Let Us Help You | Preparing - Ways of Getting Money

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Let Us Help You | Preparing - Ways of Getting Money

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Blog Team Friends Travel Vietnam • Sep 17, 2020

Credit/debit card

We recommend to bring a credit card with you. You never know what can happen and in case of emergency, you can do a lot more if you have a credit card. Rarely, it can be a problem to get money out of an ATM if you have Maestro because not every ATM supports the card. In cities there are multiple ATMs, but it can be a problem in small places. Try to use your credit card as less as possible because it will cost you money. Only use when necessary.

Pins outside of Europe

It is important, if you live in Europe, to change your paying options. A lot of debit cards are limited to Europe. That means that you can’t get money out of the ATM. You can easily change it to just go to your bank and ask them to change it for you.

Currency

Vietnam has the Dong as currency, which is also stable. The Dong uses a lot zeros and you’ll become a millionaire very quickly. The highest bill is 500.000 Dong and the smallest 500. 1 dollar is equal to 22.700 Dong (June 2018)

Cash

Always have enough cash with you, but don’t exaggerate. Vietnamese don’t appreciate it when you flaunt wealth in public. It’s also useful to have some small money with you. They won’t be happy if you buy something for 40.000 and you come with a 500.000 biljet.

Dollars in Vietnam

Since the main currency in Vietnam Dong is, they don’t ask you to pay in dollars. Even though they sometimes show prices in dollars. It’s always good to have some dollars with you, just in case. You can always change them at money exchanges if you’re not going to use them. We recommend to bring dollars with you before you come to Vietnam because you need to pay your visa in dollars.

If you want to know more about Visa and Visa on arrival, see….

ATM

There are a lot of ATMs in Vietnam and that makes it easy to get money. The only thing is that you, most of the time, can maximum get 2 or 3 million per time and per transaction you pay around 1 dollar. If you are lucky, you can find some places where you can get 5 million Dong. Try Agribank or Military Bank. You can get 5 million at Backpackers Hostel Downtown in Hanoi as well.

With or without conversion

You will notice the question if you want your transaction with or without conversion. Always choose for without. The bank will otherwise use its own course which costs more money.

Long Term

Planning to have a long term travel? You can save some money with pausing or canceling your memberships. Think about phone memberships, newspapers, magazines, gym, etc.

Western Union

Western Union is a way to transfer or receive money. A lot of travelers use it when they don’t have their cards anymore to get money. Someone can just send you some money and you can pick it up at a Western Union location with your passport. There are a lot locations in Vietnam that work with Western Union.

Tipping

Is not expected, but will be appreciated if you do. Leave, for example, something for the cleaner in your hotel room or the tour guide. It’s your decision if you want to tip and how much. The most given tips are to some more luxury experiences. A luxe spa, good tour experience, hotels, rooftops etc.

Even though it’s not common you’ll see some places that include a service fee in customer’s bills. This can between the 5 and 15 percent.

Bargaining

It is a very normal and cultural thing to bargain in Vietnam. Don’t feel rude to do it as long as you stay polite. Make a game of it, laugh and don’t get mad. Pay between 50 and 75 percent of the requested price. We have some tips for bargaining under the header Who’s Vietnam: Understand → Bargaining.

Backpackers budget

Vietnam is a very popular place for backpackers. It’s cheap and easy to travel. If you’re on a budget and want to know how to save money and what to expect, read further.

Food and Drink Budget

You can expect cheap food and drinks in Vietnam. Eating at the street with locals will cost you almost nothing. Drinking at nice places shouldn’t be too much either, but it depends of course how fancy you will make it.

Beer at the supermarket = 14.000

Beer at the bar = 30.000

Restaurant = 150.000

Meal at the street = 40.000

Accommodation Budget

A cheap way to spend your nights is to choose for hostels. Hostels are mostly clean, comfortable and a lot of fun. It’s a very good way to make new friends. Most hostels offer free breakfast or free beer as well! The average price for a hostel is around 6 dollars.

If you’re with two people, you can also choose to stay in a private room or guest house. These cost around 15 dollars, so if you split it almost the same price as a hostel.

Transport Budget

Traveling inside the city can be really cheap. Take a motorbike taxi, rent a bicycle or go for a walk. To go from a city to another one, you can take busses, trains and planes. The cheapest way is to take a night bus and you will also save a night sleeping in a hostel. A train is a little more expensive. It’s the best to buy tickets at the train stations because agencies ask for allowance.

Bicycle is around 2 dollars a day
Scooter rental around 6
Long distance transport around 20 dollar
Motorbike taxi around 1 dollar per 10 minutes

Course & Excursion Budget

This is probably your biggest cost item. Excursions cost more, but you don’t do this every day. If you are good with bargaining, you can save a lot of money as well. Try to find out what the average prices are and talk to other people to see what their experiences were. If you’re on a really low budget, you should ask yourself the question what you really want to do.

Cooking courses: 10 - 15 dollar

Day tours: 30 dollars

Halong bay: 60 dollars

Sapa: 125 dollar

If you’re having questions about tours and prices. Feel free to contact us and we are there to help you!

TIPS

Here are some tips to save extra money

don’t travel too fast. Traveling is expensive and
eat where locals eat
take local busses
travel together: This can save you money if it comes to traveling to other places or taking tours. The prices for individuals are mostly a little higher than when you are with two or more persons.
try Couch surfing to sleep for free
avoid traveling in the high season: the prices will be higher in high season
be aware with what you spend: the prices are low and that makes you greedy, but buying a lot things with a small amount will cost you a lot at the end.

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