Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Travel money cards compared: Qantas Cash vs Virgin Australia Global Wallet

Qantas and Virgin Australia have jumped feet-first into the growing market for travel money cards.
And in theory, Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia’s Velocity Global Wallet are a perfect fit for business travellers and frequent flyers.
These prepaid travel money cards supporting a fistful of foreign currencies for use overseas as well as a central Aussie dollar wallet for day-to-day use here at home – and the opportunity to earn points with every swipe of the plastic.
Because the travel money functionality is included in each airline’s latest frequent flyer card, most of us will end up carrying both the Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia Global Wallet cards in pocket or purse with the option to use either or indeed both as the need arises.
They’ve got plenty in common – the cover most of the same currencies, support tap-and-go payments and smartphone apps to help manage your travel money on the go.
The points-earning capability is also the same: you’ll earn one Qantas or Velocity point for the equivalent of every Aussie dollar spent in foreign currency (including online), and one point for every two dollars spent in Australia.
But there are also some areas of noticeable difference between Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia Global Wallet.
So which of the two airlines’ travel money cards is best? Read on! 

Foreign currencies

Both the Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia Global Wallet cards support multiple foreign currencies in what can be considered a series of ‘virtual wallets’.
These are US, Canadian, NZ, Singapore and Hong Kong dollars; British pounds; Euros, and Japanese Yen.
Virgin Australia’s Global Wallet card also covers the Thai baht.
However, the Virgin Australia card lets you access only five of these virtual wallets at any time – and as the Australian wallet must always remain active, that limits you to four foreign currency wallets on the go.
It’s not a major impost for travellers who fly to just one or two countries, but the more you hop around the globe the more you’ll appreciate that the Qantas Cash card lets you store cash in as many wallets as you want.
Winner: Qantas Cash 

Exchange rates

Next on the list: how to the rates compare when you load your card with Aussie dollars to spend overseas?
It seems to be a mixed bag, with some currencies rating higher under Qantas than Virgin Australia and vice versa.
For example, at the time of writing, Qantas pegged the US dollar exchange rate at 0.8677 against Virgin Australia’s 0.8627, and the New Zealand dollar at 1.1065 versus Virgin’s 1.1037.
But Virgin sold the Euro slightly higher at 0.6534 compared to Qantas’ 0.6465, and the  British Pound at 0.5545 against Qantas’ 0.5526.
None of these are significant differences, especially given the relatively small amounts that travellers deal in.
But as Qantas charges no fee to load money onto the card, while Virgin Australia charges $1 for each for each top-up, the Red Roo has  the edge in this round.
Winner: Qantas Cash

Load and reload

Both Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia Global Wallet can be loaded with money using the BPAY or POLi systems, although these take 2-3 days to process – there’s no way to instantly get money into your card.
By default all money is loaded into your ‘Australian’ wallet, and you then transfer as much as you want into any of your foreign currency wallets.
However, Qantas Cash offers a little extra flexibility by allowing you to temporarily change the default wallet so that a BPAY or POLi funds transfer will be directed straight into that account – saving you the trouble of having to shuffle the money around.
Winner: Qantas Cash

Virtual card for online shopping

This is unique to Virgin Australia’s Global Wallet, and it’s a feature we think will be appreciated by many online shoppers who are careful with – or concerned about – the security of their card’s details.
The Global Wallet lets create a free ‘virtual card’ with its own card number, expiry date and three-digit CVC number.
This is linked to your Global Wallet account, but can be used for online and telephone orders.
The virtual card is created instantly and added to your list of cards, but it can be cancelled at any time and a new virtual card – with a completely different set of numbers – generated in its place.
In other words, you can create a virtual card to place one large online shopping order, and once that’s fulfilled, delete the card to ensure that even if the details were captured by somebody, they couldn’t use them to buy more goods on your account.
Winner: Virgin Australia Global Wallet

