Cash?

[Starport Seven-Five]

One reason I don't see this happening at Disney Parks at all: International Visitors.

No international visitor wants to pay via card and have a transaction fee for using the card in the USA plus the exchange rate.

Counterpoint: There are fees to exchange cash and there are credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire cards are ones I can think of offhand.

 

[starlite_]

Counterpoint: There are fees to exchange cash and there are credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire cards are ones I can think of offhand.

I've been doing this all my life. It's a cheaper rate to exchange it literally anywhere else but a bank. Not everyone has access to those cards. For example, I cannot get any Chase cards and cards with no foreign transaction fees are expensive at my bank.

 

[irlandaise]

Losing a credit card doesn't have to be scary, provided you report it reasonably promptly. You won't be responsible for any fraudulent charges, and don't have to pay them in the interim. Debit cards are a little more risky; there are tight timelines for reporting, and the money is out of your account until the dispute is resolved.

Credit card companies have made that even simpler in recent years; you can go online and lock the card yourself. Then when it turns up in your jeans pocket the next day you can unlock it. Much easier than the old method of having to call the company and they might permanently cancel it and issue a new one.

(I don't have a debit card so I don't know whether you can do the same with those.)

It is interesting that I rarely see the credit card minimums/fees at large businesses. I have a hard time believing a place like Wal-Mart or Target that operates on razor thin margins is taking a hit to their revenue from credit cards.

I think it's far more likely that small businesses have not factored in the risks/costs of accepting cash. Theft, storage, time spent reconciling drawers, etc. are all real costs and it wouldn't surprise me if small businesses weren't factoring that into the calculation.

I bet you're right. Small business owners can see in black and white what they're paying to credit card companies. Figuring out the value of their time and that of their employees to handle cash is probably something many SB owners don't bother to do.

 

[Moliphino]

Counterpoint: There are fees to exchange cash and there are credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire cards are ones I can think of offhand.

I think all of the Capital One cards have 0% foreign transaction fees. I have a Quicksilver that I used on all international trips: no foreign transaction fee, no annual fees, 1.5% cash back on everything.

 

[Brian Noble]

Many AmEx cards also have no forex fees.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I think all of the Capital One cards have 0% foreign transaction fees. I have a Quicksilver that I used on all international trips: no foreign transaction fee, no annual fees, 1.5% cash back on everything.

I got this card recently and I picked it mainly for the no foreign transaction fees. I wanted one without them for Japan next year.

 

[bbeagle]

Enforcing a credit card only policy at a theme park, stadium, county fair, etc. means that none of the vendors are dealing with cash. They can't be robbed of their cash. They won't run out of correct change, won't have to worry about giving change. For someone selling balloons for $15 each, they aren't holding big wads of cash in their pocket.

 

[pindecisive]

I remember the days of loading up on traveler's cheques to our Disney trips!! When those became a relic, the thought of carrying all that cash on vacation was a problem - so we absolutely moved more to the cashless tech as quickly as we could. But that's just us - not for everyone.

We went to Europe this summer, two different countries. Never exchanged for a single euro or lira. Even sellers at the Turkish pazar are taking credit cards these days.

No international visitor wants to pay via card and have a transaction fee for using the card in the USA plus the exchange rate.

I pay for everything with a no-foreign exchange fee card. Anyone who travels internationally regularly is likely going to have the same thing.

 

[pindecisive]

No lie. Took the kid to a Pokémon store tonight, went to pay with a visa gift card, credit card machine was down.

Theft and loss have become so common these days that being able to touch items or walk down an aisle will likely become obsolete. I can easily see walking up and ordering via tablet, paying, with a vending system delivery of the items you purchased.

for the record, probably 95% of the transactions i make, are debit.

Security wise it's not a good plan to pay for things with your debit card. Credit cards offer better fraud protections, so if you have the opportunity to switch to using a credit card for daily purchases, I would.

 

[fla4fun]

Theft and loss have become so common these days that being able to touch items or walk down an aisle will likely become obsolete. I can easily see walking up and ordering via tablet, paying, with a vending system delivery of the items you purchased.

