Immigration is about 10 minutes wait, customs scans the bags. All-in-all you should be out in less than 30 minutes (with check-in luggage). Try to be fast on the walk to immi.
Penang Airport is a bit of a construction site at the moment. When you get out of customs, straight ahead is the taxi ticket booth (you got to elbow yourself through all the hotel pickup guys). You have to buy tickets there for a fixed price; no other way. If you turn left there are Maybank ATMs that accept international cards. Money changers are upstairs (go right, up escalators, at the end of the departure hall; compare the rates!).
As for the rest of the Taxis in Penang: their meters are always "broken"; meaning you need to haggle. If you are Caucasian (=stupid ATM), accept at the most 1/2 of the asked price and never expect a Penang taxi driver to know any directions (I wonder, how they find home...). So print out hotel location map.
Last edited by Cybergeorge; Feb 17, 2012 at 9:45 am
Reason: Grammar