• Hey there! Welcome to TFC! View fewer ads on the website just by signing up on TF Community.

Indonesia: mid-July. Which cards to carry to get accepted everywhere? What about a debit card to withdraw cash from ATM?

Apply For Lifetime Free IDFC First Credit Card
Batman

Batman

TF Premier
VIP Lounge
Need help with cards to carry on my trip to Indonesia starting mid-July.

I have these CC that might work - RBL World Safari Visa, HDFC Diners Black, BoB Eterna Visa, ICICI Sapphiro AMEX/MC, ICICI Coral Rupay, Federal Celesta,
DC - Niyo global, ICICI Wealth, HDFC Plat

Now, I understand that RBL World Safari has 0% forex, but many islands/cities might not be accepting it because of MDR. I might need to use cash from local ATM.

Which DC/Forex card would you recommend to get cash from ATM?
Niyo ATM withdrawal charges are ~430. I can get ICICI/HDFC Forex issued, if that helps.
 
Apply For LTF AU LIT Credit Card
PS I'm also open to your suggestions about the itinerary. I can spend 20-30 days and I like beaches + adventure sports.
 
Diners Black will not work. I had visited in April this year and faced the issue with DCB. Other Visa cards will work. Always try to carry backup cards as well.
For forex card, I had taken Book My Forex Card. As I was traveling from Singapore, I had taken out SGD in Singapore and converted to IDR worth 500000 (5 lakh) for Visa on arrival. For hotel payment I used Visa credit card (IDFC Wealth before devaluation)
 
nishank said:
Following the thread.
Can visa fee be paid via credit card for VOA
Click to expand...
Yes. It has a ton of options, including UPI iirc. It is like a Paytm/Razorpay gateway portal.

But CC is charged with an MDR and somewhat higher fee.
 
nishank said:
Following the thread.
Can visa fee be paid via credit card for VOA
Click to expand...
U can try online e visa also, if u want to avoid cash.

But from what I have read, carrying minimal cash is a must, as even for many attraction entry tickets, cards are not accepted. For a 4-5 day trip, u can consider withdrawal of around 5000 INR (10L IDR) to be safe.

Below are some cards good for ATM withdrawal. Use BCA bank for free withdrawal.

Niyo global debit card - 499.14 INR
IDFC Wealth - 234.82INR + 1.77% (No Advance payment needed)
Burgundy Debit card - 4.13%
Magnus Burgundy - 2.36% (Advance payment needed to avoid interest)
HDFC Infinia - 2.36% (Advance paym
ent needed to avoid interest)
 
Last edited:
Batman said:
Need help with cards to carry on my trip to Indonesia starting mid-July.

I have these CC that might work - RBL World Safari Visa, HDFC Diners Black, BoB Eterna Visa, ICICI Sapphiro AMEX/MC, ICICI Coral Rupay, Federal Celesta,
DC - Niyo global, ICICI Wealth, HDFC Plat

Now, I understand that RBL World Safari has 0% forex, but many islands/cities might not be accepting it because of MDR. I might need to use cash from local ATM.

Which DC/Forex card would you recommend to get cash from ATM?
Niyo ATM withdrawal charges are ~430. I can get ICICI/HDFC Forex issued, if that helps.
Click to expand...
My DCB didn't worked even in Sofitel. I have to use my wife's Regalia with GVP.
 
Harry1 said:
u can consider withdrawal of around 5000 INR (10L IDR) to be safe.
Click to expand...
Just a note here - prefer to carry USD since it is accepted everywhere. INR is somewhat tricky.
For example, VOA accepts only USD/IDR as cash but not INR (based on what I read)
 
Batman said:
Need help with cards to carry on my trip to Indonesia starting mid-July.

I have these CC that might work - RBL World Safari Visa, HDFC Diners Black, BoB Eterna Visa, ICICI Sapphiro AMEX/MC, ICICI Coral Rupay, Federal Celesta,
DC - Niyo global, ICICI Wealth, HDFC Plat

Now, I understand that RBL World Safari has 0% forex, but many islands/cities might not be accepting it because of MDR. I might need to use cash from local ATM.

