Not sure if I should carry coins for public transport in Indonesia or if card payments are common. Advice?
I got confused when I first landed. Tried to pay for a city train with coins and they just pointed me to a machine that didn’t even take cash. Turns out you need to get one of those prepaid transport cards
I thought I would need a bunch of coins for buses and trains but it wasn’t the case. In Jakarta, you really need a transport card. And in Bali, most people don’t use public transport, they ride scooters or book Grab. I only used cash once for a local minibus and even that guy asked if I had small bills.
Don’t bother carrying a pouch of coins, man. I tried that in Yogyakarta and just ended up frustrated. Most of the angkot (those shared minivans) take cash but they want small bills not coins. And then in Bali, if you’re using GoJek or Grab for local rides, it’s all digital anyway.
I was in Jakarta and used the TransJakarta buses a lot. You need a transport card called JakLingko or e-money card like BCA Flazz. They don’t take coins or cash at all on the buses. I had to buy the card at a mini market like Indomaret and top it up there too. Was pretty easy once I figured it out but yeah, no coins on most public buses in the cities.