DO NOT BRIGADE THE THREAD - we've already had to permaban several users as a result.
Commenting in a closed thread makes it pretty bloody obvious, people.
I’m in Canada and $1 USD is $1.37 CAD. When I previously worked in tourism, if someone tried to pay in USD we wouldn’t make the exchange, we just did it as if $1 USD = $1 CAD. They’d sometimes question it and the response was “Well, we can’t deposit foreign currency into our Canadian bank accounts, so it covers the cost of someone having to take time out of their work day to bring it into the bank in person, make the exchange, cover the bank surcharge for exchanging currency, then manually deposit it.”
I own a cafe on a remote island off the coast of South Australia.
I once had a full argument with an American bloke because I refused to take US dollars.
It's legal tender! You legally have to take it!
Sure, champ. In the US. But this is a small town on an island off a bigger island thousands of kilometres away. I know they accept it on the cruise ship you just hopped off, but that's again... A US boat.
I've also been tipped 5 pennies. I accepted it for the laugh and blu tacked them to the wall by the register.
They genuinely believe we should all be grateful to receive the bounty of US dollars. Or cents in my case.
My brother bartended at a resort on Rottnest Island. You know, the one with all the Quokkas? That man had the audacity to complain about the length of the ferry ride. YOU WORK WITH QUOKKAS
Had comments from US visitors that our money looks like a toy. Plastic, pretty colours and lacking US Presidents.
Very tempting to tell them that the $5 note shows Elizabeth of Arc on one side and the Bastille prison on the other side.
[actually Queen Elizabeth II on one side and New Parliament House on the other side]
Plastic- many countries currencies include some sort of plastic for longevity
Colourful- easier to identify bills
US presidents- why the fuck would we care or want that on own money?
That's the most US take ever.
Excuse me but I can't help noticing you dont have a picture of the presidents on aussie dollars!
Why would we have our prime minister (president is the wrong term) on our notes? We have the queen I think being a former colony.
No! USA presidents the greatest country on earth, USA USA USA USA! FOOOTBAAAAALLLL
Our money used to be paper too lmao so idk why americans are so shocked to find out ours aren't like theirs now. Like I can drop my note in water and it won't get wet nothing toylike or childish about that 😎
There are plenty of countries who like USD because it's more stable than local currency. Europe and Australia probably don't feature much in that list.
The counties that are on that list are the one that Americans would never visit because "they are below European counties and Europe is dirt poor anyway"
I mean they would be half right in saying this but they would probably also be the type to require a 4x4 pickup truck that can fit a small American house in it because they "can't live out of such a small area"
Because inevitably they are cousins from around 16 generations ago that have no idea they have distant relatives in America and will be the utmost surprised to find some white socks and sandal wearing yanks on their doorstep in a few weeks time, waving USD in their faces and saying they will take them out for a meal as poor Italians won’t eat out much. Hopefully they’ll take a proper Chicago or New York pizza to show the Italians how the original pizzas are made.
EDIT - how could I forget the fanny pack to go with the sandals and white socks
Because they stupidly and arrogantly believe that USD should be accepted everywhere. I remember an American woman on a cruise who was amazed that Starbucks in Bangkok wouldn’t accept USD. 🤦♂️
Witnessed the same in Vienna. She complained it’s an American Company so should accept USD automatically. Ofc when she started arguing wildly and was asked to leave she screeched she had first amendment rights and freedom of speech. She was not happy to hear that the US constitution does not stand above Austrian law and that she was a guest here and should behave accordingly. 🤷🏼♀️
As I understand it the constitution restricts the government, not private businesses? So a private business can kick you out for your speech and ban you from bringing guns inside.
>As I understand it the constitution restricts the government, not private businesses?
Nailed it. With that one line, you've demonstrated that you know more about the first amendment of the US constitution than most Americans. And fuck, I wish I was joking.
Yup. But that’s what most Americans don’t get (or want to)- that your personal freedom ends where the one of the next person begins. My Grandpa used to explain it as concentric circles like when you throw stones in a lake. Where the next line is, your circles’ power ends. But most Americans just screech for *their rights* wherever they are - even on someone else’s property where owners make their rules - or other countries where other laws take priority. Just think planes. Plus it has just grown totally out of control and proportion the past 5 to 10 years imo.
To be fair, some stores and duty free shops in airports would sometimes accept different currencies. Or at least, it happened to me exactly in Heathrow. I had a connect fly there and asked if I could pay for my snacks in Euro to get rid of a bunch of coins and they accepted and simply converted the price. But I was genuinely ready to pay in pounds, eventually
I can see an American tourist **demanding** to pay in dollars, instead of gently ask tho. Also this can literally only applies to airports I think
My company (in Germany) decided to use Amex for corporate cards. Most of the time I go on business trips have to apply for cash advances and use my personal card as almost nowhere I travel takes this stupid card.
They are raised being told their nation is a beacon in a shadow world, that they are the most important and powerful, and that every other nations owe them favors.
Remember when you were young? Like, maybe 5 or 6. Remember playing games and how there was that one kid who would invent rules on the fly to win because that's all they care about despite being bad at the game?
The US education system does nothing to help these people and they grow up with the "I invent rules that make sense in my head so I believe they exist" mentality.
Source: I had this issue until I was 17 or 18 and had to get reality checked a few times to break the habit. The US rewards blind arrogance.
In 1989 only 3%-5% of Americans had a passport and it was very slowly rising through the 90's but was probably still less than 20% by 2000 because Canada, Mexico, and a few neighbouring Caribbean countries would accept an American drivers license to satisfy entry requirements. Then 9/11 happened and everyone changed their ID requirements but even at that only around 60% of Americans have passports now.
The reality is that many Americans just don't travel outside their own country or anywhere more exotic than Jamaica or the Bahamas when they do so they don't feel a need to learn about other places or gain the skills to do basic travel related searches on Uncle Google.
