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DNova posted:10 euro for a kebab? In Amsterdam? Last I was there was ... gently caress me, like 7 years ago... but no way... Nah, for a plate dish (with salad and fries or something) at a kebab place including a drink. Just a döner kebab in the center is like 4 euros I guess? Nothing too crazy, but a bit more than in Germany. I do live in Amsterdam, and maybe, send pics first. Entropist fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Feb 18, 2015 |
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Feb 18, 2015 00:38
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Entropist posted:Nah, for a plate dish (with salad and fries or something) at a kebab place including a drink. Just a döner kebab in the center is like 4 euros I guess? Nothing too crazy, but a bit more than in Germany. Sent PM 
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Feb 18, 2015 00:56
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Entropist posted:Amsterdam is pretty expensive as well. Costs really depend on your standards, 10 euro for a kebab or fried foods-based dinner or 30 euro for something with a good price/quality ratio at a well-chosen place, including a drink. Half to 2/3rds that for lunch. For trains I have no clue, you should look up the price for a same-day trip beforehand. It's pretty expensive when booked at the last minute. I was just going to buy train tickets (Dutch Railways) when I was there using the self-service machines, is that a bad idea? I'm obviously flexible as I can leave pretty much whenever during the day.
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Feb 18, 2015 07:14
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Hollow Talk posted:Check out Riz Raz if you are hungry and want to be fed properly. They have a vegetarian all-you-can-eat buffet both as lunch (frokost) and dinner (aften), and are reasonably priced. Otherwise, inscrutable horse is right, eating out is very expensive, so plan for that. I cannot really give you a proper estimate, since it strongly depends on what kind of food you like, what level of food you are looking for and where you will be staying. I love Riz Raz. Eat a huge lunch here, and you'll be set for the rest of the day with a small snack for dinner. Copenhagen is super expensive, but Stockholm and especially Oslo are even worse.
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Feb 18, 2015 10:41
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Just get Kapsalon every day in Holland.
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Feb 18, 2015 10:43
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actionjackson posted:I was just going to buy train tickets (Dutch Railways) when I was there using the self-service machines, is that a bad idea? I'm obviously flexible as I can leave pretty much whenever during the day.  (It's a dumb system and the €7.50 cost for one + €20.00 minimum amount on it to travel by train makes it unfeasible for tourists on short visits, maybe look into some form of multiday passes.)
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Feb 18, 2015 11:46
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actionjackson posted:I was just going to buy train tickets (Dutch Railways) when I was there using the self-service machines, is that a bad idea? I'm obviously flexible as I can leave pretty much whenever during the day. Oh, I was mainly thinking about an international ticket to Copenhagen. Normally there wouldn't be a problem with your plan and Dutch national tickets aren't cheaper when booked earlier, but indeed our tickets are stupidly complicated for tourists now due to the chipcard system. Here's an overview: http://www.amsterdamtips.com/tips/train-tickets-in-netherlands.php. Yes, the Belgian railways site may be the best way to get tickets if you already know where to go. Entropist fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Feb 18, 2015 |
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Feb 18, 2015 16:07
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I'm flying to Copenhagen on SAS
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Feb 18, 2015 16:42
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Since we're talking about food, any suggestions for Paris? I'm staying in the 1st arr, but willing to wander. Not looking for something fancy since I'm not bringing the clothing for it.
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Feb 18, 2015 17:04
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dupersaurus posted:Since we're talking about food, any suggestions for Paris? I'm staying in the 1st arr, but willing to wander. Not looking for something fancy since I'm not bringing the clothing for it. Suan Thai on Rue du Temple is good and pretty close. If you're two people you can probably walk in and get a place reasonably fast, but more than that make a reservation. E: I like Chez Bebert a lot too, a Moroccan place next to Gare Montparnasse, but it's a fair bit farther. Don't eat anywhere in the Latin Quarter unless someone has personally recommended it, as (IME) it's 100% likely to serve overpriced reheated pre-made food. E2: Oh and Le Marcab next to Pasteur. It's a little fancier but it's not like you're going to be wearing shorts and sandals at this time of year anyway. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Feb 18, 2015 |
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Feb 18, 2015 17:14
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Entropist posted:Oh, I was mainly thinking about an international ticket to Copenhagen. Normally there wouldn't be a problem with your plan and Dutch national tickets aren't cheaper when booked earlier, but indeed our tickets are stupidly complicated for tourists now due to the chipcard system. Thanks, that's helpful. Is that "Burgermeester" place good? Also a question about Denmark, if I buy a return ticket from Copenhagen to Helsingor, I assume it's no issue if I get off early on the way back and return later? I want to see the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which is right by the "Humlebaek" station.
