General thread - general tips, ideas, comments, whatever

[heidispidi]

Those are great ways to tell the kids. Me, I had a kid whining b/c she wasn't going to the Easter Show this year. I told her that maybe Mummy had booked somewhere better for us to go. She guessed the US, than, with THAT look on her face, said 'Are we going to Disneyland?'. I said yes, THEN the excitement erupted! A shame we were on the way to the specialist for a follow-up appt for her tics, as she was so excited her tics were almost non-stop!

 

[australiankaren]

hey ladies....

funny we all seem to take our guys to sporting events, my man and I are seeing a LA Galaxy soccer game in LA the night I fly in....he is so excited..he loves his soccer...so hopefully i will still be awake enough to enjoy it???

so has anyone gone to home depot stadium in LA???? how did you get there???oh dear, will end in costly cab ride

 

[1rocky]

looking at the dollar and noticed it is down. Deciding if it is better to wait and hope the dollar again goes u in the next seven months or buy some now . what do others think?
Also who collects the vinylmation
thanks for your replies

 

[aussiegirls]

Personally I am waiting to buy my dollars. I guess it's a bit of a gamble but I would much rather change all my money at once instead of in dribs and drabs.

xxx

 

[lovintheland]

We are going to buy some now. When we went last year in May it just kept on dropping lower and lower because for the GFC. Not going to risk that again. I figure 87c is way better than the 60 something we got last year. It's always a gamble though. We'll get some now and some later.

 

[australiankaren]

we dont have that problem as I have already purchased everything in packages..ie WDW accom/ food/tickets or our 2 cruises which include everything as well..then whatever we spend we put on our key to the kingdom room key and only pay for it once when we check out on our credit card which means only one international transaction fee...so we dont really need much cash....just for the airports and 2 days in both orlando/ LA.

I loved the dollar being over 90 cents..........saved me a fortune

 

[aussietravellers]

I have already paid for everything too except our flight from Orlando to LAX. But I stupidly have not changed any cash yet! So I am going to wait to see if it goes up and if it does go over .90 again I will be changing ASAP. I did order some disney gift cards to use to pay for meals etc when we are there when the $ was .93, I haven't received them yet but they did charge my card straight away so that was good.

I am hoping the $ goes up again

 

[australiankaren]

I hadnt thought of buying the gift cards...bugger, should have done that.
oh well, we'll see how my cash flow is in a few months

so is there any other tips you can suggest????

i'm sure I have forgotten something.......

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Bugger, I was getting used to seeing the dollar over .90 . I have my fingers crossed that it goes back up at the end of the year.

 

[queenie82]

Bugger, I was getting used to seeing the dollar over .90 . I have my fingers crossed that it goes back up at the end of the year.

Oh I know that feeling.

We booked a trip with things doing VERY nicely thankyou...
We ended up going to the US and Europe and Japan when they bottomed out at 60c for the US, 60ish yen, 50 Euro in Jan feb 09

I'm starting to think I should have bought some US cash when it was at 93 now that it is about 85-86
We are ever optimistic of parity one day....sigh...

 

[1rocky]

Also hoping the aussie dollar goes up by end of the year. I bought some when it was 88cnts and just now when it is 85.50. through ANZ. so hopefully it does not go down to much. Wondering how do people take the money overseas through travel card, travel cheques or atm or in cash for that country. thanks. i am trying for the first time the travel card in us dollars and also taking us dollars.

 

[queenie82]

Also hoping the aussie dollar goes up by end of the year. I bought some when it was 88cnts and just now when it is 85.50. through ANZ. so hopefully it does not go down to much. Wondering how do people take the money overseas through travel card, travel cheques or atm or in cash for that country. thanks. i am trying for the first time the travel card in us dollars and also taking us dollars.

Call me an old fashioned 20 something But I still like travellers cheques.
The nice thing is that
1 - you can split the money up and carry them in various locations such that should you lose one lot you have more (and as opposed to losing cash there is a security to it) But it is also like carrying cash.
With the cards they hold EVERYTHING.
2 - If the electronic systems go down you still have something OTHER than a card!
3 - you can use them like an atm. Say you have a $50 one and buy something for $8, you get $42 cash in hand.

