Australian Money - Spend the Rainbow!
Jan. 10th, 2024 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerAustralia Travelog #40
Leura, NSW - Sat, 30 Dec 2023, 1pm
One of the first things we did when we landed in Australia at the start of the week was get some cash. We knew from reading ahead that it's easy to get around in Australia without cash; credit/debit cards are widely used. For example, transit buses have nicely integrated tap-to-pay systems. Parking meters have them, too, as do street vendors. So far in one week there's nothing we've had to pay by cash. But we like to have some local currency in hand whenever traveling even in mostly cashless societies because (a) sometimes in a remote place, or in an emergency, cards aren't accepted and you need cash; and (b) when negotiating with certain kinds of sellers you can get a discount for cash.
When we hit the ATM at the airport we got a bunch of $50 notes. Now that we've chosen to pay cash for a few things we have some smaller change. Look at how colorful Australian money is!
The colors are an anti-counterfeit technique. The US could learn from that since we're so concerned about counterfeiting (and, indeed, it is a problem)... but we're also too stodgy about our good ol' greenbacks to accept change. Oh, and the colors make it easier to tell at a glance which denomination is which.
Another difference between Australian money and US is that Australian "paper" money is actually plastic. It's a polymer blend. This is also an anti-counterfeiting technique. The US has slightly dipped its toe in this water by including micro-strips of plastic in its newer bills. But other than that US "paper" money remains a fabric— a 75/25 blend of cotton and linen.
Oh, and as for us using an ATM in the airport? Forget those old-fashioned currency exchange kiosks and offices. They charge often a 10% vig between crooked exchange rates and transaction fees. In most first-world countries the past 20 years the cheapest way to get local currency is to visit an ATM and withdraw it from your home-country bank account.
BTW, as pretty as this splash of cash is, I am not going to bring it home as a souvenir. There's $105 AU in the photo... that's $70 US, too much for a souvenir. We've been spending our wad down from $300 the past few days so it's not a stranded investment. I'll keep a few coins for my currency collection, but as for this money— we'll make a point of spending it today and tomorrow.
Leura, NSW - Sat, 30 Dec 2023, 1pm
One of the first things we did when we landed in Australia at the start of the week was get some cash. We knew from reading ahead that it's easy to get around in Australia without cash; credit/debit cards are widely used. For example, transit buses have nicely integrated tap-to-pay systems. Parking meters have them, too, as do street vendors. So far in one week there's nothing we've had to pay by cash. But we like to have some local currency in hand whenever traveling even in mostly cashless societies because (a) sometimes in a remote place, or in an emergency, cards aren't accepted and you need cash; and (b) when negotiating with certain kinds of sellers you can get a discount for cash.
When we hit the ATM at the airport we got a bunch of $50 notes. Now that we've chosen to pay cash for a few things we have some smaller change. Look at how colorful Australian money is!
The colors are an anti-counterfeit technique. The US could learn from that since we're so concerned about counterfeiting (and, indeed, it is a problem)... but we're also too stodgy about our good ol' greenbacks to accept change. Oh, and the colors make it easier to tell at a glance which denomination is which.
Another difference between Australian money and US is that Australian "paper" money is actually plastic. It's a polymer blend. This is also an anti-counterfeiting technique. The US has slightly dipped its toe in this water by including micro-strips of plastic in its newer bills. But other than that US "paper" money remains a fabric— a 75/25 blend of cotton and linen.
Oh, and as for us using an ATM in the airport? Forget those old-fashioned currency exchange kiosks and offices. They charge often a 10% vig between crooked exchange rates and transaction fees. In most first-world countries the past 20 years the cheapest way to get local currency is to visit an ATM and withdraw it from your home-country bank account.
BTW, as pretty as this splash of cash is, I am not going to bring it home as a souvenir. There's $105 AU in the photo... that's $70 US, too much for a souvenir. We've been spending our wad down from $300 the past few days so it's not a stranded investment. I'll keep a few coins for my currency collection, but as for this money— we'll make a point of spending it today and tomorrow.
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Date: 2024-01-11 07:24 pm (UTC)Thanks!
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Date: 2024-01-11 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-11 09:33 pm (UTC)