India is just plain crazy !

amoy

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I think Kochin is a good entry point to India. Air tickets are very very cheap from KL Malaysia to Kochi, maybe as much as USD 50 all in by budget airlines. I used to consider to begin with Calcutta for cheap air fare.

And I notice domestic flights are also cheap in India, via Indigo, and Spice.

It is said South India would be "easier" for foreign tourists to adapt to than the North, although Rajasthan and Varanasi are more popular among first-time tourists. Many travelers take india as a challenge, and are quite proud of the accomplishment of being India.
 

Sameet2

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I just used my US debit card to withdraw rupees.....the problem with doing that is that you get dinged on both sides. The US BAnk charges you a commission and so does the INdian bank whose ATM you use.

India needs to change its rules.....I understand the fear of money laundering, terrorism financing, etc.

But they should have simple rules that allow forex exchanges at any bank under $500 USD.

The other issue with using ATM is that the ATM limit is quite low.
Mr. where are you living now .
 

Sameet2

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I think Kochin is a good entry point to India. Air tickets are very very cheap from KL Malaysia to Kochi, maybe as much as USD 50 all in by budget airlines. I used to consider to begin with Calcutta for cheap air fare.

And I notice domestic flights are also cheap in India, via Indigo, and Spice.

It is said South India would be "easier" for foreign tourists to adapt to than the North, although Rajasthan and Varanasi are more popular among first-time tourists. Many travelers take india as a challenge, and are quite proud of the accomplishment of being India.
One day even I want to come to china . Dont know much about your nation but yet will come there as there is lot see in your country . Dont know why is your nation investing in failed and heavily corrupt nation like pakistan ? anyways . good knowledge you gave about airfare from kochi to china is less.
 

Kshatriya87

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Tourists are advised to convert all money at the airport itself. If you still need money, use GOOGLE to find the nearest forex branch. If you don't find it, use GOOGLE again to find the nearest ATM.

Seriously, so far away from your home you travel and you don't know these basic things?
 

Krusty

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I am visiting family here in Kerala on a tourist visa.

I go to 3 different Indian banks in Trivandrum to change US dollars into Indian rupees......and we are only talking about less than USD $500, not some crazy large amount. All 3 banks tell me the same thing.....that they cannot change foreign currency unless I have an account with the bank.

I'm a tourist for God's sake; here only for 6 weeks...WTF would i want to open a bank account in India for ?? I even had my US passport with me to prove that I am a tourist....but, no it cant be done.

Why does a country that wants to promote tourism make it so difficult for tourists to convert their foreign currency to Indian rupees and spend it in India. Maybe they dont want tourists to spend their money...eh ??

I can understand government being inefficient, but these are private banks.

I have never seen a country so steeped in nonsensical policies like India. There is just no common sense/logic or rationale applied to policy making.

In ASEAN countries like Malaysia, THailand, and Singapore.....i can just walk into any bank and change USD into local currency.

Even the most trivial stuff like changing currency becomes a huge drama in India.

How does a country like this even get anything done ??
Just for the record, I had the same trouble exchanging INR in Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium. Most banks are not authorised to deal forex. It's nothing new. Perhaps you would be a little more considerate next time.

Cheers.
 

prasadr14

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Whenever I plan a visit to India, I transfer the necessary amount to my Indian account, which then I continue to use during my stay in India.

That's probably the easiest way.

The walk inside bank and convert dollars to rupee is not feasible, considering the abuse that will be done to this process to convert black money into white.

Another way is, If you have a friend in India, transfer money in dollars to his account, which will be in rupees and collect the money from him.
 

amoy

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One day even I want to come to china . Dont know much about your nation but yet will come there as there is lot see in your country . Dont know why is your nation investing in failed and heavily corrupt nation like pakistan ? anyways . good knowledge you gave about airfare from kochi to china is less.
Don't understand why u seized such an occasion to attack our friend Pakistan. I'm certainly aware what Pakistan situation is like (merely from a tourist point of view).

But u do have to reset your skewed attention. This thread is on Travel/Exchange in India.

Fyi I prefer ATM withdrawal becoz it's (generally) a way to avoid counterfeit notes, also at a better exchange rate (acdg to my experience). Additionally a bank offers waivers of fees for my debit card.

