Posted by Lucien Zalcman on Friday, 23. October 1998 at 05:14 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Travelers checks, ATM, credit cards posted by Annie on Thursday, 22. October 1998 at 05:15 Bali Time:
Annie - here is a copy of a paragraph from my long report posted a few weeks ago. I hope it is helpful.
4. Get some rupiah before you arrive in Bali. $20 (120,000) will get you a long way before you have to deal with the moneychangers. Hotels generally accept rupiah and US dollars. Some only accept cash. Hotels charge in US dollars and then convert to rupiah at rates you are unlikely to get anywhere. Bring US dollars in cash to pay for your accommodation unless you are staying at plush hotels. They are more likely to accept travelers cheques and/or credit cards at reasonable rates. You can get money from ATMs but a maximum of 600,000 rupiah per transaction. From my bankcard bill I worked out a rate of close to 6200 rupiah per Australian dollar - almost exactly what we were getting on the street for cash.