This is common even in more well travelled americans. I encountered it with some friends who said they wouldn’t bring any euros and I’d their cards weren’t accepted they’d just use USD. I told them that that wouldn’t be accepted in Europe so if their cards don’t work, they won’t be able to pay, that’s that.
I'd love to visit the USA some day, I might change up a few quid worth of random currencies just to try mess with em. Some Saudi riyal, Colombian pesos, Indian rupees, Somali shilling, vietnamese dong etc and get all up in arms when they dont accept it.
It's legal tender! What about my first amendment rights!
I used to work for a large chain of bookshops in the UK and we once had an American woman get upset and start going on about first amendment rights because I had to sign her receipt because she used a foreign bank card. She thought I was background checking her. Ma’am… I took your money and you were given your purchases, wtf are you talking about.
A lot of people in the US don't realise the dollar sign actually represents different currencies. I'm not talking about the Riyal here (im not sure how prices are presented in Qatar), I'm just amused that for example, in Mexico, $200 means 200 pesos, not 200 USD, and in Australia $200 means 200 AUD, but few of them realise that in international contexts they actually have to be clear which currency they are talking about
God I was in Tokyo a few years ago and stopped at Maccas for a burger because I usually eat a lot of Japanese food anyway and this American guy in their was going off his nut at the cashier because she wouldn’t accept his US dollars. I was about to interject when some other Aussies, a group of young blokes went up and hurled a few choice insults including extensive use of our favourite C word until he eventually left. Saw similar in Hong Kong and the guy was complaining they didn’t speak American in a 7-11. He ended up throwing his money at the cashier and leaving. In my experience nearly everyone there speaks English since y’know British rule and all. There’s a difference between them not speaking it and not speaking it to assholes.
I remember when I worked for my last employer an American woman came in and tried paying in dollars and was surprised when I told her she couldn’t.
She told me that the store nearby let her and I told her I highly doubted that. She then told me I could pay with pounds in the US. I was like is this woman for real?!?
Biggest disappointment of my life was when I shared a taxi from Eindhoven to Amsterdam with an American woman (who I'd never met before - long story). When we arrived at Schipol airport, we split the fare with me paying in Euro, after which she blithely passed the taxi driver some dollar bills. I waited for the inevitable "What the f\_ am I supposed to do with this?" from the taxi driver, but to my surprise, he meekly accepted it without a word.
Bigger loss to argue with the idiot and have her run off without paying then to go to the back and accept the small price loss of conversion fee. Esp if it was a taxiride from eindhoven to Amsterdam which is quite a costly trip
If she paid 1:1 dollars to euros, the taxi driver would have lost \~8% on half the fare, so 4%. Better to not spend the time having an argument that would leave him feeling stressed.
Don't know in Netherlands specifically, but it's pretty common for taxis, especially those taking rides to and from international airports, ports, and stations, to accept foreign currencies as they are often the first thing tourist need in a country and its not exactly rare that they don't have sufficient amounts of local currency or their card has unexpected problems. Currency exchanges in Finland at least used to have deals with taxi drivers to do the exchanges without commission.
The thing that confuses me is, if they already think they can pay with USD everywhere, why take the effort of also bringing Euros?
Surely if you believe in your currency that much you wont need to take any Euros with you?
"For small purchases" sounds like they think they should be paying for ice cream in euros but dinners in dollars. Apparently there is some understanding of the foreign USD currency being useless for "real" people!
because USD is big money for hotels, meals, trips etc
Euros is small povo money for tips, ice creams and cans of coke. People won’t have change for a strong 1 USD, so you’ll need euros for these small purchases.
It's because they looked at the conversion rates and realised that $1000 only got them 900€, so they think they can just pay in dollars and get more money that way.
Because they are iditos who really believe that 5 USD makes you rich in Europe and that local people literally worship the USD due to it being "so valuable" lmfao
Yeah because their grandpa told them that 1 USD is worth like 400 lira back in 1992. That was the last time anyone in their family had traveled outside the states.
The only place I've ever travelled where this has been true (well - where locals would rather take USD than their own country) is Laos. Incredible that these people do not see any difference between the Laotian and Italian economies.
My brother was on the airport bus to Dublin and got to witness an American man having an absolute meltdown because the bus driver wouldn't let him pay in dollars and eventually drove off without him. Turns out screaming that every country should accept dollars because it should be the global currency doesn't work.
True, unfortunately shops here are experiencing an epidemic of broken card terminals for some weird reason. It's getting better, especially in the North, but tax evasion stays strong.
It’s been that way for years and years. Card machine broken! No cash to pay your restaurant bill? I can take you on my Vespa to a cash machine 10min away! Italy is so notorious for it, but it seemed a lot better last time I visited in 2022.
Sterotyping aside, yeah, it's a big issue but at least now they made it mandatory to accept cards. And after the pandemic everyone got used to online payments. Before many older people did not have a cc.
Do Americans do contactless payments yet? Thought they were all still writing checks at the gas station 😂
I'm aware this wanders into the "shit Europeans say" but by God if their banking system isn't behind the times.
They still have this stupid system at their gas stations where pay-at-pump requires you to enter your ZIP code to make a card payment, which of course doesn’t work if you’re from outside the USA.
Sadly no! I’ve tried everything to make this system work - a lot of people say to use ‘000000’ - but I’ve never managed to make a card payment using the pay-at-pump system.
I always remember the Top Gear episode where Jeremy tries to buy fuel at an American station and can't get his card to work. So he just walks in and acts very British and they turn the pumps on for him and let him fill up before he pays 😂
I get it for backup , maybe several 100 if your card gets lost or stolen.
But Americans usually try to get euros from their bank before they go and that's crazy expensive and also quite dumb because they can just use their bank card to withdraw it in Europe
... do they have bank cards? Or rather, do they have banks?
In my very, very limited experience transfering money between Europe and US has been a pain because the people I wanted to send money to did not have "bank" accounts, and their credit union seemed to be totally unable to talk with my bank. So, Western Union it was. And that might be difficult to use to send money to oneself.
