@H
Never had a 7eleven or Lawsons charge me a fee.Really?? Since 2022, several ATMs charged me a small fee (in Tokyo and Sendai), and that was the experience of friends & family who traveled last year as well.
@Kim
No fees on ATMs in Japan post offices? Good to know, so I'm not limited to Aeon supermarkets :)
@JapanCustomTours
Using a credit card to withdraw yen with no fees - if your bank offers this, do you think they are doing this for "free" - not a chance. They are likely to slug you with a lousy exchange rate.In my case, the bank strictly applies the exchange rate from Visa, which has a markup over the ECB rate.
Today's Visa markup for JPY/CHF is 1.02%, JPY/EUR is 0.23% (and any fees from your bank will come on top of this). I never had any surprise, the posted rate of the day is exactly the one I get. So there are fees, but not from the bank.
https://www.visa.co.uk/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-c...(So... if you have a Mastercard, a Visa and an Amex, you can choose to pay with the card that offer the better rates on that day)
My card is a credit type, but withdrawals get debited instantly, unlike payments. That might be specific to my bank though.
@SG
Has anyone traveled to Japan with just cash brought from their countries?Partly, but it was 10+ years ago, when I had a credit card that had a very low withdrawal limit, flat fees AND 3% fee on top of that for any payment/withdrawal.
I think the influence of Youtube makes just believe that ATMfs are a must.It's not a must, but much more convenient since you don't have to travel with a stack of banknotes and the exchange rate can be better, even with your bank's fees. You just get the money you need for the next few days, so there's a lot less leftover at the end of your trip (converting the banknotes back to CHF will also cost you money). Also, it's easy to exchange cash at the airport, but not sure about doing it outside of bigger cities.
If it stresses you out too much, you can of course travel as you usually do. Or bring cash from Switzerland, exchange some of it, while also trying to use your credit card. That way you can compare both strategies.