Help needed - Bali expense payment

[Mritunjay]

I will be travelling to Bali next month. What should be my preferred way of payment, heard cash is still the preferred way of payment in Bali. How should I carry money - carry dollars, withdraw from atm or load a Forex card?
I have a Jupiter debit card with a pro account, it gives zero forex spending up to 25k, but I am unaware if it atm transactions are also counted in it.

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

For Southeast Asian countries, carry bulk of your money as USD and convert that into local currency as per your requirement. You can carry your forex/debit card and withdraw some money from the airport for your initial spends.

 

[vc314]

Carry USD and change it as required. Indonesian currency has very large value notes some of which look similar. Count the number of zeros in each note and recheck your total before moving away from the counter. Beware of scams.

 

[Mritunjay]

I have read people using Fi debit card to withdraw money from ATM (fee Rs. 100) , any info about the change rate - is it better than carrying USD or forex cards?

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

You could do that. But the local bank atms also charge you a fee to withdraw money and sometimes the rates are bad. You would get a better conversation with your USDs tbh. Compare atm charges and withdraw some money(the maximum that the atm allows per transaction) at the airport for your cab/rental expenses. Rest you can convert at exchange shop as per your needs. Also, for visa on arrival it is much easier to prove finances for the trip with cash.

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

Carry USD and change it as required. Indonesian currency has very large value notes some of which look similar. Count the number of zeros in each note and recheck your total before moving away from the counter. Beware of scams.

Yup. They will try to scam you. They'll try distracting you and give you lesser notes than intended. Cheeky buggers. XD

 

[Chiraggyl]

i am also going to bali.. just comparing if i use bookmyforex to convert inr to usd in india it will take around 1.5%.. so converting inr to usd to idr.. will take around 3-4%

Is this worth or using fi debit card with 100 withdrawal charge will be good?

 

[the_collector]

I will be travelling to Bali next month. What should be my preferred way of payment, heard cash is still the preferred way of payment in Bali. How should I carry money - carry dollars, withdraw from atm or load a Forex card?
I have a Jupiter debit card with a pro account, it gives zero forex spending up to 25k, but I am unaware if it atm transactions are also counted in it.

Be careful in Bali , I've come across the following in my trip:

1. While exchanging dollars, you'll find multiple exchangers that offer better rates but they're a simple small shop set up. They tend to scam by giving you less notes. Beware of this and exchange only at reputed ones.

2. While using ATMs , be careful. This happened to a friend of mine traveling with us. He got scammed of 70k INR. He withdrew cash ( I think it was gili and that machine had a carder. Nothing happened then, but afterba few hours 70k got debited from his account. And it was a long battle after that to get his money back.

Credit cards are accepted a lot more now but I would still recommend you use cash. Convert dollars to Rupiah.