Currency Exchange
Hawaii Edition
Because of the concentration of tourists, there are several currency exchange shops in Waikiki, several concentrated on Royal Hawaiian Avenue.
I decided to try to compare the rate of exchange for yen for a few of them. There is an exchange across the street from these in the Galleria, but I did not explore that one as online reports seemed to indicate that the availability and hours were less convenient than these others?
My plan to compare directly actually failed because I assumed that they would all be open at the same time. (These photos show all of them closed as the photos were taken before the time of comparison.) They open at different times, so check before heading out.
The standard rate of exchange listed online at the time was 108.93 Yen per Dollar.
Nalu Hawaiian Spirit was not open yet, and there was no exchange information posted.
Pacific Money Exchange gave a rate of 108¥ per $. I think that is a "kamaaina rate", which in effect means that they give locals a slightly better rate compared to tourists. There is no additional service charge (as there would be at a bank or larger institution), so their profit margin is probably quite low?
Money Exchange a generic looking place with a generic name on Lauula St showed a rate of 107.3¥ per $. I do not know if they give a Kamaaina rate.
I think the exchange rates float daily (the rate today is 112.77¥ per $), and these shops seem to give rates that are within a cent/¥ or two of each other. They all seem to give better value than going through a financial institution which may give a institutional rate but add service charges. These shops make their money on a slim margin from the wholesale rate.
DFS Galleria has limited parking for customers of it's high end shops ?for just currency exchange?? Entrance on Lewers.
The other shops have no parking. I'll share some information I've gleaned about daytime parking in Waikiki in another post.
Does this sound consistent with what you've found?
How do you exchange currency?
[money, travel, JT]
Hawaii Edition
Because of the concentration of tourists, there are several currency exchange shops in Waikiki, several concentrated on Royal Hawaiian Avenue.
I decided to try to compare the rate of exchange for yen for a few of them. There is an exchange across the street from these in the Galleria, but I did not explore that one as online reports seemed to indicate that the availability and hours were less convenient than these others?
My plan to compare directly actually failed because I assumed that they would all be open at the same time. (These photos show all of them closed as the photos were taken before the time of comparison.) They open at different times, so check before heading out.
The standard rate of exchange listed online at the time was 108.93 Yen per Dollar.
Nalu Hawaiian Spirit was not open yet, and there was no exchange information posted.
Pacific Money Exchange gave a rate of 108¥ per $. I think that is a "kamaaina rate", which in effect means that they give locals a slightly better rate compared to tourists. There is no additional service charge (as there would be at a bank or larger institution), so their profit margin is probably quite low?
Money Exchange a generic looking place with a generic name on Lauula St showed a rate of 107.3¥ per $. I do not know if they give a Kamaaina rate.
I think the exchange rates float daily (the rate today is 112.77¥ per $), and these shops seem to give rates that are within a cent/¥ or two of each other. They all seem to give better value than going through a financial institution which may give a institutional rate but add service charges. These shops make their money on a slim margin from the wholesale rate.
DFS Galleria has limited parking for customers of it's high end shops ?for just currency exchange?? Entrance on Lewers.
The other shops have no parking. I'll share some information I've gleaned about daytime parking in Waikiki in another post.
Does this sound consistent with what you've found?
How do you exchange currency?
[money, travel, JT]
See comments about parking in Waikiki at:> plus.google.com - Parking in Waikiki One of the barriers to spending much time in Waikiki is d...
ReplyDeleteThe choices that sound the best to me are either going to get some Kouign-amann and banana bread and coffee at the Royal Hawaiian Bakery, or getting a Kouign-amann or similar and coffee at b. Patisserie and Kona Coffee Purveyors. Seems like a good trade-off for some free parking.
Seems you really have to work at it to get money exchanged. Many people recommend Nalu Hawaiian Spirit for yen exchange, and they even had some good reviews for money exchange under that name on Yelp and other sites. Having gone and found it closed once, I decided to call ahead. Called the number listed in multiple places online repeatedly for 2 straight days, and also tried a number listed on their facebook page. Never got an answer at either number over 2 full 12 hour days.
ReplyDeleteGot another phone number for Nalu from a fellow traveler, and when I did a reverse search on it, it returned d'R Exchange Currency Exchange. Not only was I calling the wrong number, I didn't even know the correct business name, nor was there a sign on the building!
So d'R Exchange is apparently the correct name, and 808 779-7791 is their phone number.
I still wonder what kind of business Nalu Hawaiian Spirit is as they never did answer their phone. π
Google information on d'R Exchange says that it is closed on Saturday and Sunday. That is apparently incorrect? Are they open every Saturday? Sunday?
ReplyDeleteGoogle also says Pacific Money Exchange is open 7 days a week?
So I was finally able to complete a direct comparison of the 2 most popular ¥ - $ exchange shops, both conveniently π located in windows that open right on the sidewalk of Royal Hawaiian Ave.
ReplyDelete(And yes, the "hole in the wall" of Nalu Hawaiian Spirit is actually d'R Exchange, not Nalu.)
They both asked for identification, which is required by federal money laundering and anti-terrorism law. I think those laws have been around for a long time, but I don't remember them requiring ID (except to prove kamaaina status) in the past?
What I found on that day was that both places used the same exchange rate and the ¥ returned was exactly the same. At least by Google and X and XE rates, the rate they both gave (111.3 -- which for Pacific ME was the "kamaaina rate" compared to the 110 posted rate) was within 1¥ of the international posted rates seen online.
I suspect that they both make their money primarily on selling dollars, and we benefit by selling them dollars at near wholesale rates which they in turn sell at a less favorable rate to visitors? Either that, or they are front operations for some nefarious yakuza master. πππ
So at least on this anecdotal small sample, d'R and Pacific were essentially identical in more ways than one. Pacific opens an hour earlier, and has a larger well lit space with at times 2 clerks. d"R is a tiny dark 1 person booth. Neither charges a separate service fee, so you don't lose by going to either or both. Any variation in daily rate would probably mean only about 1¥ per $100 difference in return.
Good to call ahead (just make sure you call d'R and not Nalu π€£).
https://plus.google.com/photos/...
While the d'R Money Exchange little window is completely unmarked when closed as above, it is not much different when it is open (below). There is a δΈ‘ζΏ sign above that looks like maybe a lighted sign, but it's not lit even when it is open? (Looks like it is plugged into the overhead floodlights so maybe it is lit at night?) You pretty much just have to know what that little window is for.
ReplyDeletehttps://plus.google.com/115183866451221950345
https://www.facebook.com/dR.Exchange
https://plus.google.com/photos/...