To cash or not to cash

Having a bit of the local currancy is like insurance. You might never need it, but if you do......

Let's be realistic. Technology is great when it works as it is supposed to work. And it does most of the time.
It's the time(s) it doesn't that can put one in a bind.

We've had ATMs not work in a particular location, but work in another a bit later. Credit cards not work at one shop, but work fine at another 20 minutes later. ATMs not have any cash. And credit cards just go "haywire".

Why doesn't technology always work? The technical term is "GOK" -- God Only Knows! I certainly don't.

I don't even go out and about in my home town without cash in hand. Local super market had a malfunction and only a few of us had cash to pay for our food.

It might happen one day, but so far cash has never been refused.

Call me a Luddite if you will (been called a lot worse), but I just will not rely 100% on technology.

Cash, at least having some, is a good idea. In Poland on our current trip, we needed cash to pay our driver to reach our Auschwitz tour - he didn’t take cards.

We were able to tip our exceptional waitress (she’s from from Ukraine) tonight using our VISA card, but had thought we’d need to hit an ATM for some cash. We may still want some cash over the next 2+ weeks in Poland, although after that, in London, maybe not so much.

By the way, at the Underground Museum in Krakow last week, displays showed lots of coins from centuries ago, unearthed during remodelling of the Cloth Hall in the main square. The museum said the coins didn’t have a particular face value, but were worth whatever actual silver was in the coin. Imagine carrying a scale with you now, in addition to the money, to determine just how much you really had!

So this author says people were unable to use Ubers when the power went out in Spain, but he could use Uber because he had cash

Really? Uber doesn’t take cash. How did he order an Uber for cash?

@Cyn - you might check out currency exchange desks in Poland - I got an excellent exchange rate last year in Warsaw.

Phred has an advantage by living in Los Angeles, where we have L.A. Currency Exchange - they have multiple locations and generally mark up their exchange rates by 3% or so - makes it easy to have cash on hand before starting your trip.

Ditto.
Those people "stuck" should have known that when the "juice" is out, your cards and phones are useless. I saw more than once in train stations, ie, Wien Hbf and Berlin Hbf the tap function was out of order. What then if no cash ?

Even big restaurants in tourist frequented areas can be cash only, eg. Viktualienmarkt in Munich.

Bottom line: always have an ample amount of cash.

Credit cards are useless to be read by a machine during a power outage/or whatever, but we've had servers simply write our cc number down. We signed a piece of paper and the charges went through when the power was restored. Was that not done?

Agree with Phred.

I always carry cash anywhere I travel. Most often use it for tips.

FYI power snafu recently at my Trader Joe’s. One of the few shoppers to walk out with my groceries in a timely manner as I had the exact amount of cash down to the penny.

Your trip, you decide.

EDIT: guess 3 coins in a fountain isn’t a thing anymore.

More commentary intended to frighten us into carrying cash. It's become quite tedious.

I'd wager I could find a way to survive during a brief power outage without a pocketful of local currency. Bottom line: if you feel more comfortable and confident with cash, then by all means carry cash. But please quit lecturing those of us who have a different perspective.

jphbucks….

Who was lecturing?

I do always have some cash on me as backup, but I would not use the power outage in Spain as an example of why to carry large amounts. Yes, ATMs and Cards were useless, but consider even the taxi issue, you may have gotten a taxi, but then stuck in the gridlock traffic due to the traffic lights not working. (I also do not see how he used Uber)

Add to that, you are not going to get a hotel room with the power down, they may let you into a room, but probably defer payment to when their system is up. Restaurants closed for the most part, they could not prepare food, public transport was ceased (except for some buses), tourist sights shut down,

About the only thing cash was good for was ready to eat items, wine and beer, water and packaged drinks, all of which require little cash.

Just celebrated my 4th anniversary without touching cash. I am simply not seeing this power outage epidemic clearly. If they don’t take cash go elsewhere. They will be out of business soon in any case.

Uber don’t take cash btw.

I am on both sides of the cash/non-cash priority.

I have been in south Italy for two weeks now and have rarely used cash - always ApplePay.. Mostly I want cash for a taxi ride, and I rarely take a taxi.

I do always have some cash in my money belt. I don’t like to arrive in a country without some local cash; I don’t do ATM’s when I am jetlagged. My hotels and B&B’s are paid ahead of time, and I purchase my train tickets on the Trenitalia app - more expensive ones a few months ahead.. Dinners & most gelato has been with Apple Pay.

If there was an issue, I could pay cash for train tickets to Rome to fly home.

jphbucks, I see it as expressing a valid counterpoint to those who promote cash-free as not having any potential drawbacks. Whole countries losing their power might be rare, but certainly computer glitches and just plain card-not-working moments are common, even here at home. If I see something I want, I dont want lack of cash to be a problem. Dont agree?- thats OK, but some people might not think of it.

Maybe it's a fly-over country thing, but I still find businesses here that don't accept cards or charge a discouraging fee to use cards.

I agree with Stan.
It's not an either or situation, more belts and braces.

A month or so ago, just before we set off for the supermarket to do our weekly shop, the TV news flashed up that most major banks/credit cards had suffered a major outage.
As we arrived at the supermarket, people were being advised that it was cash only.
Some people had to abandon their trolleys, some went home, and we did our shopping with cash from my hidden stash!

Over Easter, three major retailers have been hacked - Marks and Spencer is still not doing online shopping and for several days you could not use card or cantactless in store.

All of these outages are infrequent and rare, but when they happen................

" I still find businesses here that don't accept cards or charge a discouraging fee to use cards."

I think it depends where you are. I'm in London at the moment, and I can't think of anywhere I would see here that doesn't accept cards. I have seen several places that are card only.

In Singapore where I live, almost everywhere accept for hawker centres takes card.

We rarely use cash while traveling, or even at home, but we always have at least some on us. We have a stash of Euro leftover from trips, but also have small amounts of other currencies.

Last summer in Norway, we went out to breakfast one morning and their payment system was not working. I did not have any cash at that point, so we went to an ATM and came back. The owner was still fighting with the system, and when we tried to pay, he would not take it.

In Iceland, we have absolutely needed cash on every trip. It may be just one thing on each trip, but necessary. Most toilets are by card, but there are enough around the country that are cash only, usually coins. Some are little cardboard honor boxes. Some hikes ask for cash. One we did had a glass jar at the entrance and a suggested amount. Roadside stands are often cash only. If you are camping, you often times need cash for the laundry and sometimes the showers. Family gifted us some of this currency on our first trip, and we are still using it up. I don't take much with me, but enough that I know will cover us for what we are doing.

...we've had servers simply write our cc number down. We signed a piece of paper and the charges went through when the power was restored.

That requires a higher level of trust than I'd be willing to risk.

Markcw, in the US, restaurants take your cc from you and leave to have it read by their reader. Anything can happen to your number then. If you use it online, it's the same. It's more risky for the shopkeeper to copy a cc than run it through their reader.