Exchanging US Dollars

Moraga, California
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Exchanging US Dollars
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When you are exchanging US Dollars in Vietnam, how new do the $100 bills need to be? We went to the bank and asked for the newest bills they had, but some are good and some have obviously been in a wallet before. I am just wondering if I need to go back to the bank and try and get some newer bills.

None of the bills look like they just came from the mint.

Thanks

Europe
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1. Re: Exchanging US Dollars
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30 minutes ago we tried to exchange two not-so-new 100$ bills in four different gold shops in Nha Trang and were turned down. I'd say the bills have to be pretty new.

We then went to an ATM at basically you can only exchange either 2M VND or 3M VND a day (depends on the bank).

I haven't the faintest idea why these people think that only new bills are worth anything. Probably ignorance, as I'd expect used bills to be genuine.

We usually bring new bills, but this time, some of them were used.

Oh well.

Munich, Germany
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Hi,

your bills don´t have to look like new, but they should not be crumpled or damaged. They same refers to your change. Vietnamese don´t accept damaged bills, but they always try to give it out in normal shops or restaurants. The best exchange rate you will find in the goldshops.

Have a fantastic vacation

Joachim

(vietnamandmore team)

USA
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"These people" make about $120/month in USD. I just talked to a receptionist who showed me a $100 note she had to eat the was a forgery. Would you take a $10,000 note if someone here were to ask you to take??? I doubt it. There ate plenty of ATMs here you can get money from and although you can usually only take 2M out at a time, you can do it many times per day.

Lincoln, United...
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It's a myth that you can only get 2m dong out each time..... a lot of ATM's will give you 4m . Just select other amounts and input 4m. Usually you can get 16m out per day; if you really feel the need to carry 16m dong.

But yes, Dollar bills (in fact any currency you want to change) need to have no writing (GBP changers need to watch out as it is normal to find writing on Pound notes), no tears and be in fairly good nick. It's ok though if the dollar bills have a bank stamp, like I got given in Cambodia. That isn't a problem.

Both pound and dollar are riding high against the Dong.... :-)

Llanbrynmair...
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5. Re: Exchanging US Dollars
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As already advised, there should be no nicks, no tears, no pen marks or other superficial damage.

Note that precisely the same goes for Vietnamese notes so check your change carefully when you're in Vietnam. I've built up quite a collection of damaged dong notes that nobody will accept.

Italy
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for Ho Chi Minh City
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Coming from a Euro country i do not have USD and nobody should carry too much cash traveling, it is not safe...

So no Euro either, ATM :-)

How many USD do I really need to enter VN? Just the 25/50$ for the VOA?

Europe
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69: not everyone can get a card that lets you withdraw from ATM's without paying a fee. My bank takes a minimum of $6 to withdraw anything. If the limit were the 'mythical' $100, that amounts to 6%.

Hence my interest...

I got my hotel to take the bills :-)

Italy
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4mil=160E, in Italy every atm transaction cost 2E plus now around 1% for MasterCard....

If VN bank are not charging like Thai bank (3E) ATM is probably still cheap than pay with Visa + 3% fees where they accet it.

Lincoln, United...
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privatbruger

69: not everyone can get a card that lets you withdraw from ATM's without paying a fee. My bank takes a minimum of $6 to withdraw anything. If the limit were the 'mythical' $100, that amounts to 6%.

----------------

privatbruger, I do realise that .... I would admit to having a local bank card (HSBC) that I get free withdrawals out of the ATM's.

However, I do know using my UK bank card that I usually pay an additional 20k dong per 2m dong at the applied exchange rate, plus a FLAT fee of £1.50 per transaction. Which is why the 4m dong limit is of such interest to me. I save money by taking more. Unfortunately, the single higher limit for most seems to be 4m, although I do remember someone mentioning ANZ ATM's having a higher limit.

But 4m dong does go a long way.

Moraga, California
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Thanks all for the advice. I think what we have is okay for the trip.

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