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The rising Australian dollar


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All those travel cards are a bit of a rip-off. Yes, they might protect you from currency fluctuations but their exchange rates are so bad that the currency would have to change by (usually) 3-4 cents to make them cost effective compared with just using a credit or debit card with no foreign transaction fees and close to current exchange rate conversion.

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ANZ have a buy rate for cash of $0.7609 USD and sell rate of $0.8331 USD,

Commbank has $0.7520 USD and sell rate of $0.8292 USD.

Westpac has $0.7459 USD and sell rate of $0.8281 USD

National has $0.7531 USD and sell rate of $0.8287 USD

 

All of which makes it not too bad to buy, from ANZ at least, but terrible to sell from any of them..

 

I am an ANZ man, platinum card and get their Travel cards, way to go.:halo:

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Okay so I'm actually spending the afternoon researching, can someone explain purchasing onboard credit for me. I know we already have some included in what we got from our travel agent, is it worth to buy some more? We are on the Celebrity Solstice in Jan so I have been checking out the website BUT it doesn't actually say what you get. It tells me how much in AUD but not how much I'm actually buying in USD. Anyone help? (Hope that makes sense :) )

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Okay so I'm actually spending the afternoon researching, can someone explain purchasing onboard credit for me. I know we already have some included in what we got from our travel agent, is it worth to buy some more? We are on the Celebrity Solstice in Jan so I have been checking out the website BUT it doesn't actually say what you get. It tells me how much in AUD but not how much I'm actually buying in USD. Anyone help? (Hope that makes sense :) )

 

I'm fairly certain the USD unit is $25 and I see the AUD price as $32.70, which is an exchange rate of .7645. The current exchange rate is around .7915. So at the moment I wouldn't buy extra OBC but keep an eye on the exchange rate.

 

For your onboard account try to use a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees as the charge comes from the US, Miami I think. Also ensure they charge your card in USD and let the credit card company do the conversion - it will always be better than the cruise line conversion.

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Thanks heaps for that. I knew I had seen an amount in the past but I'm struggling working out the new website (first attempt today and I'm not finding things in their usual place).

 

And thanks for explaining the rates I will wait and I'll if I decide to go ahead I'll definitely use my 28 degree credit card :)

 

Have a great rest of the weekend :)

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You're welcome.

 

The new website isn't the greatest, is it? It took me a while to find the OBC to check the rate. Celebrity is a pain for OBC purchases as they only allow the one small amount and you can only buy 9 at a time (US $225). Princess has three units - $25, $50 and $100 and you can buy 10 at a time (max $1000) which is much more sensible.

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Can someone please explain the value in buying OBC? Is $1 = $1 OBC?

 

It depends on the currency onboard the ship and the currency you are paying in. Some cruise lines operating from Australia have the onboard currency as AUD and you pay in AUD so, yes, $1 for $1. If you're cruising on a ship where the onboard currency is USD then you will be offered a fixed rate for the OBC - see my reply to jayde43 for an example of this.

 

Buying OBC ahead of time isn't a necessity for AUD cruises unless you want to put money aside for your onboard spending or you don't want a big charge on your credit card at the end of the cruise. For USD cruises it can be advantageous if there is any likelihood of the current exchange rate dropping below the rate offered by the cruise line. Sometimes you can even make a profit on it. :p

 

Also note that that cruise lines place holds on your credit card daily to match what you are spending onboard. At the end of the cruise they charge your credit card but the holds can take a few days to come off, that's why it's never a good idea to use a debit card. However if your onboard account is already in credit there are no holds placed. Any unused refundable OBC will be refunded. Some cruise lines, like Princess, do this by cheque. Note some OBC is not refundable ie that provided by the cruise line as a promotional offer, however OBC that you purchase is always refundable.

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Thank you for that explanation - worth considering! Yes I'm travelling from Australia to US and was considering locking good conversion rates in now with my travel card, for spending. A little too late though as I have already paid for my cruise and land tour, shore excursions & even gratuities with my credit card getting hit for fees and bad conversion rates! Slow learner... but better to stop the fees from now on!

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You're welcome.

 

Princess has three units - $25, $50 and $100 and you can buy 10 at a time (max $1000) which is much more sensible.

 

Now if only you could buy in those units here in Australia for cruises in AUD................. :rolleyes:

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Lol, well about 8 mnths ago I predicted that, it would crash through 79/80 and settle back down to 76, and I was right on one front.

 

So heres another tip, cruise and cruise within the next year, because she will all be over between aug 2017 and aug 2018.

 

24 trillion plus and counting. Get ya swags and ya travelling gear ready BOYZ, read 1930's:)

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Now if only you could buy in those units here in Australia for cruises in AUD................. :rolleyes:

 

You can on Princess, but the prices online for AUD cruises have the same software bug issue as the drinks package prices ie they've taken the AUD price and applied the USD exchange rate to it! :rolleyes:

 

I haven't tried buying any but they would have to give you the value of what you paid in AUD.

 

Still, if you want to buy OBC for an AUD cruise, it's probably best to phone Princess.

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You can on Princess, but the prices online for AUD cruises have the same software bug issue as the drinks package prices ie they've taken the AUD price and applied the USD exchange rate to it! :rolleyes:

 

I haven't tried buying any but they would have to give you the value of what you paid in AUD.

 

Still, if you want to buy OBC for an AUD cruise, it's probably best to phone Princess.

 

You are right, they do give you dollar for dollar just you can't get it in sensible amounts online ($25, $50, $100) due to that stupid bug which they seem to not want to fix. Guess it must be making them enough without enough complaints to not warrant the change? Probably can get even amounts by phone but kind of defeats the purpose of having the personaliser doesn't it?

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Ok remember when some were calling .60, mmmh well not quite yet, we will climb, but settle back, to what ever we can provide the world with, and that would be AGRICULTURE, yes FOOD, if we manage our water resources properly.

Four Corners tonight, watch it and maybe, become a little bit learned about your future peoples.

Just saying, just one persons opinion, amongst a whole load of opinions.

Just please recognise history.:)

 

LOVE TO ALL.

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So heres another tip, cruise and cruise within the next year, because she will all be over between aug 2017 and aug 2018.

 

24 trillion plus and counting. Get ya swags and ya travelling gear ready BOYZ, read 1930's:)

 

The thing is I've been hearing that prediction for at least each of the past 9 years... (not from you, but around the traps, by various doomsayers)

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The thing is I've been hearing that prediction for at least each of the past 9 years... (not from you, but around the traps, by various doomsayers)

 

Start post again.

 

Start, I'm not mentioning doomsdaying, humanity has survived under different guises for thousands of years, what we might be used to , just might alter a little or a lot. Its everyones individual call as to how they will prepare for a maybe non event.

 

I personally if say an event happened would hate to be living in a city.

My call, my opinion, my judgement.:)

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