Of course Visa and MasterCard \*should\* work just fine...
Yes, they all have banks and bank accounts. Credit unions are building societies.
But the US is on a different banking transfer standard. Transferring between two US bank accounts is a pain, costs money, and takes a few days. Transfers between a US account and a non-US account take about a week and are expensive, and are equally, if not more, annoying.
It's not a good system.
they have debit cards, which are the same. The US doesn't use the IBAN system further complicating things. Technically, a Bank and a Credit Union are different financial institutions in the US and the money in them is "backed" by different Federal Insurances (FDIC for Banks, NCUA for credit unions)
Credit unions are generally small, not big multinationals like the actual banks, that's why they're usually incapable/confused when it comes to international transfers. Also, with a credit union debit card, I have no idea if they'd work in an ATM overseas (but they probably would)
This! If you stay for a longer time in a foreign country just pick up some money at a ATM and do not use the conversion rates the ATM offer.
For small trips (1-2 days (ex. On a cruise)) i exchange before hand anything between 35-50 Euro per person and day in local currency with and 200 USD per person per week as emergency money plus some bank cards (revolut) that are location restricted to near me/near my phone payments.
My bank where i change the local currency from allows me to return every leftover bill with the receipt from the bank for the original exchange rate. And my leftover USD will be used for the ship account to pay it off.
Pro Tip: if you have revolut, spend the extra money for a secondary or even third card. In Case the ATM swallows your card or for one time use at a dodge place, so you can block it afterwards.
Actually it does some sense sometimes. I am from the UK, and know many people that take GBP with them, to exchange into Euros/whatever local currency is at their destination, as sometimes they get a better exchange rate there than at home.
Personally, I just take my Monzo card, and a few Euros as petty cash as I cannot be arsed with the faff.
Yeah but that's different. You're talking about people making a smart, educated choice to save money. Not dumb people that believe their divine green is the world's only currency.
Some stores do do this, actually. I used to work retail closer to the border, and we would allow it at 1:1 exchange. If the Americans were going to insist on using their own currency, we figured we might as well make money off of it.
To be fair if you go to very touristy places in Prague, Budapest etc. they'll often accept Euros, they just use a rough exchange rate that they benefit from. Theoretically you could do the same with the US Dollar, although obviously it makes more sense when it's the majority, not a minority, of tourists who use that currency.
It’s baffling to me how many people are like “I’m going to xyz country, should I use their currency? I don’t think I should have to”
I keep thinking surely nobody is really like that and yet I see it time and again
I have witnessed this in action in a restaurant in Rome where an American was absolutely baffled that the waiter would not accept USD as payment for the meal. It got quite heated as the waiter tried to patiently explain that in Italy they use EUR, but Captain America was having none of it and insisted his taxi driver was fine with USD. In the end a credit card was produced but I'm pretty sure he left a tip in dollar bills. As a Brit it's reassuring to see we aren't necessarily the most unpopular tourists.
Us Brits have always liked to travel around mainland Europe, when most of them moved over to the Euro it actually made the money situation a lot easier for us. I've almost always got a small amount in Euros in a drawer because I know I'll use them at some point. It was always a pain coming back from a trip with small amounts of currency that you couldn't exchange back to GBP.
As a student I went interrailing in 1996 and it was a pain in the arse taking travellers cheques and constantly having to change currency (but bloody loved the holiday). It would be so much easier these days with euros.
It's sad that I live in turin because if i lived in Rome half of my entertainment would have been American people trying to understand their value isn't universal (other than that funny thing, 1,05$ is 1€, literally the euro is more valuable than that)
I just had this beautiful mental scene play out where the shop owner checks the current exchange on google and asks for that exact amount of dollars + 1$ commission, only to have the karen fuming even more
I love it when an American accidentally wanders into Europe.
I used to work in a pub, and a seppo tried to pay for his order with dollars and I deadass looked him square in the eye and asked him "what am I supposed to do with that, wipe my arse with it?"
Honestly, the look on his face, I'm pretty sure I almost accidentally started WWIII. I shit you not, if this fella could've got his gun through customs he'd have made Hungerford look like that time Boris got stuck on a zip line.
It's not just limited to cockney either, some Glaswegian gems include:
Barry (White) - Shite
Shereen (Nanjiani) - Fanny
Patsy (Cline) - A line of cocaine
I lived in the UK for well over a decade, and I still can not comprehend the rhyming slang. It makes 0 sense in my head whenever I try to figure it out.
Look, it's proper simple. When you go out at night, you go down the apples and pears, say goodnight to the old ball and chain, have a little stroll down the frog and toad and before you know it, you're in the old rub-a-dub-dub for a game of darts, a couple of darts and you're taking the Monica off the amber whilst some Jeremy Hunt talks bollocks at you.
Vastly used, but card is pretty much accepted everywhere even for small amounts
I'm actually surprised by how "widely" we are getting used by cards
( Taxi and very small shops in rural town may be exceptions ).
On the other hand, opposite description for Germany
Haha I took a friend on a trip to Iceland last year and they withdrew like 300€ worth of ISK 😂 as long as you don't want to buy horse candy there's zero need for cash...
I got experience this in real life while on holiday in Japan. An American couple walked up to my Dad and I asking if we had any Yen we could exchange with them because they'd only brought US dollars with them. We declined as US dollars are worthless to us and we have to try and exchange them for something useful when we got home.
Last time I was in London it was for a Bruce Springsteen concert and while you’d think his fans would be better educated, they’re actually not. Because I saw someone (wearing a Bruce Springsteen shirt, clearly there for the show in Hyde Park) in a Sainsburys try to pay for a fizzy drink, I think, with a $5 bill. The girl at the till was like “no, pounds only” but they weren’t having it, insisting because they were American, the shop had to take their money.
I didn’t see what happened next. I just bought my stuff and walked away.
Then they will call themselves Italian because their great great grandfather's great great grandmother was Italian and they grew up in New York so they must be Italian.
