So, I'm booking my flights as soon as my passport gets here (this week, I have email confirmation that it is being mailed). I'm so excited to be in Melbourne in just 6 short weeks! But I need some help as far as money goes. When I leave on my flight, should I have any cash with me? Will my visa card work in Australia? I will have a bank account set up once I get there, but how easy is it to transfer money from a US bank account to an Australian bank account? Just want to make sure I don't get stuck there with no mons!:P
Also, if anyone is arriving in Melbourne late May/ early June, I'd love to meet you!
Thanks tons!
Kel
To start, you should always carry at least a small amount of funds for your destination country. Enough for the cab ride and two or three meals at least. Before you get here though, you need to inform your bank that you are coming, otherwise your VISA will likely be stopped as an unusual transaction.
It's actually a little more difficult to transfer money between international bank accounts than you would think. It basically has to be done while you are at the branch (as opposed to online transfers) and has a fee involved so you might want to talk to someone at your bank about that.
Melbourne is an awesome city, have fun!!
Where r u going in melbz? Do u have somewhere to stay?
My suggestion is once u land there is a bus that will take u from the airport to the city.
$17 roughly to catch the bus.
Yeah make sure you have cash on you.
Cabs r a rip off here, so be careful.
Once in the city make sure u have a myki $6 for this, public transport is amazing here so it will be easy to get around.
You can use this on everything. Trains, trams and buses
To start, you should always carry at least a small amount of funds for your destination country. Enough for the cab ride and two or three meals at least. Before you get here though, you need to inform your bank that you are coming, otherwise your VISA will likely be stopped as an unusual transaction.
Okay. So usually if I tell my bank, I should be able to use my card (just til I get everything set up), yeah?
It's actually a little more difficult to transfer money between international bank accounts than you would think. It basically has to be done while you are at the branch (as opposed to online transfers) and has a fee involved so you might want to talk to someone at your bank about that.
Melbourne is an awesome city, have fun!!
Do you know how much (approximately) the fee is?
Thanks so much for your help!
And amandah2013, I plan on staying for a good while, so I want to see most of the city. Any suggestion on good places. I plan to stay at a hostel a friend recommended for the first little while, then maybe rent a flat, but we'll see how it plays out.
I've heard lots about myki... where can I purchase one? Thanks for all the advice!
ok. Hostels are pretty good here-which one are you staying at?
House share its easier and cheaper.
Myki you can buy anywhere, at the train stations, convenient stores etc. You want to purchase a full fare which is $6 and top it up etc.
I would suggest stay in the city.
I'll be staying at Nomads Hostel for at least the first 3 nights. Are there any better ones that you know of?
Hmm okay, I'll have to look into that. Is it simple to find people in the city willing to do that or better to check online listings?
Thank you, again!
Hey! Before I came over I switched to a Bank of America account they are pretty good because they dont charge you if you use a westpac atm which are all over the place (at least in Sydney) and they just charge you the exchange rate nothing else so i figured you can get much better than that! good luck in melbourne i know sydney is soooooo expensive just look for good deals!
[quote=noincue]To start, you should always carry at least a small amount of funds for your destination country. Enough for the cab ride and two or three meals at least. Before you get here though, you need to inform your bank that you are coming, otherwise your VISA will likely be stopped as an unusual transaction.
Okay. So usually if I tell my bank, I should be able to use my card (just til I get everything set up), yeah?
It's actually a little more difficult to transfer money between international bank accounts than you would think. It basically has to be done while you are at the branch (as opposed to online transfers) and has a fee involved so you might want to talk to someone at your bank about that.
Melbourne is an awesome city, have fun!!
Do you know how much (approximately) the fee is?
Thanks so much for your help!
Sorry for the late reply. If you tell you're bank, you will be fine to use your visa. As for the charge fee, it varies country to country. Australia to Canadian account cost me something like $25. It was ridiculous!
Is it best to just set up a bank account and wire money from my US account to my Oz account? After reading a bit it seems like that's easiest and a bit cheaper?
Appreciating all the help/suggestions xx
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