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Feb 18, 2015 17:37
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Burgermeester is pretty good, I go there for lunch from time to time. About the train tickets in the Netherlands: if you know someone in the Netherlands, you can avoid the lovely ov-chipcard situation by buying e-tickets in advance and printing them. You'll need to have a local contact because the national railroad company hates foreigners, so they only allow sales using local debit card authentication
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Feb 18, 2015 17:44
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I was just going to buy the disposable tickets. I'll only be making a few trips.
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Feb 18, 2015 17:46
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EricBauman posted:You'll need to have a local contact because the national railroad company hates foreigners, so they only allow sales using local debit card authentication I'll add that some good places to eat Dutch food relatively cheaply that I've been to are Winkel 43, De Brabantse Aap (also have their own beer), and Hap Hmm. They're in different parts of the center.
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Feb 18, 2015 18:28
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You are all missing the point: Febo!
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Feb 18, 2015 18:41
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Febo sold out, they are selling a vegetarian kroket now.
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Feb 18, 2015 18:56
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asur posted:Is this north Italy or south? I just moved near Milan for work and the few Italians I know seem to make plans last minute, North-East, about 50 km inland from Venice.
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Feb 19, 2015 05:28
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Mikl posted:North-East, about 50 km inland from Venice. I work in Bolzano and live in Trento. I actually had someone send me a message on Skype yesterday morning to meet for a drink later in the day. I message him back a time later in the day, to which he responds that he has business to attend to all night long. This is not the first time that this has happened. I have long ago started utilizing italianhandgesture.jpg: 
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Feb 19, 2015 10:31
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When I lived in Copenhagen I remember a fair amount of stuff being closed on Easter weekend. I presume this is also the case for Stockholm. Nonetheless I'll be there for that Thursday-Sunday. Presumably though, some stuff will still be open. What would be good to do then?
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Feb 19, 2015 20:02
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Thanks to whoever posted that amsterdamtips site. I've gotten some more ideas for day trips, if you can comment on any of these cities let me know. I grouped together cities that are on the same train route. 1) The Hague (for Escher museum mainly) and Leiden 2) Haarlem and Zandvoort 3) Utrecht 4) Hoorn and Enkhuizen Groningen and Maastricht are a bit too long of a trip for me, but if there's something along the way to Groningen that's interesting (Zwolle?) let me know. My preference is to just walk once I get to these places. for Denmark, 1) Helsingor (to see the castle) and Humlebaek on the way back to see the museum. 2) Roskilde - thoughts? I also was wondering about ATMs - I have a Wells Fargo credit card with the chip and I have a pin number as well. Is that what would be used for ATMs there to withdraw the local currency, or do I simply use my debit/atm card (which also has a four digit pin)? actionjackson fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Feb 19, 2015 |
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Feb 19, 2015 20:54
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actionjackson posted:Thanks to whoever posted that amsterdamtips site. I've gotten some more ideas for day trips, if you can comment on any of these cities let me know. I grouped together cities that are on the same train route. I don't usually recommend The Hague but the museum was good. Leiden is a good example of a smaller city, it's nice to walk around in and have a drink on a quiet corner. It's also a university town, more than Utrecht. Zandvoort is mostly only nice in summer, except maybe if you want to eat some good fish close to the sea. Haarlem is a nice quieter alternative to Amsterdam, and the dunes in the Kennemerland between Haarlem and the sea are nice, especially if you can rent a bike and go around them. Utrecht is a good city worth seeing, with nicer small streets in the old center than Amsterdam, and there are quite a few events happening there as well. Hoorn and Enkhuizen are nice old fishing towns. Also keep Medemblik in mind in that area. There's a historical steam train line between Hoorn and Medemblik through the villages, which is pretty cool. Out of the 4 things you listed, this trip is probably done the least by international tourists, so that's a reason to do it. In the Netherlands most places don't accept credit cards for payment, only Cirrus or Maestro debit cards, but for ATMs it shouldn't be a problem I think. They support a range of cards, but I guess it can't hurt to find out what 'type' of card it is (i.e. what logo you would have to look out for) and google it. Entropist fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Feb 19, 2015 |
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Feb 19, 2015 22:39
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Just out of curiosity, what kind of fraud protection do European debit cards offer? That's one of the main reason I use credit cards (any fraudulent charges can be disputed before you pay the bill, rather than trying to claw the money back after the fact), but it seems like debit cards are a lot more ubiquitous overseas. Same question goes for rewards I suppose. You can expect to get a percent or two back from any credit card purchases, do debit cards overseas have those kinds of benefits?
