Hoping someone can help. I've got a month long trip to South Africa and Mozambique coming up and want to have access to cash over there. Normally I load up the Commonwealth Travel Card or Qantas Cash Card and then withdraw funds locally via ATM. Buth neither card accepts African currency uploads. So any experienced travellers for Africa got good tips on best way to get cash over there (not keen on carrying it with me from the outset).
Citibank Plus Everyday Account, transfer AUD to that account, and simply withdraw from the ATM. Qantas cash card overpriced, with their sub-par rates and charges on deposits. Commonwealth travel card is also a bad choice.
Was just over there for three weeks. To be honest given the cost of living there and such I tended to just use my Amex or Visa where I could and copped the fees.
Took out cash a couple of times at ATMs - only about Au$1000 which was circa R10k. The local banks slugged me $5 (R50) in fees each time plus the ANZ fee which totaled about $25 from memory for all the withdrawals. Hope that helps.
PS don’t forget it’s a country where tipping is the norm.
I just use my regular ATM card when in South Africa. Machines are readily available. If concerned about cost, open an ING transaction account and international fees (including ATM) will be waived.
Westpac customers have access to their global ATM alliance which allows for free free withdrawls overseas from partner ATMs.... this used to include ABSA in RSA but looking at their link now, it seems it may have stopped:
drgmarshall
drgmarshall
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 May 2012
Total posts 106
Hoping someone can help. I've got a month long trip to South Africa and Mozambique coming up and want to have access to cash over there. Normally I load up the Commonwealth Travel Card or Qantas Cash Card and then withdraw funds locally via ATM. Buth neither card accepts African currency uploads. So any experienced travellers for Africa got good tips on best way to get cash over there (not keen on carrying it with me from the outset).
Mrminivee
Mrminivee
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 05 Mar 2018
Total posts 20
Citibank Plus Everyday Account, transfer AUD to that account, and simply withdraw from the ATM. Qantas cash card overpriced, with their sub-par rates and charges on deposits. Commonwealth travel card is also a bad choice.
Carrots
Carrots
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Oct 2017
Total posts 39
Was just over there for three weeks. To be honest given the cost of living there and such I tended to just use my Amex or Visa where I could and copped the fees.
ryanoleary
ryanoleary
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 23 Jun 2014
Total posts 4
I just use my regular ATM card when in South Africa. Machines are readily available. If concerned about cost, open an ING transaction account and international fees (including ATM) will be waived.
LondonLad
LondonLad
Member since 20 Sep 2018
Total posts 1
Westpac customers have access to their global ATM alliance which allows for free free withdrawls overseas from partner ATMs.... this used to include ABSA in RSA but looking at their link now, it seems it may have stopped: