Originally Posted by
FindingFoodFluency
Although Saudi Arabia doesn't roll with accepting the greenback, I have to cavil a bit wrt your comment. There are a bunch of countries that regularly accept the dollar, or use it as the national currency. Cambodia, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Zimbabwe I think, North Korea, Marshall Islands, Caribbean countries relying on cruise passengers, some Mexican cities/resorts, and others.
But no, I wouldn't try going to a Dammam supermarket with just a couple of Jacksons in my wallet.
Sure, some establishments in some countries will accept USD. Heck, i imagine some places here in London will do that
And then there are places that run a parallel dollar network for convenience and/or because the national currency is not (generally) convertible, and a grey market develops.
Central and south american countries have developed a deep relationships with US tourism, which inevitably involves some benign hegemony on the currency front, and local traders are happy to benefit from an implied exchange rate that benefits them. Everything is fine, everyone is happy, so long as the tourist is OK accepting the convenience penalty, or (more likely) is unaware he/she is paying over the odds.
My only full experiences of parallel currency has been in Venezuela, though Cambodia and Myanmar came close: but in those places using local cash was still a far more efficient way of getting around. Rides in Phnom Penh were denominated in dollar units or infinitely variable numbers of riel. Employing dollar bills in Yangon meant no change or meagre fistful of kyat with no reference to exchange rates.
So I guess the answer is you CAN pay in USD in some places in most countries, just that it's awkward to do do in many of them, and will almost always cost you more than going through the inconvenience of arranging local currency.