"No, actually, most people are in official uniforms or display ID that authorizes them to collect fines. They don't need to resort to threats.

I live in a large city in the northeast US and have been to Europe a dozen times, plus lived there for about 2 years. And I can tell you what my reaction would be if a civilian, displaying no official ID, walked up to me and demanded to see my ticket. I would tell them to take a hike. Or maybe I'd ask to see their ticket. Hell, how does anyone know I'm not a ticket inspector?"

And what makes you believe that they had no ID? One of the posters even posted their badge numbers: "I got the badge number for these scary people it is 5219, 5217, 5765."

They don't need to resort to threats in the vast majority of cases since most people accept that the guy with an ID to whom all the others show their tickets when exiting the metro station is a genuine ticket controller. And they think that if you get caught without a valid ticket, you pay the fine. Or maybe you try to argue but know that it's just good-will to let you pass without a fine.

And then there are some people who think that the people with an ID who catch you without a valid ticket are an uncough intrusion into their vacation and should understand that they are tourists and not to be bothered with such an unpleasant experience.

And that's the moment when they get threatening by pointing out that this isn't a discussion where people agree to disagree and part ways. Instead their job is to make sure that you pay and they have a lot of more unpleasant options than just walking to the next ATM to get about 25 euro to pay on the spot. Exactly as any other country has unpleasant options to make sure that fines are paid since otherwise people don't pay.

"I agree with you, Neo. I chalk a lot of these responses up to magical thinking: if I do everything right and am well organized and prepared, nothing bad or unpleasant can happen to me. The flip side, of course, is that if something bad or unpleasant does happen to you, it must be your fault. Which is nonsense, of course, but it may be the most cherished illusion of many travelers who post here."

If you move in a strange environment, unexpected and sometimes unpleasant things happen. The less prepared you are, the more likely it is. But I agree that there's no way to be 100% sure that it can't happen.

The question is just whether you consider that risk as a part of travelling to strange places with different customs or whether you think that these places should adapt their customs to what you're used to so that you don't have to experience unpleasant things.

One thing strikes me about the ticket incidents mentioned. Several "victims" were women or teens on their own out late at night. Likely any Americans traveling overseas or for that matter anywhere should always be cautious about personal safety. Haven't you seen many tourists studying their maps looking lost?

I'm remembering years ago when our daughter was living in New York City her advice about getting around included avoid late hours, stay with crowds, don't look like tourists, be alert at all times, etc. Always scary when something happens...
like years ago on a crowded Athens bus when both of us had our wallets lifted. Our guards were down as we had just arrived from being in villages in Crete.

Yes, Hans, of course you make a good point. But I would argue that there is no way to adapt to the situation described in this thread, or, in other words, that there is no excuse for the behavior of these Metro "officials", if they did behave as rudely as the OP and others claim.

Since neither you nor I were there, we can't know if the tourists' descriptions are inaccurately self-serving, or if these fine-extractors were truly frightening and unacceptably rude.

First of all the OP made this trip 3 years ago - and has hopefully grown up and learned more about the world by now.

Second, she admitted she cursed out AND STRUCK the metro agent.

Someone who goes ballistic and starts hitting people is simply out of control - no matter whose mistake it was or what the circumstances.

My hope is that she not only never goes back to Budapest but never goes anywhere - she will probably be much happier and I know I will.

"Yes, Hans, of course you make a good point. But I would argue that there is no way to adapt to the situation described in this thread, or, in other words, that there is no excuse for the behavior of these Metro "officials", if they did behave as rudely as the OP and others claim.

Since neither you nor I were there, we can't know if the tourists' descriptions are inaccurately self-serving, or if these fine-extractors were truly frightening and unacceptably rude."

Sure, I don't know whether they were extremely and needlessly rude.

But while I haven't read all 200+ posts,, in all cases I read the people actually had no valid ticket. There was a reason why the ticket inspectors demanded the fines.

Still I read a lot of talk about scam, corruption or you writing "officials" as if it was unclear whether they were actually employed by the metro or not.

In my opinion a way to adapt to it would have been to pay the fine without a lot of arguing.

In my opinion a way to adapt to it would have been to pay the fine without a lot of arguing.>

Yup do the crime, do the time - and being a naive tourist is no escape - sympathetic inspectors have been know to just instruct tourists are on their naive mistake but the case of the person calling them Nazis tells a lot about their confrontation attitude and subsequent harsh treatment. I agree with hans - pay the smallish fine and be over with it.

I can totally understand your fears and anger while you were in Budapest. I had a similar experience..."taxi drivers" when I was in Prague with my husband a few years ago. We used to live in London and travelled quite a bit to other European countries while we were there. I'm a suspicious character to begin with so I'm always "aware" when I go anywhere. You have to be on the "alert" when traveling to foreign places, particularly when you don't speak their language. My husband and I are leaving this fall for Budapest for my birthday. I hope we'll have pleasant encounters while we're there.
Thanks for giving me the "heads up" on this city. I will be well prepared for this trip because of your experiences. Easy travels!

This just happened to my husband and I, except we had validated tickets that had expired a few minutes before. Honestly, we were ok paying the fine - our mistake - but the way our passports were immediately demanded, and then the threats we received when we told them we did not have enough cash and needed to go to an ATM, were completely unnecessary. The inspectors also mocked our Latino heritage by repeatedly saying the word "Spanish" over and over again and laughing.

A really upsetting experience over an honest mistake we wanted to remedy quickly. Will be avoiding the metro from now on.

For future travelers: you have the right to pay the fine later and leave the station immediately if you feel unsafe or degraded. NEVER give them ID, especially your passport. They have no legal right to this.

Good luck!

We spent a week in Budapest in late October and definitely did not come away with a warm, fuzzy feeling about the place, though we didn't use the metro. There are certainly some wonderful sights to see there, and some wonderful people, but the underlying vibe was one of subdued opression and resentment. A kind of tired, worn-out, who cares? sorry-to-be-stuck here feeling that seems to permeate even the most inconsequential encounters.