Currency and ATMS

Hi,

The majority of the hotels and tours i have booked for my 10 days in Vietnam are all to be paid in cash on arrival in US $ but i obviously will need Vietnamese Dong as well. As i will be in Thailand for a week previously i do not want to carry around sterling so i had intended to use my cash card at atms.

I have opened a Nationwide a/c (no comission abroad) to help with getting the best value but have been told that many cash machines charge 2-3% plus limit the amount you can withdraw to about 拢100ish. Also, to get US$ will i need to withdraw Dong and then change into $ paying comission twice???

Anyone for Britain had this potential problem and know the best solution???

Thanks

Currency and ATMS

Despite if the fact that most of tourist hotels from 01 star in Vietnam have their Credit Machine to collect the payments from guests, these hotels try to CASH their guests. They keep telling lies that the machine is broken.

It is inconvenient to withdraw money ( Vietnam Dong only, maximum 2.000.000 VND per transaction, limited 20.000.000 VND per day, and 20.000 VND for the fee per transaction ) from ATMs and then pay your bill in US Dollar.

My tip is : try to insist the hotels by the time you check out that YOU DO NOT HAVE CASH, but only Credit Cards.

Some guests have done this before and they were successful. Here is the link : tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298082-d636鈥?/a>

Mr Phuoc

Currency and ATMS

Have the hotels specified the payment is to be in USD or haved they just _quoted_ in USD? We found hotels _quote_ in USD (presumably so they don%26#39;t scare you with all those zeros :-) ) but will accept payment in VND.

Be aware that if you use your credit card as suggested by the previous poster, most places add on a 3% surcharge for credit card use. As I recall the ATMS we used had a minimal flat transaction fee, as the previous poster stated 20,000VND which is a little more than $1US, or 1% of the 2,000,000 you can withdraw in any one transaction.

We%26#39;ve just returned from five weeks there (with our Nationwide cards). In our experience although hotels may quote in US$ they will accept payment via your card or in cash (US$ or VND). You should not need to VND to US$ or vice versa. We can confirm it%26#39;s usually a flat VND20,000 for cash withdrawals. By the way, they do not need payment on arrival - they generally ask for your passport to ensure you pay on leaving.