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Holidays
Cash or chip and pin for Berlin?
Crabonastick · 03/02/2020 16:00
Hey.
Just wondering if chip and pin is widely used in Berlin? I hate faffing around with cash and was hoping to get away with just using my card
I’m planning to use my Monzo card which says that as long as the place accepts MasterCard then it is fine but is chip and pin widely used in Berlin?
I never carry cash ever!
reluctantbrit · 03/02/2020 21:35
Germany is still a very cash oriented country and smaller shops only accept EC cards, not credit cards for payment.
In pure tourist areas and big chain shops you should be fine but in general always keep some cash handy.
Mentounasc · 03/02/2020 21:58
Reluctantbrit (great name!) is right - Berlin is still very cash based, although vastly better than 20 years ago. Lots of shops do have machines, but people tend to use debit cards to pay rather than credit cards. German Visacards still use a signature rather than chip and pin, for example, which means you're more likely to be asked for ID. Contactless cards only came in fairly recently!
I'd estimate about 80% of restaurants take cards, the ones that don't tend to be at the lower end of the market and cater less for tourists.
I've never heard of your Monza card so can't be sure if it will work with machines here. Is that a debit or credit card? My German debit card is part of the Maestro system and it mostly works in the UK, so I'd hope the opposite is true.
What you absolutely can't use is cheques! There are plenty of holes in the wall though.
Oh - another big difference is that when paying by cash, retailers HATE being given a large note to change and will often ask if you have more specific small change. Paying for something costing 5 euros with a 20 will lead to lots of dramatic sighing and desperate scrabbling in the cash till. There seems to be a national absence of small change. Berlin retailers find their customers a PITA and aren't afraid to show it, so don't take it personally. Things might be a bit better (if less authentic) at touristy venues.
Mentounasc · 03/02/2020 22:00
Oh, and lots of places refuse to take debit cards for transactions of less than 10 euros, even if they state cards welcome. So you WILL need cash for smaller everyday items.
username58788 · 03/02/2020 22:07
I took cash but for meals out and shops used card so in my experience it was the same as home but I'd always use cash for small amounts less than £10 or in small shops .
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 04/02/2020 06:49
Card is ok in big shops, but even smaller restaurants may prefer cash.
German retailers don't get scared of big notes (I mean paying your 48Euro bill with a 50 note, not a 12euro bill with a 50E...)
BarbaraofSeville · 04/02/2020 08:33
Be aware that Monzo charge if you withdraw more than £200 in cash within a month, so you might have to take steps to reduce extra charges.
Obviously pay for as much as possible on card, but if you do need to use cash, if it's a fixed fee per withdrawal once you go over the £200, then take out one larger withdrawal, rather than lots of smaller ones.
Crabonastick · 04/02/2020 09:08
Thanks everyone! I don’t typically withdraw on card and am only going away for the weekend so will be fine and within the fees for withdrawal limit.
Monzo is a debit card so hopefully should be ok where they accept card
Does anyone have any suggestions for things to do? I haven’t had much of a chance to look the area up!
HunnyMummy1993 · 04/02/2020 09:24
I went a few months ago, and it is definitely better across a lot of Germany than it was 3 years ago for taking cards.
I used monzo, mainly on applepay and we had no issues with it. Though we did also take a wodge of cash too, after previous experiences. So that would be my recommendation, take monzo, but also take some cash.
Berlin is great. We mainly wandered along the line of the wall, taking in the sights. I’m told a boat trip is good though. But it was too hot when we were there and we couldn’t be fadged with it at the time.
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 04/02/2020 09:56
The view from the Victory Column in Tiergarten is amazing.
We got a ticket for one of the hop on, hop off buses and got off whenever we saw something we fancied. We found the Memorial garden for the Berlin wall fascinating. We weren't overly impressed with Checkpoint Charlie museum- it was very interesting, but had too much information crammed in.
One thing to be aware off- check the opening days for things before you go. Many places sti have a closing day (sometimes Monday not Sunday in Berlin, but we struggled to find an open restaurant on the Sunday evening)
dancingfeathers · 04/02/2020 10:08
Cash. We hardly found any shops that took cards when we went to the former East German/Polish parts of Germany last year.
CornishPorsche · 04/02/2020 10:10
I used a mix of both in Berlin last June, as you'll need cash for a bottle of water, metro tickets, taxis, whatever.
katzenellenbogen · 04/02/2020 10:25
A lot of restaurants only take cash. The ticket machines on the station platforms tend not to like cards - always keep some loose change for buying train tickets.
My daughter and son in law took me out for dinner last year but both of them thought that the other had got some cash out. We scrabbled together all the cash we had between the three of us and came up 1 euro short. They were very kind and let us off, saving someone a 20 minute walk to the nearest cashpoint. I did go back the next day with the outstanding euro and a tip.
username58788 · 05/02/2020 21:04
You must go up the tv tower Fernsehturm. Great views .
We walked loads to see checkpoint Charlie , the wall , Jewish memorial etc loads to see . It's a really interesting place .
Cyberve · 09/02/2020 17:52
I loved Berlin. People thought we were weird going there, but they just lack a bit of imagination I think.
There is a balloon thing you can go in near checkpoint Charlie that is cool. Although if you don't like heights I don't recommend it. 
Shopgirl1 · 09/02/2020 17:59
I go to Germany about twice a month and these days use card a lot, even contactless in shops, but for smaller transactions and places like cafes you still need cash. And sometimes even supermarkets will only take an EC card and not visa or MasterCard.
Best to take some cash but you will be able to use your card also.
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