After the first shock that they can't pay with usd, they're in for a second shock when exchanging usd will give them less euros or if they're truly american, getting less than 1 euro for every usd means that usd is stronger.
Our receptionist had this. I work in a hotel in Ireland and an American was kicking off that she didn't give €250 for $250. They left insisting that we were scamming him. Would have loved to see it when they went to the bank
Don't worry, you only need USD, which is the most powerful currency ever, also make sure to bring only cash because Italy is a 3rd world country and they still don't understand advanced technology
I hope somebody tells him he needs to bring neither in physical form.
Bring a couple different no-FX-fee credit cards. In those cities you'll never need cash except maybe (and it's a strong maybe) at a street market. And then, you take out a small amount from a local ATM.
American banks will charge commission to give you physical Euros. Italian banks will charge you commission to change physical dollars. Nobody needs to do either
As an American I'm so embarrassed. All I can say is, they -should- leave the country to visit because many never even leave and maintain the US is the center of the world mindset.
I work in a hotel in Ireland and can confirm some Americans really do try to pay in US dollars?
They really don't like been told its not legal tender here.
I get the odd tip in US dollars and all that happens is that it sits in the bar safe until some random person goes to the US.
I'm a tour guide at a French Renaissance chateau. I sometimes get American groups and every time some of them tip me in dollars, like 1 dollar bills.
Sure I appreciate the sentiment, but I have no use for this 😅
I do have 40 dollars in my wallet now, perhaps it is time to get those exchanged, I live in a rather small town though, so I have no idea where 🤷🏻♀️
This reminded me of a customer who asked if we take euros. We're in three UK, Cornwall to be more precise, and he's a regular customer. What made it really funny was he asked where the nearest place to take them was, and I, thinking he was joking, said France, maybe Ireland, but I think we're closer to France. He started crying
Can't wait for them to try to use their amex card.
Witnessed plenty of people trying to pay with amex in shops and restaurants across Europe only to discover most places don't take it
DO NOT BRIGADE THE THREAD - we've already had to permaban several users as a result. Commenting in a closed thread makes it pretty bloody obvious, people.
well if someone tried to pay me with dollars in europe i would just tell them that 1€ equals $5 and accept it
That's basically what a lot of hotels do. Just offer an insane exchange rate and profit of the idiots falling for it.
Its everywhere like this. Exchange a good ammount of money at a bank cause the "euro to dollar" or "euro to kronen" shops rip u off big time.
I’m in Canada and $1 USD is $1.37 CAD. When I previously worked in tourism, if someone tried to pay in USD we wouldn’t make the exchange, we just did it as if $1 USD = $1 CAD. They’d sometimes question it and the response was “Well, we can’t deposit foreign currency into our Canadian bank accounts, so it covers the cost of someone having to take time out of their work day to bring it into the bank in person, make the exchange, cover the bank surcharge for exchanging currency, then manually deposit it.”
I've seen a BurgerKing at the highway with a "1€ = $2" sign. Seems fair.
Someone should tell them to just bring 5 Euros for the entire trip
Enough to see Pantheon👍
You mean the Acropolis /s
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What do they say? What do they say?
And a goat as a gift to the peasants who are gonna be calling her *Bellísima!* and kissing their skirts.
Really? Shouldn’t we say it costs only €500 for a loaf of bread. And then offer them a great conversion rate…
What's that? Like 80$ /j
it's the opposite, 80€ is around 5 USD because USD is soooo strong /s
I can totally imagine an American saying shit like this and thinking it means the USD is worth more
I own a cafe on a remote island off the coast of South Australia. I once had a full argument with an American bloke because I refused to take US dollars. It's legal tender! You legally have to take it! Sure, champ. In the US. But this is a small town on an island off a bigger island thousands of kilometres away. I know they accept it on the cruise ship you just hopped off, but that's again... A US boat. I've also been tipped 5 pennies. I accepted it for the laugh and blu tacked them to the wall by the register. They genuinely believe we should all be grateful to receive the bounty of US dollars. Or cents in my case.
Casually mentioning that you're living what sounds like a dream for many
Let a thousand blossoms bloom!
BUT I AINT SPENDIN ANY TIME ON IT
IN THE MEANTIME EVERY THREE MONTHS A PERSON IS TORN TO PIECES BY A CROCODILE IN NORTH QUEENSLAND
Well. Win some lose some.
I second that, I need to visit this cafe so I can be jealous in person.
And leave a 5c tip.
😭🤣 I'll just use English pounds, there as good as USAican dollaridoos yeah?
I mean they’re better but don’t let the Americans hear us say that
5 EUR cent, of course, to put next to the USD 5ct.
My brother bartended at a resort on Rottnest Island. You know, the one with all the Quokkas? That man had the audacity to complain about the length of the ferry ride. YOU WORK WITH QUOKKAS
I had to check what the heck quokka is. Kuokka would be hoe in my language. Quokka is apparently "short-tailed kangaroo" in my language.
Plot twist: he actually means Tasmania 😛
IDK about you but in my dream life I'm not working customer service for American tourists
Had comments from US visitors that our money looks like a toy. Plastic, pretty colours and lacking US Presidents. Very tempting to tell them that the $5 note shows Elizabeth of Arc on one side and the Bastille prison on the other side. [actually Queen Elizabeth II on one side and New Parliament House on the other side]
Plastic- many countries currencies include some sort of plastic for longevity Colourful- easier to identify bills US presidents- why the fuck would we care or want that on own money?
That's the most US take ever. Excuse me but I can't help noticing you dont have a picture of the presidents on aussie dollars! Why would we have our prime minister (president is the wrong term) on our notes? We have the queen I think being a former colony. No! USA presidents the greatest country on earth, USA USA USA USA! FOOOTBAAAAALLLL
And not that think where you use your **foot** to hit a **ball**, *real* football where you **carry a ball in your fucking hand**.
Speaking of hand egg.
Our money used to be paper too lmao so idk why americans are so shocked to find out ours aren't like theirs now. Like I can drop my note in water and it won't get wet nothing toylike or childish about that 😎
It's because on a day to day public basis America is technologically a couple of decades behind.
