Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Deals on Tahiti Hotels Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
jirikoo 11:35 UTC 05 Feb 2008 | Hi to all, heading to Tahiti from Australia I was wondering whether i would be able to use my australian bank cards (in my case Westpac) throughout French Polynesia for a money withdrawal. More over Im gonna use an australian recharger plugs there. Is the plug-and-socket system there and in AUS standardized? thanks in advance |
raro 01:43 UTC 06 Feb 2008 | If I remember correctly, voltage in Fr. Polynesia is 110v, as opposed to 220v in Australia. So, you'll need a dual-voltage charger to begin with, or a small converter (maybe US$15-20 or so in Australia?). Then you'll need an adaptor plug for the Fr. Polynesia power points. A good electronics store in Aust. should be able to get you the info and items you need. there are also some websites that show the various outlets etc., I used one once, but can't remember which one. But, it should be do-able, somehow. | 1
jwa 20:42 UTC 06 Feb 2008 | The voltage is 240v in FP, the same as in France and, yes, even OZ. What is different is the power points, it is just like in France, 2 round prongs, not 3 flat prongs as in OZ, so you'll need a plug converter. As for banks, yes Westpac is there. If your cards are Visa or MasterCard you should have no trouble, however, I would check with your bank before leaving. Some posters have had trouble in FP with their credit cards. French Polynesia is beautiful, enjoy your stay. | 2
jirikoo 22:04 UTC 06 Feb 2008 | Thanks for both reply. JWA: I do not posses a credit cards (VISA or MASTER CARD) - i have only bank cards for ATMs. Is this OK for money withdrawal? thank you | 3
newfie43 23:47 UTC 06 Feb 2008 | We were never able to get money at an ATM with our bank card iusued in Canada despite all the ATM's showing the logos on our card. This was in 2006 and most people who posted on tahiti-explorer also had the same problem. I don't know if it has improved or not. We had to change travelers checks to get FP francs and the banks charged a large fee for the service. It was the same fee regardless of the amount you changed so it would be better to change up a large amount at once. I don't know if you could present your card to the teller and get cash that way. | 4
snoj 04:49 UTC 07 Feb 2008 | We also had problems accessing our money through Tahiti ATM's. The problem came down to all Tahiti ATM's requiring that you have your money available in a savings account not a cheque account. Finally we guessed at the problem and could move our money around on line. That was our first stop on a three months trip to South America and we thought that it was going to be our last stop for a while. In the rest of the trip we continued to have the odd problem with money machines which can be put down to the vagaries of travel. Every country is different. My prescription for fail safe money travels, which I will put into practice next time, is; 1/ Have cards from two completely different institutions. 2/ Only take cards attached to accounts which you can access and change online. Learn how to do it. 3/ Check expiry dates on cards before you go 4/ Have someone at home who can access your accounts and/or send you emergency money and have their phone number. 5/ Learn how to make calls to home from overseas phones. 6/ Stuff a large amount of USD into a sock in the bottom of your bag. The rest of the trip went well. It probably says something about our preferences in travel but Tahiti was a bit boring for us. If you can get a cheap flight to Easter Island and back from Papeete I would think about it. | 5
profax 20:12 UTC 07 Feb 2008 | Hi, if your bank card is on the maestro/cirrus sytem you shouldn't have any problems withdrawing money. You can check mastercard ATM locator. French Polynesia ist not boring at all. Try to be there around French national day 07/14 and the week(s) before that date. Magnificent dancing in PPT and on other islands Happy travelling, Profax | 6