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Feb 20, 2015 03:19
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Fraudulent charges are unlikely cause the physical card is needed to make a payment, not just a number. If it gets stolen, you block it. If your card gets copied somehow I think you can tell this to the bank, your card gets blocked and you get any money back that was transferred after the time when it happened. Your reward is not being in debt all the time and not having to pay interest.
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Feb 20, 2015 04:02
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E: Misread credit and debit. Debit cards in the EU have tons of protection, but on the minus side they're loving impossible to use online, as there are like 6 websites in the world that accept Maestro-and-similar payment methods. I use my debit card for everything except online purchases.
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Feb 20, 2015 11:37
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Saladman posted:Debit cards in the EU have tons of protection, but on the minus side they're loving impossible to use online, as there are like 6 websites in the world that accept Maestro-and-similar payment methods. I use my debit card for everything except online purchases. Every website in the world accepts Visa Debit and Mastercard debit cards. The only cards you struggle to use are the weird one's nobody uses.
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Feb 20, 2015 11:51
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Sweevo posted:Every website in the world accepts Visa Debit and Mastercard debit cards. The only cards you struggle to use are the weird one's nobody uses. Maestro is not the same as MasterCard. At least here in Switzerland, banks exclusively give Maestro cards as debit cards (or they have their own weird poo poo that works basically nowhere even for ATMs, like Post Finance's debit card even though it's nominally on the Cirrus network). Visa and MasterCard are exclusively for credit cards. Not sure if it's like that all across Europe, and I am aware that Visa and MasterCard do make debit cards and that Maestro is owned by MasterCard. Saladman fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 13:13
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Entropist posted:Fraudulent charges are unlikely cause the physical card is needed to make a payment, not just a number. If it gets stolen, you block it. Right, so I said, it's a matter of having to try to get your money back rather than disputing the charges before you pay them. I understand that there are extra layers of security (which are coming to credit cards anyway), but the funds are gone until you the bank gets around to verifying what's going on and processing the transfer. Entropist posted:Your reward is not being in debt all the time and not having to pay interest. Carrying a balance on a credit card is optional, and paying each statement in full prevents any interest charges. The cash back offered by credit cards is accrued regardless. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something, but the reliance on debit rather than credit cards overseas seems backwards to me.
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Feb 20, 2015 13:44
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Entropist posted:Your reward is not being in debt all the time and not having to pay interest. Your reward is literally everyone over 50 in the Netherlands being really loving afraid of credit cards even though they're tons more secure than debit cards. Unfortunately, this extends to bank employees as well, so it is not uncommon to run into situations where bank employees refuse to do things that they are required to do according to the agreement their bank has with Mastercard/VISA
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Feb 20, 2015 14:30
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:Right, so I said, it's a matter of having to try to get your money back rather than disputing the charges before you pay them. I understand that there are extra layers of security (which are coming to credit cards anyway), but the funds are gone until you the bank gets around to verifying what's going on and processing the transfer. Credit cards are great if you are good at managing your money. They are basically a way of borrowing money short term. Every time you use a credit card you are putting yourself into debt. Debit cards only let you spend the money you have available in your account. You can't go into debt, it is replacement for carrying cash around with you - this is considered an advantage. People are idiots and spend more money than they can pay back using credit cards and then they really suffer through crappy interest payments. If you always pay your credit card bills on time, then they are fine. Most people don't, in which case they should use a debit card. 1 potential benefit of a debit card is that banks will change their exchange rates daily, so you will always get the correct exchange rate. Credit card companies are not so happy to change their exchange rates, especially if it doesn't make them money. PlantHead fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 16:59
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PlantHead posted:Credit cards are great if you are good at managing your money. They are basically a way of borrowing money short term. Every time you use a credit card you are putting yourself into debt. Debit cards can put an account negative. I think the default changed in the US somewhat recently so that they can't without you signing up for it, and I'm not sure what the default is in Europe though. Protection from something that is easily avoided by not being an idiot is also not something I'd consider an advantage. It is also a downside in the case of fraud since the debit card is direct access to your account and you're out the money until the bank fixes the issue. Debit cards and credit cards on the same network, VISA, MasterCard, etc, use the exact same exchange rate which at least for VISA and MasterCard is set daily. This is hearsay and I can't seem to find confirmation either way, but I've been told in Europe that if a fraudulent transaction uses Chip + Pin the liability is on the account owner. If so, while this is probably a rare event currently, I'd consider this a pretty large downside given that in the US if you report fraud in a timely manner you're at most responsible for $50 which almost all banks waive.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:18
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Saladman posted:Maestro is not the same as MasterCard. At least here in Switzerland, banks exclusively give Maestro cards as debit cards (or they have their own weird poo poo that works basically nowhere even for ATMs, like Post Finance's debit card even though it's nominally on the Cirrus network). Visa and MasterCard are exclusively for credit cards. Not sure if it's like that all across Europe, asur posted:Debit cards can put an account negative. Only if you have credit on your account, which is not standard in my experience. asur posted:Protection from something that is easily avoided by not being an idiot is also not something I'd consider an advantage.
