Travel Funds

[Elitevaz 7]

I'm curious how to handle travel funds. She has no way to store USD, it must be converted PHP. She's going to be leaving this month and will have a layover in Japan and California. She needs Yen in Japan and USD in Cali. Normally, I'm doing a single conversion USD to PHP. She doesn't really need PHP for her trip though. So if I send her say $100, well is it to be transferred to PHP and then back to Yen or USD? Each exchange takes a small amount of the value. When I traveled I used my credit card in Japan so there was just a USD to Yen which is fine. Do you just accept the double exchange, it's not the end of the world but I would rather not do it if I don't have to.

[Edward and Jaycel 2,028]

8 minutes ago, Elitevaz said:

I'm curious how to handle travel funds. She has no way to store USD, it must be converted PHP. She's going to be leaving this month and will have a layover in Japan and California. She needs Yen in Japan and USD in Cali. Normally, I'm doing a single conversion USD to PHP. She doesn't really need PHP for her trip though. So if I send her say $100, well is it to be transferred to PHP and then back to Yen or USD? Each exchange takes a small amount of the value. When I traveled I used my credit card in Japan so there was just a USD to Yen which is fine. Do you just accept the double exchange, it's not the end of the world but I would rather not do it if I don't have to.

 

We did the double exchange when Jaycel flew to the US - She has an account with a debit card with BPI that did work in LAX where she did her POE and got her connecting flight to Denver, but I had her withdraw about 12K of the money I sent in PHP and convert it to USD just in case because she had never been out of the Philippines before and we weren't 100% sure her debit card would work.

[spicynujac 82]

Charles Schwab Investor Checking has a debit card with free international ATM fee rebates and no foreign transaction fees.

So when I withdraw money at a Filipino ATM, and the screen says I will be charged 250 PHP as a foreigner, my bank pays that fee instead of me.  And of course direct debit (non-cash) payments are handled in the foreign currency with no fee/markup (using the published VISA exchange rates).  It basically gives you a local bank account in the local currency while traveling.

 

Getting one of these cards is a great long term solution, and one I've been using for about a decade traveling across the world.

Short term I would just send her some cash and have her exchange it at the airport if it's just small amounts for meals etc.  You might even be able to do this in advance at the departure airport.  Or just pack a lunch.  American airport food is pretty terrible.

I've been amazed at how affordable it is to send money via Western Union from the US to M'Luihillier (barely more expensive than using my bank's free international wire transfer service!).

 

Alternatively you could look into buying her a prepaid card in the Philippines using an international network.

[top_secret 2,723]

You can walk into any Walmart or other Western Union location and send money with US Dollar payout.  The only caveat is that in big cities in the Philippines, finding a payout location that has Dollars is not to difficult.  However, if she is in the province or a smaller city, it might be difficult to find a location that actually had dollars on hand.

 

I have only ever used credit cards in transit at Narita.

 

Even if she does have to do a double exchange she should be able to get an ok-ish rate though. She could probably even get an ok-ish rate buying Yen with Pesos in the Philippines if it's just pocket money.  Exchange it all the Philippines though.  Philippine Pesos have little to no value in Japan or the US.  

 

Make sure she has 1,620 Pesos on hand to pay Travel Tax at the airport if it is not prepaid in her plane ticket.