Botcon 2008 reviews by other fans

[griffin]

Customs limits are usually about $10,000 (that's for coming into Australia, so the US is probably similar, in its own currency). I'd recommend talking to your bank about the cost differences though, with taking US$ bought in Australia compared to withdrawing from your account over there into US$. Both options will result in a foreign currency fee of about 2% and/or a set fee), but the exchange rate is different for buying or selling a currency (buying US$ in the US, will be at a different exchange rate to buying US$ in Australia), because banks have to import the foreign cash, or export it, I can't remember which one costs them more, altering the different exchange rates. But like I said, check with your bank before you go to see which option will cost you less with the amount you plan to spend there.
My bank (NAB) used to wave the transaction/exchange fee to NAB account holders, but they stopped doing that about 3 years ago.

[jaydisc]

My experience with accessing AU account from US ATMs is you get the currency conversion +2% and an AU$5 ATM fee (from your institution) on top of that. Using your credit card is going to get you the same +2% conversion, so it's really the $5 that you need to worry about. Just minimize your trips to the ATM.