Local Currrency for Myanmar

[Pug1]

Hi everyone,
we are going to Myanmar in September and doing an APT river cruise plus three nights at Inle Lake. Flying into Mandalay and out of Yangon. Any tips on obtaining local currency at reasonable rates? I understand we should have new and crisp US notes in high denominations for exchange or any larger purchases, and that we can only buy Kyat locally. Most of our tour costs are covered and we can use credit cards for the river ship and our hotels. All advice appreciated. This may be covered elsewhere but I could only find older threads and I guess Myanmar has "opened up" a lot in the last couple of years.

 

[RooFlyer]

There are plenty of ATMS in Myanmar now, or at least the major/tourist centres (and including the airports). You will be stung the usual ATM fees and poor FX rates unless you use a card like Citi Plus Debit or the equivalent BankWest card (forget what its called, sorry). I got very close to spot when using the Citi Plus debit card in ATMs.

The need for crisp USD is reduced now, but take some anyway - I wouldn't say high denominations; US$50s and US$20s if you intent to exchange for kyat ('chat'); US$1s and US$5s otherwise. Not just crisp, but un-marked too. Many restaurants and hotels still don't take credit cards (but they are reducing) - for the hotels, they will helpful have an ATM in the lobby

Both I : http://www.australianfrequentflyer....p-photos/10-days-burma-myanmar-men-64763.html and drron http://www.australianfrequentflyer....search-empire-siam-burma-singapore-64691.html have done recent trip reports on Myanmar; drron on a cruise.

 

[dajop]

Can't advise on Mandalay, I know in Yangon there are ATMs now where you can withdraw money, and at Yangon airport you can readily exchange USD, EUR, SGD & THB (most recent visit March). Not so sure about AUD. At the airport I exchanged SGD that were less than crisp and have also used an ATM there at the hotel I was staying at. So the situation has changed. Not sure if at the airport they still require "crisp" USD, but they don't need them for the other three currencies.

 

[Pug1]

There are plenty of ATMS in Myanmar now, or at least the major/tourist centres (and including the airports). You will be stung the usual ATM fees and poor FX rates unless you use a card like Citi Plus Debit or the equivalent BankWest card (forget what its called, sorry). I got very close to spot when using the Citi Plus debit card in ATMs.

The need for crisp USD is reduced now, but take some anyway - I wouldn't say high denominations; US$50s and US$20s if you intent to exchange for kyat ('chat'); US$1s and US$5s otherwise. Not just crisp, but un-marked too. Many restaurants and hotels still don't take credit cards (but they are reducing) - for the hotels, they will helpful have an ATM in the lobby

Both I : http://www.australianfrequentflyer....p-photos/10-days-burma-myanmar-men-64763.html and drron http://www.australianfrequentflyer....search-empire-siam-burma-singapore-64691.html have done recent trip reports on Myanmar; drron on a cruise.

thank you for the quick comprehensive response RooFlyer. I will check out your TR and that of drron.

 

[Pug1]

Can't advise on Mandalay, I know in Yangon there are ATMs now where you can withdraw money, and at Yangon airport you can readily exchange USD, EUR, SGD & THB (most recent visit March). Not so sure about AUD. At the airport I exchanged SGD that were less than crisp and have also used an ATM there at the hotel I was staying at. So the situation has changed. Not sure if at the airport they still require "crisp" USD, but they don't need them for the other three currencies.

dajop, thank you, very good info. Looks like US$ notes are the go as Mrs Pug1 hates paying ATM fees.

 

[drron]

The other good thing about a regulated economy is that the exchange rate is the same wherever you change money.So I would get the same at our hotel as at a bank or at the airport.
Hopefully Travelex is kept out.