Currency Exchange

[Adrii]

Hi all

We arrive Monday and are hoping to exchange some dollars.

Where is the best place to do this?

We fly in to Hanaeda and we are staying at the Toy Story Hotel

Thanks

 

[Smugpugmug]

Are you still at home? There is still time to do a currency exchange at your local bank. I did this for my upcoming trip and it only took 24 hours for the yen to arrive. idk about other banks but for mine (Capital One) you had to do the order and pick up in person.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Agree - if you have the opportunity, do it before you leave. I know some banks allow you to order online and then pick up at the branch.

 

[Adrii]

Are you still at home? There is still time to do a currency exchange at your local bank. I did this for my upcoming trip and it only took 24 hours for the yen to arrive. idk about other banks but for mine (Capital One) you had to do the order and pick up in person.

Im from the UK. My dollars are spare from a lucky vegas trip.
To convert them at home I would have to convert to GBP first, then to Yen, and I would loose ALOT of money doing it this way.

So looking to do it over there

 

[soniam]

We just used ATMs, 7 Bank. Our bank wanted 3 weeks notice and charged a fee. We typically use ATMs when we travel internationally.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Im from the UK. My dollars are spare from a lucky vegas trip.
To convert them at home I would have to convert to GBP first, then to Yen, and I would loose ALOT of money doing it this way.

So looking to do it over there

Ah okay. Then your best bet would be ATMs like ones located in convenience stores such as 7 Eleven or Lawson. Airports also have a currency exchange but that's only if you are super desperate. You will be guaranteed to get a bad exchange rate at the airport.

 

[soniam]

There should be 7 Bank (7-11) ATMs at the airport. At least, there was one at Haneda.

 

[Adrii]

Ah okay. Then your best bet would be ATMs like ones located in convenience stores such as 7 Eleven or Lawson. Airports also have a currency exchange but that's only if you are super desperate. You will be guaranteed to get a bad exchange rate at the airport.

Can you use ATM's to exchange cash?

 

[Adrii]

There should be 7 Bank (7-11) ATMs at the airport. At least, there was one at Haneda.

Can you use ATM's to exchange cash?

 

[Smugpugmug]

Can you use ATM's to exchange cash?

Agh, sorry brain fart. Probably not.

Your best bet then would be to do the airport exchange. Do malls or shopping centers in the UK have a currency exchange booth? One of the malls near me does.

 

[soniam]

Can you use ATM's to exchange cash?

No, just get a different currency.

 

[Adrii]

Agh, sorry brain fart. Probably not.

Your best bet then would be to do the airport exchange. Do malls or shopping centers in the UK have a currency exchange booth? One of the malls near me does.

They do, but only allow dollars to GBP, then GBP to Yen. So you loose around 20%

Think I will go with the airport, as it will be better than the above option.

 

[Adrii]

No, just get a different currency

That doesnt really help though, as I need to convert dollars/cash.
Im from UK but have leftover dollars to use

 

[Kwami]

I haven't tried at Haneda, but at Narita, I got a really great exchange rate swapping USD to JPY. Much better than I could get from my bank at home.

 

[Adrii]

I haven't tried at Haneda, but at Narita, I got a really great exchange rate swapping USD to JPY. Much better than I could get from my bank at home.

Thats great! Thank you. Can you recall what the name of the currency exchange was called? Travelex?

 

[nono]

Thats great! Thank you. Can you recall what the name of the currency exchange was called?

If it is just "some dollars" I'm not sure it will matter much exchange you use. Here's what is available at Haneda. BTW, it defaults to T1. You will be landing in T2 or T3 (most likely). Have a great trip.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Are you still at home? There is still time to do a currency exchange at your local bank. I did this for my upcoming trip and it only took 24 hours for the yen to arrive. idk about other banks but for mine (Capital One) you had to do the order and pick up in person.

I do the same.

@Adrii note that some currency exchange places require you to have your passport with you (a pic won't do).

 

[planningjollyholiday]

I haven't tried at Haneda, but at Narita, I got a really great exchange rate swapping USD to JPY. Much better than I could get from my bank at home.

This. I was pleasantly surprised I also got a better rate converting my CAD to JPY at the little exchange place in narita than I could have gotten at home

 

[biochemgirl]

For those that exchanged at the airport, did you exchange cash for cash? Or did you use a card, maybe a debit card, at the exchange place to get cash Yen?

I've done a bit of online research and have not yet figured out the fees to use my credit union debit card at an ATM in Japan.

 

[Adrii]

For those that exchanged at the airport, did you exchange cash for cash? Or did you use a card, maybe a debit card, at the exchange place to get cash Yen?

I've done a bit of online research and have not yet figured out the fees to use my credit union debit card at an ATM in Japan.

We are back from our trip now.
We did cash for cash and just found a travelex or similar at each airport.

We are from UK but had leftover dollars from a vegas trip.
We exchanged in Haneda, Hong Kong and Singapore.

We exchanged dollars and anything we had left from the previous country.

We were happy with the rates we got and the convenience