Pay by cash or card in Amsterdam ?

[HomerDancing]

Hi

We are going to Amsterdam in a month or so. Do people still exchange money before they go aboard and take cash, or do they pay by their debit/credit card when they are there ?

I don’t travel a lot and the last time I travelled I exchanged before I went and took the cash.

Thanks

Ive got a Halifax clarity card which has great rates for abroad so just use that. But ive found in Amsterdam they only issue 50 euro notes which is annoying so when i go there in particular I take some euros in 10s and 20s

There is a growing movement in the Netherlands for contactless and on my last visit some places would only take cards. So be prepared to use both, and take small value euro notes.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/?&_ga=2.45969700.1410529200.1557063790-1865257848.1549448013#rule7 debit cards can have high charges abroad

It’s complicated. Supermarkets (and many other shops) do not accept credit cards. Pin or contactless debit card is preferred to cash, but many shops will not accept the high value notes (100, 200, 500)
Cash is not accepted on public transport. Ideally you need a mix of small denomination notes and a debit card.

Thanks all

If you've time try to get a Santander zero card. It's no fee on foreign transactions. Always pay in euro though as the exchange rate if you pay in pounds is abismal.

Albert Heijn or Aldi supermarkets in the Netherlands won’t accept any of our UK debit or credit cards. Always have to pay in cash, which caught us out the first year since we never use cash in the UK.
Jumbo supermarket will take our credit cards.
Definitely need to have enough cash to fall back on.

Thank you

The only cards accepted everywhere are Maestro it's what the Dutch call 'PIN'.

The cash points issue €50s as default, BUT if you choose 'enter other amount' (instead of picking one of the default options) some banks will allow you to choose to receive your cash in €10s and €20s. That's certainly the case for ABN AMRO (green/yellow cashpoints).

and no 1 and 2 cent coins.
if you pay cash it will be rounded to the nearest 5 cent

we've been twice and never had a problem with our bank card, or credit cards, even got a Revolut topup type card and used that.

We usually get some small denomination notes before we go, for quick coffees or using for market stalls, but meals and any other stuff is always cards.

DH has something called a Revolut here. He works in the financial sector and says it's the best way to pay for stuff when travelling. You can transfer money onto it electronically so if it goes missing only so much goes and you can choose to use local currency which he does I think which is good for exchange rates?

Sorry I don't understand it very well but he knows his onions and this is what we use when we go away.