ATM withdrawl fees

Most travel money cards will see you charged a withdrawal fee to pull money out of an ATM, and both the Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia Global Wallet cards are no exception.
But the Qantas Cash card attracts much lower fees, including free withdrawals in Australian ATMs (Virgin levies a $2.95 fee for this).
Pulling out US$ comes with a $1.95 fee under your Qantas Cash card but attracts $2.95 with Virgin; and while Virgin Australia’s Global Wallet charges €2 and £2 for an ATM cash-out in those currencies, Qantas pegs the fee at a lower €1.50 and £1.25.
Winner: Qantas Cash
There are several other features and charges between the Qantas Cash and Virgin Australia Global Wallet cards, so it’s worth checking out their respective FAQ pages:
But in this five-point comparison covering, Qantas Cash comes out streets ahead.
Agree or disagree with our call? What features of these cards are the most important to you, and which do you think represents the better deal?
Get the latest updates for business traveller and frequent flyers: follow @AusBT on Twitter.

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Since mid 2008 and due to economic crisis China has initiated a soft peg exchange rate regime pegging its currency to US dollar at a rate of about 6.83 RMB per US dollar. This change in policy terminated Chinese managed float exchange regime between 2005 and 2008. There is no time table set for this policy to end. Chinese currency is about 40% undervalued in compare to major currencies such as USD and Euro, however, this statement is not considered valid by Chinese authorities. China buys about $1 billion a day to keep the exchange rate constant which costs US about 6 to 8 thousands job every day. This is also hurting China's neighbors as they can not compete with in the export market. As world entered the economic crisis and demand for Chinese goods dropped, China has started seeing inflation as it had not seen before.

Factors affecting exchange rates are many and complex. There are plenty of options and decisions to make when it comes to forex and the challenge can appear rather overwhelming. If you've chosen to have a go at the fx market, the fact is that the information you will need to accumulate and all of the factors that must be taken into consideration so that you are profitable in your venture will only add to the frustration. There are several areas to consider in relation to forex trading, elements that have their influences in several areas of a country's economy and thereby on the price level of foreign exchange.
Don't think that simply because you have chosen to invest in forex this suggests that you will be exempt from other areas of the financial market. The stock exchange has an immediate and sometimes massive influence on a country's exchange rate. If a large corporation is planning to outsource or expand their offices within another country, whether the chosen country is large or small, news reports will possibly have a strong impact on the exchange rate. Expanding business further to another country is an investment move and consequently indicates the company's confidence in this particular country as a potential capital gainer. The rate exchange of a country's currency can be expected to directly reflect this development as investors begin to invest in the company in foreign exchange to match interest rates.

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Saturday, April 13, 2013



You may rarely think of money exchange rates until it is time to travel. Once you are ready to go on vacation, they may jump to the forefront of your mind since they make a big difference in how much you will spend. Find out a few reasons that money exchange rates are good to keep an eye on before you even make your travel plans.
If you are not sure what country to visit, let the current exchange rates lead you. If you are looking to save money, you should check out the countries that have low money exchange rates, as the U.S. dollar is worth more there. Thus, you can get more for your dollar, which means that lodging, food, and souvenirs should all cost you less than they do in the U.S. more expensive countries. If you have a few countries to choose between for your next vacation, it may be worth it to choose the one with the most beneficial exchange rate, as long as all other factors are equal.
Another reason that it is helpful to check the money exchange rates before you travel is because you may find that it is cheaper for you to change money in the U.S. Of course, in most cases you should wait until you arrive at your destination, but there are exceptions. This is especially true if the country you are traveling to is somewhat dangerous when it comes to counterfeit money, as you are safer getting most of it exchanged before going in that case. Just be sure not to carry around lots of cash with you in countries where crime is particularly high, as you run the risk of getting mugged. To best protect yourself, you are advised to get out some cash to carry around, and then use your credit card for the rest of the transactions when possible.
Fortunately, it is typically easy and free to check the money exchange rates online before you leave, allowing you to be safe while getting the most for your money. You should calculate how much everything will cost in the foreign currency before budgeting, and allow this total to help you decide where to go and how long to stay. Clearly, taking a quick look at the current money exchange rates online can help you just before your vacation.
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