I’ve been travelling around Malaysia for a few weeks now. Hostels in KL, Ipoh and Penang mostly take cards but the smaller guesthouses often ask for c...

Moved around KL and Johor Bahru used GoKL free city buses with just a debit card tap, no need for TnG in JB. For longer bus rides, I tapped in with my...

Same story here. Used a RHB Bank ATM and hit Accept for EUR out of habit. Only later realised they had added their own exchange rate which was really ...

ATM is better by far. At Osaka Itami Airport, the money changer’s rate was awful - I think they offered 35 yen per AED. Used my Mashreq Mastercard at ...

Amex worked fine at Tokyo Narita Airport for shopping and booking train tickets at the JR counter. After that, it was really hit or miss. Couldn’t use...

In Tokyo, my Wise Visa worked fine for booking a Shinkansen online, but then got rejected at two shops in Akihabara and at a Lawson ticket machine. I ...

I did a 32-day backpacking trip through Honshu. My daily budget was about ¥5,000, but I cooked some of my meals and stayed in cheap hostels. Cash was ...

Used taxis in Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. About half accepted my Commerzbank debit card, the others were cash only. One driver let me use Suica, which was...

I needed to pull out around ¥200,000 in Osaka for a tour payment. Seven Bank ATM let me do two withdrawals of ¥100,000 each, back to back. Used my San...