In Reply to: depends posted by Freogirl on Friday, 10. April 2009 at 17:06 Bali Time:
Was your neighbour able to buy just US$50 or did they have to buy a larger amount to get above a limit? I find that when I want to buy a small amount such as US$10 or 25 that there is a transaction fee which is about $8. When there is a transaction fee the conversion rate is more generous but small amounts suffer. When I have tried to order from Australia Post or Travelex they insist on a A$250 minimum. If I buy over A$250 then it works out cheap. For me, buying US$10 or 25 is a pain in the butt and expensive, especially when I have to go out of my way to do it. I never use airport money changers but the point there is that the rate they have for buying your rupe back into US$ is a good indication of the rate the VOA seller will use. The rates used are displayed above the VOA counter also. At the end of the day it is chicken feed and for me easier to use rupe, A$s or, as I did a couple of weeks ago, US$ because I had them left over from a trip to Vietnam.
By the way, your estimate of 300,000rp is pretty good whichever way it is looked at, I will be interested to hear back what it did cost, especially if exchange rates keep changing as they have recently!
Cheers,
David