 Poster: A snowHead
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Any advice/experience on Switzerland, i know how they like to hoard bank notes under their beds.
Especially laax/flims
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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2 years ago the only cash I needed going between Geneva and Crans was for tips for the ski instructors, otherwise I wasted the fx fee. Probably more card oriented now as well.
But always handy to have a bit as you never know.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@hobbiteater, Cards are accepted pretty much everywhere. The Swiss never refuse cash however!
Oh - and if you car gets referred they will assume you are poor and have reached your limit. So be sure to inform your bank before you go!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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On my last trip to the Swiss 4 Vallées earlier this month I used my Apple Watch credit card to pay for almost everything, including drinks and food at remote mountain café/restaurants and even for small purchases like bread/croissants at the boulangerie. I did have to use a physical credit card occasionally, such as at a self-service petrol station where the machine hadn't been converted to use contactless.
The only time I used cash was when I wanted to break-down the high-denomination CHF 200 notes from the cash machine to get a few lower-denomination ones, just for variety. And to get some coins for the apartment block's PAYGO sauna.
It's a real cultural turn-around in Switzerland from even five years ago. These are the people with the CHF 1'000 (£800) bank note who used not to bat an eye presenting a CHF 200 (£160) note when buying their morning bread. Now, I've seen notices at places like petrol stations saying they don't accept CHF 1'000 notes as payment. Although obviously, the CHF 1'000 notes are still quite useful if you're a foreign client of Credit Suisse  as they're much more compact and transportable in bulk than, say, Krugerrands.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 23-02-22 14:18; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Here (Wengen) you still need cash for little piste-side bars, and there are at least 2 bars in the village that don’t take cards. Everywhere else though, supermarkets, restaurants etc, cards or Apple/Android pay are fine.
@LaForet, is right though. Cash is no longer king here in CH.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Cool, thanks all - will stick with plan A: take enough cash for daily schoggi plus1 lunch and use card as much as possible
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| hobbiteater wrote: |
Any advice/experience on Switzerland, i know how they like to hoard bank notes under their beds.
Especially laax/flims |
Im in Flims at the moment, haven't used cash once. Inside laax app very good also for ordering from most of the mountain restaurants, and for skipping the queue in Ella around lunchtime. Even the open air hut by lavindas lift now takes cards, think it was the last hold-out for years..
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@coddlesangers how is the snow out there. might be heading out next month.
also how does the variable price daily lift cards work? or did you just get a weekly pas as normal?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| t44tomo wrote: |
@coddlesangers how is the snow out there. might be heading out next month.
also how does the variable price daily lift cards work? or did you just get a weekly pas as normal? |
Snow is great right now. Big base and a recent 30cms top up. For ski passes, we took advantage of the variable day pricing, and upgraded a few times to blueline passes which meant 0 queue for us on the busy days. There is a 15 chf discount for the 11.45 pass, and a few other random deals available.
A sneaky one we used on the windy day that shut most of the resort was the beginners pass, which gets u up to narus via foppa, 2 nice itinerary runs down from there in the powder were great.
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I was in Grindelwald last week and 100% of all trip spend was card. Zero cash.
Lowest transaction was 2CHF at the gondola station restaurant for an orange  for my daughter and that was fine.
I didn’t go to any small mountain huts however. But ate out for lunch and dinner, bought snacks at Coop (bit like our Co-op).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I was in Nendaz over Half term (driving through France). Every spend was on my Revolut VISA. The only time I missed cash was to release a supermarket trolley. One observation is that contactless hardly ever worked, and I would have to insert the card and enter my PIN. I've ordered a Mastercard for my next trip
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Apple Pay worked a dream all week for me. No chip and pin used at all.
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Just back from a week in Grindelwald. Took 120CHF "just in case" - frantically spent last day trying to get rid of it having not used any all week!
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You know it makes sense.
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thanks everyone, i've got some just in case case, as one of the posts says i know the hotel will take it in part payment, our usual trick.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Living in CH the only place you still need cash is to get a damn trolley at the supermarket or airport. Card or TWINT (Swiss version of Apple Pay) for everything else
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Poster: A snowHead
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Living in CH the only place you still need cash is to get a damn trolley at the supermarket |
Don’t feel alone, all the Sainsbury’s round here need a pound coin to get a trolley as do Morrisons I think.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Same in Lenzerheide up the road. In the summer there was the odd mountain hut that only took cash (local cheese and sausage type place on a few benches in the back garden) but it was quite remote and nowhere near what would be a piste! We only use cash for transfer tips and for the kids' lunch when they are in ski school.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The small no-card remote places generally take TWINT now if there is a phone signal. I’ve been to one place that had a sign on their high point to indicate the TWINTing location. Even the little unmanned Hoflädeli are all set up for TWINT now, which is really handy as I usually didn’t have the right change on me when I happened upon them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@hobbiteater, Get yourself a Revolut card,
My son in law lives in Switzerland and uses it there.