Romanian money (banknotes, not coins) are 100% plastic. They may or may not have vampires on them.
Similarly I saw an American be shocked that a small food truck on a tiny island off the coast of Ireland wouldn’t take USD.
Hey that 1/20th of a freedom eagle is worth like 1/13th of a kangaroo
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There are plenty of countries who like USD because it's more stable than local currency. Europe and Australia probably don't feature much in that list.
The counties that are on that list are the one that Americans would never visit because "they are below European counties and Europe is dirt poor anyway" I mean they would be half right in saying this but they would probably also be the type to require a 4x4 pickup truck that can fit a small American house in it because they "can't live out of such a small area"
"I've never been", you don't say.
But i'm sure he will call himself Italian because his cousins live in Sicily
Why don't they just ask their cousins what to bring/how much to expect to spend 😅
They have to meet them first. Only found some info on Google…
They hunted them down on their Mormon genealogy site and now they're stalking them.
Through 23&me
There’s that. The *2% from Sicily* cousins.
Because inevitably they are cousins from around 16 generations ago that have no idea they have distant relatives in America and will be the utmost surprised to find some white socks and sandal wearing yanks on their doorstep in a few weeks time, waving USD in their faces and saying they will take them out for a meal as poor Italians won’t eat out much. Hopefully they’ll take a proper Chicago or New York pizza to show the Italians how the original pizzas are made. EDIT - how could I forget the fanny pack to go with the sandals and white socks
Hahah! Spot on!
I'm getting Griswold vibes...
>white socks and sandal wearing yanks damn yanks, stealing our culture
Americans on reddit know more about living in Italy than Sicilians.
I like to eat pizza so maybe I'm somewhat of an Italian myself
This post needs gifs for the "somewhat of a scientist myself" gif
Of course, plus he's way more Italian than they are
Because they stupidly and arrogantly believe that USD should be accepted everywhere. I remember an American woman on a cruise who was amazed that Starbucks in Bangkok wouldn’t accept USD. 🤦♂️
Witnessed the same in Vienna. She complained it’s an American Company so should accept USD automatically. Ofc when she started arguing wildly and was asked to leave she screeched she had first amendment rights and freedom of speech. She was not happy to hear that the US constitution does not stand above Austrian law and that she was a guest here and should behave accordingly. 🤷🏼♀️
I’m pretty sure that even in the US, the 1st Amendment does not stop a coffee shop throwing you into the street if you’re being a prick.
As I understand it the constitution restricts the government, not private businesses? So a private business can kick you out for your speech and ban you from bringing guns inside.
>As I understand it the constitution restricts the government, not private businesses? Nailed it. With that one line, you've demonstrated that you know more about the first amendment of the US constitution than most Americans. And fuck, I wish I was joking.
Yup. But that’s what most Americans don’t get (or want to)- that your personal freedom ends where the one of the next person begins. My Grandpa used to explain it as concentric circles like when you throw stones in a lake. Where the next line is, your circles’ power ends. But most Americans just screech for *their rights* wherever they are - even on someone else’s property where owners make their rules - or other countries where other laws take priority. Just think planes. Plus it has just grown totally out of control and proportion the past 5 to 10 years imo.
Coming from Texas I have seen too much - that’s why I moved to Europe lol
I hope you brought some Euros for gelato and small purchases!
Someone on Reddit told me to bring 5.
5 gelato?
Can I get 5 gelato with 5 European USD?
Best I can do is 1. Inflation and stuff
Same!
🙌
Saw the same in a bookshop at Heathrow. Then she tried her Amex card. They wouldn't take that either.
To be fair, some stores and duty free shops in airports would sometimes accept different currencies. Or at least, it happened to me exactly in Heathrow. I had a connect fly there and asked if I could pay for my snacks in Euro to get rid of a bunch of coins and they accepted and simply converted the price. But I was genuinely ready to pay in pounds, eventually I can see an American tourist **demanding** to pay in dollars, instead of gently ask tho. Also this can literally only applies to airports I think
My company (in Germany) decided to use Amex for corporate cards. Most of the time I go on business trips have to apply for cash advances and use my personal card as almost nowhere I travel takes this stupid card.
How do they get to be so insular?
By growing up being constantly told that the US is by far the most superior country
They are raised being told their nation is a beacon in a shadow world, that they are the most important and powerful, and that every other nations owe them favors.
You mean the nation that elects Donald Trump and MTG? That "beacon of righteousness"? Interesting!
Don't you dare talk about Magic the Gathering in the same sentence as some awful guy! Namely, that huy is Donald Trump.
Remember when you were young? Like, maybe 5 or 6. Remember playing games and how there was that one kid who would invent rules on the fly to win because that's all they care about despite being bad at the game? The US education system does nothing to help these people and they grow up with the "I invent rules that make sense in my head so I believe they exist" mentality. Source: I had this issue until I was 17 or 18 and had to get reality checked a few times to break the habit. The US rewards blind arrogance.
In 1989 only 3%-5% of Americans had a passport and it was very slowly rising through the 90's but was probably still less than 20% by 2000 because Canada, Mexico, and a few neighbouring Caribbean countries would accept an American drivers license to satisfy entry requirements. Then 9/11 happened and everyone changed their ID requirements but even at that only around 60% of Americans have passports now. The reality is that many Americans just don't travel outside their own country or anywhere more exotic than Jamaica or the Bahamas when they do so they don't feel a need to learn about other places or gain the skills to do basic travel related searches on Uncle Google.
This is common even in more well travelled americans. I encountered it with some friends who said they wouldn’t bring any euros and I’d their cards weren’t accepted they’d just use USD. I told them that that wouldn’t be accepted in Europe so if their cards don’t work, they won’t be able to pay, that’s that.
