Hello all!
So my flight into Manila arrives at 10:30 pm. For the 2 nights, I was leaning toward staying in Pasay near the Mall of Asia, as I will eventually have to hit Terminal 4 to go to Coron. But I am also considering Makati, as that seems to be where most of the advice is pointing me to.
Can I exchange money in Pasay or Makati at night and get a good rate? Or should I exchange at the airport?
In general, I don't like to use ATM cards in foreign countries unless its an emergency.
Thanks!
Changing money at the airport, especially NAIA T1, is no problem. They have good rates there.
In fact cash up into all the pesos you think you are going to need, in Manila. There is no reason to use ATM's at all on shorter vacations.
I still deciding if I should exchange money in Manila or overseas(In my country of residence Austrtalia) any idea of the exchange rates in manila?
Never exchange Asian currencies in places like Australia, the United States, Europe etc. Manila is the best place. Big capital cities are always best, London is the best place in the UK. Most moneychangers, most competition, best rates.
I really don't think you want to be wandering around Pasay at midnight looking for a money changer.... As suggested above change all you need at the airport or if want to try and get a better rate in town, change a hundred at the airport and shop around the next day. Wandering around looking for money changers for a short stay in Manila doesn't sound like the best use of your time.... Unless you're planning buying a Land Cruiser or a Condo I doubt the difference in exchange rate will buy you more than a few beers.
Go into www.xe.com to get today's rate and the money changer might be a few PHP below that. Never buy PHP outside Philippines and never try and exchange PHP outside Philippines - waste of time and money.
As an interesting note, I checked Wells Fargo. They will sell me pesos at 47 pesos to the dollar, with no fees! That's the xe rate. I will probably get about $300 worth before I leave. Just thought that any other travellers should know that that is an option.
Find that difficult to believe, frankly as I'm pretty sure that would be the first time any of us here, who have probably a hundred years or more of Asia between us, have come across better rates for Filipino pesos or Thai baht outside their countries.
Find that difficult to believe, frankly as I'm pretty sure that would be the first time any of us here, who have probably a hundred years or more of Asia between us, have come across better rates for Filipino pesos or Thai baht outside their countries.
I am not saying that its better. In the PI I found rates HIGHER than the xe.com rate. When I went to Cebu a few years ago, the xe.com rate was 40, but I found it at a local market for 44. But if you can get pesos for xe rate at your own bank without any fees, that's got to be better than the airport. And it buys you time so you don't have to struggle to get pesos as soon as you land.
T1 airport rates are about 1 peso per dollar less than at the better moneychangers in Ermita/Malate, which is the cheapest place to buy pesos on the street anywhere in the Philippines and therefore the world.
OP - you're wasting your time here mate... you need to be flying in and out of the Philippines with suitcases full of cash offloading PHP at 10% better rate than anyone else can manage... you'll make a fortune.
Wells Fargo?... weren't they part of the American Sub Prime Mortgage nonsense lending shed loads of money to people who had absolutely no hope or intention of paying it back and helping to trash the global financial system?... The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave - allegedly.