In Reply to: cash vs card posted by superfro on Tuesday, 13. February 2007 at 09:23 Bali Time:
I take my visa debit card that has the majority of my spending money on it. I withdraw from the ATMs every few days (how often depends how much shopping etc, lol). I also usually take a few hundred dollars in new Australian $50 notes and store them in the safe deposit box. I keep them as a backup in case the ATMs go down (happens occasionally but never for too long), or for just in case I lose my card so I have cash as a back up source till a new card arrives.
I don't use the card for visa transactions in restaurants or hotels. I have once used it to pay for my accomodation at the Bounty hotel with no trouble. But there's a lot of stories of illegal transactions when used at different stores or restaurants and even hotels. I prefer to pay for everything in rupiah that I have withdrawn from ATMs.
I have, on past trips, taken US dollars and travellers cheques. I've found both to be more hassle than they're worth. For TCs, you need to take your passport with you to cash them - some places will accept a photocopy but not all. To get US dollars before you go costs you fees here in Australia and there's really no benefit to having US notes over Australian cash.