Thinking of Locking in some USD and ways to do so

[get me outta here]

As I have a long trip the the US again next year and it's possible the AUD may drop further, what are people doing to lock in today's exchange rate? Just getting cash? A travel card - if there is a 'good one?
Any other ideas? (I know this is not financial advice).

 

[theblank]

You cant lock in todays rate, because every option available to you will cost a % margin. Unlikely you can find much better than 2%

A travel card is going to cost you about 4.5% on the interest rate or more, they really are a horrible product. So for you to break even on the deal you will need the AUD to drop to about 0.67

Probably the cheapest way to get USD and then spend it over there, is the HSBC or Citibank currency accounts. both are free and Citi has a better rate.

How much money are you talking about here? The best way to hedge your bets on the currency is just dont worry about it. How bad could it get, and it might swing the other way.

 

[get me outta here]

Thanks, I'll have a look at the Citi currency account. Yes, aware of the exchange issues and am hoping someone had some other suggestions.

I liked it best when I was getting USD1.10 to 1.00 AUD and dined out on that for years.

Without a crystal ball I sense we're going to drop in value.

 

[cove]

We bought at 0.72 and have deals at 0.7250 and 0.7340.
With our gas and iron ore booming I think the $AUD could start improving a bit.
One of WA ‘s newish gas projects is handling a shipment every 18 hours.
I think our exports may be going thru the roof.

 

[Dr Ralph]

As I have a long trip the the US again next year and it's possible the AUD may drop further, what are people doing to lock in today's exchange rate?

Have trips to the US booked for Dec/Jan 2018/2019 and July 2019. Have been buying cash regularly since Dec 2017 to average out the exchange rate. Best rate was 0.7731201. Worst rate was 0.6841021.

Of course you'll need to be comfortable storing the cash until your trip as well as carrying it with you during your trip.

Without a crystal ball I sense we're going to drop in value.

After I buy large sums of US dollar the rate usually goes up. So look out next week for an increase!

 

[get me outta here]

Yes, dollar cost averaging is a good idea. And then lately it’s going up again. It will be interesting to see how it works out when looking retrospectively.

 

[dxwell]

OFX has a Forwarding Contract or FX Options - with these you can lock in the rate.
However, I'm with Dr. Ralph, AUD may be oversold - but I am no expert and there are many FX factors.