In Reply to: Why?? posted by Rella on Thursday, 31. March 2011 at 05:30 Bali Time:
Over here you will never get the actual rate, there will always be a margin.
Right now $1AUD=$1.035USD.. best i've found is at Post Office offering $1.002. The Banks and Foreign Exchange still under the $1 mark.
Get the minimum you can over here to get taxi to hotel, water, sim card etc. I used to spend all my rupiah at the end of each trip, now I tend to keep $100AUD worth rupiah at home. Always a friend or family member going to Bali every few weeks.
Just remember if you get $50 worth here, the difference between a rate of 8400 and 9000 is only really $3. Not worth stressing over.