In a pinch will taxi drivers and others accept euros in Prague? I know local currency is always best, but sometimes it is difficult.
Thanks.
I was referring to giving him the euros for the fare and the tip and not expecting change. We are having a driver pick us up from the airport and taking us to the hotel. After 18 hours in airports and in the air, I'm not sure if I will be thinking ahead to pick up local currency at an airport ATM. I assume the driver, who has been prepaid, will be expecting a tip.
Sorry. I should have been more specific.
Make this easy on yourself - my recollection of Prague airport is that you cannot avoid passing bank-owned ATMs before going out the main door, either to hail a cab or to get on the bus that goes to the Metro.
The bank ATM's are there , I think they were to the right of the exit , but you won't have to go far to find them .
Sue, you are in Aurora, Colorado. There are branches of Wells Fargo all over. Any branch will sell you any amount of Czech Koruna. They charge about 14% over the Interbank exchange rate, but for a small amount to get you started, so you won't have to find an ATM right away, it's worth it.
In 2012 I went from a town on the German-Czech border to Prague. The ticket, on Czech Rail, was 273 Kc or about $14. I went to Wells Fargo and got 400 Kc, just to have enough. It cost me $20 and I paid $2,80 for the exchange rate.
I have about 900 Kc ($50) left over from that trip. Come to a Denver travel group meeting (not July, I'll be out of town) and I'll sell you some.
When flying to anywhere, I usually have my instructions for how I plan to get downtown, and the name/address/phone/booking confirmation for my hotel, and those instructions also remind me to "stop at cash machine." If the plan fails and the driver won't take euros, then the hotel would probably exchange them, again not at the bank rate.
Keep in mind that if you pay someone in currency that is not their own, THEY have to take the time to go and exchange it. And THEY have to pay the significant costs/fees for changing money. And THEY won't be all that aware of what the exchange rates are, so how will they know how much to charge?
And so while sometimes you'll find merchants/vendors that will take foreign currency, you pay a HUGE markup doing so. And rightly so.