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nwiniwn posted:We asked to pay by credit, and she was fine with that, but she asked us what my pin was Huh. Back home in NZ the rule is never give your PIN number to anyone ever, and I've never been asked for it in the UK or anywhere we've been in Europe (instead there's always a machine to put it in, usually brought to the table). Is this normal, guys?
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Dec 18, 2017 07:57
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Chocolate Milk posted:Huh. Back home in NZ the rule is never give your PIN number to anyone ever, and I've never been asked for it in the UK or anywhere we've been in Europe (instead there's always a machine to put it in, usually brought to the table). I *may* have misinterpreted this. She asked if I had a pin, and I said no, and then she asked how much I wanted to leave. I wasn't watching other tables to see how they were paying though.
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Dec 18, 2017 08:47
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Wait til you run into the wallet inspector
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Dec 18, 2017 08:52
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Chocolate Milk posted:Huh. Back home in NZ the rule is never give your PIN number to anyone ever, and I've never been asked for it in the UK or anywhere we've been in Europe (instead there's always a machine to put it in, usually brought to the table). Yeah no one ever asks for your PIN. I’ve also never been asked by a waiter how much tip I want leave either. Sometimes the machine has a spot for « Tip? » after you hit OK for the amount of the bill on the mobile terminal, but mor frequently not and you have to either tell your waiter beforehand how much you want to tip, or you have to leave cash on the table. It’s really annoying how non-standardized it is. Usually when I want to tip, when they come to the table and say like €85, I tell them €90 when I give them my card.
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Dec 18, 2017 10:25
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If someone asks you to tell them your pin you're about to get your card skimmed. Only enter your pin in the terminal yourself. Also read the instructions on the terminal display. It's annoying how many different terminal types there are and how they all work in different ways. 1 Insert card, hit OK to confirm amount, done. (For amounts under €20 you can go verificationless) 2 Insert card, enter pin, done. 3 Insert card, hit ok to confirm amount, enter pin, done. 4 Insert card, enter pin, hit ok to confirm amount, done. 5 Insert card, enter total amount (including tip), enter pin, done. 6 Insert card, hit OK if you want to tip or Cancel if not. Enter amount of tip if chosen, enter pin, done. I see #5 tripping people up all the time, where they'll enter their pin as the amount because they didn't read the display. They usually have a safeguard so you can't accidentally pay a four digit amount on a €50 bill, but you've still shown the world your pin.
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Dec 18, 2017 10:46
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God I’m so out of my element here. Today we went to fellows coffee and they had what looked like a credit card machine, so I gave them my credit card, they looked at it, inserted it, and then said sorry they can’t take it. So, my credit card has a chip with no pin, but I’m slowly losing faith in using it. My debit card has a chip and a pin-would I be better off just trying to use that? I’d rather not carry a bunch of cash on me if possible.
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Dec 18, 2017 11:04
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nwiniwn posted:God I’m so out of my element here. In order of preference: 1) Cash. It works. 2) Debit card with a PIN. It will usually work. 3) Credit card without pin. It might work, but it's a pain in the rear end for your servers and salespeople.
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Dec 18, 2017 11:09
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nwiniwn posted:God I’m so out of my element here. Is your credit card a visa or mastercard? American Express is nearly unusable, and Discover is a historical relic understood by but a few chosen individuals, like speaking in Sanskrit. But yeah most chip and no-pins should work, especially for small transactions. IIRC I thought the US and Canada did away with signature requirements for small purchases? e.g. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-purchases-why-dont-i-always-sign/
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Dec 18, 2017 11:30
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If you don't like paying in cash, Germany really isn't the best place to visit. I went to more than one place in Berlin that was cash only and I imagine there won't be many street stalls or Christmas market merchants that accept cards. The good news is that things are cheap in Germany so €60-100 should be plenty to carry in case you need it.
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Dec 18, 2017 11:48
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Your chip+pin debit should be fine whereever cards are accepted, which in Germany isn't everywhere. It's interesting to see how different things are across Europe. Here in the UK I use my card or my phone to pay absolutely anywhere. I haven't dealt with any notes or change in a month or two.
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Dec 18, 2017 11:58
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Just take out cash if you’re feeling unsure about it.
