICカード) on your phone. I would think you can - Suica and Pasmo are just 2 that come to mind. I find that these payment types are becoming more and more widely accepted so it's like a partial hedge.

Suica maxes at 20,000 JPY. I've had one maxed out in Apple Wallet for two years now.

Mostly just to get a reasonable amount as cash to save for future trips. The CC considers these as cash advances, do they not? Though I can pay it off immediately, there are fees involved.

I use my forex fee free ATM/debit card to withdraw yen from JP ATM (JP post ATM or 7 bank inside 7-11) cash. The account also reimburses ATM fees. I do remember some fees when I was last there, possibly for 7 bank but I've also read some domestic ATM card charges were introduced recently
https://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/en/...%20Bank%20ATMs.
https://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/koj...tm_goriyo.html

Does your wife have a JP bank account or is she visiting JP family? Asking since she's already there which could be to visit family or as a JP passport holder. I've wire transferred USD to JPY JP bank account via Wise (formerly Transferwise). https://wise.com/us/send-money/send-money-to-japan Current rate shows $1000 USD would be 137,083 JPY including a fee of $8.69. Google tells me 1 USD = 138.26 JPY. They also have rate alert notifications you can set when it gets to a high so you could transfer money even if you're not in the country, as long as you are certain you'll be able to withdraw at some point in the future https://wise.com/tools/exchange-rate-alerts/

There used to be a few forex locations with better rates. I imagine some closed without the tourist business and less international outbound travel so do check the locations. https://www.travelvui.com/japan/toky...gers-in-tokyo/ First on the list is MUFG's World Currency Shop https://www.tokyo-card.co.jp/wcs/en/rate.php $1000 USD would be $135,940 (about $11 more expensive than Wise)

I hadn't realized Japan had so few recent bank note changes until I recently went through my foreign currency stash. There will be a new set of notes released in 2024. I'm not sure how fast they will introduce the new notes and if they'll cycle the old ones out?

Charging mobile suica or pasmo is not considered a cash advance on your credit or debit card. 20k charge limit always total at any time you can have on the mobile device. But you can have multiple cards and therefore no limit. It�s just a pain in the ... to switch cards on your phone but it�s possible and I�ve done it with more than 100,000 JPY on my iPhone. US or JP phones both work fine. Apple Pay US does not work in Japan FYI.

Easiest way to get physical cash is to just use your ATM card.