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Are Euros necessary in major resorts?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Everywhere will take contactless on the mountains now won’t they?

Does anyone still change currencies in advance anymore
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
up4it wrote:
Everywhere will take contactless on the mountains now won’t they?


mountain restaurants can have problems with their payment machines but will normally tell you before you settle down ot a 3 course meal

some places have minimum limits of 5 euros
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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?
Mountain restaurants can struggle due to poor internet connections
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@up4it, Do you mean euros in terms of paper and coins or in terms of the prepaid currency card?

If the former then I always withdraw a couple hundred euros from a ATM when needed.

If the second I transfer the money when the exchange rate looks good and hold it in euros. (or rather less evil)

And yes almost everywhere uses card readers but of course not everything is contactless.

I did once use a UK debit card while paying tolls on an Italian motorway and discovered that my bank helped itself to a pound every time I paid even a few euros toll. Never again. The sterling cards stay firmly in the apartment and never leave.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Still cash only in some places in Austria
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Definitely a few places in Skiwelt last year that were cash only when I was drinking some fruity tax loopholes.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I work out roughly what I expect to spend and bring Euro cash to cover it. I am however, unashamedly old school.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
The last few trips I’ve only really needed cash to pay and tip instructors, otherwise its all been by card. But as above you can’t always guarantee card payments will work and Ive had a UK card want a PIN as they required a PIN every so often for security (not that I knew this, only found out when I rang to check why it had been “rejected”) and the restauranteur assumed (cba to check I think) it had been declined and demanded cash rather than allowing me to input the PIN.

So a bit of folding is always useful.
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Have not come across any mountain restaurants in the Arlberg that do not accept “Pay Wave”.
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We're skiing in Cervinia next week and will no doubt cross into Zermatt a few times. In Italy I'll use cash Euros but on the Swiss side my credit card as they tend to dish out Francs for change which I don't really want.
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johnE wrote:
@up4it

I did once use a UK debit card while paying tolls on an Italian motorway and discovered that my bank helped itself to a pound every time I paid even a few euros toll. Never again. The sterling cards stay firmly in the apartment and never leave.


We use nothing but (Sterling) Halifax Mastercard credit card for all transactions abroad. Top exchange rate and no fees wink.
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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.
We use it mainly for tips and those little purchases like a coffee from a kiosk. Usually carry maybe €50 on me and take maybe €300
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I'd say Austria it is best to have at least some cash. France you can almost certainly get by without.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Took about 150euro to Selva the other week, came back with over 100. Used some for tips. Card for all other purchases.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
99% of places take cards these days but I'd always recommend having some cash in your pocket.

1. If you DO find somewhere that is still cash only you can pay.
2. Sometimes for a coffee or something else low cost it's just easier to use cash - and a chance to work through some of the inevitable pile of change you've built up over the years.
3. Some people are too cleaver for their own good so decide to use flashy mobile SIM based card machines...forgetting their restaurant has shitty mobile reception so every transaction take 3 or 4 attempts. Start waving some Euros and they might ring you through the till between multiple attempts for a card customer.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Bergmeister wrote:


We use nothing but (Sterling) Halifax Mastercard credit card for all transactions abroad. Top exchange rate and no fees wink.


I second MasterCard, hardly bother with the revolut now. Although I was in Switzerland so euros wouldn’t have helped much either!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
There are a number of places in Tignes and Val that have a minimum of €15 for card use.

Don’t know anywhere that is cash only, unlike York.
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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?
I rarely use cash but there has been the odd occasion where cash is the best option so I always have some. Particularly the odd coin for trolleys at supermarkets and airports and when the connection is poor for a card.
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I too found that Austria still had places that were cash only, though not as many as pre-pandemic.

Apologies for thread drift but what's the etiquette with private ski instructors, I haven't tipped, have I inadvertently been rude?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@grumpygargoyle, yes....unless by private you mean an instructor who is wholly self employed and non affiliated to a ski school.
In that case what you pay is what they earn.
Any employed ski instructor earns a small , sometimes very small, percentage of what you paid, an they are not on a salary either, purely paid for the actual hours they teach.
For them tips are vital.
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If you do not bring cash, please get some out at the airport so that you can tip your transfer driver.
Don't worry if the machine is only spitting 50 Chuff notes or 50 Euro brownies, both are welcome.
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@rungsp, I had no idea, I'll make sure to tip in future. Thanks
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
up4it wrote:
Everywhere will take contactless on the mountains now won’t they?

