Brace yourself. A pint of beer in London; a bottle of wine in Paris; a gelato in Rome.
And then there’s eating out, getting around, sightseeing and accommodation.
The Australian dollar doesn’t feel that kind to us, in many places, at the moment.
A spokesperson for Wise, which has an international debit card that works with 40 currencies, says: “Let’s face it, it’s not a great time to be the Aussie dollar in the UK ($1 currently worth £0.52), the US ($1 currently worth $US0.64), or Europe ($1 currently worth 60 euro cents) — which rules out visiting a lot of major destinations this Christmas holidays, if you’re trying to get your money’s worth.”
So the team at Wise has come up with this guide to seven destinations where travellers can get more bang for their buck, outlining how much things cost and how far an Australian dollar will really go.
In the Wise team’s own words …
JAPAN
“$1 is currently buying Y94.61. To put this in perspective, in Tokyo — Japan’s capital, a three-course meal for two at a relatively nice restaurant would set you back Y6000 or $63. A monthly pass for public transport would cost Y5200 or $54.96 and a bottle of local beer would cost Y395 or just over $4.”
INDIA
“$1 is currently buying R53.02. Which means if you chose to holiday somewhere tropical like Goa, a coffee would cost R140 or $2.62, a meal at a street vendor would cost around R200 or $3.74 and a 10km taxi trip would cost around R300 or $5.60.”
Stephen Scourfield The West Australian Credit: Stephen Scourfield/The West Australian
ARGENTINA
“$1 is currently buying 224.69 Argentine pesos. However it can be tricky to buy Argentine pesos due to supply, so US dollars are widely accepted by most Argentinian businesses. In Buenos Aires, even if you were spending in US dollars, it’s still a cheaper holiday destination for Aussies. A coffee would set you back $US1.53 ($2.38) and a bottle of medium-range red wine would cost $US3.35 ($5.22) — both considerably cheaper in Argentina than at home.”
INDONESIA
“$1 is currently worth IR10060.99. Bali is one of the (best-known) holiday destinations for Aussies, largely because it’s so affordable. Half a litre of domestic beer is IR50,000 or $4.97 and renting a one-bedroom apartment in the centre of the city for a month is IR9,793,517.95 or $973.42.”
SOUTH AFRICA
“$1 is currently buying 12.41 South African Rand. Well-known for its wine bar scene, a bottle of mid-range red wine will cost you R100 or $8.06, a monthly public transport pass will set you back R1300 or $104.74 and a meal at an inexpensive restaurant costs around R175 or $14.10.”
POLAND
“$1 is currently buying 2.77 Polish zloty. Krakow may just be your ticket to doing Europe on a budget. A three-course meal for two at a relatively nice restaurant costs 170zl or $61.37, a cinema ticket costs 29.50zl or $10.65 and a bottle of local beer costs 4.19zl or $1.51.”
SRI LANKA
“$1 is currently buying 206.81 Sri Lankan rupees. After the political turmoil in Sri Lanka over the past few years, it’s slowly rebuilding its tourism back up, making it a cheap destination for Aussies. In Colombo, an inexpensive restaurant meal will cost R900 or $4.35, local beer is around R500 or $2.42 and a monthly public transport pass (which is key if you want to properly see the country) only costs R1700 or $8.22.”
TOP TIPS
Tristan Dakin, Australian country manager at Wise, has put together three top tips to make money go further:
+ “When you are abroad, use something like a multi-currency-card which lets you open different currencies within your account, so you can pay in the local currency with no hidden fees or markups on the exchange rate.”
+ “Always opt to pay in the local currency (not your home currency) if given the choice.”
+ “If you do have to use your local bank card, beware of ATM fees, transaction fees and international transaction fees.”
THE WISE CARD
A Wise debit card can be used 160 countries with 40 currencies, on one card.
And users don’t have to move their balance around between currencies. A Wise spokesperson explains: “If you’ve got the local currency, we’ll use it. If you don’t, we’ll convert to it at a cheap rate. So in store or online, you’ve always got the right kind of money, for the right price.”
And travellers can take out up to $350 in cash a month for free. Cardholders pay only a low fee on withdrawals after that first $350.
The card can be used through Apple Pay or Google on your phone (or laptop), though customers also get a physical card.
It can be used for shopping online, too.
wise.com