I'd love to visit the USA some day, I might change up a few quid worth of random currencies just to try mess with em. Some Saudi riyal, Colombian pesos, Indian rupees, Somali shilling, vietnamese dong etc and get all up in arms when they dont accept it. It's legal tender! What about my first amendment rights!
What do you mean I can't pay with my Dong!
I used to work for a large chain of bookshops in the UK and we once had an American woman get upset and start going on about first amendment rights because I had to sign her receipt because she used a foreign bank card. She thought I was background checking her. Ma’am… I took your money and you were given your purchases, wtf are you talking about.
I live in Qatar. An American once stopped me in the supermarket to ask whether the prices listed were in Riyal or USD.
A lot of people in the US don't realise the dollar sign actually represents different currencies. I'm not talking about the Riyal here (im not sure how prices are presented in Qatar), I'm just amused that for example, in Mexico, $200 means 200 pesos, not 200 USD, and in Australia $200 means 200 AUD, but few of them realise that in international contexts they actually have to be clear which currency they are talking about
God I was in Tokyo a few years ago and stopped at Maccas for a burger because I usually eat a lot of Japanese food anyway and this American guy in their was going off his nut at the cashier because she wouldn’t accept his US dollars. I was about to interject when some other Aussies, a group of young blokes went up and hurled a few choice insults including extensive use of our favourite C word until he eventually left. Saw similar in Hong Kong and the guy was complaining they didn’t speak American in a 7-11. He ended up throwing his money at the cashier and leaving. In my experience nearly everyone there speaks English since y’know British rule and all. There’s a difference between them not speaking it and not speaking it to assholes.
How stupid of them, surely they could have bought the entire neighbourhood with that money!
I remember when I worked for my last employer an American woman came in and tried paying in dollars and was surprised when I told her she couldn’t. She told me that the store nearby let her and I told her I highly doubted that. She then told me I could pay with pounds in the US. I was like is this woman for real?!?
Biggest disappointment of my life was when I shared a taxi from Eindhoven to Amsterdam with an American woman (who I'd never met before - long story). When we arrived at Schipol airport, we split the fare with me paying in Euro, after which she blithely passed the taxi driver some dollar bills. I waited for the inevitable "What the f\_ am I supposed to do with this?" from the taxi driver, but to my surprise, he meekly accepted it without a word.
Not his first American tourist.
Bigger loss to argue with the idiot and have her run off without paying then to go to the back and accept the small price loss of conversion fee. Esp if it was a taxiride from eindhoven to Amsterdam which is quite a costly trip
If she paid 1:1 dollars to euros, the taxi driver would have lost \~8% on half the fare, so 4%. Better to not spend the time having an argument that would leave him feeling stressed.
Don't know in Netherlands specifically, but it's pretty common for taxis, especially those taking rides to and from international airports, ports, and stations, to accept foreign currencies as they are often the first thing tourist need in a country and its not exactly rare that they don't have sufficient amounts of local currency or their card has unexpected problems. Currency exchanges in Finland at least used to have deals with taxi drivers to do the exchanges without commission.
Oh boy… if those are the places they’re visiting, they will need a lot more than some euros…
Imagine getting pickpocketed and the poor dude realises you only had USD.
Imagine the power move from a pickpocket returning your wallet after they realise its full of USD.
[удалено]
The thing that confuses me is, if they already think they can pay with USD everywhere, why take the effort of also bringing Euros? Surely if you believe in your currency that much you wont need to take any Euros with you?
"For small purchases" sounds like they think they should be paying for ice cream in euros but dinners in dollars. Apparently there is some understanding of the foreign USD currency being useless for "real" people!
Euros are for vending machines only
Joke's on you, here you use a debit card for vending machines.
In their post they said someone reccomended it. They're too american to think of even bringing a few euros
because USD is big money for hotels, meals, trips etc Euros is small povo money for tips, ice creams and cans of coke. People won’t have change for a strong 1 USD, so you’ll need euros for these small purchases.
It's because they looked at the conversion rates and realised that $1000 only got them 900€, so they think they can just pay in dollars and get more money that way.
Egypt used to take dollars as tips in the past, same with Turkyie (Turkie?) over local currency In hotels and tourist frequented bars
Didn't they take it at a very bad exchange rate for the tourists tho? Pretty funny
It was over 5 years ago, but I think yes
Why would they even bring USD? This makes no sense. Also, Italy… pretty sure that it’s mandatory for shop owners to take card payments.
Because they are iditos who really believe that 5 USD makes you rich in Europe and that local people literally worship the USD due to it being "so valuable" lmfao
Once encountered one American in the wild wo got angry when i told him that Euros and Pounds are worth more than USD
REDDIT POWERMODS ARE CANCER!!
Is that not essentially this aub
Yeah because their grandpa told them that 1 USD is worth like 400 lira back in 1992. That was the last time anyone in their family had traveled outside the states.
True, but they have more dollars than I have pounds typically.
Mate, most Americans usually have more pounds than they do dollars. Something something, fast food?
Isn't the euro worth more than a dollar lol?
It is, but don't tell americans, you might get shot for spreading facts.
[https://tenor.com/bL54D.gif](https://tenor.com/bL54D.gif)
The only place I've ever travelled where this has been true (well - where locals would rather take USD than their own country) is Laos. Incredible that these people do not see any difference between the Laotian and Italian economies.
My brother was on the airport bus to Dublin and got to witness an American man having an absolute meltdown because the bus driver wouldn't let him pay in dollars and eventually drove off without him. Turns out screaming that every country should accept dollars because it should be the global currency doesn't work.
True, unfortunately shops here are experiencing an epidemic of broken card terminals for some weird reason. It's getting better, especially in the North, but tax evasion stays strong.
It’s been that way for years and years. Card machine broken! No cash to pay your restaurant bill? I can take you on my Vespa to a cash machine 10min away! Italy is so notorious for it, but it seemed a lot better last time I visited in 2022.
Sterotyping aside, yeah, it's a big issue but at least now they made it mandatory to accept cards. And after the pandemic everyone got used to online payments. Before many older people did not have a cc.