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Dec 18, 2017 12:50
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Yeah my credit card is a visa so no issues there. I’ll probably just use my debit going forward-i just wanted to try and use my credit card whenever possible because there’s no foreign transaction fees and I get points on it. Christmas markets-some accept visa/maestro, but most are cash-which I’m fine with. I’m just very surprised at restaurants not taking them...the bar we went to for lunch today had a minimum 20 euro purchase for using their credit card, whereas in the IS it’s maybe 5-10 usd. Also surprising is the lack of public toilets from what I can tell-by the Christmas market in Marienplatz, there’s also a huge outdoor shopping area nearby, and walking 1 mile, I saw 2 Porta potties and nothing inside-hence the reason for stopping at a bar to grab a beer and use their toilet.
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Dec 18, 2017 13:02
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Germany is a ridiculously cash-focused society. Even after two months I get surprised - we went to a pet store the other day to stock up on food and medicine, and even though the bill was over a hundred euros they didn’t take cards! Oh and they don’t accept 200 or 500 euro notes either
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Dec 18, 2017 14:28
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I’ve lived in Germany for five years and have never even -seen- a 200 or a 500. Are the 500’s like A5 sized or something?
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Dec 18, 2017 14:31
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Drone posted:I’ve lived in Germany for five years and have never even -seen- a 200 or a 500. Are the 500’s like A5 sized or something? They’re all proportional in size, so a €500 is as relatively larger than a €50 as a €50 is to a €5. I’ve used them a handful of times for large purchases (eg week-long hotel rentals). Also for traveling I like to take €200s, eg going to Cuba next week and plan to take all my money in €200 notes to change since my bank cards won’t work there. The 1000 Swiss franc notes are fun too (chf 1000 = usd 1000), and they even come out of some ATMs. I’ve never seen €200 or €500 come out of ATMs, always have to go to the bank for that. €500s are being phased out now too. The real annoying thing about cash is how many loving places don’t have change for a €50. Germany is not so bad, but good luck in Italy or Spain paying for anything outside of a grocery store unless you have small bills. Saladman fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Dec 18, 2017 |
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Dec 18, 2017 15:30
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Saladman posted:good luck in Italy or Spain paying for anything outside of a grocery store unless you have small bills. That's because you'd use a credit card like a reasonable human being
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Dec 18, 2017 16:08
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Saladman posted:The real annoying thing about cash is how many loving places don’t have change for a €50. Germany is not so bad, but good luck in Italy or Spain paying for anything outside of a grocery store unless you have small bills. When you have potentially hundreds of tourists all trying to pay for their coffees and sandwiches with €50s you run out of change real loving fast.
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Dec 18, 2017 16:52
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One thing that’s very surprising is how much shopping happens -at least in Marienplatz. Here’s a question though-are things overpriced there? I saw a store selling Henckels knives but their “special sale” was for a $100 euro knife that I can get for $100 usd on Amazon-is that typical? I would figure I should be able to grab a henckels or wusthof knife cheaper in Germany than back home in the US.
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Dec 18, 2017 21:11
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nwiniwn posted:I would figure I should be able to grab a henckels or wusthof knife cheaper in Germany than back home in the US. Germany has 19% VAT, so not necessarily. But yeah, if you buy stuff in Munich you will pay more than elsewhere, especially on the Christmas market. Munich is by far the most expensive place in the country.
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Dec 18, 2017 21:31
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Depending on the credit card company, you may be able to set up a pin online and use it. Some still make you request the pin and then mail it to you though. I have a account with Capital One bank and they don't charge me foreign transaction or ATM fees, so when I go abroad I just transfer money into that. The only time I've had problems was recently in a grocery store in Amsterdam which only took local debit cards, not my Mastercard debit card. Luckily I had enough Euros, though I had to basically clean out my change purse, to pay for my stuff. Oh, and that's my pro tip: bring or buy a small change purse if you will be using cash. All those drat coins are heavy and you will get a ton of them.
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Dec 20, 2017 05:06
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nwiniwn posted:One thing that’s very surprising is how much shopping happens -at least in Marienplatz. You can ask for a VAT refund reciept and when you depart the airport you can claim your VAT back minus a small processing fee. I don't know how it would work with knives though, as you have to check those and they inspect your purchases at the refund counter.
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Dec 20, 2017 05:08
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uli2000 posted:You can ask for a VAT refund reciept and when you depart the airport you can claim your VAT back minus a small processing fee. I don't know how it would work with knives though, as you have to check those and they inspect your purchases at the refund counter. You go there before you check in your luggage.
