International > General Travel Discussion
Money matters
katieskorea:
Hey guys,
I'm going to the Philippines in two weeks and I was just wondering the best way to get my money exchanged in Korea. Should I convert won to pesos at the airport or would I get a better rate if I converted won to dollar (other currencies like pound/euro) and then into pesos? Also I'm guessing the airport is not the best place to exchange money's anyone have any suggestions in Seoul or Daegu?
Also I'm a bit worried about taking all the money I need in one big bulk and was thinking take money for the first week, and then get money out for the second week whilst in the Philippines probably in Manila. Does anyone know if my NH bank card will work at an ATM?
Any help will be much appreciated.
Katie
wardmj7:
Unless you have an international NH card (which I guess is different from the global NH card) your card will not work outside of Korea. Here's a link to a discussion where a waygooker asked the same question - http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,27691.msg198017.html#msg198017 I'm going to transfer money back home to access while traveling.
Sorry, I can't really help with your other questions because I haven't traveled while residing in Korea yet. However, when I have traveled in the past I usually bring a small amount of the local currency with me as well as a debit card and credit card. I withdraw money from an ATM when I arrive in the country for a week and again for another week. My bank charges a fee for foreign withdrawals but I prefer that rather than carrying around a lot of cash.I save the credit card for emergencies. If your (non-NH) ATM doesn't work at one ATM try another. While traveling around Vietnam I couldn't withdraw money from a local bank's ATM, after freaking out a bit I tried it in a different ATM (HSBC which is an international bank) and it worked fine.
I suspect you'd get a slightly better deal with dollars/euros/pounds versus won when converting money into pesos (at least if you do it in the Philippines) but I can't say for sure. I wouldn't recommend changing KRW into USD (or whatever) and then into pesos because you'll probably lose more money via the conversion due to bank fees than doing it directly.
I'd be curious to hear other people's opinions because I'm leaving for my vacation in a couple of weeks.
Daejeon:
Check your card for a "Maestro" logo on the bottom right of the face. It may need to be activated to be used internationally, so go to your bank. Banks have also been known to exchange currency from time to time. Killing 2 birds with 1 trip to the bank is fine by me.
You most likely won't be able to get a better deal swapping currencies. As there will be exchange fees each separate time you switch currency.
taeyang:
when i went last year, i converted a bit of won straight to pesos while i was still in korea, and then a bunch more into USD. you need some pesos for the airport, since you have to pay to use it... it was easier for me to just change USD into pesos as i needed it, and put everything else on a korean credit card.
hope that helps.
Davey:
--- Quote from: katieskorea on January 06, 2012, 04:11:54 pm ---Hey guys,
I'm going to the Philippines in two weeks and I was just wondering the best way to get my money exchanged in Korea. Should I convert won to pesos at the airport or would I get a better rate if I converted won to dollar (other currencies like pound/euro) and then into pesos? Also I'm guessing the airport is not the best place to exchange money's anyone have any suggestions in Seoul or Daegu?
Also I'm a bit worried about taking all the money I need in one big bulk and was thinking take money for the first week, and then get money out for the second week whilst in the Philippines probably in Manila. Does anyone know if my NH bank card will work at an ATM?
Any help will be much appreciated.
Katie
--- End quote ---
Convert KRW to PHP in the Philippines. If you have a KEB Global check card, use that to withdraw as banks/credit cards give the best exchange rate.
Converting to USD isn't really a good idea at this point as the KRW is weak against the USD right now, and, as Daejeon mentioned, you'll be converting twice (KRW - USD - PHP), getting hit with a spread each time.
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