Which DC/Forex card would you recommend to get cash from ATM?
Niyo ATM withdrawal charges are ~430. I can get ICICI/HDFC Forex issued, if that helps.
Click to expand...
I was in Bali in last week of June.

I carried USD300 but brought back all of it for my future trips. 😎

Paid for Visa by credit card. Used ATM to withdraw money at airport on landing and later in the city.

I used RBL world safari for expenses and Fi (Federal) Debit card for withdrawals. Fi charges Rs.100 per transaction. It also charges forex markup fee but refunds it later (Edit: Refunded on 9th July, 2024).

Only at the airport for Visa, RBL WS and Fi (I think I put wrong PIN for Fi) didn't work. So, I used OneCard that has 1%+GST forex markup fee but there is an offer going on that you get 1% refund, only 0.18% (GST) remains.
 

Attachments

  • onecard.jpeg
    onecard.jpeg
    49.7 KB · Views: 23
Last edited:
Batman said:
Just a note here - prefer to carry USD since it is accepted everywhere. INR is somewhat tricky.
For example, VOA accepts only USD/IDR as cash but not INR (based on what I read)
Click to expand...
Why carry USD? You will pay double conversion charges INR to USD and then USD to IDR

Just withdraw from local ATM using zero forex debit card or IDFC Wow
 
sourpai said:
Why carry USD? You will pay double conversion charges INR to USD and then USD to IDR

Just withdraw from local ATM using zero forex debit card or IDFC Wow
Click to expand...
  1. Zero forex debit cards charge a lot for withdrawals.
    1. I have niyo, it charges 423 + GST for each withdrawal. That cashback in the form of coins is borderline scam. Conversion rate is good though.
    2. FI money charges 100 + GST. But they've written a flat 3.5% forex fee
  2. Forex cards provide bad conversion rates. But withdrawal charges are flat 2 USD.
@image you mentioned Fi charges forex 3.5% but refunds it later. Can you elaborate on that?
 
Batman said:
@image you mentioned Fi charges forex 3.5% but refunds it later. Can you elaborate on that?
Click to expand...
See the screenshot, you will understand. Payment amount was IDR 4,29,500. Fi charged Rs.2279.16 (2188.76 + 90.4). Rs.90.40 will be refunded within 30 days. I used this card in Dubai in Jan'24 and forex markup fee refund credited within 10-12 days of transaction that time.
 

Attachments

  • K.jpeg
    K.jpeg
    56.2 KB · Views: 19
image said:
See the screenshot, you will understand. Payment amount was IDR 4,29,500. Fi charged Rs.2279.16 (2188.76 + 90.4). Rs.90.40 will be refunded within 30 days. I used this card in Dubai in Jan'24 and forex markup fee refund credited within 10-12 days of transaction.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Do they promise this refund in their T&C somewhere? I didn't see it, hence the question.

Do you have a particular type of Fi account - such as the infinite account?
 
Batman said:
Thank you. Do they promise this refund in their T&C somewhere? I didn't see it, hence the question.

Do you have a particular type of Fi account - such as the infinite account?
Click to expand...
Yes, mine is infinite account (50K). Even 10k (Plus account) offers zero forex fee but limit is 30k INR. I usually make it 50K infinite before any trip and once I get forex fee refund, use the funds and make it 10k account. 😎

I think zero forex fee mentioned on the account details but it is their SOP to charge forex fee first and refund within 30 days.
 
image said:
Yes, mine is infinite account (50K). Even 10k (Plus account) offers zero forex fee but limit is 30k INR. I usually make it 50K infinite before any trip and once I get forex fee refund, use the funds and make it 10k account. 😎

I think zero forex fee mentioned on the account details but it is their SOP to charge forex fee first and refund within 30 days.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Even 50k is not a huge amount to have peace of mind with zero fee on Forex. I will try to get this Debit card and make it primary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top