I use Bluewater for our dive (and sometimes other) bookings. Everything goes through Bluewater's payment portal and I invariably use credit cards, with zero problems over five years.
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Why do the resorts in Sulwesi quote in USD or Euro then? I just spent a few days interacting with local forex dealers to load my forex card with USD in order to pay for my upcoming trip and the quotes have all been in USD …
clownfishsydney
Contributor
Tippytoes12
Contributor
We are almost always asked to pay in advance, either the full balance or a substantial deposit. On our first Asian liveaboard we went through an agent, who didn’t get back to us with answers from the very few questions we had. In fact the boat had changed name between the time we booked and the trip, and they did not tell us ! Since then we have always dealt directly with the local operator and have had zero problems.
Cert1967
Contributor
Simple
Collect stable currency
Pay in local $ - not so stable
Overlay the 5 yr comparison graphs
I've had several issues trying to use US issued credit cards in Indonesia. My bank told me the Indonesia banking system is not as secure as it other parts of the world so the transactions are rejected unless they come through specific systems or banks. I also had a similar issue trying to use my ATM. It would only work at certain bank ATMs in Indonesia
Luko
Contributor
That is not the technical reason for american credit cards.
Indonesia banking systematically uses 3DS2 verification which is the most secure, european-like banking transaction verification since it requires physical verification (fingerprint or face recognition).
It happens that it is barely implemented for American bank cards, in that respect US banking system is lagging behind.
Completely different issue. It's a bank network acceptance.
I'm not knowledgeable about banking verification systems, but my bank does use 3DS2 verification for international transactions, although not domestically. This verification system was what my bank said was causing the problems with certain systems in Indoneasia. Again, I'm not knowledgeable about this topic, only repeating what my bank said.
seaseadee
Contributor
If it helps at all, I just returned from Wakatobi in May. I started the booking process in December and spoke a few times to their US Representative for Florida. She was very helpful with the bookings. Once I nailed down the dates I wanted, she passed me off to their office and they sent me the link to pay. I had no issues other than having to call my bank to let them know I was making the charge as this specific card is a bit "assume it's fraud and ask questions later". I paid in two halves, the second being around January. Once you get to Wakatobi, you'll see they are a very professionally run organization. I hope this helps to allay any fears you may have about them. BTW, I am very jealous as I would LOVE to be going back.
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