Travelex rip-off Melbourne Int.

[Duffa]

Haven't read all replies ... but ...

you're complaining about airport currency exchanges and how they are rip off merchants ... Please, tell us all more.

No; why don't you just read all the replies. Then you could follow the thread.

 

[mannej]

Haven't read all replies ... but ...

you're complaining about airport currency exchanges and how they are rip off merchants ... Please, tell us all more.

I wouldn't just say travelex at the airport. I have found travelex full stop to be consistently the worst exchange for rate and service of staff.

Unfortunately they seem to charge for convenience and name.

 

[Austman]

I wouldn't just say travelex at the airport. I have found travelex full stop to be consistently the worst exchange for rate and service of staff.

Disagree. Their on-line rates are pretty good. Especially if you want smallish amounts of money and are not in a city centre where other options could be easy.

Cheapest currency exchange in Australia revealed... - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

3 things we like about Travelex and 3 ways we'd like it more... - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

 

[jetlagger]

I wouldn't just say travelex at the airport. I have found travelex full stop to be consistently the worst exchange for rate and service of staff.

Unfortunately they seem to charge for convenience and name.

Agreed.. Saw a 40c variation in the Buy/Sell rate for SGD/AUD think it was 1.46 vs 1.02 rate at BNE International arrivals several days ago.. I shall get a picture when I'm there next.
Pure Rip Off. :evil:

 

[lovestotravel]

Firstly, yes if you walk up to the airport Travelex you will get ripped off! But thousands of people do it weekly. Every time I am there people walk up and get $100-$500+ and don't care about the rate, it's the convenience factor!

I wouldn't just say travelex at the airport. I have found travelex full stop to be consistently the worst exchange for rate and service of staff.

Unfortunately they seem to charge for convenience and name.

Simply not true! The online rate is usually one of the best out there

The only one that is actually better is KVBKunlun But they are only in the city!

Right now: $1 AUD
Travelex - 0.9977 USD
Aus Post - 0.9975 USD
Comm Bank - 0.9966 USD
Westpac - 0.9975USD

Feel free to add more to back up your claim of the "worst exchange for rate"







Travelex also give you 1QFF per $1 AUD (when you spend over $1000) for a 1% comission
Most people value QFF points at about 3-4% so that's additional value there

 

[markis10]

Simply not true! The online rate is usually one of the best out there

The only one that is actually better is KVBKunlun But they are only in the city!

Right now: $1 AUD
Travelex - 0.9977 USD
Aus Post - 0.9975 USD
Comm Bank - 0.9966 USD
Westpac - 0.9975USD

Feel free to add more to back up your claim of the "worst exchange for rate"







Travelex also give you 1QFF per $1 AUD (when you spend over $1000) for a 1% comission
Most people value QFF points at about 3-4% so that's additional value there

Just use an ATM at the destination, you will be 5% better off than those figures with a Citibank debit card, and the number of places that dont have a readily available ATM are getting smaller and smaller. Taking cash thats changed in Australia is a rip off no matter who you use.

 

[clifford]

Just use an ATM at the destination, you will be 5% better off than those figures with a Citibank debit card, and the number of places that dont have a readily available ATM are getting smaller and smaller. Taking cash thats changed in Australia is a rip off no matter who you use.

I find that exchanging AUD cash for SGD cash at one of the banks' booths at SIN (there are lots of them) gets you a fair rate of exchange. So why didn't the OP do that? (I obviously missed something along the way). And 200 SGD for a taxi fare? You could go around the island 5 times for less than that. But I've obviously missed something, so I shouldn't be too harsh.

Also a similar strategy works very well for THB at BKK.

Credit card cash advances are also a good alternative at SIN (my ANZ platinum Visa has no ANZ ATM fees). But not in Thailand, where local bank ATM fees are stupidly high.

 

[Cynicor]

AEON bank in thailand, or BKK at least. Not sure if there are AEON ATMs in other areas.
I feel the only reply needed for this thread should be links to the 28 degrees and Citibank plus discussions threads.

 

[lovestotravel]

Just use an ATM at the destination, you will be 5% better off than those figures with a Citibank debit card, and the number of places that dont have a readily available ATM are getting smaller and smaller. Taking cash thats changed in Australia is a rip off no matter who you use.

When your card stuffs up overseas ?
Daily limit ?
When the machine eats your card ?

Cash is king!

Citibank seems to currently offer 1AUD = 1.0287 USD

Travelex - 0.9977 USD

About 3% difference or so on say $5k for a decent holiday it's $150 difference..

Then again I could lose the wad of cash and be far worse off...

