FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - USA EMV cards: Availability, Q&A (Chip & PIN -or- Chip & Signature) [2012-2015]
Old Mar 31, 2014, 7:49 am
  #3798  
othermike27
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: ORDwest
Posts: 332
Originally Posted by Dragonbelle
From what I've read, rivaling chip-and-PIN as a travel challenge is having exact change in cash. As majuki experienced in Germany, if you request, say, 100 euros from an ATM, you're likely as not to get a single 100-euro note. Which nobody wants to change or accept as payment.

<snip>

Makes me wonder what I'll be in for next year in Paris.
Well, my limited experience says you'll wind up with some €100 and €50 notes from whatever ATM you hit, and that many merchants will look unhappy if you wave a €50 or even a €20 at them. As others suggested, most seem to prefer a payment that requires the least amount of change from them. I try to arrange my purchases with this in mind where possible, and to go out of my way to break larger bills at hotel desks or other places on the tourist main stem that are more accommodating.

A good tip (from Rick Steves' guidebooks) is to draw an "odd" amount, forcing the ATM to give you at least a few small bills. For example, my bank lets me draw a maximum of $500 per day per card. Also, most ATMs seem to want to dispense amounts that are multiples of €20. So, if the exchange rate is €1 = $1.35, I can draw 500/1.35 ~ €370 at a time. Round down to nearest 20-multiple (or up, depending on the bank's leniency with the exchange rate), and ask the ATM for €360. You'll at least get €60 in smaller notes to work with until you get back to your hotel.

Or, since you are in Paris, just eat at nice restaurants, which should help you work down any surplus of large notes you might have. I recommend the Cafe de la Paix, right across from Opera Garnier. You can dine sumptuously, imagine yourself hobnobbing with the famous great thinkers and literary persons who used to frequent the cafe, and keep an eye out for the phantom across the street. And you may be sure that your stack of €100's will soon be reduced to a more manageable size, n'est-ce pas?
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