Currency to take to Vietnam

[Card]

I live in Thailand so obviously hold THB. Is it best to take THB to Hanoi to exchange rather than USD bought in BKK then exchanged to Dong in Hanoi as that seems an expensive option.

 

Also is it convenient and safe to use a credit card regularly in Hanoi?

[Lacessit]

IME Vietnam is much more receptive to the USD.

Changing baht to USD should not be expensive if one uses reputable money exchangers. Go to any bank, different story.

 

I only ever used a debit card in Vietnam, with no problem. I can't say if the same would apply to credit cards.

[Card]

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

IME Vietnam is much more receptive to the USD.

Changing baht to USD should not be expensive if one uses reputable money exchangers. Go to any bank, different story.

 

I only ever used a debit card in Vietnam, with no problem. I can't say if the same would apply to credit cards.

Thx but that changing THB to USD in BKK then USD yo Dong in Hanoi. It could prove quite 3coensive compared to THB to Dong.

[Lacessit]

15 minutes ago, Card said:

Thx but that changing THB to USD in BKK then USD yo Dong in Hanoi. It could prove quite 3coensive compared to THB to Dong.

I found the USD was gleefully accepted in Vietnam, preferred to the dong.

[Mac Mickmanus]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I found the USD was gleefully accepted in Vietnam, preferred to the dong.

What exchange rate were they giving you when paying in $ ?

Its often about 20 % below  the going bank exchange rate 

[moe666]

13 hours ago, Lacessit said:

IME Vietnam is much more receptive to the USD.

Changing baht to USD should not be expensive if one uses reputable money exchangers. Go to any bank, different story.

 

I only ever used a debit card in Vietnam, with no problem. I can't say if the same would apply to credit cards.

You will get the worst exchange rates at a bank

[davemos]

I always take a mix of small usd and dong .The best rates for us to dong in vn are at gold shops.At the airport the local sim are.priced in us. Its easier to carry a lot of money in us,as the largest dong is 500000. ,about 20usd.

[scorecard]

14 hours ago, Lacessit said:

IME Vietnam is much more receptive to the USD.

Changing baht to USD should not be expensive if one uses reputable money exchangers. Go to any bank, different story.

 

I only ever used a debit card in Vietnam, with no problem. I can't say if the same would apply to credit cards.

I visited both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi 3 or 4 times every year to give lectures, only 1 or 2 would take Baht (cash), so I always took US$ to exchange to Dong. Visiting professor colleagues from Melbourne always exchanges AUD cash to dong. I checked and dsicovered that exchange rates at both airports were quite good.

 

I used a VISA credit card many times to pay the hotel bills, always accepted, never any problems. Sometimes paid in US$cash, no issues no hesitation whatever. Many other shops restaurants etc., accepted US$ cash with no hesitation. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by scorecard

[LALes]

American Express card was quite useless in Danang.  OK at a few restaurants but no hotel would take it and no bank wants to deal with it, either.  Visa is much better.

I always take a combo of dollars and baht so I am ready for any situation.

Gold shops are best for exchange.

[jcmj]

Can’t I just use my Thai atm card?

[Burma Bill]

16 hours ago, Card said:

Is it best to take THB to Hanoi to exchange rather than USD

I have made several visits to Vietnam and always took Thai Baht to exchange into Dong's at the money exchanges on arrival - easy and hassle free (cash for cash)! I also used my Bangkok Bank Visa Debit card at ATMs. (Mastercard these days at Bangkok Bank).

[thecyclist]

16 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I found the USD was gleefully accepted in Vietnam, preferred to the dong.

Totally wrong :Vietnam is not Cambodia. Except for hotels in Tourist areas where they often accept dollars (which is illegal now), you will have to pay in dong for everything. Of course if you offer a local 100 bucks for a noodle soup that costs 2 $, and say keep the change, you might see a lot of glee. I have been in Vietnam now for 5 years, and never paid for anything in dollars. 

[thecyclist]

Very few, if any, banks will accept Baht.Most money  changing goldshop will either not accept Baht or offer you a lousy rate. If you are in Bangkok go to Superrich and change your Baht to đồng. Note that their main branch has the best rates. It is not very likely that you will get as good a rate anywhere in Vietnam. Last month on my way to to the airport In HCM I stopped by one of the best money changers in Saigon. While their Dong Baht rate was better than other goldshops, it was still well below the Superrich rates. So I took my đồng to Bangkok and changed them there.. There is a caveat though. I went to the best changer in Can Tho, where I live and inquired about $and Baht. That was at the time when the đồng was losing in value almost daily. The dong to USD/Baht rate was lousy, probably with the falling dong they wanted to hold on to their foreign currency. She then told me that if you sell Baht I can offer you this rate-a rate so good that had I changed my dong to Baht in Thailand and then sold those Baht to that goldshop I would have made a slight profit. 

