Should I Buy Yen Now after The AUD Increase? (Trip to Japan in February)

yogabagaba on 11/09/2025 - 08:44

I’m planning a trip to Japan in February next year and I’ve noticed that the AUD has recently strengthened against other currencies. I’m wondering if this is a good time to lock in some Yen for my travels (1AUD =97.489YEN), or if it might be worth waiting to see how the rates move over the next few months.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Do you usually buy your Yen early when the AUD is strong, or do you wait until closer to the trip? I know it’s impossible to predict the market perfectly, but I’d love to hear what experiences others have had.

Thanks

Travel Asia Currency Exchange Japan

Comments

  • payless69 on 11/09/2025 - 08:56
    +1

    yes
    can load on revolut or similar

    • jv on 11/09/2025 - 09:47
      +1

      is revolut better than wise?

      • radicalvin on 11/09/2025 - 09:56
        +2

        I have switched to Revolut for the past 12 months as it is in general more cost effective compared to Wise

        • jv on 11/09/2025 - 09:57

          Do they block transactions as frequently as Wise do?

          • radicalvin on 11/09/2025 - 10:09

            @jv: Haven't experienced it.

            I've received a refund from Qatar Airways in Euro a couple of days ago. They asked for a verification, and everything was cleared, and I was able to transfer to my bank account within a couple of hours.

    • SlinkyDemille on 11/09/2025 - 09:50

      Been meaning to start with Revolut but got a bit confused. With using Revolut in Japan, do you just use the same card as you would here? Would Google Pay work if I didn't have my physical card? How do you specifically use the yen you've loaded?

      • life is suffering on 11/09/2025 - 11:13
        +1

        Yes afaik same card, if it's online the online debit card. Also load in Google pay for contactless. For atms need physical card

        Used INR yesterday

  • surfingedge on 11/09/2025 - 09:05
    +2

    What makes you think the AUD is strong? Not only do you need to predict how well the AUD will do, you also need to predict how well JPY will do.

    Personally for a Feb trip, I would buy some now if it goes over 1 to 100, then see what happens in the following months

  • JIMB0 on 11/09/2025 - 09:12
    +12

    If I knew the answer I wouldn’t be here, I’d be on a yacht called “Exchange Rate” parked in Osaka Bay.

  • SBOB on 11/09/2025 - 09:18

    Going in may. If you find a crystal ball for Feb, can you ask it if it has any options on May :)

  • petestrash on 11/09/2025 - 09:20
    +4

    I regularly visit Japan. But have never been able to guess what the currency is going to do. I was forced to buy in the $0.60s for some of my trip in 2020, but also over $1.00 recently (first time in over a decade, I should have bought more then).

    But the world is such a crazy place right now, I don't think anyone can really predict with any reasonable accuracy where it's headed in the short term.

    Japan's economy is terrible and has been since the crash in the nineties, following the boomtimes in the eighties.

    The current band it mostly sits in the last few years is in the mid 90 cents (ignoring spikes).

    I don't know how much you want to potentially convert and hold (earning no interest), you are talking about a 5ish percent move either way generally speaking (again ignoring the spikes).

    I feel I'm better off investing elsewhere (or in an offset account) and only converting during each trip.

    I don't normally take any Yen with me, and just grab Y100,000 emergency cash from an ATM at the airport when I land. Credit cards are more widely accepted these days, but there are still times cash is needed.

    In May I stayed at a hotel in Fukuchiyama, which like a lot of hotels in Japan these days used automated check in machines. This was the only hotel in Japan where my normal cards did not work. I tried (ubank, ING, and 28 Degrees).

    Luckily, I had the emergency cash on me and used half of it at this one hotel.

    The rest of the cash was used to top up suica cards, and just general spending at the end of the trip to get rid of it.

    • DazMon on 13/09/2025 - 07:54

      You went in 2020?

      • eug on 13/09/2025 - 22:40

        A friend of mine went to Sapporo in March 2020 just as borders were closing. The place was deserted but shops were still open. They had a really good time with zero crowds. Lucky them!

  • Cluster on 11/09/2025 - 09:32
    +2

    Having just come back from Japan, I was enjoying the 96+ exchange rate.

    Here's the thing: Pull up a one year chart of AUD versus JPY, and you'll see during that time the dollar bought between 86 and 101 yen. That's a huge swing within 12 months. We're near the top of the band again, but literally no one knows what the exchange rate will be in a few months. If we did, we could buy options and be rich.

