Spending…. Card or cash?

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

 

Good suggestions, especially about having a backup credit card.   Your post did make me smile.  I just can't remember the last time I left the pump and paid only $30!  haha.  

 

I'm in Northern California.  It has been many years since I've been to any place that didn't accept credit cards.   Big towns, small towns.  Credit cards are widely used.   

It's because I meant to type $50. The problem with  having to enter Zip Codes is compounded as we don't know what applies at any particular gas station until we get to the pump. One station in McKinney won't take our card at all. All the Walmart stations need the Zip as does the one at DFW airport where we fill up before returning the car. It all adds to the fun like the chaos we have caused doing the school run - yes even that is different to the way it works in the UK. We did bring the whole of the traffic on the road leading up to the school to a standstill right back to the previous stoplight. About a dozen exasperated parents got out of their cars to see what was causing the delay which of course only added added to the problem. 

[iancal]

We are in Canada.   Not sure who sets the tap and go limits...the vendor or the card issuer.   We routinely tap and go for $200. or less.  Seems to me that we have done larger amounts from time to time.

 

We have used very little cash since covid hit. 

 

We travel frequently.  One thing you might consider if it is on offer from a card issuer in the UK is one that does not charge the typical add on hidden admin  fee of 3 percent on FX charges.

 

Chip cards are about the only ones I have seen in Canada for the last ten years,  Perhaps more.  PIN numbers have always been soft coded, ie no need to discard card if you change your PIN.   Tap and go is the rule now, not the exception in most retail and hospitality venues.  Has been for at least 5 years not.

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Plus it’s customary to tip at the bar. Are you going to NYC? Some folks who get cash tips are valets, bellmen, taxi drivers (although most have credit card readers, not sure if they are always working), porters at cruise ship piers…

 

On 11/23/2021 at 3:21 PM, Kristal Blade said:

We will be in Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New York first. Then Vancouver and Alaska.

 

OP, the above poster offers good advice in my opinion.  One never knows when one is going to need some cash.  Given where you are visiting, particular New York and Vancouver, take some small denominated bills.  US dollars, for tips, would be accepted in Vancouver, but having a few CAD$5 bills would not be a bad idea.  

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

It's because I meant to type $50. The problem with  having to enter Zip Codes is compounded as we don't know what applies at any particular gas station until we get to the pump. One station in McKinney won't take our card at all. All the Walmart stations need the Zip as does the one at DFW airport where we fill up before returning the car. It all adds to the fun like the chaos we have caused doing the school run - yes even that is different to the way it works in the UK. We did bring the whole of the traffic on the road leading up to the school to a standstill right back to the previous stoplight. About a dozen exasperated parents got out of their cars to see what was causing the delay which of course only added added to the problem. 

 

Gutsy move messing with the school pick up protocols!  😃

[TheOldBear]

After a credit card was compromised, my credit union issued a replacement and I assigned it a PIN.

 

Prompting for the PIN is erratic - never prompted at fast food places, restaurants; often prompted at grocery and auto parts stores.

[Pudgesmom]

Also be aware that in most American restaurants, they will bring you the bill for you to check, you then hand over your card, and they take it with them to process the transaction in the back. Very antiquated- yes, but we aren’t transitioning as fast as Europe!

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Gutsy move messing with the school pick up protocols!  😃

We didn't know there was a protocol.

Also brought Katz Diner in New York to a halt by throwing away the ticket 🎟 we thought it was just for our place in the line not that we needed it to pay. Cashier refused to take our money until we found the ticket, manager went crazy as the line was blocking the whole restaurant. Cashier stood her ground saying she was doing what he had told her to do. Customers had been sitting at our table found the 🎟 screwed up on the floor, by which time the Manager had charged us $20 and asked us to leave.

Road Signs are also a problem. What on earth does "4 way stop" mean? The stop part is fine but then what happens? Yes we know now.

But the boss (Anita) loves "wrong way" so much better than our equivalent "no entry". Happy Travelling we love it.

[Joebucks]

Same thing I do in everyday life. Buy everything with a card, carry some backup cash just in case I need it. If I might need more, I'll carry more.

