In Reply to: Approx 9500rp = US$1 posted by Tina G on Wednesday, 30. June 2004 at 19:15 Bali Time:
I found lots of great tips on money excahnge here before I went in May, so to add from my experieince:
Best rate was for $100 cash followed closely by travelers checks (which at some places in Ubud was the same as cash) and even ATM. We avoided using ATM for awhile cuz I had read that you couldn't get more than $40 US. Not true, at least in Ubud, we could withdraw $100 or even $200 if we wanted. And the rate was nealry the cash rate. I wish we did not use our credit cards. The rate was the worst!
Oh, and fears about cheating money changers didn't apply in Ubud. We had no problems at all. Even our drivers all said that you can pretty much trust anyone in Ubud, but watch out in Kuta. We had heard siuch horror stories, not realizinf they only applied to the south. Absolutely no problems in Ubud. Changing money was an honest and easy transaction.