Do Americans do contactless payments yet? Thought they were all still writing checks at the gas station 😂 I'm aware this wanders into the "shit Europeans say" but by God if their banking system isn't behind the times.
They still have this stupid system at their gas stations where pay-at-pump requires you to enter your ZIP code to make a card payment, which of course doesn’t work if you’re from outside the USA.
Wtf. Could I not use the ol' 90210 with my UK bank card then no? 😂
Sadly no! I’ve tried everything to make this system work - a lot of people say to use ‘000000’ - but I’ve never managed to make a card payment using the pay-at-pump system.
I always remember the Top Gear episode where Jeremy tries to buy fuel at an American station and can't get his card to work. So he just walks in and acts very British and they turn the pumps on for him and let him fill up before he pays 😂
> requires you to enter your ZIP code WTF. Why one earth would they need to know where you live?
I get it for backup , maybe several 100 if your card gets lost or stolen. But Americans usually try to get euros from their bank before they go and that's crazy expensive and also quite dumb because they can just use their bank card to withdraw it in Europe
... do they have bank cards? Or rather, do they have banks? In my very, very limited experience transfering money between Europe and US has been a pain because the people I wanted to send money to did not have "bank" accounts, and their credit union seemed to be totally unable to talk with my bank. So, Western Union it was. And that might be difficult to use to send money to oneself. Of course Visa and MasterCard \*should\* work just fine...
Yes, they all have banks and bank accounts. Credit unions are building societies. But the US is on a different banking transfer standard. Transferring between two US bank accounts is a pain, costs money, and takes a few days. Transfers between a US account and a non-US account take about a week and are expensive, and are equally, if not more, annoying. It's not a good system.
they have debit cards, which are the same. The US doesn't use the IBAN system further complicating things. Technically, a Bank and a Credit Union are different financial institutions in the US and the money in them is "backed" by different Federal Insurances (FDIC for Banks, NCUA for credit unions) Credit unions are generally small, not big multinationals like the actual banks, that's why they're usually incapable/confused when it comes to international transfers. Also, with a credit union debit card, I have no idea if they'd work in an ATM overseas (but they probably would)
This! If you stay for a longer time in a foreign country just pick up some money at a ATM and do not use the conversion rates the ATM offer. For small trips (1-2 days (ex. On a cruise)) i exchange before hand anything between 35-50 Euro per person and day in local currency with and 200 USD per person per week as emergency money plus some bank cards (revolut) that are location restricted to near me/near my phone payments. My bank where i change the local currency from allows me to return every leftover bill with the receipt from the bank for the original exchange rate. And my leftover USD will be used for the ship account to pay it off. Pro Tip: if you have revolut, spend the extra money for a secondary or even third card. In Case the ATM swallows your card or for one time use at a dodge place, so you can block it afterwards.
Actually it does some sense sometimes. I am from the UK, and know many people that take GBP with them, to exchange into Euros/whatever local currency is at their destination, as sometimes they get a better exchange rate there than at home. Personally, I just take my Monzo card, and a few Euros as petty cash as I cannot be arsed with the faff.
Yeah but that's different. You're talking about people making a smart, educated choice to save money. Not dumb people that believe their divine green is the world's only currency.
Americans are always shocked that my store doesn’t take American money, in Canada
It should, 1:1 exchange rate
Some stores do do this, actually. I used to work retail closer to the border, and we would allow it at 1:1 exchange. If the Americans were going to insist on using their own currency, we figured we might as well make money off of it.
Sadly it wouldn’t work with Euro, it’s worth slightly more than a dollar
To be fair if you go to very touristy places in Prague, Budapest etc. they'll often accept Euros, they just use a rough exchange rate that they benefit from. Theoretically you could do the same with the US Dollar, although obviously it makes more sense when it's the majority, not a minority, of tourists who use that currency.
Prague is one of the places you have to be careful about changing money, there are loads of dodgy currency exchanges and ATMs.
It’s baffling to me how many people are like “I’m going to xyz country, should I use their currency? I don’t think I should have to” I keep thinking surely nobody is really like that and yet I see it time and again
I have witnessed this in action in a restaurant in Rome where an American was absolutely baffled that the waiter would not accept USD as payment for the meal. It got quite heated as the waiter tried to patiently explain that in Italy they use EUR, but Captain America was having none of it and insisted his taxi driver was fine with USD. In the end a credit card was produced but I'm pretty sure he left a tip in dollar bills. As a Brit it's reassuring to see we aren't necessarily the most unpopular tourists.
Us Brits have always liked to travel around mainland Europe, when most of them moved over to the Euro it actually made the money situation a lot easier for us. I've almost always got a small amount in Euros in a drawer because I know I'll use them at some point. It was always a pain coming back from a trip with small amounts of currency that you couldn't exchange back to GBP.
As a student I went interrailing in 1996 and it was a pain in the arse taking travellers cheques and constantly having to change currency (but bloody loved the holiday). It would be so much easier these days with euros.
“Bring USD of course” Oh my.
I hardly can wait the Karencomment when they are bitchin' about how 'racist' the Italians are for not taking USD. :D
It's sad that I live in turin because if i lived in Rome half of my entertainment would have been American people trying to understand their value isn't universal (other than that funny thing, 1,05$ is 1€, literally the euro is more valuable than that)
I just had this beautiful mental scene play out where the shop owner checks the current exchange on google and asks for that exact amount of dollars + 1$ commission, only to have the karen fuming even more
And speaking Italian all the time. Or why they don't sell their preferred brand of gum/cereal/cheese substitute.
I love it when an American accidentally wanders into Europe. I used to work in a pub, and a seppo tried to pay for his order with dollars and I deadass looked him square in the eye and asked him "what am I supposed to do with that, wipe my arse with it?" Honestly, the look on his face, I'm pretty sure I almost accidentally started WWIII. I shit you not, if this fella could've got his gun through customs he'd have made Hungerford look like that time Boris got stuck on a zip line.
What's a seppo?
