The joy of getting new foreign currency

[cruzky]

We Americans are sick of the tipping issue too!  Want you to tip on everything. Most servers (waiters/ waitress) share their tips with busboys and other kitchen help.

 

If business owners paid a decent living wage then the tipping issue would not be so prevalent

In this country.
 

Taxes are a different issue. Some cities have their own sales tax in addition to the state sales tax. 

[colourbird]

4 hours ago, cruzky said:

We Americans are sick of the tipping issue too!  Want you to tip on everything. Most servers (waiters/ waitress) share their tips with busboys and other kitchen help.

 

If business owners paid a decent living wage then the tipping issue would not be so prevalent

In this country.
 

Taxes are a different issue. Some cities have their own sales tax in addition to the state sales tax. 

 

The business owners must be making a large profit as the cost of most things we bought was higher than comparable items in Australia. They should have enough to pass on to the staff. It's crazy that you see all the prices and they don't relate to what you end up paying.

[cruiselvr04]

Americans agree that tipping is out of control in the US.  We don’t eat out much but when we get table service we tip.  We aren’t going to tip for counter service or for someone to put cookies in a box or fix us a coffee.  We do tip cabs for good service and the porters at the cruise terminal. 
 

I know most places take credit cards in Australia and New Zealand.  That’s what we plan to do, no debit cards when we come this month.  Are there places or situations we need cash?  Someone mentioned the bus in NZ.  Maybe an open market? We don’t want to get much but are not sure how much we need. Will we be able to easily find a bank and get what we need? We will be in the circular quay area in Sydney and our first port of call in NZ is Dunedin. 

[Jean C]

6 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Americans agree that tipping is out of control in the US.  We don’t eat out much but when we get table service we tip.  We aren’t going to tip for counter service or for someone to put cookies in a box or fix us a coffee.  We do tip cabs for good service and the porters at the cruise terminal. 
 

I know most places take credit cards in Australia and New Zealand.  That’s what we plan to do, no debit cards when we come this month.  Are there places or situations we need cash?  Someone mentioned the bus in NZ.  Maybe an open market? We don’t want to get much but are not sure how much we need. Will we be able to easily find a bank and get what we need? We will be in the circular quay area in Sydney and our first port of call in NZ is Dunedin. 

For NZ public transport you will need to research each port.  Currently some cities/towns only accept their own transport cards to pay fares and helpfully - not - they don't all use the same card! Some but not all accept cash. There was talk prior to our recent change of government, of making it possible to pay for public transport fares with a credit card, I don't think that has happened, you'll need to research it. 

 

As regards banks in NZ, they still exist but I'm not sure if they do FX - those in small centre's don't, they don't in the small city that I live in (larger than Dunedin) - again you'll have to do some research 🙁

 

Not very helpful, I know, but at least now you know some potential pitfalls.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Americans agree that tipping is out of control in the US.  We don’t eat out much but when we get table service we tip.  We aren’t going to tip for counter service or for someone to put cookies in a box or fix us a coffee.  We do tip cabs for good service and the porters at the cruise terminal. 
 

I know most places take credit cards in Australia and New Zealand.  That’s what we plan to do, no debit cards when we come this month.  Are there places or situations we need cash?  Someone mentioned the bus in NZ.  Maybe an open market? We don’t want to get much but are not sure how much we need. Will we be able to easily find a bank and get what we need? We will be in the circular quay area in Sydney and our first port of call in NZ is Dunedin. 

In Sydney there is a foreign exchange place in George St, near Wynyard Station - City Forex. You should be able to get both AUD and NZD there.

[MicCanberra]

Most places will take card both Australia and NZ, I would think some cash may be useful for incidentals like dinks or things at markets, depending on your spending habits and length of stay, perhaps $50-100 of each in smaller notes would suffice.

One thing to note, is there are shuttle buses in many of the NZ ports, some are free, some have a minimal cost which can be paid aboard.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

In Sydney there is a foreign exchange place in George St, near Wynyard Station - City Forex. You should be able to get both AUD and NZD there.

There are also ATMs around where you can get cash out, the exchange rate may not be as good as some places but it is convenient.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

There are also ATMs around where you can get cash out, the exchange rate may not be as good as some places but it is convenient.

The person asking about this is only bringing credit cards which immediately charge interest on cash withdrawals. They aren't bringing debit cards so ATM withdrawals aren't recommended. They were asking about banks, presumably where they could exchange currency. That's why I suggested the ForEx place. We used it to get some Yen and USD for our Japan trip. 

Edited January 11 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The person asking about this is only bringing credit cards which immediately charge interest on cash withdrawals. They aren't bringing debit cards so ATM withdrawals aren't recommended. They were asking about banks, presumably where they could exchange currency. That's why I suggested the ForEx place. We used it to get some Yen and USD for our Japan trip. 

I know most credit cards have costs on ATMs but not all do, just offering an alternative.

[colourbird]

4 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Americans agree that tipping is out of control in the US.  We don’t eat out much but when we get table service we tip.  We aren’t going to tip for counter service or for someone to put cookies in a box or fix us a coffee.  We do tip cabs for good service and the porters at the cruise terminal. 
 

I know most places take credit cards in Australia and New Zealand.  That’s what we plan to do, no debit cards when we come this month.  Are there places or situations we need cash?  Someone mentioned the bus in NZ.  Maybe an open market? We don’t want to get much but are not sure how much we need. Will we be able to easily find a bank and get what we need? We will be in the circular quay area in Sydney and our first port of call in NZ is Dunedin. 

 

I'm in Sydney and haven't carried a wallet for a few years since our drivers licences went digital. I haven't needed to use cash anywhere and there are some places that don't accept cash. We found when touring Western Australia a lot of the tourist shops we visited only accepted cards. Unfortunately some businesses add a small surcharge usually up to 1.5% for cards. Credit cards can be used on public transport around Sydney.

 

We were on a NZ cruise last month. I had NZ$80 but only used $12 to support a seller in a market at Port Chalmers. I used my credit card for all other expenses (didn't use public transport though).

 

A lot of banks in Sydney will only change currencies if you are a customer. 

 

Travelex is usually the best for foreign exchange. There's one in the Queen Victoria Building which is a pleasant 20 minute walk up George Street from the Quay or around an hour if you want to go the scenic route via Barangaroo.

[cruiselvr04]

Thanks for all your comments.  
 

It sounds like in Australia we can get by without any cash unless we go to one of the markets. 

 

We are using public transportation in NZ so we’ll have to get some for that.  I remember getting foreign cash is hard to do here but maybe I’ll call the bank and see if I can order some so we don’t have to mess with it on the trip.  Otherwise we can check out the exchange when we get there although I know the rates are always worse at an exchange. 

[colourbird]

4 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Thanks for all your comments.  
 

It sounds like in Australia we can get by without any cash unless we go to one of the markets. 

 

We are using public transportation in NZ so we’ll have to get some for that.  I remember getting foreign cash is hard to do here but maybe I’ll call the bank and see if I can order some so we don’t have to mess with it on the trip.  Otherwise we can check out the exchange when we get there although I know the rates are always worse at an exchange. 

 

Some markets here accept cards. We mainly buy food at our markets and only use cards. The sellers have little devices attached to their phones. Even the buskers have QR codes to help with donations.

[lyndarra]

Yes, for example, at Airlie Beach Markets, stall holders are using a device called a "Square", at small electronic gadget (about 50mm square, 5mm thick) that can read DR/CR cards, phones and even watches. My sailing club treasurer uses one, which he can carry around in his pocket, for members to pay their dues or regatta entry  fees - instant transfer between accounts.  

[MicCanberra]

People selling stuff are trying to make it easy to spend your money.

[Tranquility Base]

14 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I know most credit cards have costs on ATMs but not all do,

Are you aware of any credit cards which do not charge interest on cash withdrawals ?  

[Over from NZ]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:36 AM, Jean C said:

PS, although the new notes were launched many years ago with great fanfare and the cost justification that the new notes were "safer" and less able to be fraudulently copied, we still have the old variety in circulation - polymer with a smaller clear window. I think you have the same dual style notes in Aus in circulation.

 

As an aside, I think I heard at the relevant time that NZ supplied Canada with their new fancy pants notes 😊

Other way round I believe - the NZ bank notes are printed in Canada.. 🙂 

 

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Are you aware of any credit cards which do not charge interest on cash withdrawals ?  

Not off hand. I was referring to banks fees not so much interest.

[Over from NZ]

3 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Are you aware of any credit cards which do not charge interest on cash withdrawals ?  

There won't be any. 

[ilikeanswers]

On 1/7/2024 at 6:41 AM, MMDown Under said:

I'll not make the mistake of getting $100 bills, like I did for USA once.  Every shopkeeper held the bill up to the light and looked at the $100 suspiciously like I must have been a bank robber.  Dirty $1 bills they don't give a glance, but a new crisp $100 bill you must be up to no good.  

 

If you think $100 note is problematic try a $2 note. Americans don't believe it is real money😂. 