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Dec 20, 2017 18:11
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Alright, last rant about Munich, I swear...just wanted to run another thing by everyone. My wife and I went to Hofbrahaus two days ago and sat at a table, asked if the waitress spoke english, she said no, I asked for english menus, she said no, so we made out the best we could and ordered two beers. We tried to get a pretzel, and she motioned that a lady would come by with them. We went to pay with credit card, and the lady said they don't accept credit, so we had to pay with a pin. The next day, we went to Nuremberg, ended up finding an irish bar and were talking to a Turkish waitress whom spoke perfect english and when we told her about what happened she said, 'yeah, sorry, but some Germans are just assholes', and also that most places should take credit, and she took our credit card, no pin, no problem. We went back to the Hofbrahaus today and had a waiter who spoke some English, offered english menus without us even asking, and then had zero problem taking my credit card without a pin...he just asked that I come to the credit card machine with him to ensure I saw him enter the proper amount (and I did tip him a bit). So...what the gently caress? I'm thinking this earlier girl was not just misunderstanding me, because if you've been working at the Hofbrahaus for any amount of time, you have to have a decent idea that Americans and english speaking people come in there, and you should definitely have some inkling that your own restaurant has english menus and you take credit cards from americans. I dunno-I'm just pretty pissed off at this chick and am just thinking she's a bitch at this point. Add to that, we ended up getting some food the second time, which wasn't great, so that didn't help. We later went to Hofbrauhaus Keller, had a great waiter that spoke English, was kind, accepted our credit card without hesitation, we tipped him excellently, and the food was loving amazing, so I'm starting to think that Hofbrauhaus is just a lovely restaurant relying on their name to get business in the door (which they excel at, because it was loving packed).
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Dec 20, 2017 19:38
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nwiniwn posted:so I'm starting to think that Hofbrauhaus is just a lovely restaurant relying on their name to get business in the door
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Dec 20, 2017 19:50
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Sounds like you just got a bad waitress, I'd expect somewhere as touristy as the Hofbrauhaus to have a requirement of at least basic English for its waiting staff (and they do have English menus as you found out later).
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Dec 20, 2017 20:26
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She appears to have failed to disguise the contempt for Americans we all feel, sorry to hear that
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Dec 20, 2017 21:30
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Ras Het posted:She appears to have failed to disguise the contempt for Americans we all feel, sorry to hear that Yeah, I completely understand some people's dislike for America, but it's not the best route to take if you're in the service industry in a country where a large amount of your tourism revenue comes from Americans.
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Dec 20, 2017 21:32
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Vaguely recall people in this thread strongly advising against going to the Hofbräuhaus...
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Dec 20, 2017 21:38
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Drone posted:Vaguely recall people in this thread strongly advising against going to the Hofbräuhaus... Yeah, like I said-my wife and Mom had good experiences years ago and it was a good try to go for it, but we won’t be back. I’ve had other great experiences here, so that’s been nice at least. Though it was weird being started at by a bunch of white people while my wife and I used chopsticks for pho the other night.
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Dec 20, 2017 21:45
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Yeah any touristy place always has English menus, because they want to sell food to Chinese people and Russians and who learns German as a second language these days besides a few Eastern European countries? I feel like even in France and Spain they always have English menus (Italy, much less so). If it’s a restaurant with tons of internatIional visitors it’s possible the waitress doesn’t speak English, but she’ll have to speak some other useful language (French, Spanish, ...) in addition to German. Or, at least in Zurich it’s very much like that. Hell a lot of trendy places for yuppies/hipsters here even give you an English menu even if you walk in speaking Swiss German. Also that was a lot of visits to Hofbrauhaus in three days, especially after bad service the first day.
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Dec 20, 2017 21:54
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At least you didn't go to McDonald's every day
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Dec 20, 2017 21:57
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Saladman posted:Also that was a lot of visits to Hofbrauhaus in three days, especially after bad service the first day. You aren’t kidding. Between those two visits( though at least one didn’t include any food), the two other visits to hofbrauhaus keller, and then another visit to Zin Durnbrau (another brauhaus)...plus the sausages in the Christmas market...I’m good on brats and beer for a bit. Time to see what Prague has to offer tomorrow!
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Dec 20, 2017 21:58
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Saladman posted:Yeah any touristy place always has English menus, because they want to sell food to Chinese people and Russians and who learns German as a second language these days besides a few Eastern European countries? I feel like even in France and Spain they always have English menus (Italy, much less so). If it’s a restaurant with tons of internatIional visitors it’s possible the waitress doesn’t speak English, but she’ll have to speak some other useful language (French, Spanish, ...) in addition to German. Or, at least in Zurich it’s very much like that. Hell a lot of trendy places for yuppies/hipsters here even give you an English menu even if you walk in speaking Swiss German. The best restaurants are almost always the ones with no English menus though. Especially in Italy if I see a sign saying "ENGLISH MENU AVAILABLE" I run away as fast as possible.
