Foreign exchange, KL
 

We are travelling from Ireland to Aus on the 5th Dec with a 2 day stopover in KL. We won't need too much cash as accommodation is paid for. Should we use ATM's to get cash or should we bring Euro or $ with us to exchange. If so should we use banks or money exchanges. We also will use credit cards.

atms are always the easiest

bring greens, and change them at any of the many moneychangers on the street and the shopping malls. rates should be around 3.7mr to usd. very easy to change money.

Change your money at the money changers; fast and hassle free. They are found at all major shopping areas in KL.

You get slightly better rates for big notes ($100, $50). Rate should be around US$1 = RM3.76 - 3.78.

Be VERY careful about where you use a credit card in KL. I got mine cloned during our Malaysian holiday in April after only using it 3 times (twice in KL and once in Borneo - all of which were in what I THOUGHT were very reputable places) and a friend had hers cloned in KL a few weeks later. I wouldn't use mine at all outside my hotel from now on.

=:)

I was in KL just a few weeks ago. I used ATMs to get cash, as I do most places in the world. The exchange rate was as good as or better than exchanging cash.

I also used my credit card at the hotel and restaurants and at one shop, all with no problems.

Kathie, I'm not saying it happens to everybody, every time they use a credit card, just that it's something that does apparently happen more frequently in Malaysia than in a lot of other countries and that people should be aware of it if they're going there.

I'd heard a lot of warnings before I went to KL, but I thought that so long as I only used my card at reputable outlets and didn't let it out of my sight I'd be ok. When I told my friend, who travels to KL regularly on business, she laughed and said that she uses her card all the time there and it had never happened to her. She wasn't laughing a few weeks later.

Also, they don't necessarily use the "clone" straight away. It was April when I was in Malaysia, but the fraudulent transactions didn't happen until the beginning of June.

=:)