[Kristal Blade]

13 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

Also be aware that in most American restaurants, they will bring you the bill for you to check, you then hand over your card, and they take it with them to process the transaction in the back. Very antiquated- yes, but we aren’t transitioning as fast as Europe!

We hate handing over our cards! Been skimmed before so prefer to go with server if card has to go to the card reader, rather than it comes to the card.

 

We do have a card which has no charges for foreign currency.

 

But many thanks again, everyone. Let’s just get ourselves across the Atlantic ASAP!

Libby 

[iancal]

We never hand over our credit cards.  Pay at table with the portable device 90 percent of the time OR I will walk over to the terminal.  We do the same when traveling.

[iancal]

On 11/23/2021 at 1:21 PM, Kristal Blade said:

Hi CC chums,

Hoping for some help from across the Atlantic!

We are cruising next year in Canada and USA. Right now in the U.K. most of our spending is done on our cards by tap and go. No need to enter PIN number up to a value of £100. Is it similar in North America? We have a card which has no fee for international transactions and hoping to use it, but wondered if we need to bring a big wad of cash too. 
 

We will be in Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New York first. Then Vancouver and Alaska.

Thanks for any advice,

Libby

Not certain if financial institutions in the UK offer this.  You might want to have a credit card that does not charge the usual hidden 3 percent add on fee to all FX transactions.  Pre covid we travelled  at least four months a year outside our country.  Having a card saved us a good deal of money.  $700 or so each year,  sometime considerably more depending on where and how we book. 

 

 On our last trip we booked two different last minute AI's while traveling  in Mexico through TUI's UK site!  We have done the same in Europe through TUI.

Edited November 26, 2021 by iancal

[mjkacmom]

18 hours ago, iancal said:

We never hand over our credit cards.  Pay at table with the portable device 90 percent of the time OR I will walk over to the terminal.  We do the same when traveling.

At least where I live in the US, the card is usually taken to an employee only area, in my state we can’t pump our own gas, so you hand him your card before he even starts pumping, the card charger is in a glassed in tiny area with room for one person.

[the penguins]

22 hours ago, iancal said:

Not certain if financial institutions in the UK offer this.  You might want to have a credit card that does not charge the usual hidden 3 percent add on fee to all FX transactions.  Pre covid we travelled  at least four months a year outside our country.  Having a card saved us a good deal of money.  $700 or so each year,  sometime considerably more depending on where and how we book. 

 

 On our last trip we booked two different last minute AI's while traveling  in Mexico through TUI's UK site!  We have done the same in Europe through TUI.

They certainly do. We use Nationwide (no connection to the US insurance company with the same name) we also get our worldwide travel/ medical insurance cover through the same company. Nationwide's travel insurance is excellent and they settled our medical bill at the Marina del Rae Hospital, Los Angeles direct without us having to pay anything upfront. We both had food poisoning and the bill for 2 nights for the two of us was $20,000 - although our American friends say they have settled at a much lower cost.

[the penguins]

3 minutes ago, the penguins said:

They certainly do. We use Nationwide (no connection to the US insurance company with the same name) we also get our worldwide travel/ medical insurance cover through the same company. Nationwide's travel insurance is excellent and they settled our medical bill at the Marina del Rae Hospital, Los Angeles direct without us having to pay anything upfront. We both had food poisoning and the bill for 2 nights for the two of us was $20,000 - although our American friends say they have settled at a much lower cost.

Sorry the last line should have read "the company would have settled at a much lower cost.

[Charles4515]

On 11/25/2021 at 1:35 PM, iancal said:

We never hand over our credit cards.  Pay at table with the portable device 90 percent of the time OR I will walk over to the terminal.  We do the same when traveling.

 

In the USA there are not pay at the table.portable table devices at most restaurants.. And you can't walk over and use a terminal at most restaurants that have table service. The employee takes your card away and uses an employee only terminal with the customers card. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Charles4515

[lissie]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

In the USA there are not pay at the table.portable table devices at most restaurants.. And you can't walk over and use a terminal at most restaurants that have table service. The employee takes your card away and uses an employee only terminal with the customers card. 

