Hi. Can I do the same if i travel to US and load up my Bigpay with money and use it in the US?

Thank you very much for the reply, touristking. Also, I have done some research about foreign exchanges, including some searches in this thread and also came across this :Loanstreet Article. There are also other websites which give similar advices.

It seems that it is better if I withdraw USD from US ATMS or with debit card than exchanging all my money here into USD (of course with some RM loaded into Bigpay card)?

Is It advisable if I only bring a few lower hundreds in USD for emergency and rely on my ATM/debit cards, Bigpay Card and credit cards for my daily usage in US later? (of course I will also need to check with my banks on their rates/fees on using the debit/credit cards). I have paid my accommodation so all that is left now is cash/money for my daily expenses and/or transactions.

I'm kinda noob in these things, so I do appreciate any advice and/or feedback. Thanks..

This post has been edited by timo1003: Aug 24 2018, 04:34 PM

Ah. Thank you so much tourishtking! Seems like I don't really need to bring much USD cash with me right (not for the entire trip at least but sufficient for emergencies). And thank you as well for the suggestions about coins

Yes I'm aware of what you mean about the non-bank ATMs. Then I will be withdrawing most of my money in USD with the ATM/Debit card through Banks' ATMs, not those non-bank ATMs.

So, conclusion: minimal USD cash in hand, reloaded Bigpay in RM (for use in US), credit card as backup and withdraw the rest with ATM/debit card?

So many great tips/reminders (for newbies like me) in one post. Thank you very much touristking!

Thank you very much for the sharing ajay! Ok I will keep that in mind. So it seems it's still: 1. ATM/Debit card 2. Bigpay 3. CC + some cash as backup.

Ah ya, my bad for the misunderstanding , I intend to use the Debit/ATM card to withdraw cash there, so yea, as per what you've written, Cash>Bigpay>CC/Debit as backup. Thanks ya!

Hi touristking. May I know what's your experience with withdrawing cash overseas (through the local bank's ATMs and not other type of ATMs) with malaysian debit cards vs bigpay prepaid card? Do you still recommend withdrawing cash with bigpay instead of malaysian debit card overseas (as bigpay rates are very close to xe rates)?

Also i see that you mentioned 'getting cash means getting it from money changer'. Would this be different in your eyes if I get the cash through withdrawing from the local banks' ATMs with bigpay/malaysian debit cards?

I do note that you've mentioned you use card for most of your expenses overseas. Haha sorry for the confusions caused to you and ajay67, as I have already decided to withdraw most of my cash overseas and in the following order in terms of preference:
1. withdraw cash overseas with bigpay/malaysian debit cards
2. bigpay for main card transactions
3. CC / debit cards as backup
4/1A. A bit of cash for emergency already with me upon arrival overseas.

Any feedback/or even criticism would be appreciated.

Ok, thanks ya for the sharing and useful information.