Annie Gaby
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances (April 2016)
What is the best way to pay for food, lodging, etc.? Cash, credit card, pre-paid travel card?
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Hy Annie , cash is the best way to pay for it all.What is the best way to pay for food, lodging, etc.? Cash, credit card, pre-paid travel card?
Thanks very much, Peter! Are there ATMs in most of the towns?Hy Annie , cash is the best way to pay for it all.
Thanks Anniesantiago!Cash.
In the bigger villages are atm's , my wife walked in 2013 the french camino and she had always about 200 euro's in cash with here.Thanks very much, Peter! Are there ATMs in most of the towns?
That is one thing I don't think the Brierley guide will do for you. It has not included ATM stops. On the other hand, it does show water fountains!!your guide should warn you about longer stretches without them
I know this topic has been discussed many times, and I'm pretty sure I understand it, but just want to make sure. All of the recommendations about using cash are based on the underlying premise that credit cards are not widely accepted, correct? I was taught by wise people here that if I can use my credit card (assuming I have a "no international fees" card, which I do), I would always do better on the card than by using cash drawn from an ATM. Am I wrong about that?
If not, then I would only add that in my recent experience, credit cards are becoming much more widely accepted in small towns in Spain. I have used my Visa card frequently on many untraveled caminos, in many small places, and can only remember one time where I was running out of money and couldn't find either an ATM or use a credit card. I do understand that the costs to the merchants are higher if you use a CC, which may be a reason to go for cash, but if you're talking purely in terms of what's best for you, my impression had always been that a CC was better.
Hoping someone will correct me if I'm wrong! Thanks, Laurie
No, the cash thing is more subtle, it is because you will be travelling through poor areas where cash is the generally accepted form of payment. True, many bars and cafes will take plastic but cash is the way to go - remember, poor areas, people struggling .... a cash transaction isn't always entered into the ledgers of the business!
Cash is like this - and you can't do this with plastic! - You pay 20 euros in the bar, the bar owner gives 20 euros to the woman who delivers onions, she give the twenty euros to the man who fills her truck with fuel, he gives the twenty euros to his wife to buy food from the local shop, the local shop owner gives the 20 euros to his son for violin lessons, the violin teacher takes the 20 euros and as it is her anniversary takes her husband out to the same bar for a meal that evening. She gives the 20 euros to the cafe owner so the 20 euros is back where you left it and everyone is paid.
And that is why handing over cash in poor areas is so much better than using plastic!!
Buen Camino
There are plenty of good reasons why pilgrims paying cash might be preferred, but I don't think assisting traders participate in a black market economy and avoid legitimately imposed taxes, etc by conducting off-ledger transactions should be one of them.True, many bars and cafes will take plastic but cash is the way to go - remember, poor areas, people struggling .... a cash transaction isn't always entered into the ledgers of the business!
What I had learned here earlier, speaking exclusively in terms of the person buying the goods/services, is that the exchange rate is better on the CC than on the ATM.
... think of contactless card payments ... no profit to the banks, so why are they doing it? No rich corporation does something for nothing .. so ask yourselves why ...
Very wise! When we lived in Spain we were caught in a clever fraud. A matching, discrete metal plate was put over the cash outlet. It caught the cash out of sight. When the customer has scratched his head - and found the bank shut - the thieves return to the ATM, remove the metal plate, take your money, replace the metal plate and wait just out of sight for the next customer. I lost €100 like that. Fortunately the bank [Santander] refunded it the next week.Maybe I am coming over as paranoid here, but I chose to never use an ATM outside a bank unless the bank was open. If your card for inexplicable reasons was 'swallowed' you could then go into the bank and have it retrieved. annelise
There have been a couple of perniticky and pedantic responses to this thread re cash and taxes - now, everyone is entitled to their opinion (and that includes me you know) .. but, this cash thing....
It is not for anyone on this forum (or on Camino) to police the Camino or the people who live in those villages and towns, it is not for us to judge whether someone pays their taxes or not, nor is it our role to decide which taxes (if any) are just and fair. We are pilgrims, passing through a landscape already inhabited by other people, people who actually live there - we are travellers, temporary guests ... the old adage of "when in Rome" comes to mind ... it is like this - there are the global owners, the banks, the corporations, the politicians who dance to their tune ... they are doing everything possible to remove cash from all economies .. think of contactless card payments ... no profit to the banks, so why are they doing it? No rich corporation does something for nothing .. so ask yourselves why ...
The thing about humans is that cash works really well, because it is merely pieces of paper that can be used to allow village life and lives to flow. Throughout the world, where you find real humans in real human relationships you will find cash ( or/and barter), not cards.
We are temporary visitors; I say let cash flow, like blood through arteries ... enough of the small-minded traffic warden mindset and the pedantic-ness - all is well - the beautiful rain falls on the just and the unjust equally - it is nor for us to judge .. so many pilgrims each year, we are the rain in their time of drought, don't you think?
