Bali money exchange

Heading to Bali, Kupang and Alor soon.

So many here have gone, do you take all your cash and exchange it there?

Do you use any ATM's there or avoid them?

It has been recommended by someone that visits there a LOT to take cash only, exchange it and avoid ATM's.

Wondering what others experience has been.

thanks for any comments.

Dave

I take all cash. Lots of places to change money, esp. around the major tourist areas. Bring crisp, like-new bills with no tears on markings on them. You'll get the best rate for 100's. I figure if I see something really cool I absolutely can't live without, lots of places (at least on Bali) will take credit cards for an additional fee (usually 3%). I did use an ATM in Toraja on the last trip without any problem.

You will have a great trip!

Phil

P.S. Bring cash ($25 I think) for the visa on arrival too!

ATM's in tourist areas with lots around Kuta. Only use bank ATM's. Other types may not accept your credit or debit card. Debit is best - no cash advance fee like Visa or MC. They generally give the best exchange rate vs cash or traveler checks. If you use money exchanges find ones with no commission charges - should be numerous. If taking cash - new crisp bills, no $100 bills with s/n starting with "C". Many places won't take them. I take cash mainly for emergencies. If you plan on returning to Indonesia in the next couple of years, try to stock up on rupiah before you leave so you'll be ready for next time. All airports have a departure tax, so save rupiah for that. It varies from place to place. Overweight is typically cash but sometimes c/c ok at major airports. This amount also varies from airport to airport. Current exchange rate is 8.945 IDR = 1.00 USD. I usually use c/c whenever I can & rupiah when I can't, or for things like tips. Cash works much better for locals like DM's. Enjoy!

opps

You can glean a lot of info from Balitravelforum.com

My trip this Nov will be my 6th year. Usually bring a wad of cash, and pay what I can in advance. Some money changers will try to rob you blind. Use only official shops. I tend to go to the one next to Matahari in Kuta Square, because it's convenient for me to do so.

As you exit the Intl airport, there are ATMs next to baggage claim. Get what I can there to tide me over. There is a withdrawal cap around $200 US or so, but you can do multiple transactions, maybe 4-5.

If I'm short on cash, I'll hit the ATMs. There are charges.

Once you get out of the big cities, you'll be hard pressed to find ATMs.

Very strict on $100s, nothing before 2002. Iron them and do not fold. [No joke.] Don't keep all your bills in one basket.

I've never encountered any problem with theft, and don't even lock my room in dive resorts, but who knows?

Wish I had brought home a stack of Rupiah fr the future. In two years, its gone from 11,000 to the dollar to somewhere around 9,000.

Have wanted to go to Alor, maybe next year.

It depends. A combination of ATM and cash on hand is always a good idea. Those who stay longer term need the US$ to purchase stuff like domestic airtix etc. Also credit cards charge up to 3% for forex, which means you're paying 5% (because as Phil said, you have to pay for the CC fees for the vendor too!) or more (depending on what xchange rate/% fee they give you) to use your credit card in Indo. It adds up if you spend a lot in Indo.

Besides the fees, you also run the risk of fraudulent cloning, then suddenly you can't use your credit card (so it's good to have a few) while in a foreign place. My card was cloned at 6* hotel in Bali, and transactions charged over the course of the next month, just so you think it's only the little places that do it. Happens more often than I thought!

ATMs are convenient in the big towns, BUT withdrawl limit is Rp 1-3mil per transaction because of the foreign card. A few ATMs allow Rp10mil but they are only in the big cities and few and far between. The fees are usually $2-5 per transaction depending on which bank ATM you use, plus whatever your bank charges. The further you go from the big population islands, the less likely you will have ATMs that use CIRRUS, STAR or PLUS etc at a convenient location. Places like the pearl farms now take CC, but artifact buying in the islands etc is all cash.

Do your biggest exchange in Bali as forex rates and availability drop in the more remote areas. Exchanging cash at certain reputable forex places can give you better rates than ATMs, if you know where to look. The problem is EVERY forex place promises to do so and many rip you off with commissions and counting tricks often fool the unsuspecting tourist. On the plus side, you can be assured of getting 100k Rp notes (largest note in Indo), whereas 100k ATMs aren't everywhere.

You get the best rates with $100/50 notes. The $100 notes have to be printed after 2000, because of some counterfeit ones in the 96 series.

How much to bring depends on what you want to do. Trip incidentals like baggage overweight and gratuities are easy to estimate. Domestic airline overweight charges are $2-3 a kg.

If you are doing a liveaboard, gratuities can be done in $US and even put on the CC if the boat processes that. But the staff get it once the company gets paid and it's often not the full amount because of fees etc. I usually tip in Rp. cash.

If you don't spend a lot and/or have a bank that complains about/won't check the $100 notes for 96 and before notes, then ATMs are easy. Just choose the 100k note machines for convenience sake but make sure you have smaller denominations when you hit the smaller islands as sometimes they don't have change for 100k. Save Rp150k for departure tax.

ATMs are convenient in the big towns, BUT withdrawl limit is Rp 1-3mil per transaction because of the foreign card. A few ATMs allow Rp10mil but they are only in the big cities and few and far between. The fees are usually $2-5 per transaction depending on which bank ATM you use, plus whatever your bank charges.

I use a LOT of cash in Indonesia to pay guides, hotels for my group, transfers, air tickets, etc.

Get a Schwab bank account and their ATM card. No fees. They even reimburse any fee charged by local banks. Both Tony and I have one of these plus carry a couple of other bank ATM cards for emergencies. You can have YOUR dailly withdrawal limit set to a high amount. Just use the card multiple times to get $1000's. No fees.. so who cares? Just takes a few more minutes in the little AC box.. which can feel pretty good in Bali sometimes. This works well in major cities (in Bali, Manado, etc.) In smaller places there is often a daily limit of 3,000,000 IDR/day.

We find the ATM's that will give the most per transaction and use them just to save time.

I never charge anything when I travel. Seldom change dollars to local currency. Just back from Scotland & Ireland on Friday. I got a great exchange rate, better than cash or T checks - and with the Schwab card.. no fees at all. Used it for a month in Italy/Greece in Apr/May too for ALL expenses.

Also some hotels, shops, artists, car rentals will give a discount for cash payment. Ask.

DebF

Hi,

we always took cash with us on our Bali trips. No problems, but watch out: Once a money changer tried to cheat me - gave me 10,000-bills but counted them as 100,000-bills! Thought he could get through with it because we as westerners are not familiar with so many digits... Just double-check BEFORE you leave the office, always count the money yourself after they hand it to you (you may have heard of folded bills that are counted twice in the hands of the money changer and so on...).

Joerg

I've never encountered any problem with theft, and don't even lock my room in dive resorts, but who knows?

Ive had a theft from a lembeh resort. Ipod Touch was stolen out of the room.

Hi Dave,

In Bali Currently. Have only used ATM's. No problems.

Use the Schwab card like Deb mentioned. Only problem

with Schwab is waiting for the money you transfer into

the account to clear. Usually takes about a week. Have

used my Chase card while waiting for the transfer to clear

and got hit with double fees. One for checking balance and

one for withdrawl.

Haven't used my US$ for anything here.