Buy Vietnamese Dong

KBD85

Where would you advise I buy Vietnamese Dong in Dublin.

So far I have only found one place on Westmoreland Street but the conversion rate is not great.

Thanks.

KBD85

KBD85 wrote: »

Where would you advise I buy Vietnamese Dong in Dublin.

So far I have only found one place on Westmoreland Street but the conversion rate is not great.

Thanks.

Buy it when you get there.
Lots of places, no need to do it before, & no advantage.

KBD85

bubblypop wrote: »

Buy it when you get there.
Lots of places, no need to do it before, & no advantage.

On previous travels when converting euros to the domestic currency in the local on street currency exchange shops I have been robbed but didn't have a choice at that stage. I'm hoping for a better exchange rate here before departing.

Caranica

Take dollars, small bills. Don't worry about Dong. Unless they've changed it recently it was illegal to take Dong out of the country.

KBD85

Caranica wrote: »

Take dollars, small bills. Don't worry about Dong. Unless they've changed it recently it was illegal to take Dong out of the country.

Thanks for this, I didn't come across this on any travel site or tourist book.

It's strange that so many businesses quote in dollars. I assume using dollars in small businesses will get me less value?

cdeb

KBD85 wrote: »

On previous travels when converting euros to the domestic currency in the local on street currency exchange shops I have been robbed but didn't have a choice at that stage. I'm hoping for a better exchange rate here before departing.

Use an ATM out there

RossieMan

Unless you plan on spending thousands of euro, you'll see almost no difference when buying here or there. As said, use an ATM at the airport.

Caranica

KBD85 wrote: »

Thanks for this, I didn't come across this on any travel site or tourist book.

It's strange that so many businesses quote in dollars. I assume using dollars in small businesses will get me less value?

You get better value, not less.

fullstop

Get a Prepaid credit card and withdraw at ATM.

The J Stands for Jay

Just buy USD before you go. When I was there, lots of places were starting to take euro too. I seem to recall taking dong out of ATMs want to bad. It's all so cheap that you won't mind the FX cost.

Tipperary animal lover

Been going to vietnam for years, never once did I pay anything in dollars, why would you ya change euro into dollars and then change into dong, if your bringing cash(euro) change enough at airport when ya arrive to cover for a day or two, when ya arrive at your hotel/hostel ask at reception where the best gold shop is for changing money as they have a favourable exchange compared to the banks.
Using dollars it'll only favour the seller in the shops as they'll give you a worse exchange, the Vietnamese are lovely people but if they can make 1000dong(always smiling) out of you they will.
If your gonna bring cards, atms are everywhere, don't bother buying dong in Ireland your only gonna loose out wait till ya hit landside in Vietnam . Yall enjoy vietnam it's a fantastic country.

Ha Long Bay

Get a revolut card and withdraw money from an ATM or pay in stores using it. Most places take cards. Vietnam is a very cheap country to visit. Also pick up a travel sim at the airport for data if your phone is unlocked it only costs a few Euro.

solerina

We used the ATM when in VN, no issues at all

Bob24

To avoid surprises is worth mentioning that (at least in my experience) most Vietnamese banks apply an extra fee for using their ATM (it is not a conversion fee, just an unavoidable fee for using that ATM).

Having said that IMO it’s still the best way to get cash.

And I can confirm that in my experience most places revolving around the tourism industry accept and even encourage payments in USD.

JohnCleary

Having visited Vietnam a few times, i've found the best value / most convenient...

Load your CREDIT CARD so there is no cash advance fee
Withdraw Dong in Vietnam
Enjoy your holiday

Yes, while your IRL bank will chage you a conversion fee, it's still less (or at least the same as) than Revolut after you break the €200 monthly-fee-free.

Yes, there will be side charges (such as mentioned above), but Vietnam is such a cheap country, you quickly get over it.

Bob24

JohnCleary wrote: »

Yes, there will be side charges (such as mentioned above), but Vietnam is such a cheap country, you quickly get over it.

Very true - I might have been lucky but all the restaurants/hotels I’ve been to were excellant value for money (cheap in price but not cheap in quality). Only bad one was a so-called French restaurant which served me very over cooked and watery pasta for more than a nice Vietnamese restaurant would have been in Hue.

gar1234

Arrived in Hanoi 3 months ago with only euro got a couple of hundred changed at the airport to do a good few days most exchange places take euro.so in my experience bring euros and shop around for best exchange rate on the day

killbillvol2

JohnCleary wrote: »

Having visited Vietnam a few times, i've found the best value / most convenient...

Load your CREDIT CARD so there is no cash advance fee
Withdraw Dong in Vietnam
Enjoy your holiday

Yes, while your IRL bank will chage you a conversion fee, it's still less (or at least the same as) than Revolut after you break the €200 monthly-fee-free.

Yes, there will be side charges (such as mentioned above), but Vietnam is such a cheap country, you quickly get over it.

The problem with loading your credit card is that you're not covered for the positive balance in the event of fraud.

JohnCleary

killbillvol2 wrote: »

The problem with loading your credit card is that you're not covered for the positive balance in the event of fraud.

That's why you only load what you need for each withdrawl.

I go in 3 month stints. When I know I need to withdraw say on Thursday, on the Tuesday I transfer the amount I'll be withdrawing from my current account to credit card amount... online banking is a great invention!

cdeb

Sounds like an awful lot of effort to save a tiny amount of money?

JohnCleary

cdeb wrote: »

Sounds like an awful lot of effort to save a tiny amount of money?

Takes literally 30 seconds with online banking app and I had to do it maybe once per week.

Been doing it for 8 years.

If using your credit card for POS in Vietnam the vendor almost always charges you an extra 1-2% so cash is king

cdeb

I always used ATMs over there; agree cash is king.

But with internet speeds and the odd queue at the hostel PCs, I just found ATMs quicker. You have to go to the ATM your way anyway I think?

People have a habit of overcomplicating things to save a couple of quid, valuing their time at nil.

(Edit - actually, I presume the online banking step is on the mobile? I don't bother with online banking, so overlooked that option. Makes more sense then)

JohnCleary

cdeb wrote: »

I always used ATMs over there; agree cash is king.

But with internet speeds and the odd queue at the hostel PCs, I just found ATMs quicker. You have to go to the ATM your way anyway I think?

People have a habit of overcomplicating things to save a couple of quid, valuing their time at nil.

(Edit - actually, I presume the online banking step is on the mobile? I don't bother with online banking, so overlooked that option. Makes more sense then)

Of course it's on the phone! I had decent 3G (Can't remember if I got 4G) in Vietnam for a few $$ SIM Card I picked up in the airport when I landed.

Bob24

JohnCleary wrote: »

Of course it's on the phone! I had decent 3G (Can't remember if I got 4G) in Vietnam for a few $$ SIM Card I picked up in the airport when I landed.

It was not blazing fast but pretty sure I had 4G on the sim I got, that’s another thing which was great value for money in Vietnam. I think they had 5gb for $5 or 10gb for $8 (and to stay on topic to some extend, yes the prices for simcars ar the airport were displayed in dollars and no one was paying in Vietnamese dongs.