Last year when I needed to get a large amount of Yen for a holiday in Japan I made sure I found out which of the various exchange bureaus on the Queen St mall had the best deal. I learned this important lesson: you can't just go by the exchange rates listed on LED displays, which don't take into account the commission fees some companies charge. UAE Exchange has no commission fees (compared to Western Union, for example, who charge 2 cents per dollar), so even though sometimes their rates don't look as good, with the fees factored in they can be even cheaper.
I recently tested it with a hypothetical sale, asking the clerk at Western Union how much it would cost me in$AUD to get $100 USD. The quote was $101.45, whereas at UAE Xchange it would have been a couple of dollars cheaper. read more