Does anyone still change currencies in advance anymore

Non-tipper, hey? Toofy Grin
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rungsp wrote:
@grumpygargoyle, yes....unless by private you mean an instructor who is wholly self employed and non affiliated to a ski school.
In that case what you pay is what they earn.
Any employed ski instructor earns a small , sometimes very small, percentage of what you paid, an they are not on a salary either, purely paid for the actual hours they teach.
For them tips are vital.


It's very rare, IME as an instructor, to be tipped by clients. It's very common that if we do a coffee, lunch or beer stop that they'll insist on paying, but should never be taken for granted. When I used to do scgb repping it was impressed upon us that we should ensure that a mountain guide's lunch should be covered by the group, but again, tipping was almost unheard of.
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up4it wrote:
Everywhere will take contactless on the mountains now won’t they?

There are still a few restaurants in the PdS that don't take cards, increasingly fewer over time, but one or two certainly. And yes, dodgy connections leading to delays in payment are still quite common.

I've been in CH far too long, so have adapted to the general idea that you always have at least a couple of hundred francs cash in your wallet, and I do so with Euros as well, given our almost border-straddling location here. I wouldn't feel properly dressed otherwise.
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Kenzie wrote:
up4it wrote:
Everywhere will take contactless on the mountains now won’t they?

Does anyone still change currencies in advance anymore

Non-tipper, hey? Toofy Grin


You can add a tip on a card payment in the UK so I'm assuming you can in European ski resorts.
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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.
"Everywhere will take contactless on the mountains now won’t they?"
"99% of places take cards these days... "

Definitely not the case in the parts of Austria where I ski, including Zell am See and Saalbach. The bars and restaurants in the villages almost all take cards/contactless, but up on the mountain it is completely different. My unscientific estimate would be that 25% are cash only. This may be due to a lack of investment in new systems, but often it is as simple as there being no reliable mobile connection. Even where cards are accepted there is usually a minimum spend, so if you're just having a quick €4 coffee stop, pay in cash.

Many, if not most, of the local taxis only accept cash (and of course the drivers never seem to have the right change, which is a trick pulled by taxi drivers everywhere in the hope that you'll "donate" the small change to them). As in the UK, if you want to tip the restaurant personnel do so in cash so the money goes to the staff and doesn't end up in the owners' pockets.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Given the limitations and complications, I can't see why you wouldn't have 100 euros or so in cash, just to cover all eventualities. And especially for tips.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Every card transaction costs the proprietor a fee + commission. Some are on old, expensive contracts that they can't afford to buy out of, hence the minimum spend limits for cards.
This applies in the UK also.

I always use cash for small transactions and card for larger.
The proprietors will have no option but to increase prices if everybody uses card for single item transactions like 1 beer.
It's always worth taking a decent amount of currency. It is appreciated by locals.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
In France in particular, euros are best for tipping if you want to make sure all your tip goes where you intended....apparently
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I discovered after some good service that you can’t tip by card, so always have 5-10 in cash for that, otherwise it’s all card
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
In Zermatt the last week everywhere that I went was OK with cards, not an exhaustive survey I admit, but not once did it give an option to add a tip apart from in our hotel. Therefore I wouldn't be without a few coins and notes for waiters, hotel porters, etc's tips. As mentioned above, it also makes sure it goes to the right people.
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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?
Well, consider that your wallet may get lost or stolen. In which case, having cash (separately to the wallet, obviously) as a reserve may be helpful, and/or put one of your cards aside, just in case. It happens.
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As with others: card by default and then some cash as backup and tips. Good tip on the Halifax card thank you @Bergmeister, and @Skimum1,
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Pre covid I only used cash in Austria.

Last year I always carried enough cash to pay for lunch and apres that day, but used Google Pay on my phone if the option was available.
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Quote:

Well, consider that your wallet may get lost or stolen. In which case, having cash (separately to the wallet, obviously) as a reserve may be helpful, and/or put one of your cards aside, just in case. It happens.

Definitely. I never put all my cards in one basket.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
And I always have enough cash for a couple of coffees or beers in the leg pocket of my salopettes.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I doubt Euros are necessary in any of the major Swiss resorts.
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Kenzie wrote:
I doubt Euros are necessary in any of the major Swiss resorts.


Up until last year they'd pretty much be accepted anywhere on a one-to-one basis, with change only given in Swiss Francs. so the shopkeeper was making a tidy 10% or so on each currency exchange. Not sure what they're doing now. I also accept Euros if guests want to pay all or part (usually just the tourist tax) in cash, but have always tried to use correct exchange rates on the day.
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@Kenzie, Very Happy
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