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is so delicious
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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 Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 2:58 am Post subject: Best way to exchange money?? |
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I think I've heard the independent places in Itaewon are actually better than the airports. Is this true? Or are there certain banks that are better than others?
I have a passport but no ARC card. Just arrived from Turkey and have like $5,000 worth of Turkish Lira.
Anyone? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:10 am Post subject: Re: Best way to exchange money?? |
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| is so delicious wrote: |
I think I've heard the independent places in Itaewon are actually better than the airports. Is this true? Or are there certain banks that are better than others?
I have a passport but no ARC card. Just arrived from Turkey and have like $5,000 worth of Turkish Lira.
Anyone? |
Won to dollars or vice/versa... itaewon or the ladies in Dongdaemun are often 1% better than the banks or airport.
Lira to won... just about the only place that will touch it is the airport.
(is the the Turkish Lira even a convertible currency?)
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is so delicious
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:12 am Post subject: |
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| Ha... oh god. Didn't even think of that. Back to the airport for me... woo hoo. |
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Jake_Kim
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:45 am Post subject: Re: Best way to exchange money?? |
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| is so delicious wrote: |
I think I've heard the independent places in Itaewon are actually better than the airports. Is this true? Or are there certain banks that are better than others?
I have a passport but no ARC card. Just arrived from Turkey and have like $5,000 worth of Turkish Lira.
Anyone? |
For major reserve currencies, private exchanges in Myeongdong or Itaewon might offer narrower bid-ask spread, thus advantageous to you.
They also deal some Asian non-reserve currencies with high exchange volume/demands from inbound tourists.
But Turkish Lira? EXTREMELY doubtful. Your best bet is Korea Exchange Bank HQ Branch in Euljiro, but even if they handle TL, the rate would be very unfavorable and commission would be brutal. |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 6:11 am Post subject: |
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TRY is a convertable currency and legally accepted in Korea:
https://spib.wooribank.com/pib/Dream?withyou=ENENG0358
But the rate is RIDICOLOUS, as bad as Travelex UK  20% spread)
481.16 per TRY on Nov 14th
Bank clerks aren't likely to have a clue what TRY notes look like though, and that can be a problem for you.
You might be better off waiting to go back to Turkey or asking someone who is going to Turkey to echange them.
BTW, why in the world did you exchnge that much  |
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Hokie21
Joined: 01 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Deja wrote: |
BTW, why in the world did you exchnge that much |
This |
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is so delicious
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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I just worked in Turkey for three months and was paid in cash. My school was in the middle of nowhere and going to a bank and doing an international transfer to my home bank just wasn't possible...
Or so I thought. Sounds like I should have just taken a sick day and gotten it taken care of then. |
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| is so delicious wrote: |
I just worked in Turkey for three months and was paid in cash. My school was in the middle of nowhere and going to a bank and doing an international transfer to my home bank just wasn't possible...
Or so I thought. Sounds like I should have just taken a sick day and gotten it taken care of then. |
Um, why the heck didn't you just convert it to US dollars in Turkey, like at the airport? That is the obvious thing to do. |
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is so delicious
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Because I was coming to KOREA from Turkey. I wasn't going to America. Which means two currency exchanges/commissions/rounds of crappy rates. It never occurred to me that it might still be worth it. I guess I didn't realize Turkish currency was so obscure that it would have been worth changing to dollars first and THEN changing the dollars to WON. Is that what you're saying? |
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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| is so delicious wrote: |
| Because I was coming to KOREA from Turkey. I wasn't going to America. Which means two currency exchanges/commissions/rounds of crappy rates. It never occurred to me that it might still be worth it. I guess I didn't realize Turkish currency was so obscure that it would have been worth changing to dollars first and THEN changing the dollars to WON. Is that what you're saying? |
Outside of travel in intercontinental Europe, US dollars will virtually always get you the best exchange rate when traveling. If you live overseas, you really have no excuse for not knowing this, and it has nothing to do with traveling to America. Cross-rates (any currency pair not involving US dollars) in financial markets are calculated by first converting to dollars and then to the other currency (JPY/KRW rate is calculated using USD/JPY and USD/KRW).
The spread on changing lira to dollars and then to won probably would amount to 5% at airports. It baffles me that you think Turkish lira would get anywhere near market rate at a retail counter in Korea. Turkish lira - not obscure in Korea? Seriously? |
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is so delicious
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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So you're saying one round of Turkish Lira to Korean won exchange is still more expensive than one round of Turkish Lira to US dollars combined with another round of US dollars to Korean Won?
Anyway... still looking for banks that take Turkish Lira. Anyone? |
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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| is so delicious wrote: |
So you're saying one round of Turkish Lira to Korean won exchange is still more expensive than one round of Turkish Lira to US dollars combined with another round of US dollars to Korean Won?
Anyway... still looking for banks that take Turkish Lira. Anyone? |
That's absolutely the case - the difference in magnitude of the volume of USD/KRW compared to TRY/KRW exchanged in retail counters at Seoul is surely in the thousands, if not the millions. There is basically no liquidity in the market, and retail exchanges have to then find someone to take the Turkish lira risk off their books, and that's a huge hassle. If you've ever been somewhere like Thailand or the Philippines, where there are lots of Korean tourists (perhaps more than American), you can compare the rates offered to accept either USD or Korean won, and you'll see that the spread on the won usually amounts to 20-30%.
In all seriousness - ask the guys at the kebab shops if they might be interested or if they know of anyone. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Live and learn. USD's are your best bet when travelling almost anywhere in the world, unless you're headed to the EuroZone. |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 3:29 am Post subject: |
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| is so delicious wrote: |
So you're saying one round of Turkish Lira to Korean won exchange is still more expensive than one round of Turkish Lira to US dollars combined with another round of US dollars to Korean Won?
Anyway... still looking for banks that take Turkish Lira. Anyone? |
Really? Did you not read my post? I gave you the exchange rate for Woori, and they do accept it as cash (it may be a hassle if you don't speak Korean and the bank clerk does not recognize TRY notes - but they do have to accept them).
I can't tell about Hana and KEB, at the moment, since I have no intention of installing their ActiveX crap just to see the FX rate
Do check their rates to see which is better, I only checked whether Woori accepts TRY and at what rate, nothing more.
Anyway, in Turkey, EUR might be a better bet when exchanging TRY->KRW (TRY->EUR->KRW) vs. TRY->USD->KRW, because cash wise - EUR is used more in Turkey than the USD. |
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