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Dec 20, 2017 22:23
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Why are you so insistent on using your credit card? Cash is king and transactions are so much easier to figure out with VAT, instead of the US's "this $19.99 item is actually $21.24 with tax" bullshit. I lived in northern Italy for 3 years and Munich for 4 months, and I only went to Hofbrau for the food/beer once, when my American mom visited me (she had been there in the 70s). I only ducked into Hofbrau to use their free bathrooms if I needed to piss. If you are going to Salzburg, nwiniwn, I can highly recommend Augustinerbräu - Kloster Mülln, which is a much, much better beer hall experience than Hofbrau. It isn't affiliated at all with the Augustiner in Munich and it is situated in an old abbey.
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Dec 21, 2017 02:00
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WaryWarren posted:Why are you so insistent on using your credit card? Cash is king and transactions are so much easier to figure out with VAT, instead of the US's "this $19.99 item is actually $21.24 with tax" bullshit. I like credit cards because: 1) it’s easy to use with my budgeting, where I can later identify that I spent $xx.xx amount at a restaurant and $xx.xx at a store so I can see where my spending lies instead of taking an amount out of an atm and figuring it out later. 2) mine doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee whereas my debit cards charges 1% for each cash withdrawal. 3) I don’t like carrying cash in case it falls out accidentally or it gets stolen. With a credit card I can just call my company and it’s settled. I have no recourse if I lose cash. 4) if I use credit, I won’t need to deal with exchanging euros at the end of my trip. I’m trying to carry cash for small purchases more and just limit myself to keeping 50 euros on me at a time, so that should be fine. We’ll see how Prague deals with their currency though! Also, thank you for the Augustinerbrau recommendation-you’re the third person to mention that place, so we will definitely be hitting it up in Salzburg!
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Dec 21, 2017 07:59
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HookShot posted:The best restaurants are almost always the ones with no English menus though. Especially in Italy if I see a sign saying "ENGLISH MENU AVAILABLE" I run away as fast as possible. I've been to a rather good restaurant in Paris where there was no English menu and no English speaking waiters. And my French is absolutely awful. We figured it out with google translate and telling the waiter what we wanted by finger pointing at the menu to tell them what we wanted. And the food was delicious. The only unusual thing was when... uh, you know, before your first course is ready many restaurants bring your table a small basket of baguette slices and butter or something? Well, this place brought us a bowl of radishes instead. Just regular red radishes. I mean, I don't dislike those, I was just wondering if that's a common thing in France. Carbon dioxide fucked around with this message at 08:31 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 21, 2017 08:27
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nwiniwn posted:I like credit cards because: "When in Rome..."
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Dec 21, 2017 09:35
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Drone posted:"When in Rome..." I completely hear you-this is my first trip to Europe so it’s a huge adjustment for me, but I’m trying my best to do what I can to adjust! Lesson learned...check the exchange rates before pulling money our of an ATM... Just got to Prague and went to the hotel's ATM. Their listed amounts (in CZK) were: 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, and 12000. I figured that was fairly close to the typical ATM I've seen in Germany and USA, where USA is normally like: $20, 40, 60, 80, 100. So I pulled out 6000, thinking that might seem a little high compared to the exchange rate I googled earlier, but hey, it's on the lower end of the spectrum. Nope-that's $275 bucks USD I just pulled out for the next three days. Looks like you don't have to worry about me bitching about credit cards for this part of the trip! nwin fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 21, 2017 10:11
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Yeah, I feel you. I had the same experience in Prague as well. I tried to break one of my largest bills at the entry to Josefov and was turned away. I ate a large lunch/dinner and drank many beers at some tourist restaurant (V Kolkovně ) and was able to break some bills there.
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Dec 21, 2017 20:30
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WaryWarren posted:Yeah, I feel you. I had the same experience in Prague as well. I tried to break one of my largest bills at the entry to Josefov and was turned away. I ate a large lunch/dinner and drank many beers at some tourist restaurant (V Kolkovně ) and was able to break some bills there. On the plus side-holy poo poo is stuff cheap here!
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Dec 21, 2017 20:39
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