Going to Australia for the first time ...

[Evil Inside]

Wow never heard anything about that here.
So that's only ATM machines though, not something that could happen when paying for some shopping in a store, it seems.

I had it happen to me at a mcdonalds drive thru, used my card and they had one of those portable atm machines, 10 mins later I got a call from my bank saying that someone tried withdrawing $4200 from my debit card. Thankfully it was just that, a debit card and nothing more.

OP: You can use cash without problem.

[Pious Lemon]

Unfortunately, Australia is one of the most expensive places I've been (also live there) with the exception of Switzerland Sure some things can be cheaper but overall it can be quite painful on the wallet.

[Uennie]

Yeah usually my international trips are to Japan so I'm used to bringing a couple thousand to cover myself for two-three weeks (emergencies, not to spend it all on food/lodging), but Australia seems way more expensive so I'll probably come prepared with minimum 5k (although I'll be attempting to do as many free things as possible). I hate being stuck in other countries short on cash in case of an emergency. That's happened to me twice (once in England and another time in France). I figured this is a great time to go for holiday because I'm from Hawai'i and we only recently started flying direct to Brisbane with Hawaiian Airlines so starting rates were mega cheap !

[stuck4cash]

OP, you should talk to your local bank about a few things.

1. International Money Cards. They work with local banks and tend to have lower/no fees associated with their use.
2. When and where you're going. Cards used in foreign countries will usually trigger warnings with your banks and they might automatically cancel them.
3. Get a second card if possible. If it does get automatically flagged at least you won't be stranded. An international money card can be that 2nd/3rd card.

We use cash and cards about on par with Canada... Actually, it's exactly like going to Canada except it's much warmer and we don't speak funny (imo, the Canadians and US people would probably disagree).

Safety precautions:

Check your shoes before you put them on if you leave them outside.
Carry at least 2 600ml bottles with you.
Stick to the cities.
Wear sunscreen! Turning bright red is not only painful but can be very dangerous.


Lastly, if you want to get the most out of your trip, make sure you visit places other than the big touristy spots. Bondi beach is like the most overcrowded beach in Australia. There's thousands of miles of beach that are way better and less crowded. Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are overcrowded as well.

Also, the wildlife here gets a bad rep. Mostly because the foreigners forget the one simple rule of avoiding any wild animals. You don't pat Grizzly Bears in the wild so don't try to pat a Kangaroo (it'll do almost the same damage to you if you try).

[Palmatum]

Ask them if they won the ashes last time.

[Hayden272]

card mate its the way of the future its the shit, paypass anything under 20$ just hold the chip in the card over a sensor or some shit i don't know how it works and walk away no pin no sign nothing its amazing, and then just normal credit charge the other things, carrying around money is lame, and weighs you down, just roll with the whole card thing it truly is the best way to live in australia imo, i haven't really had to have money in my wallet except for going out clubbing and shit

[TheBeardedOne]

card mate its the way of the future its the shit, paypass anything under 20$ just hold the chip in the card over a sensor or some shit i don't know how it works and walk away no pin no sign nothing its amazing, and then just normal credit charge the other things, carrying around money is lame, and weighs you down, just roll with the whole card thing it truly is the best way to live in australia imo, i haven't really had to have money in my wallet except for going out clubbing and shit

its $100 in australia well NSW anyway. I always take cash out at clubs cause its easier to keep track of spending too much when your drunk

[Brydie]

I'm from nz but live in Sydney now. Cash is widely more accepted than card. I've never been anywhere that doesn't accept cash, but some places don't accept card.

[TheBeardedOne]

I'm from nz but live in Sydney now. Cash is widely more accepted than card. I've never been anywhere that doesn't accept cash, but some places don't accept card.

This is true and a lot of places also have a $10-20 minimum on cards

[obdigore]

I'm not sure it matters when the drop bears are waiting for you to get off the airplane.

NZ > Australia because NZ has dino-birds and Australia has drop bears.

[Naxere]

Never had any problems with cash when I went there, just try and find a place without exorbitant exchange fees.

[Windfury]

card mate its the way of the future its the shit, paypass anything under 20$ just hold the chip in the card over a sensor or some shit i don't know how it works and walk away no pin no sign nothing its amazing, and then just normal credit charge the other things, carrying around money is lame, and weighs you down, just roll with the whole card thing it truly is the best way to live in australia imo, i haven't really had to have money in my wallet except for going out clubbing and shit

I hate fking paypass. People will literally take my card right out of my hand and pass it without even asking me how I want to pay, then act all confused about the fact that I'm pissed they just put something on my credit account without my permission (my credit card is also linked to my savings account so I have it out to access my savings account 99.99% of the time). I'd have no issues with it if it took from your savings, but it goes right on to your credit, and banks love it because it's a sneaky way to increase interest without people really realising it. I never use it voluntarily :<

OP you are right most people tend to use cards unless there's a reason not to, but at the same time nobody's going to find it strange if you want to use cash. I'd suggest you just doing whatever's going to be cheapest for you, since I can only begin to imagine how much places try to sting tourists for already.

[Uennie]

OP, you should talk to your local bank about a few things.

1. International Money Cards. They work with local banks and tend to have lower/no fees associated with their use.
2. When and where you're going. Cards used in foreign countries will usually trigger warnings with your banks and they might automatically cancel them.
3. Get a second card if possible. If it does get automatically flagged at least you won't be stranded. An international money card can be that 2nd/3rd card.

We use cash and cards about on par with Canada... Actually, it's exactly like going to Canada except it's much warmer and we don't speak funny (imo, the Canadians and US people would probably disagree).

Safety precautions:

Check your shoes before you put them on if you leave them outside.
Carry at least 2 600ml bottles with you.
Stick to the cities.
Wear sunscreen! Turning bright red is not only painful but can be very dangerous.


Lastly, if you want to get the most out of your trip, make sure you visit places other than the big touristy spots. Bondi beach is like the most overcrowded beach in Australia. There's thousands of miles of beach that are way better and less crowded. Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are overcrowded as well.

Also, the wildlife here gets a bad rep. Mostly because the foreigners forget the one simple rule of avoiding any wild animals. You don't pat Grizzly Bears in the wild so don't try to pat a Kangaroo (it'll do almost the same damage to you if you try).

Well I'm going to go to this cowboy rodeo show down the gold coast or something, and I think Erwin's park? The full details of what I'm doing haven't been revealed to me yet so I hope those aren't too touristy.