Actually, bank machines are everywhere, but they don’t take American debit cards. The only place you can get cash from an ATM in Japan is at a government post office, which can be hard to find. However, they do have the best exchange rate since they don’t add any extra charges or fees on top of the official exchange.
Travelling to Japan, the worst place to exchange seems to be the airport, either before you leave or after you arrive. Maybe hotels are worse, but probably not by much. Best always seems to be banks or government agencies (i.e. post office). I think you can get US cash from a bank if you are willing to go inside and wait a while. They tend to move very slowly.
ATM in country usually has the best exchange rates; that’s what I do. Hope & pray I have enough to cover something small before that, like a snack or tip.
I’ve found that outside of the US, there is very little need for tipping. Maybe unless you stay in a nice enough hotel that the staff will carry your bags to your room.
I carry US$100 bills in a secure money belt (as much as I will need for the entire trip), and change them locally when I need them. Big ticket items can be paid with a CC at point of sale.
ATM machines have several downsides. In many countries, they have a daily limit of only about $200. At least a quarter of the time, they reject foreign cards. In underdeveloped countries, they can be hard to find, and I don’t like my only source of cash disappearing from view in such countries. The bank exchange rates and ATM fees can be more than the spread by street money changers.
Never never never exchange at an airport. I saw one in Amsterdam that was charging 30% over spot. Your US bills need to be crisp, and of the current design. Careful not to change too much, in some countries it is difficult or nearly impossible to change back.
I get money from the local ATM using my debit card. I prefer to use cash when I travel as it keeps my spending in check. Also, in some of the southern European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy & Greece) credit cards are not accepted in many places
I’ve been all over Europe and Asia and the only time I’ve had a problem with the ATM was when I forgot to inform my financial institution that I would be traveling outside of the US.
Mostly, I just get money from the ATM. I carry about $100 in whatever currency and pay with cards for most things. It’s not that different to how I behave at home.
You almost always get the best exchange rates selling your own currency to buy the currency of the country you’re in, rather than the other way around - but you have to beware of commission and charges.
Almost always the best combination of exchange rates and charges is to use your debit card in an ATM to draw the money direct out of your bank account at your bank’s rate - but check in advance as to rates and charges. Getting cash on a credit card will almost always have an extra charge; using either card for constant small purchases will also load up the charges - so I draw a big whack of cash in one go and then pay cash wherever possible.
I get enough cash for survival in the the first week from my bank before I leave - had enough people I know burned when they relied on ATMs that didn’t recognize their South African cards, no-one wants to spend a shitty weekend without cash in a foreign city before the banks open. Obviously not the case with big cities and major airports, but some places…
I always make sure I get enough for a few days in advance, after that, ATMs. I always carry enough for a few days, secreted somewhere.
I’ve twice been in a situation where not doing that could have caused major issues: once in small town New Zealand, where some connectivity issues basically left the town without card transactions for two days, at least on my bank’s network; the other time was in Java, where a faulty ATM caused a system glitch that froze my account, which required phoning my bank in the UK to remove.
That doesn’t sound like a big problem, except international calls from my mobile phone turned out to be so expensive that my credit-£2 or 3- only lasted long enough to get ‘Welcome to [bank], please press 1 for…’, and no-one where I was staying (though they were some of the nicest most helpful people I’ve ever met) had any suggestions for cheap calls. One of them did lend me his phone, for which he could buy credit from the shop next door (I did pay him back), but that only got me a few more seconds, long enough to briefly talk to a call centre idiot who didn’t understand why it was a problem that my bank account had frozen while I was on another continent.
In the end, I had to message a friend in the UK and get them to put money on my Skype account, and call the bank that way. It took two days.
Local ATM mainly. We also have a specific credit card and debit card account set up in the UK for this purpose. (we holiday a lot so it is worth it)
We deposit a set amount each month into it. We get charged a fee but also get excellent interest and it costs us “net” about £7 a month. For that we get free worldwide travel insurance (including ski cover) european breakdown cover, credit and debit card insurance and mobile phone insurance. Also, the exchange rate for the withdrawal of cash and credit card payments abroad are at pretty much close to the posted money market rates and typically 4-5% better than the bureau de change or equivalents.
I always get all my money before I go. I would rather have too much and have to trade some back than to be on vacation and be looking for a place to score cash.
AAA sells it at close to exchange value with free Fed Ex shipping to my home.
Also, they bill the currency to a credit card as a purchase, not a cash advance.
Stay away from places like Travelex. They’ll screw you on the exchange rate and bill your card as a cash advance.
ATM after arrival. The conventional wisdom is that you get a better exchange rate in the country whose currency you want to change to than anywhere else, though I cannot provide a cite. Now that credit cards are accepted so widely it’s easier to wait until you get there, although on occasion I have gotten a handful of cash from my bank before I go. They require me to order it ahead of time, and there is a delivery fee on top of the exchange fee, so I don’t like to do that.
Although I try to use a credit card when possible for convenience and recordkeeping, I always need at least some cash. ATMs are everywhere in the countries I have visited (mostly Europe and Egypt).
When I traveled back in the 1990s I used to get a pile of traveler’s checks and some foreign currency before I left. A lot has changed since then.
Wife and I usually arrive in Japan with about $1000 worth of yen, purchased from our hometown bank before departure. For additional cash, we make ATM withdrawals at Seven-Eleven stores.
Tipping in Japan doesn’t happen, so showing up with nothing but 10K yen notes isn’t a problem.
It seems risky to me to arrive in a foreign country with zero local currency in your pocket; if your credit/ATM cards don’t work, having some cash on hand will keep you afloat until you can find a solution (e.g. having a friend send cash to you through Western Union or something). OTOH, carrying many thousands of dollars in cash (whether in your home currency or local currency) puts a lot at risk in event of a loss/theft.
In the past seven years, I’ve been to Canada, England, France, Germany and Israel. ATMs in those countries almost universally accepted my credit union VISA debit card. The credit union never charges a fee, but their agreement with VISA hits us with a 1% foreign transaction charge. Otherwise, we get pretty close to the spot rate for the local currency.
I think even when I went to Italy in the late 90s, when they still had their own currency, I could use ATMs to get cash. Back in the 80s when I traveled outside the US as an adult for the first time, I’m pretty sure it was still good old traveler’s cheques that had to be changed inside the local bank.
China was really good about changing money. Of course, we did stay in hotels that catered to foreigners, but every hotel had a money changing desk in the lobby. We brought in cash what we figured we would need for the trip (cash is king in China), and we’d exchange what we figured we would need that day just before leaving the hotel. Never had to use a card or ATM.
A few times, though, we have had to travel with cash, in which case you just estimate how much you’ll need, bring a bit extra as buffer, and change as you go, hoping you don’t have to skimp at the end.
Traveling to Cuba, US debit/credit/ATM cards don’t work, so you have to bring cash. Traveling to somewhat-off-the-beaten-path places in South America and Asia, ATMs work, but there are sometimes very high fees, so we tend to bring some cash in $US to change. One place in Indonesia, the maximum withdrawal at an ATM was 1,000,000 Rupiah. Which is only like $80. And I had to pay 3% conversion fee and $5 international ATM withdrawal. And it was not a cheap place to travel. So, I was pretty glad we had brought cash on that one.
Some places, you have to bring perfectly clean new crisp bills, or people will refuse to take them or only exchange at a discount.
Of course that’s a reasonable precaution. It greatly depends on the country.
Generally for Japan, western Europe etc, I make sure I have at least one debit card with a worldwide network and two separate credit cards, and perhaps a couple hundred dollars in US cash. If I have trouble with the debit card, I can still pay for most things with a credit card. And I can exchange the US$ into local currency to use for cash-only transactions. If I end up not using the US$ cash, I can just put it back into my bank account without any loss.
Bought a travel card last time. That’s a pre-paid credit card in some other currency. Got better exchange rate and lower fees than my bank would give me with visa/mc.
My boss, who is even older than I am, opened a bank account and dis a FX transfer to that account, then payed his major bills by bank tranfer. For the rest, he carried cash.