I hope someone in Australia can answer this question. Since the American dollar and the Australian dollar are now almost equally valued, would I be able to use American dollars in Australia or will I need to use ATM's to get the Australian money?

I was recently on tour in Ausralia and you definitely need Australian dollars.

I would agree that Australian dollaars have to be used in 99% of purchases. It is also good manners to use the local currency especially for smaller purchases, cups of coffee etc. There is virtually no difference in using the local currency in any country where the roman alphabet is used. If the shopkeeper wants 50 Australian dollars, or Euros, or British pounds, just look at the notes you have and pick out 50 what-evers, or something of greater value and wait for the change. The only places you might have trouble are where the notes are printed in a foreign alphabet such as Arabic, Hebrew or Thai. Even then, they often have the amount written in familiar numerals and sometimes in English.

The only reason to have a rough idea of the exchange rate is to calculate whether you are overpaying or exceeding the capacity of your bank account. For the most part, you don't even need to go into a bank, just use the ATM as you would at home and out pops the local currency!

Hi, Sniklefritz, as a retailer in a tourist area in Queensland I can tell you that your American dollars will be refused. This won't be done out of bad manners but because the retailer operates on AUD. The retailer will not want the bother of going to the bank to exchange the USD and paying the associated fees attached.

It will be best for you to use ATMs and get AUD to save yourself the grief of having a retailer become upset with you over something that can be avoided. To use the USD here could well be perceived as an act of arrogance and I am sure you will not want that to happen.

If you are unable to tender AUD, just use a credit card. However it is very common for retail outlets to set a minimum purchase of $10 before you can use a credit card.

Have a great trip here.

quote:

Originally posted by sniklefritz:
I hope someone in Australia can answer this question. Since the American dollar and the Australian dollar are now almost equally valued, would I be able to use American dollars in Australia or will I need to use ATM's to get the Australian money?

Not to be rude here but would I be able to use Australian dollars in the US???? Not except at a bank to exchange into US dollars. The US dollars is not for every country in the world it's attached to your own country as is our dollar to Australia. Retailers/restaurants would be horrified if you tried to pay in US dollars,they would ask for Aussie dollars & if you had none call the police if your in a restaurant as the US dollars is not our legal currency.

Cheers
Spooky

Sniklefritz: Currencies are not interchangeable even if their values coincide. $100 USD buys AUD $104.93 at today`s rate, so even if you could use your local $$$ in Australia, you shouldn`t, because you`d be overpaying.

Most places wouldn't take another country's money simply because who would know the exchange rate? If someone came in and gave me a $100 Aussie bill, I wouldn't have the slightest idea of what it was worth.

Most places near the US border take US money, some businesses just check the exchange rate daily and have a chart, some places (like my workplace) have a US Money key right on our till, all the exchange is done automatically. We often get as much as $400.00 a day, so for us it's worth it. In the summer we get tourists, in the fall we get hunters and in the winter we get ski/snowboard folk, so we get US money all year round. But any other country? Not a chance.

Shannon

Forgery is another reason people will not accept foreign currency of any sort. This is especially true of US money where the notes are the same size and colour and of similar appearance! No one wants to risk being slipped a $1 note instead of $100. Traders in England will not readily accept Scottish or Northern Irish money, not because they are racist but because these notes are not commonly seen outside Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is in spite of the fact they are legal tender and the same value as Bank of England notes.

Expom: Through a quirk of the system, Scottish notes are not legal tender. They`re not even legal tender in Scotland! They are, however, Pounds Sterling, the same currency as English notes, and I can`t begin to tell you how it steams the Scots that they have such difficulty using their banknotes in England, where merchants have been known to charge a surcharge.

quote:

Originally posted by Caitie:
Expom: Through a quirk of the system, Scottish notes are not legal tender. They`re not even legal tender in Scotland! They are, however, Pounds Sterling, the same currency as English notes, and I can`t begin to tell you how it steams the Scots that they have such difficulty using their banknotes in England, where merchants have been known to charge a surcharge.

Never knew they weren't legal tender, maybe that's another reason they aren't readily accepted outside Scotland. I've only used them once outside Scotland and the barmaid in the Mill Hill, London pub had no hesitation in taking it. It's the possibility of getting a dud that's probably the problem, if you give some away I doubt you would have the same reaction as trying to buy something with them! As for surcharges, that's plain fraud and I would tell the merchant what to do with his goods!

Expom: English notes are readily accepted in Scotland, so the Scots expect reciprocal treatment. After all, England and Scotland have been united under one monarch since 1603.

Caitie and Expom - you're tricks! (Is that international slang for catching people on the hop and making them laugh?)

I knew the question of 'legal currency' in the UK had been discussed, so did a search. Lo and behold, back as far as 2002, 'Caitie' and 'Expom' were sorting it out!

AND, Caitie's family seat is in Stirling, so she knows very well how 'united' England and Scotland have been under their monarchs, Lords Protectors etc!

Cheeky, the pair of you!

quote:

Originally posted by Caitie:
Expom: English notes are readily accepted in Scotland, so the Scots expect reciprocal treatment. After all, England and Scotland have been united under one monarch since 1603.

This is one for the Scottish/Westminster parliaments or both I think. Make Scottish and Northern Irish notes legal tender together with an advertising campaign showing valid notes and explaining that they shouldn't refuse them. Better still, change to the Euro and a plague on both their houses!

PS>>> Caitie, I will accept any Scottish bank notes you care to send me!!

quote:

PS>>> Caitie, I will accept any Scottish bank notes you care to send me!!

Ahh, Expom: I do have a small stash of Scottish banknotes, which I bought at a favorable rate, but alas, they are earmarked for my next trip to Scotland, by which time they could be worth MUCH more than I paid for them.
I don`t know why the UK is resistant to adopting the Euro. It makes sense to me, too, if they`re part of the EU, but I suppose there`s more to it than I know. I have not lived there since I was a teenager, and that was a long time ago.