| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 09:56 AM UTC
This was not what you were asking for, but if you are continuing to Singapore, you get better rate from US$ to Singapore$ in Kuala Lumpur than in Singapore.
| Was this reply helpful? | yes  | no  |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 10:01 AM UTC
> We need to know of places where we can change foreign currency to MYR in KL, is airport the best place ? or individual currency exchangers?
Airports are never the best.. Where are you heading off to in KL and from which airport? That will give us some idea of which money changer to recommend to you..
> Also I have heard that USD fetches better rates than INR in case of money changers, is it true?
I don't know that but bear in mind if you bring USD, you first need to change to it from INR and then to MYR, which involves a double exchange, instead of a direct exchange to MYR from INR. I suspect you will lose twice if you do so? What do you think? ;-)
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 10:05 AM UTC
Thnx for the reply
My query was two fold,
1. preferred place of exchange and
2. preferred currency between USD/INR as I have access to both
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 10:08 AM UTC
I plan to stay near KL Sentral
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 10:21 AM UTC
> 1. preferred place of exchange and
Since you are staying near KL Sentral, take the Komuter Train (Seremban direction) to go to Mid Valley City. After you exit the Mall at Level 1, take the nearest elevator to Lower Ground (LG) Floor, walk to Centre Court and you will find two money changers there which must offer good rates since I never fail to see a line of tourists exchanging money there! ;-) Even I do my exchange for USD/CAD/AUD/NZD there whenever I travel! Their rates must be good since the Mayback Forex counter nearby would match their rates for USD! ;-)
2. preferred currency between USD/INR as I have access to both
I have no idea but since you have both, why not bring both? ;-)
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 12:06 PM UTC
USD is always the better currency.
if you are exchanging cash then the bureau de change is the place for you. expect to loose a few pennies. banks also would give you a good rate if you are changing a lot of USD.
SGD is very strong at the moment, it might even come close to 1 =1 to usd? MYR is cheaper compared to that.
honestly the best is the debit card withdrawals using debit card and then you pay in your own currency.
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 12:07 PM UTC
"honestly the best is the debit card withdrawals using debit card and then you pay in your own currency." At a lousy rate!
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 12:33 PM UTC
When I lived in KL, I always brought sterling with me and changed it at the money exchange booths on Bukit Bintang, it's worth a short walk to see the rates from one to the other. I used to change £500 at a time and always asked for a better rate than they advertise and they always gave me it.
On occasions I did use my UK debit card and got the banks rate but then my bank started to charge as well, a fixed £1 plus 1.5%.
I still exchange sterling here in Thailand and get 1 Baht better than the banks, in Malaysia it was .2 Ringitt per pound.
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 13, 2012 12:36 PM UTC
"On occasions I did use my UK debit card and got the banks rate but then my bank started to charge as well, a fixed £1 plus 1.5%." Exactly! And then you were still lucky, sometimes the prices suggested in your own currency is worse than bank rate, still plus 1,25-1,5%.
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Tue February 14, 2012 04:04 AM UTC
If you already have USD, then it is obviously preferable but if you have to convert INR to USD then read Sheherezad's reply again...
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Tue February 14, 2012 09:57 AM UTC
@pgthompson - BB would be desirable if you stay in the area.. As with other places in KL/PJ, one can get better rates at some small obscure money changer e.g. the one my hair dresser friend swears by, located somewhere in Gasing area I think!
But OP is going to stay near KL Sentral, so money changers located at MVC would be his best bet, unless he can find a money changer in Brickields that offers a better rate (I don't know of any money changer located there/their rates, if any). So, imho MVC money changers would be the most convenient, as it is one stop from KL Sentral on the comuter train (Tren Komuter in Malay) route to Seremban - at the special stop created for MVC. I've used them many a times and the Maybank Forex counter staff actually asked me to come to them since they would match the money changers' rates for major currencies like USD! ;-) So, I reckon their rates are very competitive!
@OP - let me clarify further: after you exit the Mid Valley MegaMall comuter train station, you will enter Mid Valley MegaMall (part of Mid Valley City) at Level 1 of the Mall. As you exit you will pass Roti Boy and Warung on your right, veer left then make a quick right, to take the nearest elevator to Lower Ground (LG) Floor, walk rightwards (not the immediate right, which will take you to Boulevard Hotel) to Centre Court (you will pass the information kiosk at LG on your left as you do so), where you will find two money changers on your left (after the escalator 'going up' and the adjacent San Francisco Coffee Kiosk) - the first money changer is sometimes closed (I imagine after they run out of money?) but the second one (next the 'going down' escalator) is always open. Mall hours = 10am-10pm. Good luck! :-)
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Mon February 20, 2012 01:50 PM UTC
airport is the worst place for exchange- one of the most expensive places.
change some local currencies at the airport for your taxi fare - or you can buy taxi coupon using your credit card.
Change the rest at money changers - the give the best rate- better than hotel.
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
| Kuala Lumpur |
Re: Foreign exchange Posted: Tue March 20, 2012 07:16 AM UTC
Thanks to all for their advice
I would like to share a few things for the travelers as regards the foreign exchange in KL : -
Pros of changing at airport
---------------------------
1. All the denominations have the same exchange rate be it $1 or $5 or $100 notes
Cons of changing at airport
---------------------------
1. Airport Forex counters only accept USD notes which are printed after 2006 i.e. only 2006 series and after
2. If your dollar bill has any mark like ink spot etc they will not change
3. Rates are lower though not by much (exchange rate was 2.948 MYR for 1 USD)
I exchanged some at the money changer in KL Sentral 1st floor - beside the Police station (this guy gave better rate than the ones the alley at the ground floor beside McDees)
Here I got
----------
1. Acceptability of older series notes
2. Better rate i.e. 2.96 MYR/USD but there was a catch, this fellow is only interested in USD 50 and USD 100 notes , for lower denominations he paid lower rates MYR 2.8/USD for $20 note, 2.6/USD for $10 note and 2.5/USD for $5 and $1 notes
He also told me this is the usual norm with all forex like GBP,Euro etc.
So my suggestion is if you are carrying lower denomination notes, change in airport/banks, while for the higher ones go for the agents/forex dealers in the city
| Was this reply helpful? | yes | no |
|
|
[Reply]
|
