Dollars Accepted??

You have posted this question 5x.

And to all your questions, no. Would an American tour guide in the US accept Euro as a tip? no.

You should tip in the local currency, IF tipping is appropriate.

I posted it 5 x because I was asking about 5 different countries. Sorry to be a nuisance.

Don't bother bringing any American ( well some folks bring 100 bucks as an emergency stash but I just bring a few euros to start and then use ATMs to withdraw euros as I go )

To anyone in a country that uses a currency other than USD, any USD is worth about as much as Monopoly money. Why? They can't spend it. Banks would charge 10 - 15% to exchange it. It might make a good souvenir for them to hang on the wall.

You will have local money with you right? Just use that.

You have posted it 5 times because you are going to 5 different countries? No matter where in the world you go, 5 countries or 25 countries, use the currency of the country you are in. In America, if you offer any foreign currency you are treated with disdain, not to say disrespect. The local currency is available at ATMs everywhere.

suekay3, in the old, post-WWII - pre '80s days, when each country in Europe had their own currency, and it was flooded with US soldiers, US dollars were widely accepted as a easily tradable currency. That hasn't been true in a long time, yet the idea still persists among people who travelled back then. And they like to pass that bad advice on to others. Nowadays, it would be a burden on whoever accepts them, to find a place to exchange them for local currency, at a huge discount. Its not like Carribean and Mexican resorts and port areas, where the majority of tourist business is done in US dollars. It would be exactly as if someone handed you a bunch of Guatemalen Quetzales and expected you to know what they were worth, and thank you for the extra time and work it will take to turn them into useful money.

I know that you're visiting several countries and I'm guessing on a cruise. However, I've deleted a couple of the repeat posts, on the assumption that the answers above will cover it. See more money tips at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-tips and related articles linked from that page.

Suekay3, thanks for coming and asking a fair question on the forum. So very sorry for some of the abrupt responses you have received. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Actually, if your guide happens to be American, they may very well be happy to accept your dollars as a tip. They can use them when they visit family in the US.

you do know that you don't actually have to tip them.

You don't have to tip anyone at all in any industry, but it is often a nice thing to do if service was exceptional.

If I were a tour guide and hoped for a 10 euro tip, then I'd be delighted to get a 100 dollar tip. But not so happy with a 10 dollar one because of the exchange rate and conversion cost of turning dollars into "real money".

If you're taking tours usually taken by cruise ship passengers, then they may well be used to getting tips in dollars and not mind.

Although, as already noted, I am not sure you really need to leave a tip at all (though I do).

We landed in Budapest for a river cruise for our first trip in Europe about 4 years ago and only had dollars. The first day all I had was dollars as we didn't find a cash station readily. I couldn't even pay for a public toilet (usually .50 Euro). I saw a Hyatt and knew that they had a toilet in the lobby usually, so I just went in like I knew what I was doing and used that.
But to your question, no if you want to tip drivers or guides ( and on river cruises the company gives you suggestions, but I find this completely rediculous.. (however, a Canadian couple really chastised me for even suggesting one should not take the riverboat company's suggestions serious).. If you are indeed on a river boat and don't think you'll make any small purchases while in a port, then you can probably get some Euro from the boat reception desk for your dollars... don't expect a great exchange rate. But go to a cash station (prefer connected to a bank). Ask the hotel or riverboat for closest... get a small amount ..100 Euro and then ask the reception for small money.

For Nick--Since you are a real-life guide, can you give more insight.
I'm curious about your experiences because Cartegena, Spain (wonderful Roman amphitheater) is on so many cruise itineraries. Do the cruisers remember to tip? What currency do non-Europeans use mainly? Does it seem rude to be given dollars, as if the client can't bother changing money?

I've tipped in $US--it was a tour offered by a French organization. We arrived in the EU only overnight before heading out with the group to Anatolia. The French, Belgians, Luxembourgeois, even the Swiss tipped in euros, we in dollars, no one in Turkish lire. It was a large chunk-a-change for a two-week tour, but neither the bus driver, nor the local guide seemed upset. In fact, when I accidentally over-tipped the bus driver, he made it clear we had become his favorite passengers. But this was Turkey, not the EU, where it could seem paternalistic--or am I overthinking this?

Bets, I'm not a real life guide, I'm afraid, that's why I wrote "if ...". Just idle speculation on my part . It wouldn't be fair for me to give an opinion on your questions as if I were actually a guide.

Ms. Jo is a real life guide. I think her advice is excellent.

Bets, at least in Italy, and I'm sure in other countries is the same, no one depends on tips, and no one it's expecting a tip, so if someone gives them dollars, they are just gracious and thank people... They have no reason to be upset, even if it's completely useless. I used to work with tourists and have a few 5 and 10 dollar bills lying around.

Well, I have about 85 friends/colleagues who are guides and they get dollars as tips all the time when they are doing the river cruise ships. None of them have ever complained to me about this. They either save them up till they have a few 100$ and then convert them or they use them when they go on vacation to the US. Sometimes they sell them to friends/family who are going on vacation. I have done all of the above at one time or another.
Should you use euro to tip? Sure, but if you don't have any coins or small bills, but have dollars it isn't the end of the world to use them as a tip. Pretty sure the guide is happier to have dollars than nothing at all.

We actually met a woman that owned the B&B we were staying in and she wanted all the $'s we had for Euros. She was visiting her daughter in Seattle and wanted $'s. It was a win/win. She gave us a great exchange rate.

That was the only time we ever used $'s. Use currency of the country you are in.

I don't think your questions are stupid at all. I will agree that the dollar has no place in Europe where there are strong currencies, but there are other countries in the world where the dollar is actually a preferred currency. And, when I lived in Europe back in the 80s, in Eastern Europe the US dollar was very well received, but those times have changed.

I'll comment on your question this way. Instead of tipping a tour guide with a US $, you can contribute to a museum container by dropping a US dollar. I have seen that at museums as tips. Obviously, most drop Euro, bills or coin as tips, but there are those who drop a US one dollar bill or a five $ bill. That happens too.

Dollars (newer design bills in good condition) can actually be useful in countries with their own weak currency that are prone to high inflation- lots of times a family can do well if they hold dollars until the exchange rate goes more in their favor and actually make a little more money that way. Not so much in the generally economically stable Euro zone