Best way to get USD for tipping etc

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Brunzy

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#3282087 14-Sep-2024 12:47

CokemonZ:
Scott3: Wonder if the NZ based forex places (or banks) will let you order 100 USD in singles?

This is the exact issue. I have called around 7 or 8, and it's a get what you get.
None of them have small bills at all.

Seems to be crazy to me, but I guess it's not worth it for them.

I am resigned to going to Walmart when we arrive and doing 5 self-service transactions 😢

I wouldn’t worry about it,
The first place you go to will give you your change in small bills, almost always $1 bills.
And as someone else mentioned, tipping these days generally starts at 18%
I hardly used any cash last month when we were there , I used Apple Card/Cash instead.
Walmarts , due to their size, tend to be out of town and not necessarily next to tourist areas.

CokemonZ

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#3282098 14-Sep-2024 13:31

Appreciate that in the US I won't need much for tipping.

I specifically want it for when on the cruise and in local ports.

Understand that the cruise fare includes gratuities already. But for exceptional service/extra attention very handy to have.

So - back to the original point - its hard to get small bills in NZ.

The only way to get them easily in the US seems to be a withdrawal and then using a retailer to convert.

Doable, if annoying.

Brunzy

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#3282114 14-Sep-2024 16:28

The local supermarket we use when we are in Boston ,allows you to withdraw cash with a purchase on your card, same as you would do here in Woolworths .
It would probably depend on which card you have.

Kiwifan

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#3282208 15-Sep-2024 07:13

CokemonZ:

Appreciate that in the US I won't need much for tipping.

I specifically want it for when on the cruise and in local ports.

Understand that the cruise fare includes gratuities already. But for exceptional service/extra attention very handy to have.

So - back to the original point - it’s hard to get small bills in NZ.

Doable, if annoying.

We have just done two two weeks cruises around Europe and Scandinavia and like you had/have the auto gratuities sorted. Although the NCL crew were great we didn’t actually give any extra tips but did on our Holland America cruise as the service level was a step above the former. Perhaps that might have been due to our loyalty with the latter but we did notice the difference.

Tipping the crew that little bit extra is always a murky difficult issue and even on Cruise Critic you won’t get a definitive answer. For our 14 day cruise we gave $US25 each to our room stewards and Neptune Concierges. I have no idea if that is appropriate or an insult. 😀

Where we did feel the need for cash was for our tour guides in Norway, Sweden and Denmark as we only had our Wise card and no local cash. That was awkward as we had no Krone even for a token gesture.

Enjoy your cruise and I’m sure it will sort itself out. 🥃

pdh

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#3282209 15-Sep-2024 07:44

> no local cash.

The OP's idea of carrying $US is smart - any guide dealing with tourists, anywhere in the world, is going to figure out how to use/convert the mighty greenback ;-)

autechre

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#3294364 8-Oct-2024 10:22

I went to a travelex (on Lambton) and got a bunch of small notes - 1s,5s, 10s & 20s, no problem.

had a good chat to the guy behind the counter. he had just been to the US so was happy to share some of his experiences as well

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Scott3

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#3294398 8-Oct-2024 11:38

I had some forex needs, so went to Prosegur Change in the Auckland CBD (they also have Wellington & Queenstown locations). The person I spoke to said that it wouldn't be an issue to order in say USD 100 in singles.

noroad

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#3294721 8-Oct-2024 16:08

ATM's will dispense $20 bills, you can buy small things to get change or go into a bank to split them. You won't need much. We just did three weeks in the US and used $150 in cash all up. Everything else was paid via Visa, mostly Google pay.

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