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Feb 20, 2015 20:22
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PlantHead posted:1 potential benefit of a debit card is that banks will change their exchange rates daily, so you will always get the correct exchange rate. Credit card companies are not so happy to change their exchange rates, especially if it doesn't make them money. This is not true. Also if you use any CapitalOne card, they charge no fees for foreign currency transactions, and they use up-to-date market rates for the conversion (as have all the other cards I've ever done that with).
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Feb 20, 2015 20:28
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I've been using debit cards for many years now, both at home and in the rest of the world with zero problems or fraud. I was in San Francisco for only 5 days when my bank called me that they detected fraud on my credit card. Until the rest of the world starts using the credit card + pin combination (some already are, some aren't), I'd say debit cards are better. Bastard fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 20:53
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No processing fees either, and at least with my Dutch bank's Maestro cards, no ATM or currency conversion fees in any country I've been to in Europe. I don't know anyone who has been the victim of debit card fraud (even before chips were used) while credit card fraud happens all the time, even to Dutch people who almost never use their credit card like my father. It also works everywhere in Europe, except that one train station ticket machine in northern France where I had to use my credit card + PIN for the first (and last) time.
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Feb 20, 2015 20:57
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Okay, so at Schiphol the visa ATMs say "ABN AMRO BANK N.V." I assume I want to use something like that - will they charge me any fees themselves? Copenhagen airport has visa ATMs as well though there is no bank listed on the name.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:01
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actionjackson posted:Okay, so at Schiphol the visa ATMs say "ABN AMRO BANK N.V." I assume I want to use something like that - will they charge me any fees themselves? e: Correction, I checked and there is a 1% fee for withdrawals with currency conversion from the bank edit: Keep this in mind: "Most bank ATMs in Europe don’t charge a usage fee, but stay away from “independent” ATMs, which have high fees and may try to trick users with “dynamic currency conversion.” These ATMs (labeled with names such as Travelex, Euronet, Moneybox, Cardpoint, and Cashzone) are often found next to bank ATMs in the hope that travelers will be too confused to notice the difference." In the Netherlands I rarely see that (or maybe I just block them out) but it's quite common in some other European cities. Though even if you use one of these, you can always opt out of the dynamic currency conversion (though sometimes opting out is much harder than opting in). Entropist fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 22:20
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Entropist posted:No processing fees either, and at least with my Dutch bank's Maestro cards, no ATM or currency conversion fees in any country I've been to in Europe. I don't know anyone who has been the victim of debit card fraud (even before chips were used) while credit card fraud happens all the time, even to Dutch people who almost never use their credit card like my father. It also works everywhere in Europe, except that one train station ticket machine in northern France where I had to use my credit card + PIN for the first (and last) time. My friends here tell me that this is based on the country of the issuing account. So, you might get free bankomat use with your Dutch debit account but Germans are likely to be paying a fee for using the same Bankomat as you. I am not sure if it's entirely true but I find it a bit funny because I'm in one of the free bankomat countries 
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Feb 20, 2015 23:07
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Yeah I think that's true. When I lived in Germany I got a German bank account. Apparently they have two competing groups of banks, and if you withdraw at the 'other' group within Germany, you have to pay an ATM fee. There may have been fees abroad as well but I never tried. Meanwhile, with my Dutch card it was free at ATMs of both groups in Germany...
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Feb 20, 2015 23:43
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I think the two groups eventually agreed to not charge each other's customers any more. One disadvantage of credit card payment is that some companies will make you pay the credit card company's fee if you pay with credit card or require minimum spending, whereas they have no fee with debit and you get the proper price.
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Feb 21, 2015 13:53
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Anyone got any suggestions for night clubs in Berlin? Seems like everyone I talk about Berlin has some one to recommend but I've forgotten to write them down. Also whats the best museums to visit? I'm interested in both art and history. Also looking for recommendations on poo poo to do in general seeing as I plan to be there around 2 weeks.
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Feb 24, 2015 06:14
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