Money in Vietnam

Hi,

Any advice on how I should deal with money for my 3-week trip to Vietnam? I'll be mainly in cities and towns, so I don't ATMs will be a problem, but really I was just wondering if I should try and get some dong before I leave? Would it be worth getting some USD (I'm from Australia)?

I know I'll be able to use my credit card in a lot of hotels and at big shops, but it's mainly the cash situation I'm wondering about. I don't want to get hit with bank fees for withdrawing cash too many times. Is it safe to carry around a lot of cash?

Any advice really appreciated!

You wont be able to get ding Dong from Australia - the only place you can get ding Dong from is Vietnam (and make sure that you spend it all before you leave because you wont be able to change it anywhere outside of Vietnam: I still have a few hundred thousand ding Dong sitting at home). If you want to save on bank fees it may be a good idea to stock up on a few hundred US$$ - believe me it goes a long way in Vietnam - and change it over to ding Dong when you get there. Just note that you are usually charged a little more at markets etc if you use US$$ rather than ding Dong. With the Commonwealth Bank they charge $5 for the withdrawal plus 1.3% commission (or something like that) for the total amount of the withdrawal. My reply to 'is it safe to carry around a lot of cash' would be if you don't do it at home don't do it there! But the Vietnamese a lovely people so long as you don't go around flashing a few US$100 bills.

What is "ding Dong"?

You can pay taxi driver in US$ (small note like US$5-10) to go to hotel from airport, but at the airport there should be ATMs where you can withdraw VND. You also can change AUD into VND at the gold shop or at the bank.

#1, I don't know whether you were trying to be funny or what. The Vietnamese currency is VND.

OP, just get a money belt & stick a couple of grands (USD) in there. That should be fine. No need to pay bank fees. Not sure where you're headed, but just tell the taxi driver to take you to the nearest bank at the backpacker area & change it there.

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<hr>OP, just get a money belt & stick a couple of grands (USD) in there. That should be fine. No need to pay bank fees. Not sure where you're headed, but just tell the taxi driver to take you to the nearest bank at the backpacker area & change it there. <hr></blockquote>
And then you will get billions of Dong from the bank!!!

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<hr>What is "ding Dong"?<hr></blockquote>
It is just a bit of humour thrown in with the name of the currency Hongha. #1 is not denigrating you or Vietnam in any way.

I too thought #1 was just kidding, and thought maybe it's the name of some famous film same like "king Kong" or so...

You can in fact get vnd from Australia, American Express will order it in for you.

However, the exchange rate is not great.

We took a few million vnd, a few hundred US$ and we used ATMs while we were there (the bank fees were $5 per transaction!)

Have a good trip :)

Hi there wandaotto,

We're from Australia and we took Aussie dollars....easily exchanged everywhere...even at your hotel. Don't know that you lose that much in the exchange rates they offer...swings and roundabouts really.........I can't see the point in changing your money twice...once to $US then to VND. Yes, everyone takes $US but we always asked for prices in VND...often worked out a bit cheaper as well.

We also took an ATM card with a limited amount of money in the account and a Visa card. And there are ATM's in the airports so you can grab some dong on arrival. It really is very easy ...they are well and truly geared for tourism.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Now that there are 500.000vnd notes there's no reason to carry $US, especially when you have to pay for them. I have actually had some trouble with the little bit of US currency I have- a couple of places have refused to accept it because it looks "old". Since I got it from an Australian bank I think it is unlikely to be fake.

The new vnd notes are made using Australian technology and look very like the aussie notes.You should be able to get vnd from the ATM at the airport on arrival.

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<hr>And then you will get billions of Dong from the bank!!! <hr></blockquote>Well, isn't great to feel like a billionaire?

Thanks NormC - I wasn't trying to offend anyone by calling it 'ding Dong' just a bit of a joke. I lived in Vietnam for about a year and heard quiet a few Vietnamese refer to it as ding Dong - where's you sense of humour people!!

By the way, the maximum amount you can withdraw from a Viet ATM using an Aussie ATM card is about AUD$175 (or VND$2,000,000).

#10 said "where's you sense of humour people!!"

The word "ding" in Vietnamese has no meaning at all, that is why we did not put "ding" before "Dong" like the native speakers have joked. But we did call US$100 note in some funny ways.

Too many "ding dongs" don't sound funny anymore. It's more like confusion to me. However, I didn't feel it was an insult neither.

Thank you for great advice!

I think I'll just take some AUD to exchange in Vietnam, and also just use the ATMs over there. I'll also put a bit of cash on my Visa debit card. My credit union only charges the 1.3% conversion fee, so it's pretty economical.

Thanks again!

ding a ling a ling, ding, ding......dong!

Unless your bank makes you pay a large fee for each time you use the ATM, there really is no point in bringing AUD with you: just use ATMs and your credit card. I find the exchange rates the bank charges when you use ATMs are usually really good too.

Now THAT was quite a song: Ding-a-Dong by Teach-In :-).