Job Discussion Forums

legriffon · Joined: 31 Jan 2011 Posts: 4

Hi guys nice to meet you all. After a 3 year stint in China and a brief return to Australia I have decided to come to Vietnam. I will be arriving in Hanoi on the 21st of February and just wanted to know what's the best thing I should do with my aussie $s. Should I bring my aussie dollars to vietnam and change at the airport to dong or US? Or should I change to dong or US before I come. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

JHat · Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

Dong cannot be traded outside of Vietnam (ie. no foreign currency exchange will have dong on hand) so you have to bring foreign currency to Vietnam before changing into dong.

Since the AUD and USD seem to be on par with each other, I'd exchange your money into USD at your bank in Australia and bring USD over. If you exchange AUS to USD in Vietnam (both of which are foreign currencies here), you'll get a worse exchange rate.

Once you arrive here, only exchange a small amount at the airport. Once you're in Hanoi, find a jewelery store (the larger the better) to exchange your USD into VNese dong. Jewelery/gold stores give you better rates than the official bank rate. New-looking $100 or $50 USD bills will also get you more dong than $20, $10, or $5's.

baygioimdi · Joined: 28 Jan 2011 Posts: 44

Of course, it depends on how much money you have, but it is always best to bring USD. This is because the Dong is not stable and if you have USD you can exchange it at higher rates on the black market now and in the future. The other currencies do not fluctuate much between the official and black market rates.

The Banks in Vietnam including at the airports will not change your Aussie Dollars or any currency into USD only Vietnamese Dong.

Cheers

legriffon · Joined: 31 Jan 2011 Posts: 4

Thanks guys, pretty helpful.

Kornan DeKobb · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 242

Bring USD, and I will change them into dong for you at a better rate than the official one. (And I'm in Hanoi.)

baygioimdi · Joined: 28 Jan 2011 Posts: 44

Yes, I agree, bring the USD to HCMC and I will also give you a better rate than the official rate and then I will walk across the street to the gold shop
and get a higher rate. I don't follow the post unless he/she is trying to take advantage of an ignorant tourist or its a joke? Or is he going to give you the same rate as the gold shops?

Kornan DeKobb · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 242

Sorry, but your hypersensitivity is clouding your judgment. I am taking advantage of no one, He is going to arrive in VN, go straight to a currency exchange place at the airport, and change his $ for 19,500 dong each. He doesn't know where to go yet to change dollars. After living here awhile and he gets to know the place, he can do that if he so chooses. I can even tell him where to go. I will give him a better rate while getting a better rate than I could from the exchange place. It is called cutting out the middle man.

So now every time I have done this at the airport, I have ripped somebody off? They all seemed pretty happy to get the better rate.

MOD EDIT

baygioimdi · Joined: 28 Jan 2011 Posts: 44

Thank you for the reply.

If he follows the advice of another poster, he should only change a small amount of USD at the airport-20 or 50 USD. Then he should change USD at a gold shop. If he can find a hotel in Hanoi or a restaurant to eat food, he will be able to find a gold shop, it's that simple. All he has to do is ask his hotel, a honda om driver or anyone on the street who can speak English and they will lead him in the right direction. No I am not jealous, I am only interested in giving the best information to anyone coming to Vietnam. Since I have been living in HCMC since 1992, I suspect I have more experience than most on this site.

Thank you and best of luck.