My daughter is going next month to visit a friend and we were wondering about the money exchange situation. Can she just use a credit or debit card for everything? Anything else we should know?
Travel to Australia
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I travel internationally for work regularly. Just notify credit card and bank for debit card she will be traveling and should have zero issues.
The global day pass on cell is worth the cost instead of hassling with SIM cards, etc. as well.
I’d call your credit card company. I think a lot of the big ones will exchange currency automatically. How good the exchange rate is another question though.
Great advice above. Also take with you $200 in cash ( not sure how long she is there), as some things require cash.
If you’re a BoA customer, you can order a currency exchange at a very good rate, and they fed ex you your order.
If you’re a BoA customer, you can order a currency exchange at a very good rate, and they fed ex you your order.
Just use an ATM there. Trying to exchange ahead of time is a waste of effort. probably just use Apple Pay for most things.
We mostly used debit/credit cards with no international fees, some credit cards charge for foreign transactions, so use one that doesn't. We picked up some Aussie dollars (200) at the airport exchange for getting to our hotel and miscellaneous,, but we rented a car and didn't need it for that but was nice to have for visiting pubs. We used mostly AMEX, but Visa and Mastercard were accepted almost everywhere, even far south in Tasmania,
PS Sydney Opera House is awesome, flora and fauna are unlike any other continent and people are really friendly toward us "yanks". We used public transport in populated cities, drove the rural and small town areas. They drive on the wrong side of the road, it takes a few miles to get used to and roundabouts go clockwise! Gold Coast is cool near Brisbane. We didn't get to the great barrier reef; going to go back to see it. We picked Tasmania instead.
Edit: 13 hr flight from LAX, which IMHO is the worst airport in USA. My wife had Wallaby tartar in Hobart, put me off my apetite for a day. Go to all Zoos and Botanic Gardens!
PS Sydney Opera House is awesome, flora and fauna are unlike any other continent and people are really friendly toward us "yanks". We used public transport in populated cities, drove the rural and small town areas. They drive on the wrong side of the road, it takes a few miles to get used to and roundabouts go clockwise! Gold Coast is cool near Brisbane. We didn't get to the great barrier reef; going to go back to see it. We picked Tasmania instead.
Edit: 13 hr flight from LAX, which IMHO is the worst airport in USA. My wife had Wallaby tartar in Hobart, put me off my apetite for a day. Go to all Zoos and Botanic Gardens!
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My BIL worked in leadership of a large US corporation that was merging a large Australia company into one operation with them. One of his best pieces of advice was to pay attention to what people look like when they say something. Aussies love cleverness and sarcasm. Often there were two conversations going on. One about the subject and the other about being clever. And the clever part could be very biting. However, if they have pleasant looks on their faces, then you don't need to worry about the sarcasm. Just focus on the non-sarcastic real answer. And be careful about trying to match wits with them as they are really sharp.
That was his advice. And he was able to lead successfully in a major endeavor with all sorts of interactions with people throughout the companies.
That was his advice. And he was able to lead successfully in a major endeavor with all sorts of interactions with people throughout the companies.
Just got back from 3 weeks in Sydney and surrounding areas. Clean place and the people are usually friendly.
I just used capital one CC for pretty much everything. No fees for the exchanges. Everything was pretty streamlined with that. Also, make sure she has her travel visa (not CC) already in order. Every country is different with that.
LAX is awful. O'Hare is awful as well.
We flew from LAX to Hong Kong, then down to Melbourne. We were a bit nervous as back in 19' Hong Kong was going through their really bad activists because of human rights I believe and stuff was getting nasty near the airport. We had read that they were making it trouble for planes to leave/takeoff during that time. Luckily we didn't have any issues.
Australia is pretty easy to navigate, but its crazy how much we drove in Victoria and NSW and barely made a dent in that country. That continent is so huge.
3 weeks in that country would have been nice. We did something like 8-9 days. Rented a camper van and went Melbourne down coastline up to Sydney and stayed at some camp grounds. The people down there are so different, but so awesome and nice though. Felt the same way in New Zealand.
Crazy thing though is visiting a country (back in 19' in early September) and then 2-3 weeks later watching it burn on TV from huge fires. It was disheartening watching animals shown on social media suffer. We drove through a lot of that area that burned.
Must have been through their 15-20 venomous snakes that bring fear to people!!!!
I never saw any the entire time I was there.
I didn't see a thing also. Just some crocs while boating on a river. Hell, they were just laying on shore.
This thread will be useful. Possibly taking a Japan, Thailand, Australia trip this fall.
Correct. I went basically 20 years ago in college. We spent the entire summer there between semesters. So 20 years ago I just put my debit card in an ATM and it gave me Aussie dollars and did the exchange immediately. It'd be so much easier now with Apple pay and Apple maps as well.
I love Australia, It's my favorite place in the world. I still harbor dreams of moving there sometimes. Beautiful place, great people.
We flew DSM-Chicago-LAX, then all the way to Sydney. First time I was ever on an airplane, so everything since seems fine.
Speaking to the size, we never even got down to Melbourne. Sydney was as far south as we got. But we spent the last month we were there just going up the coast from Sydney north all the way to Cairns, only stopping places maybe 1 or 2 days at a time. And it took us a month.
Ahh, so you're taking me with you to Japan right?? That's on my list of eventuals to try and get to.
No idea how long you are going but that is a massive undertaking in one trip. Could spend months in Japan and Australia and still want more. Thailand is good after about 7-10 days.