I do have a 28 degrees card, I should take that as backup....

 

[markis10]

When your card stuffs up overseas ?
Daily limit ?
When the machine eats your card ?

Cash is king!

Citibank seems to currently offer 1AUD = 1.0287 USD

Travelex - 0.9977 USD

About 3% difference or so on say $5k for a decent holiday it's $150 difference..

Then again I could lose the wad of cash and be far worse off...

I do have a 28 degrees card, I should take that as backup....

Currently Citibank would 1AUD=1.0350 for an ATM withdrawal (based on one done in Washington DC earlier today our time), no other fees, with a 28 degrees card as a backup I would say its hardly a case of cash is king, and I have never had a card eaten in monthly travels to Asia over the past 12 years, last one was a ST George Visa in LOTFAP 20 years ago, you can have two cards for two accounts that are linked anyway.

 

[lovestotravel]

I got the rate from their website but that was for TT and not cash

Cash has always been king for me though, not fussed about 3-4% and stuffing around with ATM's etc

 

[NM]

I always carry at least 2 alternate cards that can access cash is my primary card fails/eaten. The backups may not be zero forex fees, but still not worse than over-the-counter rates. And cards can also be used over-the-counter at airports, banks etc.

 

[markis10]

And cards can also be used over-the-counter at airports, banks etc.

Which is very handy for expense report purposes, my corporate Amex hit 20K one month, I was a little behind!

 

[lovestotravel]

I have various cards for cash that I can access when overseas but still like physical cash for some reason...

Strange I guess

 

[mannej]

Disagree. Their on-line rates are pretty good. Especially if you want smallish amounts of money and are not in a city centre where other options could be easy.

Cheapest currency exchange in Australia revealed... - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

3 things we like about Travelex and 3 ways we'd like it more... - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

I will verify my statement by the mention of the service of staff, inferring Travelex stores, and not Travelex online.

If you call selling (as an example) MYR for 2.3 MYR to 1 AUD competitive, you have to be kidding. Especially considering I could get MYR for 2.85ish from another vendor at the same shopping centre, and 3.15ish from places within Malaysia itself.

Add to the fact that the staff don't like getting questioned over the poor rate that they offer.

 

[supperfreak]

Buying foreign currency is Aus is always a rip off ! They say no commission - this is meaningless as they give you such a bad exchange rate, the effective commission is built in at typically 8 to 10 percent!
Singapore have great money changers that give you close to the official market exchange rate, today S$200 = A$158 - yahoo currency converter.
Malaysia also is great for any foreign cash, US$, S$, Malaysian $, Indon rupiah, Jap Yen - the local rates here are total ****e in comparison. I dont think there is any real competion here, many of the hole in the wall booths are actually run by the same people, under different brand names.
Take the minimum and do the conversion at the other end, the simple fact is you can not do worse than the Australian money changers.

 

[737NG]

I have noticed at Travelex Tullamarine at around midday after QF, VA and UA have all departed for the USA, you suddenly get about 3-4c more US cents for an AUD than in the morning.

 

[JohnK]

Currency exchanges at most airports around the world are rip-off but Travelex in Australia does take the cake.

The current exchange AUD->THB is ~32THB. I have seen Travelex offer ~27-28THB to sell and ~36-37THB to buy back. That is a huge markup and if anyone exchanged 100AUD they would receive ~400-500THB less. That is highway robbery. And I hope people are only exchanging a very small amount for convenience if they do decide to exchange.

In Thailand the airport exchanges are generally ~1THB lower than what is available in the good currency exchange booths in major tourist centres.

And I keep foreign currency from previous trips until next time I need to use it. I think I have ~4,000THB now which is more than enough for taxi to Millenium Hilton and then taxi to Pattaya the next day.

 

[Fifa]

In Thailand the airport exchanges are generally ~1THB lower than what is available in the good currency exchange booths in major tourist centres.

Thanks for that info, JohnK.
I'll keep it in mind when I stopover in BKK next month.

 

[fersea]

And if waiting until arrival at SIN and using an ATM to withdraw cash from a 28 Degrees MasterCard that was pre-loaded, then it will cost about $158 plus any local ATM usage fee if applicable. (based on today's exchange rate of 1.2751 as obtained just now from xe.com).

For this reason I rarely exchange cash before departing Australia. There is always an ATM at the arrival airport where I can collect cash for the taxi etc.

thats exactly what I did. And all through Singapore, Malaysia, Macau and HK got charged no ATM fees. Pre load before departure and no interest either. Checked my statement today and they were all very close to the xe.com rate for that day.

Brilliant