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I will go to Australia from Bangladesh. I can carry either "US dollar" or "Australian dollar" there. But I do not know whether carrying "US dollar" will be profitable or not if I convert "US dollar" to "Australian dollar" there. Or just buy "Australian dollar" with "Bangladeshi TAKA"and carry there. How to calculate the profit?

List of exchange rate: USD/AUD = 1 / 1.41016; AUD/BDT = 1 / 55.2579; USD/BDT = 1 / 77.8907

I think that carrying "Australian dollar" will be profitable. But not sure.

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  • If you can exchange directly into your destination currency, it almost never make sense to exchange via a third currency. The bank or exchange makes its money on arbitraging the exchange, and sometimes commissions or processing fees, so you lose value twice (you will almost never "profit" from the exchange at more than fractional levels, except in times of market turmoil).
    – choster
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 22:27
  • Australian money changers are, at the (small) risk of generalising unkindly, a nasty greedy bunch. Whereas in Asia "commission" is usually not charged (and in many places is illegal) in Australia they charge a fee on top of the exchange rate and for small qamounts this can be a very significant percentage of the total sum. I'd avoid having to deal with them if at all possible. You'll finf TRavelex money changers in all the airports - laugh at them and pass on by. NEVER use them.
    – Russell McMahon
    Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 14:56
  • VISA and ATM machines charge a fixed fee - in some cases one at each end so if using them you again want to make the amount as large as comfortable to minmise the %age fee. When travelling I try to take a significant sum in either target currency at best local rate if I am undertain of results where I am going, or in my currency if I know I can get good rates. eg in Hong Kong if you know where to go you can do exchanges at about 1/2% off the true rate - amazing.
    – Russell McMahon
    Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 14:58

2 Answers 2

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Buy Australian dollars, and you're probably better off exchanging them in Bangladesh. The taka is a weak currency and you would likely get a bad rate for it in Australia.

Also, if you want to exchange larger amounts, I would recommend alternative routes like ATM withdrawal or money transfer instead of cash.

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  • Australian dollar is very, very weak right now. A fantastic place to holiday.
    – insidesin
    Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 10:04
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    I was referring to convertibility: the taka is subject to import/export controls and thus not a hard currency.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 10:38
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Just carry Australian dollars because every transition between currencies loses you money on unfavourable rates and/or commission.

The only benefit to transitioning through US dollars is if you feel that the currency fluctuations will make it worthwhile enough to more than cover the exchanger's margin, which is nearly impossible to pick for anyone that isn't a currency dealer.

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