You can load some money on it from your own bank and swop currencies in seconds.
You can make withdrawls from ATMs all over the place.
Look it up.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Gämsbock wrote: |
| The small no-card remote places generally take TWINT now if there is a phone signal. I’ve been to one place that had a sign on their high point to indicate the TWINTing location. Even the little unmanned Hoflädeli are all set up for TWINT now, which is really handy as I usually didn’t have the right change on me when I happened upon them. |
Twint is great, particularly in summer when you want to buy something like a homemade ice cream from a farm. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s just like Apple/Google Pay, but the retailer doesn’t need any electronic infrastructure at all - just a QR code that's scanned by the Twint app.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@telford_mike, it seems to require a Swiss mobile if you try to register for it (using UBS version as recommended when you want to link to a cc only and not to a bank account). Is there any work around for this you know of or is it really only for locals?
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@ster, sadly nope, twint requires swiss residency / swiss mobile phone so is really only for locals.
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@coddlesangers, pity. Seems like a good idea to minimise faff and cost at the retailer end. I assume you need to be careful to scan the right QR as is it that that sets the amount taken? How do they do refunds if it goes wrong?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The QR code is effectively a link to the retailers "shop", you see their name and then you just type in the amount manually in most cases. It goes straight to their phone, they receive it live, or you show them the xfer on your phone, job's a good un. Its a great app, we use it all the time, also for payments between ski club members for coffees / skipasses etc...
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I was in Zermatt last week and used cards everywhere except for in a very big restaurant in the centre of town (the Walliserhof) which only accepted cash
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| coddlesangers wrote: |
| The QR code is effectively a link to the retailers "shop", you see their name and then you just type in the amount manually in most cases. It goes straight to their phone, they receive it live, or you show them the xfer on your phone, job's a good un. Its a great app, we use it all the time, also for payments between ski club members for coffees / skipasses etc... |
Exactly this. If it’s a big retailer like Co-op with Epos, you just scan and go - the amount is automatically debited to your account. But if it’s a local farm with no Epos, you just scan, type the amount you want to pay and you’re done, it’s a great system.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| DrLawn wrote: |
@hobbiteater, Get yourself a Revolut card,
My son in law lives in Switzerland and uses it there.
You can load some money on it from your own bank and swop currencies in seconds.
You can make withdrawls from ATMs all over the place.
Look it up. |
is Revolut a physical card or a phone app?
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| t44tomo wrote: |
| DrLawn wrote: |
@hobbiteater, Get yourself a Revolut card,
My son in law lives in Switzerland and uses it there.
You can load some money on it from your own bank and swop currencies in seconds.
You can make withdrawls from ATMs all over the place.
Look it up. |
is Revolut a physical card or a phone app? |
Both. You must download an app. But you get a physical card and one you can add to the (Apple) wallet and you can get a one time “disposable” for internet purchases.
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You know it makes sense.
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I've got Halifax clairity so quite happy to use that.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@hobbiteater, & @t44tomo,
I have a Revolut App on the phone and a Physical Card as well ...
You can even design your own Card for a small fee.
I've used the card in France, Switzerland, Canada and my local Tesco's
I've also used it in ATMs to withdraw cash.
Plus I've got it in Google Pay.
The exchange rate charged between transfers is negligible. So you can swop your holiday money back and forth depending where your going.
I think its a really useful thing to have in your travel wallet, you can even trade Crypto Currency on it.
(I've not done that yet)
The next problem I have is, how to get that Canadian Cash back in my bank account, I suppose I'll have to go to Tesco's and accept their rate. 
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Wed 2-03-22 20:59; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Given the current international situation and having checked on the ownership of Revolut (Wikipedia), not to mention the family background of 1 of the owners, I would find it difficult to apply for this particular card. Others of course may view things differently.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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just finished with using the russian revolut
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@pat51, thats a good point! I had an inkling about it but hadnt really checked its set up and structure.
So I think I’ll be closing my account. I think I’ll go for Starling instead as I already have a business account there.
Thanks
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Companies House check confirms CEO and CTO
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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yep the halifax clarity doesn't take a fee (daily MC FX rate) and you don't have to pre load it.
of course the safe haven CHF is strengthening....
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