Reading this I was reminded of how Service Merchandise stores were set up when they first opened. As a kid, I loved watching our stuff come out on the conveyor belt. Now though, I bet instead of hand writing the info for what you wanted on a piece of paper we would all be scanning QR codes.

 

[starlite_]

I pay for everything with a no-foreign exchange fee card. Anyone who travels internationally regularly is likely going to have the same thing.

Again. I am talking about international visitors TO USA. Not USAmericans traveling elsewhere.

 

[pindecisive]

Again. I am talking about international visitors TO USA. Not USAmericans traveling elsewhere.

What makes you think no countries outside of the US have no foreign transaction fees for their American Express or Visa cards?

 

[imbelle]

We were just in Greece and Turkey last month and were surprised at how many venues (shops, taxis, etc) were not accepting charge cards, ONLY cash. I actually had to make cash withdraws at ATMs a few times to supplement the euros and Turkish liras that I had brought with me.

 

[pindecisive]

We were just in Greece and Turkey last month and were surprised at how many venues (shops, taxis, etc) were not accepting charge cards, ONLY cash. I actually had to make cash withdraws at ATMs a few times to supplement the euros and Turkish liras that I had brought with me.

I'm very surprised this was your experience and curious what parts of Greece and Turkey you were in?

Çeşme accepted cards everywhere we went and even many vendors at the Alaçatı Bazar accepted it which really surprised me. Athens and Santorini? Same thing.

We did get asked to pay the cab driver in cash on Santorini, but we pushed back and they charged it to our room. We used UberTaxi for everything else so charges went under the card on file.

 

[imbelle]

I'm very surprised this was your experience and curious what parts of Greece and Turkey you were in?

Çeşme accepted cards everywhere we went and even many vendors at the Alaçatı Bazar accepted it which really surprised me. Athens and Santorini? Same thing.

We did get asked to pay the cab driver in cash on Santorini, but we pushed back and they charged it to our room. We used UberTaxi for everything else so charges went under the card on file.

Athens, Rhodes, Paros, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini, Bodrum. We used taxis at all of the ports and without fail they all insisted on cash. We did do some venturing outside of the tourist areas but even in the main drags, some of the shops were taking cash only. I was surprised too. Maybe some of them would have relented if I'd been pushy about it but I wasn't sufficiently motivated to fight battles on my vacation.

 

[maltdizzy]

Again. I am talking about international visitors TO USA. Not USAmericans traveling elsewhere.

You’ll find most foreign tourists at WDW only exchange a small amount of cash for incidentals. just read through the forums here and many ask about the bare minimum they need for tips, etc. The rest goes on cards, usually AmEx (offered worldwide despite the name), which offer the actual current exchange rate. Every tourist guide in the world recommends using cards over exchanging cash. Exchange rates are horrible on cash because there is always a profit margin plus buffer for rate fluctuation.

But international travel will never be entirely cashless. Right now I am happy WDW accepts cash, the cashless parks closer to home are sometimes a hassle.

 

[Brian Noble]

Speaking of which, I imagine I'm not the only one with a "money bowl"--the odds and ends of various foreign currencies left over from past trips, "just in case we go back".

I mean, we will probably use the euros, we will definitely go back to Mexico, and Canada is just over an hour away by car. But, I probably still have some demonetized rupees in there. I suspect there are even some pre-euro coins from various countries.

 

[Moliphino]

Speaking of which, I imagine I'm not the only one with a "money bowl"--the odds and ends of various foreign currencies left over from past trips, "just in case we go back".

I mean, we will probably use the euros, we will definitely go back to Mexico, and Canada is just over an hour away by car. But, I probably still have some demonetized rupees in there. I suspect there are even some pre-euro coins from various countries.

I might be pulling some Swiss francs out of my scrapbook for my college study abroad trip from 2007 for my trip next month. I've got over 10 francs in there!

 

[Brian Noble]

I confess that I keep the Swedish kroner primarily as an excuse to go back. Heja Sverige!

 

[Disneychick75]

My husband likes to use cash. Hope WDW keeps allowing it.