mina2013 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I've called my bank and they told me that as long as the transaction under US dollar then I'll be fine. If the transaction under other currencies then it will cost 3% extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinch87 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 But clinics add 10% if you pay by credit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrong-ps Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 Ok people i am singaporean so i was wondering whether would it be more to an advantage for me to pay in us or won. Because from sgd to won and from sgd to usd is very diff. I feel in won or usd erm ok depends on how the drs quote dunno how to explain haha. but anyway i paid in usd except for hotel, transport and food. some egs 1 usd = 1052.35 won 1 usd = 1.25 sgd 1 sgd = 840.07 This shows how come i was confused in the first place as i was playing with currency from 3 countries. For those playing with usd to korean won things should be pretty simple. As for euro i not sure, usd is more international. I did see moneychangers at myeongdong. But i changed all my sgd to won and usd in singapore. Did not change money in korea. Dunno how rates would be like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maiq Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Assume you do a full face make over (Zygoma, Chin, Nose and V line) that will be minimum USD 10,000 equivalent in KRW. and 3% of 10,000 is USD300. More if you have other charges on top such as foreign exchange rate spread. So be careful of hidden bank charges and better use cash, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maiq Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Anyone having experiences exchanging GBP (British pound) there in Korea, or see that they do GBP exchange? USD is pretty standard but I am not sure if they have British sterling exchange there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyglittery Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Maybe 5 clinics out of 400+ accepts the weak American currency and even then they charge you at least 10% extra for the trouble of exchanging it (though they probably don't bother telling you). If you walk into any other clinic with USD they might have someone escort you to a bank to exchange your currency but they're doing it as a courtesy, not because it's acceptable behavior not changing your money to local currency. If a clinic quotes you in USD it's either for reference ("convert this to local currency and pay us in local currency") or because they want to rob you blind (if a foreigner is too dumb to exchange to local currency they're dumb enough to pay more). Of course it's not the same in countries with currencies weaker than the American dollar. Korea is not one of those countries. Neither is China or Japan. MaiQ: the banks will exchange almost any currency (like all banks everywhere). The exchange stalls will probably at least exchange major currencies like USD, CNY, JPY, GBP, EUR, HKD, SGD but I haven't been so I'm just guessing. But it's a reasonable assumption. The banks will exchange your currency for sure. that's true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublezz Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Hey! im confused now.. isit better to use USD or Korean won ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyglittery Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 It's Korea and the currency there is Korean won. USD is really weak and going down every day. using USD will both mean a risk for the clinic (value goes down if they don't exchange it right away) and inconvenience (they will have to exchange it). someone will pay for that inconvenience. guess who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimi60 Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Hi I will only withdraw cash from ATM in Seoul for surgery fees. Anyone experienced any inconvenience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsking Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 mimi, I am assuming you are planning to use your bank's debit card (or a credit card) that has a Visa/Master logo to withdraw cash from ATM in Korea? The problem I can see with this plan is the daily limit the card usually has which is usually around US$1500 if you are from US. Lets say you need the equivalent of US$8000 on the 4th day you are there for procedures, you won't have enough days/time to accumulate the total amt. And when you withdraw like this, both Korean ATM machine and your bank will charge you fees for using the ATM. And, a lot of times, your card will charge you an additional transaction fee. it can add up. The only good thing for this approach is you get the good exchange rate from Visa/Master which is always better than any financial institution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimi60 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Thanks Mrs King, just wonder if the ATM in Korea works well for foreign cards as I don't like to carry cash in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-couture Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 make sure ure card has maestro or cirius and it will definitely work fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicole01 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 If you have a citibank account, you can use emergency cash to withdraw $10000 in one day. I talked to my branch and they said it ahould work in Seoul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsking Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Nicole, that's a great idea! I looked up the nearest bank branch they have near me and found one pretty close, so I called them. You are right that emergency fund should work, and there seems to be quite a few citibank branches in Seoul. The only problem might be that they will not give you USD cash when you withdraw over there, instead they will give you the Korean won at their exchange rate, which can be slightly disadvantageous to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecoffee Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Anyone from Australia went to Korea recently? Is it better to change AUD to won in Korea or should I change US$ back home? The exchange rate in Australia is not very good. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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