[2peteok]

I am in Saigon right now and find the exchange rate most favourable so if you have baths use them. Approx 685 today dong to 1 thb

[2peteok]

Go to money changer not the banks 

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

Very few, if any, banks will accept Baht.Most money  changing goldshop will either not accept Baht or offer you a lousy rate. If you are in Bangkok go to Superrich and change your Baht to đồng. Note that their main branch has the best rates. It is not very likely that you will get as good a rate anywhere in Vietnam. Last month on my way to to the airport In HCM I stopped by one of the best money changers in Saigon. While their Dong Baht rate was better than other goldshops, it was still well below the Superrich rates. So I took my đồng to Bangkok and changed them there.. There is a caveat though. I went to the best changer in Can Tho, where I live and inquired about $and Baht. That was at the time when the đồng was losing in value almost daily. The dong to USD/Baht rate was lousy, probably with the falling dong they wanted to hold on to their foreign currency. She then told me that if you sell Baht I can offer you this rate-a rate so good that had I changed my dong to Baht in Thailand and then sold those Baht to that goldshop I would have made a slight profit. 

Never had a problem changing Baht or USD.

But had a lot of problems changing GBP.

Usually I used my Thai debit card to get Dong out of the ATMs.

[thecyclist]

2 hours ago, jcmj said:

Can’t I just use my Thai atm card?

Yes you can but you will probably lose big time. I tried it 3 times over the last 6 years, always at different Vietnamese banks, with my Krung Thai debit card, and the hidden charges were enormous, losing between 7 and 10% on the midrate. 

[pomchop]

3 minutes ago, 2peteok said:

I am in Saigon right now and find the exchange rate most favourable so if you have baths use them. Approx 685 today dong to 1 thb

if u change baths is that laundering money?

[LALes]

3 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

I have made several visits to Vietnam and always took Thai Baht to exchange into Dong's at the money exchanges on arrival - easy and hassle free (cash for cash)! I also used my Bangkok Bank Visa Debit card at ATMs. (Mastercard these days at Bangkok Bank).

Last I remember, you could only take out 2 million dong from an ATM.  That still the case?

[Burma Bill]

37 minutes ago, LALes said:

Last I remember, you could only take out 2 million dong from an ATM.  That still the case?

Unfortunately I do not know these post pandemic days, but I will find out when I visit Hanoi again this coming February (2023) when the air fares become cheaper after the festive season.

[thecyclist]

7 hours ago, LALes said:

Last I remember, you could only take out 2 million dong from an ATM.  That still the case?

Depends on the bank. Up to 5 mil for sure (done it personally), but read reports of people withdrawing 7 mil, but forget which that was. 

[Caldera]

I wouldn't take baht. You could get dong at SuperRich, but the spread is much larger than for USD. Personally, I'd get about 10,000 baht worth of dong and the rest in USD.

[nigelforbes]

THB to VND is a single conversion and wins the competition.

 

THB to VND via USD is two conversions.

 

 

[LALes]

On 12/24/2022 at 10:21 PM, thecyclist said:

Depends on the bank. Up to 5 mil for sure (done it personally), but read reports of people withdrawing 7 mil, but forget which that was. 

Which bank gave you 5 mil?  Was that with a foreign ATM card?

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

1 hour ago, LALes said:

Which bank gave you 5 mil?  Was that with a foreign ATM card?

I believe most VN banks will only give you 2 million VND with a foreign debit card. I do remember years ago BIDV would give 5 million and maybe Sacombank. But I have an ACB account in VN  (although I'm residing in Thailand now because of the lack of long-term visas in VN). 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Kaoboi Bebobp
More details

[thecyclist]

4 hours ago, LALes said:

Which bank gave you 5 mil?  Was that with a foreign ATM card?

Yes, it was with my Thai debit card (KTB). Pretty sure it was the ACB branch in Phan Thiết. Will not do it again, because, while the official fee was reasonably, the hidden charges were enormous (lost about 10 percent on the XE midrate. You will get more detailed information on this topic in this FB group :https://www.facebook.com/groups/expatshcmc/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

[thecyclist]

On 12/25/2022 at 1:16 AM, Caldera said:

I wouldn't take baht. You could get dong at SuperRich, but the spread is much larger than for USD. Personally, I'd get about 10,000 baht worth of dong and the rest in USD.

The spread is not much larger if you go to the Superrich main branch. I was not aware of the fact that rates (at least for the Vietnamese đồng) differ from branch to branch. Went to the Siam Paragon branch, noticed that their rates were worse than the ones on their website. Was told that the website rates I had were the main branch rates. Packed main branch, spend about 40 minutes waiting. So not worth it if you have only a small amount. 

[lyskamm]

How about the acceptance of EURO banknotes?

[GypsyT]

Euro & USD are OK in gold shops in Danang. Good rates too. Bank lady told "go there!" Nice people.

A surprise: THB rate was very good so we used that most.

[lyskamm]

1 hour ago, GypsyT said:

Euro & USD are OK in gold shops in Danang. Good rates too. Bank lady told "go there!" Nice people.

A surprise: THB rate was very good so we used that most.

Great, thanks so much!