    I just bought yen during the trip and didn't sweat the exchange rate. Got cash when needed, and used card everywhere I could.

  • jv on 11/09/2025 - 09:36
    -1

    Should I Buy Yen Now after The AUD Increase?

    What does your crystal ball say?

    • holdenmg on 11/09/2025 - 09:43
      +8

      Made in Japan.

      • jv on 11/09/2025 - 09:48

        I might buy one then.

        Should I buy it now? or wait until February?

        • Porker on 11/09/2025 - 11:43

          Ask the crystal ball

  • jellykingdom on 11/09/2025 - 09:54

    I really wouldn't overthink it too much. I went in June 2024, and that was roughly 100:1, but we just exchanged over there + used Wise card. If you look at the last couple years, its probably been 95:1 on average with a +/- either way to hit 90 or 100

    Everything was considerably cheaper (I reckon costs around 50-66%) in Japan than Australia so we never even considered the money aspect, it wasn't like going to Europe where you start to notice the cost of everything

    • Cluster on 11/09/2025 - 10:12
      +1

      Yes, Japan is a budget destination now. Food, accomodation, everything is highly affordable versus costs of a European holiday. Currency conversion is easy when looking at prices too: lop the last two zeros off and you have it in dollars.

      I first visited Japan in 2004 and the exchange rate was around 75. We've had a lot of inflation since then and an appreciating currency versus the yen, while the Japanese were desperately trying to have any inflation at all pre COVID.

      EDIT: Asking OpenAI about my selected time period, Japan had just 5.2% inflation between 2004 and 2019. For the same period Australia had 43.9%

  • eug on 11/09/2025 - 10:29
    +1

    Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Do you usually buy your Yen early when the AUD is strong, or do you wait until closer to the trip?

    About two years ago a friend of mine bought early for our trip. When the trip time came, the rate got better so he lost out on both the conversion rate and conversion surchage on his Westpac wallet.

    Of course it could easily go the other way. People who bought when it was 108 would have been laughing.

  • unco on 11/09/2025 - 10:35
    +3

    I've been to Japan multiple times but I'll never forget my trip in 2008.

    The conversion was sitting around 100 Yen. Just before the trip it dropped to around 93 and I said to myself, maybe I'll wait and see if it goes back up.
    Next minute GFC hits and it dropped to around 55 Yen.

    Lesson learnt, for the sake of hoping it went up a few more yen, I lost out big.

    • plmko on 11/09/2025 - 13:39

      Wow I went just before the massive crash without realising. But back in those days you get boned on FX anyway from cash exchange. Foreign card acceptance was rare let along any card back then and also ATMs didn't accept your foreign bank card except for Japan Post (which don't operate on weekends).

      Real exchange rate may have been 90+ but I feel like I went with 75-80's.

  • Shame on 11/09/2025 - 10:36
    +1

    Ditch yen and go long dong

  • mskeggs on 11/09/2025 - 11:03
    +2

    Nobody can predict, but is it really worth worrying about? Say it moves another 3%?
    That is $60 on $2000 of spending money.

    $60 will make or break your holiday? You could likely save more than that depending on which day of the week you booked your airfare.

  • Brucet on 11/09/2025 - 11:07

    I would buy if its over. Yen 98

    • bitesized on 12/09/2025 - 09:50

      Which is today

  • tsunamisurfer on 11/09/2025 - 11:30
    +5

    If everyone here knew the answer to the question, wouldn't we be all rich in currency trading?

  • scrimshaw on 11/09/2025 - 14:31
    +1

    My method is to just set a target and use the limit order feature in revolut. For e.g I set mine at 97.25 and the trade is automatically executed once conditions are met.

  • zombrex on 11/09/2025 - 18:32

    Would be crazy not to buy now. Now is an exceptional price. Anything over 90 is still great considering the actual buying power in Japan.

  • toastfloat on 11/09/2025 - 18:56

    it's a great price tbh. i usually convert small amounts on Wise or Revolut from time to time whenever rates are favourable.

  • shoppe on 13/09/2025 - 18:39

    I went recently. Got about 95 yen to the Aus dollar. I just converted every time I was running low. I paid for most large purchases in Aus dollars, that is, flights and accommodation.

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