Credit cards

Sounds like it was, overall, pretty smooth. Did your card issuers want to know, ahead of time, that you’d be using your card in France? My credit union, and Chase, no longer need to be advised. when calling to give them a heads-up, it seems that they actually don’t even want to be advised.

Here is one. I went to an ATM in Odesa. You know, you put the card in and you get a language prompt. Ooops, no language prompt. Card sucked into machine (as is normal). No way i can read Ukrainian (actually probably Russian). How the hell do I get my card back? Okay, on a typical American machine, where is the cancel button? Hmmmm, I made my best guess and tapped the screen. Card popped out. Thank G-d! Screen changed and English prompt appeared.

In an Obuda train ticket machine halfway through the instructions changed from English to Hungarian. I made my best guess and bought the most expensive ticket to cover my a$$. Ticket checker on the train rejected my ticket because it contained the right stops but in the reverse order. Nice guy, let me buy another one on the train. Used the first to go back home.

Among the fun of travel. Love it.

Cyn it's funny you mention notification, because I guess I'm old fashioned enough to remember when your card would freeze if you dared to even go outside your home zip code. I called my card companies and there's a default button to push in the robot menu for travel notification, at which time you are told that it is no longer necessary to tell them when you are travelling, that they will figure it out. I could swear I heard the robot mutter "Gramps" under its breath as I hung up.

FWIW I just pulled up my Capital One statement and all the charges are in dollars, no mention of euros so they did some conversion in the back room somewhere. I'm not shilling for Capital One, I just chose them for the trip because no foreign transaction fees and cash back.

I have not bothered to notify my credit cards of travel for years now. If they have a question, they call or text, but the last card that did that was a Lowes Credit Card.

Your statement will always show Dollars, even though the payment was in euros or Pounds Sterling. I did have one card that parenthetically noted the charge in euros in addition, but they no longer do.

Not every restaurant in France brings the card reader to your table. Some hand you your bill and have you settle it at the front counter or bar. Others don't even hand you a bill so you have to go up to the register, tell them your table number or explain what you had, and they'll find the corresponding slip and ring it up. Best to watch those around you as they finish up their meals and see how they pay for it. It varies from restaurant to restaurant.

Sammy that reminds me of one of my restaurant experiences, in Strasbourg. It was a vast empty restaurant and they sat us way, way in the back. They pointed at the barcode on the table, because nowadays that is how one gets menus. When we were done my wife happened to look and said Hey, it says here you also pay via the barcode. So I scanned it and my bill magically appeared, they asked for the details of my credit card (had to enter number, expiration, CVV) and they said OK you're fully paid, you don't need to talk to any servers they know you've paid but if you like you can wave on your way out. Yes this was all in English, I realized afterwards. And no, no one chased me down the street with a cleaver so it really did work.

As a long term France resident, I have to admit I've never seen a restaurant with a barcode on a table one might scan for a menu or for payment. Based on your experience, it's apparent such things exist in certain places. But I wouldn't expect it. I've never seen it. I've seen disposable, single use menus in response to Covid. I've seen frequently-sanitized tablet computers, such as iPads, in response to Covid. But I've never seen a bar code at a table one must scan to see a menu.

That the location you were at provided information in English suggests you were in a spot geared toward tourists, so I suspect that's the difference between your experience and mine. It's a good effort -- to reduce physical contact while facilitating the usual restaurant interaction. But my advice to potential visitors would be to not expect it except in touristic hot spots.

It's the coming thing Sammy. Ate in a resto in Ottawa last night that had a QR code for the menu and for payment.

I believe it was this place, or one similar nearby

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187075-d15660381-Reviews-Le_Tigre-Strasbourg_Bas_Rhin_Grand_Est.html

Unfortunately the menu was quite limited so we ended up ordering a charcuterie plate, which was plenty for two but came with no garnishments (like cornichons or mustard or even bread). The beer was fine.

This place was vast, as we were leaving we noticed that it was now full with many tables each with a dozen guys or so. Is Sunday night boys night out in Strasbourg?

It's the coming thing Sammy. Ate in a resto in Ottawa last night that had a QR code for the menu and for payment.

If you say so. I've never been to Ottawa so I can't comment on that. My last visit to Canada was in the west, in Alberta, on a business trip

All I know is that, based on nearly a decade of experience living in France and traveling to various parts of it, all the while patronizing French restaurants, what was described above as "every restaurant brings a wireless terminal to your table" is simply untrue. It doesn't happen. I can cite lunch at a fairly trendy restaurant in Granville, on the coast of La Manche, a little over a week ago as evidence. And a week before that, a lunch at the coastal town of Agon-Coutainville. And before that, many, many restaurants in Mâcon, Paray le Monial, Lyon, Beaune, Bayeux, Dijon, and elsewhere. That's just in the past few months.

Bottom line: some do. Most don't.

My advice is to watch the other diners around you to see how they pay their bills. When the time comes to pay your bill, you'll know what to do.

We stopped in at a pizza place in Tulsa several months ago, and were presented with a QR code in lieu of a menu. Being both deviceless and clueless, we requested an actual physical menu. The server said "I think there's one around here somewhere," and took off. He returned about 6 or 7 minutes later with a crumpled paper menu. This was evidently a Covid precaution.

There is a reason there is no place on a charge receipt to add a tip - tipping is not done.

Places that have American visitors have gotten savvy and will sometimes offer the option of tipping, because they know we can't help ourselves. In fact I had a lovely conversation one day at lunch with a Frenchman who wanted to talk about ... the culture of tipping in the US.