[colourbird]

5 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

People selling stuff are trying to make it easy to spend your money.

 

Not when we were recently on our Panama Canal cruise. 

 

We had one stop in the Cayman Islands at George Town and visited the local market near the tender port. We found some jewellery my wife liked and tried to buy it. The seller wouldn't accept any of the payment methods we had on us. Credit card, debit card, US dollars and  Aussie dollars were rejected. She only accepted Cayman Island dollars!

 

It's unbelievable sellers in a tourist market near a cruise port won't accept anything but their local currency. It wouldn't have hurt to have accepted our $US40 along with everyone else's money and taken it to the bank at the end of the day to exchange it. She would have lost a lot of sales as nobody would have changed money to CI$ for a half day port visit.

 

[MicCanberra]

12 minutes ago, colourbird said:

 

Not when we were recently on our Panama Canal cruise. 

 

We had one stop in the Cayman Islands at George Town and visited the local market near the tender port. We found some jewellery my wife liked and tried to buy it. The seller wouldn't accept any of the payment methods we had on us. Credit card, debit card, US dollars and  Aussie dollars were rejected. She only accepted Cayman Island dollars!

 

It's unbelievable sellers in a tourist market near a cruise port won't accept anything but their local currency. It wouldn't have hurt to have accepted our $US40 along with everyone else's money and taken it to the bank at the end of the day to exchange it. She would have lost a lot of sales as nobody would have changed money to CI$ for a half day port visit.

 

I was referring to markets in Australia and NZ. However I take your point, developing countries just don't have the technology developed countries do.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, colourbird said:

It's unbelievable sellers in a tourist market near a cruise port won't accept anything but their local currency. It wouldn't have hurt to have accepted our $US40 along with everyone else's money and taken it to the bank at the end of the day to exchange it. She would have lost a lot of sales as nobody would have changed money to CI$ for a half day port visit.

 

I don't think a local asking for local currency is the most unreasonable request😂. In China they are one step away from asking tourists to open a local bank account😜. It would be easier on the locals if they didn't have to exchange their earnings everyday. I can only imagine the seller has had some negative experiences that have put them off foreign currency. With ATMs readily available and increasingly with the ability to withdraw smaller amounts a little guest hospitality towards our hosts might be just a nice thing to do🤗.

 

50 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I was referring to markets in Australia and NZ. However I take your point, developing countries just don't have the technology developed countries do.

 

I'm think most markets in Australia do draw the line at foreign currency😝. I always though Cayman Islands was a developed territory🤔. 

Edited January 12 by ilikeanswers

[Tranquility Base]

2 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

There won't be any. 

Correct...

Julie was specifically talking about interest charges by using a credit card for cash.

The reply to her was misleading.

 

Having said that, I think if one has added money to the Credit Card so the balance is positive, one could then use it for cash without interest ( as long as the balance stayed positive)

But that's a different situation.

 

Edited January 12 by Tranquility Base

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, colourbird said:

 

Not when we were recently on our Panama Canal cruise. 

 

We had one stop in the Cayman Islands at George Town and visited the local market near the tender port. We found some jewellery my wife liked and tried to buy it. The seller wouldn't accept any of the payment methods we had on us. Credit card, debit card, US dollars and  Aussie dollars were rejected. She only accepted Cayman Island dollars!

 

It's unbelievable sellers in a tourist market near a cruise port won't accept anything but their local currency. It wouldn't have hurt to have accepted our $US40 along with everyone else's money and taken it to the bank at the end of the day to exchange it. She would have lost a lot of sales as nobody would have changed money to CI$ for a half day port visit.

 

Yes, that does seem a little strange.

 

I do know that although markets on some of the smaller Pacific island will accept AUD they are so grateful when you offer to pay in the local currency. It can be hard for them to get currencies changed and it costs them quite a bit. One guy on one of the PNG island was pleading to people passing by to change a AUD $5 to Kina. We had a bit of extra cash so I changed it for him. He was so thankful. 

[Over from NZ]

3 hours ago, colourbird said:

 

 

 

It's unbelievable sellers in a tourist market near a cruise port won't accept anything but their local currency. It wouldn't have hurt to have accepted our $US40 along with everyone else's money and taken it to the bank at the end of the day to exchange it. She would have lost a lot of sales as nobody would have changed money to CI$ for a half day port visit.

It's not unbelievable at all. It is however pretty arrogant to expect them to accept anything other than the legal tender local currency. Your USD all looks the same to the rest of the world.. and there's no way the average retail assistant is versed in spotting counterfeit money from foreign currencies they very rarely see if at all. 

3 hours ago, colourbird said: