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what is the best type of money to travel with? Do you suggest just to bring cash or credit cards or what?

I'm not sure if you all are thinking ahead to the whole money while in
Indo issue, but I figured I'd send along my thoughts since I am
getting it all squared away right now...

- While you are in Indonesia, you should only use cash to make
purchases or transactions. Credit card fraud is rampant in Indonesia,
and I just think it would be best to avoid using your credit card
while in country.

- You have several options to access cash in Indonesia:

1. Bring the currency with you. You can order foreign currency at most
banks in the U.S. and they should have it for you in less than 5 days.
Pros: You have your money when you arrive in country and you don't
have to worry about using money changers or anything. There is
something to be said for not having to worry about changing your money
the second you arrive at the airport, when you are exhausted and
disoriented and probably cranky.
Cons: Probably the worst exchange rate you're going to find. However, if you want
to just order a little bit of currency and change the rest when you
get in country, that's not a bad option either.

2. You can exchange your money when you get to the Surabaya airport, however the exchange rate is better in Jakarta Airport.
If you choose this option, definitely bring the crispest, cleanest,
NEWEST $100 bills you can find. Go to the bank to get these. If your
bills are from before 1996, too worn, or torn in any way, they will
not accept them. And that would suck. You get the best exchange rate
on $100 bills, then $50 bills have the next best rate, and they may
not accept anything smaller than a $20 bill.
Pros: Good exchange rate.
Cons: It's a hassle, and sometimes their English is pretty bad.
There's a higher risk of getting fake currency, although this is unlikely.

3. You can exchange money at a local bank in Indonesia. The same
wear&tear issues from #2 apply here.
Pros: Best exchange rate you can find.
Cons: A really really really big hassle. I do NOT recommend
doing this, as it is time consuming and just annoying to try and find
a good bank.

4. Traveler's cheques.
Pros: Good exchange rate, very SAFE.
Cons: big hassle

5. You can withdraw your money at ATMs. This is a really nice option
because ATMs really are all over the place at airports and shopping
malls and other places like that. Most ATM cards will work in
Indonesia (those associated with Visa, MasterCard, Plus, Cirrus, etc.
are all accepted).
Pros: Good exchange rate. You don't have to
actually deal with real people, which is nice and safe when you're in
Indonesia (that came out wrong, but I think you know what I mean).
Cons: You might get charged with fees all over the place. Anything from your
bank charging you a transaction fee bc it's not one of their
ATMs, then you'll have an International Transaction fee, then you will
most likely get charged a fee from the Indonesian bank whose ATM it
is, etc. etc. For the record, I really like this option. However, this only works if your pin # is 6 digits or less which is unfortunate for a 7-digit pin # person like me.

6. Beg for money on the side of the road.
Pros: You'd probably get a nice tan.
Cons: It's hot and could be really boring.


Other thoughts on money:
- You will want to bring at least $300 with you, probably more
depending on your spending habits. I have moderate spending habits (I
tend to buy a lot of music there, though), and I usually spend about
$400 total each summer. You can choose to exchange it all at once, or
wait. Once we leave Surabaya to go to Malang, it will be EXTREMELY
difficult to exchange your currency, so that's something to think about.

Remember: you will have to pay for yourself through orientation, but
once we make it to Malang you will not have that many expenses. If you
have to use public transportation to get to school, that costs about
$0.20 per trip (if I remember correctly). If you want to eat out with
friends or something, you'll have to pay for that. But your host
family will pay for all of your meals if you take them with your HF.


These were just things I was thinking about. You may want to Google
some things about spending money in Indonesia just in case.