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Post by kiwidi on Jul 7, 2015 21:48:34 GMT
Hi everyone, I wanted to ask some advice about the best way to money when travelling to Japan. My son and a couple of his friends, all mid 20's are travelling to Japan from New Zealand in early August for approximately 3 weeks and will be travelling independently around Japan. I recalled reading some time ago a fairly detailed discussion about cash passports and credit cards (the discussion may have been on the old Trafalgar Board.
He is planning on taking approximately $3,000.00 NZ dollars with him. What I would like to know is the best way to take these monies.
My thoughts were:
1. Cash - Japanese Yen - I suggested he exchange approximately $500.00 NZ into Yen before leaving so he has on arrival in Japan some available cash.
2. Cash passport/Travel Ex card - In New Zealand you can get a Travel Ex card or a cash passport onto which you load money in the currency of the countries you are visiting. He can use this at ATM's and some shops will accept this for purchases. I have suggested that put the remainder of his money on this card.
3. Credit Card - for use when he is paying larger amounts, paying for accommodation or in the case of emergency ie., needing extra funds.
I recall reading that any cards you take should not be attached to your bank accounts. Am I correct? Any other advice suggestions would be appreciated.
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Post by chech on Jul 7, 2015 22:15:20 GMT
That all sounds good. And yes, you don't want a debit card attached to an account with all your savings in it. For my card, it can bring up all my accounts, but it can only withdraw from an ATM from my chequing which only has enough in it to do me for the trip. The rest are in accounts that can only be accessed at the bank itself. My credit card is not attached to any accounts. Also, both my cards are insured by the bank against fraud. Check with your bank/credit card company to see if they require notification of travel so that they don't suspend your cards over unusual overseas activity. And a four digit PIN is best for travelling. I know some ATMs in Europe won't accept more than 4 digits. Not sure about Japan. I was in Japan last year on TT's Splendours of Japan + Hiroshima. If you want to read it, you can find it here: wp.me/P4wi9z-H5It might give him some hints/tips on Japan. One thing is certain - it is likely the safest country in the world to travel to and the people are absolutely amazing! Especially in Hiroshima. I really hope it's on his agenda.  |
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Post by kiwidi on Jul 7, 2015 22:49:30 GMT
Thanks Chech for your reply.
I hadn't thought about telling the bank he was travelling before he left - I have done that in the past for myself. Also the 4 digit pin number is a good reminder, we usually use a 4 digit pin for our debit cards here anyway.
I have read your travel tale of your trip to Japan and had forwarded him a link to have a look as well. He has decided after reading this that he is going to do a day trip to Mt Fuji on the bullet train. His plans are arriving in Narita, to stay there a couple of days, travel to Ebisu as there is the Japanese Masuri on there in August, then head to Osaka and Kyoto then on to Hiroshima, finally back to Tokyo, probably for the last week.
Does anyone know if he needs to buy an adapter for his I-phone, laptop etc - coming from New Zealand to Japan
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Post by chech on Jul 8, 2015 0:55:54 GMT
He'll need what he uses for North America - an adapter to fit into a plug with two flat prongs like this...  His electronics should be dual voltage so they should have no problem there.   |
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Post by kiwidi on Jul 8, 2015 2:48:49 GMT
Thank you, I didn't realise they were the same. He had been look around in some of the travel stores but said there was nothing labelled specifically for Japan.
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Post by chech on Jul 8, 2015 11:20:21 GMT
Yeah, I think they ended up being North American standard due to the American occupation.  |
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Post by plane2catch on Jul 8, 2015 13:56:47 GMT
I loved Kyoto when I visited back in 1985. The sushi and Saki were great compared to the shortage of decent food found throughout my time spent in China back then. I even enjoyed the bullet train sushi snack enroute to the mountains. Your son isn't going near the area that was hit by the Tsunami a few years back is he? Tell him to enjoy his visit. I had a nice message but decided not to partake in any acupuncture while I visited. Wishing him a life full of memories coming off of this visit!
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Post by kiwidi on Jul 9, 2015 22:24:49 GMT
Thanks, I am not sure if he is going where the Tsunami hit - I know he has been researching a lot about what to visit in the areas he is planning on stopping in. He purchased a Japan Rail Pass and is coordinating his stops with the train route etc.
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Post by gary2002 on Jul 19, 2015 14:54:59 GMT
ooooo
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Post by kiwidi on Sept 9, 2015 22:35:23 GMT
Hi everyone I just wanted to give some feed back on my son's recent trip to Japan. This was a trip that he organised himself. He brought a Japan Rail Pass before leaving New Zealand which he used for travel throughout Japan. He said it worked well, just took a couple of days to familiarise himself with the train stations and different train lines. He had planned his route and stop overs before leaving knowing he wanted to be in certain places at certain times. He had done all his accommodation bookings on Booking.com in the months leading up to his trip. As it was Japan's summer and their high season it wise to do this. He said all his bookings worked out well and there was no hitches. He was in Hiroshima the week of the anniversary of the bombing and struggled to find accommodation even 2 months prior to leaving. The main issue was travelling in a group of 8. They resorted to booking a capsule for the night which he said was just horrible but was glad they had tried it as it was an experience. Also tried Ryokan accommodation in Fukushima. He had budgeted around about 10,000 Yen per day, which he did not always use up. Most of his accommodation did not include breakfast - however the 7-11 stores in Japan have a huge variety of food items to choose from so these became their daily stop often for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also tried a number of small cafes/restaurants. I had asked about the best way to take monies. He initially had some cash for the first couple of days on arriving in Japan, the remainder of his money he had put on a Cash Passport which he had set up before leaving New Zealand. The good thing about this was he was able to check his balance on line and he was able to load more funds on it while he was travelling. He would every couple of days or as needed use the ATM machine to withdraw funds. He also took a credit card which he used for his accommodation, he avoided using the credit card to withdraw funds from ATM's as their was an $8.50 charge. Thanks to everyone for their input in relation to planning his trip. |
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Post by chech on Sept 9, 2015 23:02:18 GMT
Awesome! Sounds like he was well prepared and very lucky to be there on the anniversary. That must have been an experience!  |
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