Bloody hell really? Glad you mentioned it - because I  am usually quite relaxed on holidays but  I've not let my card out of my sight for years!  This is just a total recipe for fraud 

[iancal]

6 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

In the USA there are not pay at the table.portable table devices at most restaurants.. And you can't walk over and use a terminal at most restaurants that have table service. The employee takes your card away and uses an employee only terminal with the customers card. 

Certain very common in Canada.  I cannot remember the last time that our card was taken away from us at a restaurant or any other business for that matter.  Pin pads everywhere-either remote or hard wired unit at a pay station/counter.

 

  About the only places in the US that we have been in over the past five years is airports....SEA, SFO, and ATL to change flights.

Edited November 27, 2021 by iancal

[wowzz]

8 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

In the USA there are not pay at the table.portable table devices at most restaurants.. And you can't walk over and use a terminal at most restaurants that have table service. The employee takes your card away and uses an employee only terminal with the customers card. 

When even our local pub here in the UK has a hand held terminal,  you do wonder why the US is so behind the times  when it comes to credit card technology.  

Its not as if the terminals are expensive.

[Kristal Blade]

We have a no fee card from Halifax. Still working on holiday insurance as we have a medical issue to get cover for. Also need to renew a passport!

 

And now there is a new variant of Covid. Will the fun never stop?

[Philob]

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

When even our local pub here in the UK has a hand held terminal,  you do wonder why the US is so behind the times  when it comes to credit card technology.  

Its not as if the terminals are expensive.

Your last line. Years ago the US cards were starting to have the chip. The smaller merchants did not want to switch because of the cost of the terminals. The credit card companies even put out an ultimatum that the merchant would be responsible for any fraud charges made on their account if they didn't have the new terminal. 

 

It took a major hack at Target for the merchant's to turn around.  A person entered Target stores saying he was a credit card terminal tech and needed to make some adjustments/maintenance to each terminal.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Philob

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, Philob said:

Your last line. Years ago the US cards were starting to have the chip. The smaller merchants did not want to switch because of the cost of the terminals. The credit card companies even put out an ultimatum that the merchant would be responsible for any fraud charges made on their account if they didn't have the new terminal. 

 

It took a major hack at Target for the merchant's to turn around.  A person entered Target stores saying he was a credit card terminal tech and needed to make some adjustments/maintenance to each terminal.

Obviously I can't speak for the US,  but in the UK you can rent a handheld terminal for less than the equivalent of $20 a month, so hardly a major expense.

[iancal]

24 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Obviously I can't speak for the US,  but in the UK you can rent a handheld terminal for less than the equivalent of $20 a month, so hardly a major expense.

Cost of the hand held terminals???  The cost is minimal.   The cost [pales in comparison to the actually processing fees.

 

  My guess it is the same reason that chip technology took so long.  Back end infrastructure issues and costs at the financial institutions.

[ilikeanswers]

12 hours ago, lissie said:

Bloody hell really? Glad you mentioned it - because I  am usually quite relaxed on holidays but  I've not let my card out of my sight for years!  This is just a total recipe for fraud 

 

I was always raised on the ethos of "never let your card out of your sight" so the first time I paid by card at a USA restaurant I had a freak out when the waitress walked off with my card😬. I thought has my card just got stolen😱 and I tried to follow the waitress which led to confusion and some explaining that help me understand😂. Have to admit I feel more comfortable paying cash at restaurants in the USA so I tend to avoid using card if possible and if I do use card afterwards I'm checking my transaction statements extra carefully. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by ilikeanswers

[wowzz]

31 minutes ago, iancal said:

My guess it is the same reason that chip technology took so long.  Back end infrastructure issues and costs at the financial institutions.

It is strange that virtually every country in the world uses chip and pin technology, and handheld terminals, with the exception of the US. If every other country can adopt modern technology,  why can't the US ?

[mjkacmom]

20 minutes ago, wowzz said:

It is strange that virtually every country in the world uses chip and pin technology, and handheld terminals, with the exception of the US. If every other country can adopt modern technology,  why can't the US ?

Who knows, but it’s a thing. I have a checkbook that still gets used occasionally. I just received a refund from a medical center for overpayment, it’s probably no more than $15, it’s in the form of a debit card I need to activate. So annoying, I’d rather get a check.