Buen Camino
@David, it always amuses me when you have one of your rants, and when I look for the things you claim or infer have been said are not to be found in the thread. Railing against a suggestion that I or someone else has suggested that pilgrims should 'police the Camino' is, frankly, just fanciful. It just didn't happen.There have been a couple of perniticky and pedantic responses to this thread re cash and taxes - now, everyone is entitled to their opinion (and that includes me you know) .. but, this cash thing....
It is not for anyone on this forum (or on Camino) to police the Camino or the people who live in those villages and towns, it is not for us to judge whether someone pays their taxes or not, nor is it our role to decide which taxes (if any) are just and fair. We are pilgrims, passing through a landscape already inhabited by other people, people who actually live there - we are travellers, temporary guests ... the old adage of "when in Rome" comes to mind ... it is like this - there are the global owners, the banks, the corporations, the politicians who dance to their tune ... they are doing everything possible to remove cash from all economies .. think of contactless card payments ... no profit to the banks, so why are they doing it? No rich corporation does something for nothing .. so ask yourselves why ...
The thing about humans is that cash works really well, because it is merely pieces of paper that can be used to allow village life and lives to flow. Throughout the world, where you find real humans in real human relationships you will find cash ( or/and barter), not cards.
We are temporary visitors; I say let cash flow, like blood through arteries ... enough of the small-minded traffic warden mindset and the pedantic-ness - all is well - the beautiful rain falls on the just and the unjust equally - it is nor for us to judge .. so many pilgrims each year, we are the rain in their time of drought, don't you think?
Buen Camino
I do exactly as Al. Well, I may take 400 Euros, but I am probably better funded than he is...Everyone has a preference. What works for me is cash. When getting below 100 I go to an ATM and withdraw 300.
I shudder at the very thought!To obtain this excess someone would have to strip me naked and walk off with everything!
What a beautiful day it was today ....
Owners and merchants who prefer cash to credit cards may not only be interested in making a bit more by not having to pay the credit card company, but paying in cash will often make the transaction "disappear" for purposes of paying taxes on it to the government. So that makes it a little less clear to me. Buen camino, Laurie
... Welcome to Spain, which is not your home country. Do as the Romans: Adjust to real life.
I suspect most small businesses operate within the law, attempt to minimise their cost, but don't try and illegally avoid their taxes. But I still see the occasional open till drawer, ringing up of a 'no sale' or change provided from a small cash supply kept by the till. I think it would be naive to expect those transactions to reach the ledger! It happens here in Australia, it happens in Spain, and it has happened to me in the UK. I think it is a fact of life that some small traders will do these things.And NOT because it is used by the vendor as a method (Heaven forfend, dougfitz!) of avoiding taxes etc!
That is one thing I don't think the Brierley guide will do for you. It has not included ATM stops. On the other hand, it does show water fountains!!
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I've never heard of a credit card in the US not having a PIN ever and I've lived here all my life. ?!?!? More than likely, many do not know what they have or are not familiar with banking in general.Looking at the replies and noting all the philosophy being expressed, I think it might be simpler.
This is just a business transaction so handle it as such.
1) Always keep 300 euros or so, so that you can pay in cash in case it's easier for you or the vendor doesn't want or strongly prefers (i.e. with a discount) to not take credit cards. If you can, replenish this in larger amounts (to avoid ATM charges) of smaller bills to make it easier to exchange.
2) If the vendor says they take credit cards, it never hurts to ask whether that is their preference or whether they discount for cash.
2) If you have a credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees that will usually be the cheapest (again if the establishment takes credit to begin with)
3) If you have a credit card that charges a transaction fee then it depends on whether the fee 1-4% is worse than taking out cash at the ATM and paying the ATM fees (unless these are reimbursed).
4) Also, if there is any doubt about the services to be received, a credit card is usually a better option in case there is a dispute.
Side note: Not having a credit card with a PIN (like we in the backward US have) complicates it a bit.
Credit cards are a tool that can be used or not used as the situation dictates. You use whatever is easier at the time of the transaction.
The answer is keep a cash reserve at x Euros and then use the credit card based on what the lowest cost to you is.
Staying off topic with bystander. we have just experienced the "Pre Christmas Black Pub Days" where people who don't use the pubs go in in groups for their once a year event. They order drinks one a a time, ask for drinks that are not available, ask for the Guinness last, then add food (with delays while they ask each person what they want) and coffees, and finally flourish the dreaded card. All of this to the chagrin of the bar staff and the other dehydrating customers. Rant over, carry on as normal.
When I come to the US during the winter, I am amazed at watching everyone living their life on cards that they should be paying for their purchases/balance each next month (or longer, huh) and that sounds very dangerous to me. In my humble opinion using a card to purchase a cup of coffee at Starbuck's or a hamburger at McDonald's is just insane.
So my question to my friends always ends up, who has the better economy? Do the Europeans who are living within their means or the Americans who living a month in advance by using plastic?
- the beautiful rain falls on the just and the unjust equally -