I definitely think it is simple ignorance (at least in the vast majority of cases). Most people asking this are first time travelers - not arrogant at all but more often nrervous and uncertain about how things work. I give travel talks and those attending range from folks who have been overseas many times to families deciding if they can manage/afford a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Sometime during almost every talk - at least one person asks if US$ are the way to go.

I liken this to the questions we get about gifts to B&B owners - simply from folks who don't travel much.

I tend to carry a few dollar bills in other countries in case a cannot get the local stuff at airports. Down side is that I had to tip the loo cleaner in Damascus airport with a $10 bill. Lucky them.

I also once tried to buy stuff in Hungary using Austrian money. ok so I got confused, but the museum tried to help and make change.

Generally its just silly. If the price is in ping pong balls pay in ping pong balls

I wouldn't say I see a lot of posts like that on here, but I do see enough that it is noticeable.

I think it is ignorance, of course, and people being untraveled or only going to Mexico/Canada, etc. However, I agree with the person say, ok, I can see that but still don't see why you think you could use them in Italy, for example. I agree with that, these posts do really boggle my mind.

I think it really is a sort of arrogance, even if not overt arrogance, and may not seem that way to many people. I think it is from people thinking the US is the center of the world and somehow not even thinking of being educated enough to realize other countries have real economies, govts, histories, etc. I was untraveled once, also, yet I never once assumed that when I did make my first trip abroad that I could use USD. So I don't buy the fact that this is a normal thing to think just because you haven't traveled. I do think it comes from the fact that I personally think many Americans are poorly educated and lack an interest in the world and are, indeed, arrogant.

The real universal currency is Gold. Krügerrand, Nuggets, American Eagle. Who wants a pile of paper with funny picture printed on them. Any even worse, they can print any amount they want.

I know I'll probably get a lot of flack from this, but isn't the person who expects to pay in USD usually the same type to expect the French, Italians, etc to speak to them only in English? I agree that mostly this is a case of ignorance laced with latent arrogance. I have never been asked to take foreign currency in my shop in New Orleans, nor would I do so.

"Author: nona1
Date: 03/01/2007, 03:27 am
OK, now don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious about 'why'.

I've seen several posts recently here and elsewhere from Americans asking if they can use Dollars in 'European country X'and if they really have to bother getting euros/pounds etc.

My first reaction is that is is sheer arrogance, that they think dollars are somehow 'better' currency than the local one (OK I have a mental image of some 1960s war-torn country with a local currency going up the spout and poverty stricken street traders desperate for GI's dollars, but in 21st century Europe for gods sake?) but that is probably unfair of me. So what are the real reasons people ask this? What is the thought process that leads them to believe that they can just use dollars everywhere? I wouldn't go to America and expect to be able to use £s to pay for everything.

Someone please explain.



Author: nona1
Date: 03/01/2007, 03:29 am
I suppose what I'm asking is 'are there really people who believe the dollar is some kind of universal currency' and if so, where does this idea come from."

To respond to Nona's original question.
I don't think it is arrogance (at least not in most cases). I think in many cases it's just limited travel experience. Most Americans have only been to nearby countries like Canada or Mexico or the Caribbean where the U.S. dollar is accepted almost everywhere. As a Canadian, it really does not bother me if American's want to and can pay for something using U.S. currency. BUT I get annoyed when Americans complain about merchants not giving a "good" exchange rate or not having change in U.S. money or not giving the exchange rate on U.S. coins. Being able to use "your" currency in another country is a "favour", a convenience but not a "right".

Simple, Nona. Just remember:


Half the people in the world have an IQ below 100

Some of that bottom half travel.

Most of that bottom half are allowed to vote; and it counts (even tho the chad hangs)

The dollar is a universal currency. As well as, the pound, euro and yen. In most less developed countries, western currencies are freely accepted. In developed countries, ie. europe, and others, only the local currency is accepted. Most people still view countries from old movies. For years South Korea had the image of a third world country because of MASH.
But as TOMBOY stated, budget airlines have allowed people with IQ's well below 100 to travel.

