Where can you buy Australian money for your trip?

Answer 1

You can usually call a major commercial bank and ask them to get what currency you need. Alternately you can try currency exchanges such as American Express or Deak. However, these firms will not give you a very good exchange rate and usually charge a hefty commission too.

Depending on the kind of ATM card you have you may do better just getting a small amount of Australian dollars before you leave, and take the rest out of an ATM when you arrive. Again, you have to do your homework first: check with the bank that issues the card and make sure that it will work in Australia. Most cards are linked into most networks, but there can be issues with different PIN code formats (some use 6 digits while most U.S. networks use 4, and may allow letters as well as numbers). Also take a backup card from a different bank in case you run into problems with the main card. You'll also need to know what the bank's terms are for using the card. Some banks charge a flat withdrawal fee, some charge a percentage of the amount taken out, and some charge both. If there's a flat fee, take out fewer but larger amounts. If there's both, you'll need to do some arithmetic.

In any case you MUST notify the issuing banks before you leave to tell them when and where you will be. Otherwise their anti-fraud policies will kick in and you may find that your card has been suspended. Some banks consider even a single transaction in a foreign country to be cause for suspension, unless notified in advance.

A major bank in the n.e. U.S. recently established an account that allows fee-free withdrawals anywhere, but you need to keep a fairly high balance on deposit to get the freebies.

Whatever you do, do NOT use a credit card to make cash withdrawals. These are charged as loans, not withdrawals, and can incur steep interest charges.