euro to yen

balcanoy

I am going to japan at the end of may and am wondering wether banks or the post office give a better value exchange? I really dont know anything about this stuff so any help is welcome!

coylemj

An Post only does dollars and sterling, you'll need to check the Irish bank's websites to see if they do yen but you'll probably be better off taking cash from an ATM when you get there. Whatever you do, stay away from those Bureau du Change places in Heathrow or any other airport, they are a complete rip-off.

balcanoy

thanks i appreciate it. as i say im new to the whole exchange thing as i have only been to europe before!

Ideo

I know from personal experience several years ago, that If you loaded your credit card with cash and withdrew via the atm you avoided the transaction charges on the withdrawal. You should ask your bank if this is still the case? Actually you might report back with a response if you do

balcanoy

ill go ask my bank tomorrow and let ye know!

dobsdave

balcanoy wrote: »

ill go ask my bank tomorrow and let ye know!

I was in tokyo in 2010, found it very hard to find an ATM that accepted mastercard.
No problem with Visa.

balcanoy

visa it is! bank has told me there is a three euro charge for every time i use the atm...this seems like a lot. ill just have to manage i suppose! inside euro zone is just regular bank charges tho

coylemj

balcanoy wrote: »

visa it is! bank has told me there is a three euro charge for every time i use the atm...this seems like a lot. ill just have to manage i suppose! inside euro zone is just regular bank charges tho

It's only 1% if you withdraw the equivalent of €300 so you'll still be better avoiding FX exchange shops.

Can I also suggest that you consider what €3 represents vs. what you're paying for flights and hotels? You need to keep these things in perspective and not get hung up on relatively minor stuff like ATM charges.

balcanoy

oh i wont get overly hung up. ive plenty of money to cover myself anyway. just my irish blood hunting for the cheap option! cant help it!

Toots

Which bank are you with?

sakk

A fixed fee for transaction isn't too bad, but look after currency conversion fees, they can be a serious rip off and there could even be one from the card's emitter, and another from the bank. Especially on credit cards, check carefully.
Besides this, I was in Japan last spring and will probably go back this autumn. I exchanged some money early at the airport and I'm happy I didn't exchange much, found out that the rate wasn't that good. Thanks God I have a debit card (not available in Ireland, sorry) with no fees for ATM operations in the whole world and no currency conversion charges.
Mind that finding an ATM accepting your card might be somewhat troublesome, as most Japanese ATM don't accept foreign cards. The only ATMs where you can retrieve for sure, besides most of those in airports, are the ones in the 7eleven kombini (convenience stores) - but they will give you only 10.000 yen notes - and those at post offices.
Mind that cash is important in Japan, most people only use cash and won't go around with less than an equivalent 200eur all the time in their pockets. You might investigate for travellers cheques too, can be usually exchanged for local money at airports and at many currency exchange offices.