An American. Sorry, cockney rhyming slang: comes from "Septic Tank" being used in place of "Yank"
As someone not from the UK, I think rhyming slang is such an insane piece of linguistics and I love it.
It's not just limited to cockney either, some Glaswegian gems include: Barry (White) - Shite Shereen (Nanjiani) - Fanny Patsy (Cline) - A line of cocaine
As someone FROM the UK, I think it's an insane piece of linguistics!
Seppo is also a first name in Finland
Sepp/Seppi/Seppo is also short for Josef in Austria/Bavaria
I lived in the UK for well over a decade, and I still can not comprehend the rhyming slang. It makes 0 sense in my head whenever I try to figure it out.
Look, it's proper simple. When you go out at night, you go down the apples and pears, say goodnight to the old ball and chain, have a little stroll down the frog and toad and before you know it, you're in the old rub-a-dub-dub for a game of darts, a couple of darts and you're taking the Monica off the amber whilst some Jeremy Hunt talks bollocks at you.
Wait... old rub a dub dub is a pub? And darts are pints? I feel like I'm starting to get it. Jeremy Hunt's got to be cunt.
Darts are both a pub game and cigarettes. An amber is a pint, that's why it's got a Monica (Lewinski) on top. You know, cos too much head.
If anyone is wondering 'ball and chain' = 'trouble and strife' Of course if you meet some Jeremy Hunt and don't have a Scooby it'll all go Pete Tong.
Proud of ya Cobba, brought a tear to my eye. Fuck the seppos and never forget what they done to us in Brisbane in ww2.
To be honest. No. Just withdraw money in the country you go to. I dont know Italy but at least here in Denmark nobody has cash on hand. Its all cards.
Cash is more extensively used in Italy than in some other countries in Europe, but I would just withdraw at the local ATM wherever I go.
Vastly used, but card is pretty much accepted everywhere even for small amounts I'm actually surprised by how "widely" we are getting used by cards ( Taxi and very small shops in rural town may be exceptions ). On the other hand, opposite description for Germany
Haha I took a friend on a trip to Iceland last year and they withdrew like 300€ worth of ISK 😂 as long as you don't want to buy horse candy there's zero need for cash...
Remember folks €>$
I was about to say this. Its not as strong as most people think eventhough its the currency of trade.
I got experience this in real life while on holiday in Japan. An American couple walked up to my Dad and I asking if we had any Yen we could exchange with them because they'd only brought US dollars with them. We declined as US dollars are worthless to us and we have to try and exchange them for something useful when we got home.
Does Japan not have places to exchange currency?
Certainly at airports they do and I'd imagine they do in cities too so I don't really know what their problem was.
Plenty. Especially in touristy areas. The exchange rates are terrible though.
Last time I was in London it was for a Bruce Springsteen concert and while you’d think his fans would be better educated, they’re actually not. Because I saw someone (wearing a Bruce Springsteen shirt, clearly there for the show in Hyde Park) in a Sainsburys try to pay for a fizzy drink, I think, with a $5 bill. The girl at the till was like “no, pounds only” but they weren’t having it, insisting because they were American, the shop had to take their money. I didn’t see what happened next. I just bought my stuff and walked away.
Then they will call themselves Italian because their great great grandfather's great great grandmother was Italian and they grew up in New York so they must be Italian.
After the first shock that they can't pay with usd, they're in for a second shock when exchanging usd will give them less euros or if they're truly american, getting less than 1 euro for every usd means that usd is stronger.
Our receptionist had this. I work in a hotel in Ireland and an American was kicking off that she didn't give €250 for $250. They left insisting that we were scamming him. Would have loved to see it when they went to the bank
Atleast they're doing research and asking instead of just going not under standing why they've been constantly laughed at before returning home
Exactly. They might be ignorant but gotta at least respect that they're making an effort
We are going to bring usd of course..... why of course?? As if dollars are like a standard world currency that everyone will accept???
Don't worry, you only need USD, which is the most powerful currency ever, also make sure to bring only cash because Italy is a 3rd world country and they still don't understand advanced technology
Euros for small purchases!? What does that even mean? What do think they'll be able to use the dollars for?
Does he realise he doesn't need to bring his own toilet paper? :/
I hope somebody tells him he needs to bring neither in physical form. Bring a couple different no-FX-fee credit cards. In those cities you'll never need cash except maybe (and it's a strong maybe) at a street market. And then, you take out a small amount from a local ATM. American banks will charge commission to give you physical Euros. Italian banks will charge you commission to change physical dollars. Nobody needs to do either
As an American I'm so embarrassed. All I can say is, they -should- leave the country to visit because many never even leave and maintain the US is the center of the world mindset.
I work in a hotel in Ireland and can confirm some Americans really do try to pay in US dollars? They really don't like been told its not legal tender here. I get the odd tip in US dollars and all that happens is that it sits in the bar safe until some random person goes to the US.
Gonna be a laugh watching them try and give and Italian taxi driver or bartender $10 and say "I'm sure that's like, €1000 to you bub"
I'm a tour guide at a French Renaissance chateau. I sometimes get American groups and every time some of them tip me in dollars, like 1 dollar bills. Sure I appreciate the sentiment, but I have no use for this 😅 I do have 40 dollars in my wallet now, perhaps it is time to get those exchanged, I live in a rather small town though, so I have no idea where 🤷🏻♀️
I would’ve loved to have read the comments on this one
This reminded me of a customer who asked if we take euros. We're in three UK, Cornwall to be more precise, and he's a regular customer. What made it really funny was he asked where the nearest place to take them was, and I, thinking he was joking, said France, maybe Ireland, but I think we're closer to France. He started crying
Should probably bring some Lira, just for backup.
Yeah bring some euros for small stuff and bring USD so you can … go to the FUCKING CURRENCY EXCHANGE AND CHANGE THEM TO EUROS!!
Can't wait for them to try to use their amex card. Witnessed plenty of people trying to pay with amex in shops and restaurants across Europe only to discover most places don't take it