By the way it's from KL Malaysia to Kochin that airfares are extremely cheap by Air Asia, which has a broad coverage. For China- India, the cheapest entry airport is Calcutta. I'm sensitive to all this because I've followed them in order to optimize my travel plan.
 

amoy

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Tourists are advised to convert all money at the airport itself. If you still need money, use GOOGLE to find the nearest forex branch. If you don't find it, use GOOGLE again to find the nearest ATM.

Seriously, so far away from your home you travel and you don't know these basic things?
Exchange rate at airports is usually the worst, worldwide. Hence not advisable for big amounts, nor is to carry too much cash.
 

Sameet2

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Don't understand why u seized such an occasion to attack our friend Pakistan. I'm certainly aware what Pakistan situation is like (merely from a tourist point of view).

But u do have to reset your skewed attention. This thread is on Travel/Exchange in India.

Fyi I prefer ATM withdrawal becoz it's (generally) a way to avoid counterfeit notes, also at a better exchange rate (acdg to my experience). Additionally a bank offers waivers of fees for my debit card.

By the way it's from KL Malaysia to Kochin that airfares are extremely cheap by Air Asia, which has a broad coverage. For China- India, the cheapest entry airport is Calcutta. I'm sensitive to all this because I've followed them in order to optimize my travel plan.
What on world you consider Pakistan as Friend consider them as business partner not friend if you have brains.
 

Mikesingh

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....i too am gonna visit india probably this year. i may visit kochi .....tell us more good places to visit in Kerela i am also thinking of long term stay as i believe it is also generally speaking a christian state ?
Wayand has all the elements of a dreamscape, be it the vast expanse of blue hills or the waterfalls, paddy fields, and thick jungles. Wayanad has many more to offer, rock enclaves and for the adventurous lot trekking, rafting and lots more. Plan a getaway to Wayanad, the hill district of Kerala. The ultimate getaway!


All the best!
 

raja696

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They really should stop calling Kerala "God own country". In Small towns in Kerala.....the power can go out about 5 or 6 times a day. A decade or 2 ago.....they were about 2 hours duration at the most. It was a scheduled power cut.....today it could be 5 minutes or 5 hours.....you just dont know.

Unless you have a diesel power generator in your backyard..."God's own country can feel like its "hell on earth" especially if the power goes out so long that your water tanks are dry and you dont have any power to pump water from the well to water tank.

Well you came to India as if to taste Indian summer , enjoy the hot breeze lol. Wrong decision in selecting season, unprepared and lack of patience.

Now you will understand how planned are Indian citizens to avoid difficulties and deal them like knife on the butter.

Just kidding enjoy Indian trip....
 

sayareakd

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I am visiting family here in Kerala on a tourist visa.

I go to 3 different Indian banks in Trivandrum to change US dollars into Indian rupees......and we are only talking about less than USD $500, not some crazy large amount. All 3 banks tell me the same thing.....that they cannot change foreign currency unless I have an account with the bank.

I'm a tourist for God's sake; here only for 6 weeks...WTF would i want to open a bank account in India for ?? I even had my US passport with me to prove that I am a tourist....but, no it cant be done.

Why does a country that wants to promote tourism make it so difficult for tourists to convert their foreign currency to Indian rupees and spend it in India. Maybe they dont want tourists to spend their money...eh ??

I can understand government being inefficient, but these are private banks.

I have never seen a country so steeped in nonsensical policies like India. There is just no common sense/logic or rationale applied to policy making.

In ASEAN countries like Malaysia, THailand, and Singapore.....i can just walk into any bank and change USD into local currency.

Even the most trivial stuff like changing currency becomes a huge drama in India.

How does a country like this even get anything done ??
Stupid Indian public sector banks, in 2003 being Junior most Lawyer in Law firm (that time) i was send along with staff member to this SBI branch, i was asked to get money. So i went in and told where i come from for money, manager entertained us, told us to wait.

Then we were send to casher. Not much was told to me. Just instructions to get money. So this casher asked, why you need so much money? I didnt had an answer, i told him, please give the money and make me free. Then standard line of bank staff followed, he said open an account here and i will transfer the same to your account. I said i dont have account. If you don't want to give dont give.