They are accepted nearly everywhere major and universally across Disney.

 

[aussietravellers]

I just saw too that the US$ is at .85

As long as it goes up before September! If this is going to be it's down time this year then that is fine with me..... as long as it goes back up!!!!!

My rant is over

 

[aussietravellers]

Call me an old fashioned 20 something But I still like travellers cheques.
The nice thing is that
1 - you can split the money up and carry them in various locations such that should you lose one lot you have more (and as opposed to losing cash there is a security to it) But it is also like carrying cash.
With the cards they hold EVERYTHING.
2 - If the electronic systems go down you still have something OTHER than a card!
3 - you can use them like an atm. Say you have a $50 one and buy something for $8, you get $42 cash in hand.

They are accepted nearly everywhere major and universally across Disney.

OMG, do they still do travellers cheques I haven't used those for so many years, all those years of standing there in the bank, signing every cheque with my signature changing by the end of the pile . The last time I used them was in London and I was charged to cash them on several occasions so I just carry cash now and credit card. I wouldn't mind using them again, but get worried about being charged to cash them after it happening all over London.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just back from the US this morning and YIKES!! Dollar at 85 cents!

We took cash, traveller's cheques, debit cash card and credit cards. We changed money in dribs and drabs. My friendly bank don't charge me any commission/fees if I'm changing in cash and in lots under $500; so I worked the system to save the 1% or $8, whichever was the higher.

I'm with Queenie...I'm definitely old fashioned where TC are concerned. But in my experience, we've never had a problem using TC anywhere in the US, not just Disney (Europe - yes; but never the US). Every shop, restaurant, hotel in the US will take the TC without any additional fees and they treat it like cash.

 

[queenie82]

OMG, do they still do travellers cheques I haven't used those for so many years, all those years of standing there in the bank, signing every cheque with my signature changing by the end of the pile . The last time I used them was in London and I was charged to cash them on several occasions so I just carry cash now and credit card. I wouldn't mind using them again, but get worried about being charged to cash them after it happening all over London.

Europe and UK aren't quite so friendly.
There were some places that did but almost NOONE in Italy would take Euro ones. Certainly not small shops (which lets face it...that is where you go in Europe mostly.) There seems to be a few issues with AMEX and Italy now.
I would probably still take some Euro TCs and go to an AMEX office to exchange them commission free for cash when there was one available.

I'm with Queenie...I'm definitely old fashioned where TC are concerned. But in my experience, we've never had a problem using TC anywhere in the US, not just Disney (Europe - yes; but never the US). Every shop, restaurant, hotel in the US will take the TC without any additional fees and they treat it like cash.

I agree that the US almost everywhere was fine. And as I say they treat it like cash...and I used them like an ATM

 

[aussietravellers]

I agree that the US almost everywhere was fine. And as I say they treat it like cash...and I used them like an ATM

Well that sounds good , you may have converted me back to travellers cheques. If the $ goes back up I will get some after hearing both yours and PrincessInOz's good experiences in the US. You won't get me back to them in the UK or Europe though, I had so many trips when they were just a pain which is why I ditched them the last 4 or so Europe/Uk trips. But the US I will give them another go! Thanks

 

[aussietravellers]

The $ has now dropped to .84

Gosh it's dropping fast!

 

[hjd0411]

Let me jump on board the TC band wagon! I won't use anything else, certainly for the US. I jsut cash them as I go. There was only one place that wouldn't accept them and that was at Golden Corral restaurant! Lucky I had some cash!!!
I'm glad I was able to get my TC's at the 90c +/- mark! Wow - it has dropped quite quickly, hasn't it? I do know that it did that early this year I think, but came back again (not that history means it will do it again!!)

Welcome home PrincessinOz - hope you had a great time away!! I'm still in Orlando - the weather is still hot, hot, hot and humid!! Had a couple of good storms over the last couple of days though! I look forward to hearing how your trip went!

Good luck with the dollar for everyone else! Hope it goes up soon...

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I've never actually seen let along used a Travellers Cheque . Since last year was my first ever overseas trip we just used the ANZ travel card and it was super convenient and I loved it. Might have to investigate the TC's for next time although I'm kind of a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" kinda gal so will probably stick with the travel visa