As cash registers become increasingly computerized, like the ones in duty free shops which can do instant conversions of 20 currencies, perhaps odd currencies will be better accepted.

But, as I have often said on Asian travel boards, I consider it to be a common courtesy to just about any country to use that country's currency for standard transactions. Countries with a weak currency will never have confidence in it (nor will anybody else) if people persist in preferring the use of other currencies when they visit.

"budget airlines have allowed people with IQ's well below 100 to travel."

Thank you very much for saving me the IQ test..now I know why I travel on budget airlines ... I suppose I should begin to ask if I can use my euros in Wisconsin now.

I also think that for most people, it is ignorance, not arrogance, at least I hope. Usually that question is asked by people who are traveling to Europe for the first time.

Hey, when I came back from Italy the first time, I was there on July 4th, I was asked by someone back home, if/how they celebrated July 4th in Italy. At first, I thought I thought they were joking, then I realized they were serious.

Well, lyb, that's better than their asking you if they HAVE a July 4th in Italy!!!

I don't buy the "ignorance, not arrogance" line.

A failure to consider the ways of a people whose country one visits, and a presumption that they will do things in your way, is arrogance.

It may reflect ignorance, but it is the ignorance of the unthinking, not the ignorance of the stupid. I am prepared to forgive stupidity, because people who are stupid are not to blame for that. I am less prepared to forgive thoughtlessness, because it is something that indicates a bad attitude to people rather than a basic incapacity.

>>if they HAVE a July 4th in Italy!!!
<< Funny! LOL

Sorry, Padraig, I only partially buy that. It's not arrogance just because a person hasn't checked out what currency is used in another country.

There are many people who post here asking if they use euros in London. That's ignorance, not arrogance, because the poster really doesn't know about the currency. Same when someone asks if you can still use francs in Paris, or dollars in Italy. Likewise I think it's ignorance not arrogance when someone asks if it's the same time in Rome as it is in New York (and yes, I've seen that here). I really do buy the idea that there are a lot of people out there who simply don't know how foreign currency works. I think it's a little sad that because a person hasn't done his homework and his a very limited knowledge of things "foreign" that automatically means he's being arrogant.

Reading a few pages in a travel guide book would lead to enlightenment without much effort.

My restaurant working friends tell me that here in Florida we get thousands of European travelers who never leave a tip or leave only a few coins. Is their behavior ignorance or is it arrogance?

Like knowing the currency of where you are going, it seems it would take little effort to learn the eating out and tipping customs of the country you are going to. So I assume some of you are suggesting that these people are being arrogant in trying to assume that their European custom is the RIGHT way to do things and that's why they do the same when visiting here? It couldn't just be that they are ignorant of the common customs?

Oh, and by the way, more than a handful will enter shops or groceries here and ask if they will take euros. So surely that is pure arrogance.

To tell you the truth guys I never ponder, If I want to buy something and the price is in euros I pay in euros My days of hustling are gone with my platform shoes and bellbottoms, well the hell was I thinking!lol.

NeoPatrick, the people who post here asking questions about what currency they might use in a particular country are ignorant, but by no means arrogant. They ask because they don't know, or are not sure, and want to dispel their ignorance. When they get to their destination, they will know the answer and can be expected to act accordingly. That's fine. They are neither ignorant nor arrogant at that stage.

I don't consider it necessarily arrogant to ask, before attempting to conduct a transaction, if a trader will accept a particular currency. Such a question is premised on the recognition that it is not the usual currency of the place. What I consider arrogant is to presume that it will be accepted.

OK, I'll agree with that last statement 100%.

But back to my other point. Americans are not alone with their arrogance. I did in fact stand behind a whiney German one day at the supermarket here who absolutely couldn't understand why they couldn't take his euros when there are so many European tourists and even condominium owners here. He was as arrogant as they come. And after he left, the clerk said she gets that all the time.

Some Europeans feel as strongly that the euro is now the "center of the universe" as some Americans do about the dollar.