Then this manager comes just in time and told him, to pay cash immediately. Then he paid the amount, which was collected by my staff member.

I came back to office and reported this to my senior. My senior said they are stupid fools, that cash was for purchase of stamp paper to renew lease deed of the property on which same branch exists. So if the cash was not paid, no lease extension and bank had to vaccate the premises.

Two days later i went with both parties and got the lease deed registered and signed as witness.
 

hit&run

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Who on earth go to banks to get money exchanged. It took me more than an hour to get my traveler's cheques cashed in Sydney and I paid a hefty bill for traveling to the bank via Taxi.

The smart rule is to get currency before arrival from your country of origin or get it done at the airport. If you want to save exchange fee which is quite dearer at the airport, I would say stay home, don't travel. Traveling is a costly affair, be ready to spend more for your convenience.

The same rule applies to the purchases on cards, that is, look for convenience not saving money.

I purchased a Jacket in Jammu and my bank charged me 10 dollars extra.

One more thing I did before leaving, I sent money to myself via money gram/western Union which I planned to cash in my city. It made me sweat when the money got blocked as their system flagged (anti-money laundering) it being sent and received by the same name. After 3-4 tries the money was released. I learned a lesson to use my family member's name instead.
 

mattster

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I think if you are focussed on Tourism like Kerala is, then you make it easy for tourists to change their foreign currency and spend it in your state.

If you go to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.....you can walk out of your hotel, and walk into any bank or money changer, and change USD into Malaysian ringgit at any local bank. Or you can simply use money changers that are all over the place.

The goal is to get tourists visiting your country to spend their money as easily as possible....not run around town looking for a few specific institutions doing forex.

In my case.....i did change my USD into INR at the Kochi airport.....but due to some sudden expenses I had not anticipated, I needed more cash.

Some people here have said that other countries dont take INR. That's because its not one of the top world currencies. The top 10 currencies are usually accepted in most countries.

Another example:
I recently looked at a couple of rental high rise flats. I noticed that on most of the buildings the windows had an iron/steel grid on the outside of each window. I asked the real estate agent why they have iron//steel grid on a gated high rise apartment complex with security. His response was security - i then asked him which thief in India is going to scale the wall of a 12 storey building like in some "Mission Impossible" movie. He just laughed.

I am a Malayalee.....so I dont take any pleasure in saying this....but common sense is not at all that common here.
 

Project Dharma

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My experience is that Indian banks and other institutions are very much "lakeer ka fakir". They don't use common sense in evaluating situations and just follow a script. Which works 99% of the time but when it doesn't you just get shoved around with nobody who can help.

Case in point - I had an airtel number which I disconencted a long time ago. Somehow the final bill got missed. They put a hold on my bank account. Now I wanted to close said account but ICICI told me that they couldn't because there was a hold. I was like WTF, I talked to Airtel to try to pay the bill but I didn't remember the number (this was like 10 years ago). They couldn't look it up by last name or address like most US companies will. So I had no way of paying the bill. ICICI wouldn't close the account until I raised hell and talked to a very senior manager who made me make an affidavit saying I will be responsible to Airtel.
 

Razor

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My experience is that Indian banks and other institutions are very much "lakeer ka fakir". They don't use common sense in evaluating situations and just follow a script. Which works 99% of the time but when it doesn't you just get shoved around with nobody who can help.

Case in point - I had an airtel number which I disconencted a long time ago. Somehow the final bill got missed. They put a hold on my bank account. Now I wanted to close said account but ICICI told me that they couldn't because there was a hold. I was like WTF, I talked to Airtel to try to pay the bill but I didn't remember the number (this was like 10 years ago). They couldn't look it up by last name or address like most US companies will. So I had no way of paying the bill. ICICI wouldn't close the account until I raised hell and talked to a very senior manager who made me make an affidavit saying I will be responsible to Airtel.
Aadhaar # will solve similar issues nowadays. It's still not fully implemented but almost done.
What creeps me about Aadhaar though, is that they have all ten of my finger prints, both eyes retinal scans and photographs.
They know everything about me and hundreds of million others.
Ripe for misuse.

And yes, service industry is not up to mark in India esp. Public banks.
The attitude that some banks have is that they are doing a favor to the customers. Sometimes I find it hilarious, sometimes infuriating.
 
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