Australia Post Travel Money

Australia Post provide everything you need to prepare for your trip overseas. Australia Post can sell you foreign cash, a travel money card, traveller's cheques and international money transfers. You can get international travel insurance from Australia Post, a special SIM to use overseas and they can hold your mail until you get back home. Read on for a review of these travel money products and services from Australia Post.

Comparison of Australia Post travel money cards

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Name	Product	Available Currencies	ATM Withdrawal Fee	Initial Load Fee	Reload fee
Load&Go China card		AUD, CNY	AUD $$2	$0	$0		More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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Australia Post Travel Cards

Australia Post sell three travel cards: the Load&Go Visa Travel Card, Load&Go China card and the Cash Passport Mastercard.

The Load&Go Visa Travel Card

The Load&Go Visa Travel Card is designed to take on trips to New Zealand, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the eurozone. You can load the currencies of these countries and regions and spend without paying the additional fee for currency conversion, spend in a currency not loaded on the card and Australia Post will charge the currency conversion fee of 3%. A $2 ATM withdrawal fee is charged in addition to any fees from the local ATM operator when you get cash from ATMs. You can save on the card issue fee when you purchase the card in-store at an Australia Post retail outlet and load more than $100, subsequent reloads are free.

The Australia Post Load&Go China card

The Australia Post Load&Go China Travel Card is made specifically for trips to China, so you can load Australian dollars and exchange the money to Chinese renminbi at a fixed rate. This is a UnionPay product, belonging to the card scheme with the widest acceptance in China. This prepaid travel card will not allow you to spend in Hong Kong dollars, there's a 3% currency conversion fee if you use this product in Hong Kong, or anywhere else. Australia Post charge a $2 ATM withdrawal fee in addition to the local ATM operator fee when you withdraw cash.

The Multi-Currency Cash Passport

You can also buy the Multi-Currency Cash Passport from Australia Post. The Cash Passport supports more currencies than the Load&Go Visa. As well as US dollars, New Zealand dollars, British pounds, euros and Aussie dollars, you can hold Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars, Canadian dollars, Thai baht and Japanese yen. The Cash Passport Mastercard charges a fee for domestic ATM withdrawals (approximately AUD $2.95). Reloading the product using BPAY will cost you 1% of the reload amount.

The Australia Post Cash Passport Platinum Mastercard

Similar to the Multi-Currency Cash Passport, Australia Post Cash Passport Platinum cardholders can spend in 11 international currencies wherever Mastercard is accepted. These include USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, CAD, THB, HKD, SGD, JPY, AED and AUD. When you load money onto your card, it'll be locked in to the current exchange rate. As a platinum travel card, this product also comes with two complimentary access passes to LoungeKey lounges or restaurants if your flight is delayed. When you load your card with AUD$100 or a foreign currency equivalent, you can register for a 3 month membership of free global Wi-Fi provided by Boingo Wi-Fi. Like most travel cards, you can also easily manage your account, top up your funds and view your transaction history via 'My Account'.

Australia Post Traveller's Cheques

Traveller's cheques can be a secure way of taking foreign currency overseas. You get to lock in a rate when you buy traveller's cheques, they don't expire and you're the only person who can cash your cheques. You can cash the cheques at hotels, banks and exchange offices all over the world.

Australia Post can sell you American Express traveller's cheques in the following currencies: US dollars, pounds, euros, Japanese yen and Canadian dollars. There's no commission when you buy the cheques online or in-store. Online orders can take up to four business days before your cheques are ready to collect from your nominated post office.

You will have difficulty cashing traveller's cheques in some countries, read our travel money guides for popular holiday destinations to find out about traveller's cheque acceptance.

Currency exchange

Save on time exchanging cash or withdrawing from an ATM when you land in another country. Australia Post can sell you foreign cash before you leave Australia.

The Australia Post currency exchange service lets you change Australian dollars to any of the following currencies:

You can exchange cash in store, or you can place an order online. Pay with EFTPOS or cash (credit cards are not accepted) if you're purchasing foreign cash in store (Australia Post have foreign exchange offices in Australia's major international airports). You can use BPAY to pay for foreign currency orders placed online. There's a cap of AUD$1,500 (or foreign currency equivalent) for in-store orders, the limit is AUD$8,500 (or foreign currency equivalent) for online orders. Online orders can take up to four days.

Australia Post travel insurance

Australia Post offer international and domestic travel insurance policies which cover you for medical, accidental and personal liability expenses when you're abroad. You can take out domestic, basic international, comprehensive international and annual multi-trip cover. Read a detailed review of international travel insurance from Australia Post. These policies are competitively priced, but make sure to keep an eye out for promo codes you can use to get a discount on Australia Post travel insurance.

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Frequently asked questions about Australia Post Travel Money

• Where can I use Australia Post Travel Cards?

  The Load&Go China card is a Union Pay card. Union Pay is China's largest card scheme and can be used all throughout China. The Load&Go Travel Card is a Visa product. This card will work all over the world as most merchants will take Visa. Similarly with the Cash Passport Mastercard. The Cash Passport is a Mastercard product and will work all over the world wherever Mastercard is accepted.

• How do I buy foreign cash?

  Order foreign cash from the Australia Post Travel Money website. Use the currency converter tool to find out what rate Australia Post can offer, and if you're happy with the quote, you can select the buy foreign cash option and the most convenient Australia Post outlet to collect your order. You can also purchase foreign cash in person from an Australia Post retail outlet.

• When do I have to pay for my foreign currency order?

  You have 24 hours to make a BPAY payment to Australia Post. Once you've entered your order details, Australia Post give you a BPAY payment details you can use to make a payment from your financial institution's internet banking facility.

• Do Australia Post and American Express charge a commission for foreign currency and traveller's cheques orders?

  Australia Post and American Express do not charge a commission when you purchase foreign cash or when you order American Express traveller's cheques online. Australia Post do apply a margin to the exchange rate. You can see a quote for your order on the Australia Post website, compare this figure with quotes from other institutions to ensure you're getting the best deal for your circumstances

• What happens if I lose my traveller's cheques?

  Get in touch with the American Express Traveller's Cheques Service Centre, American Express can make arrangements to get your replacement cheques usually within 24 hours.

Jacob Joseph

Jacob Joseph was a writer and video journalist for Finder.

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