Euros in "non-Euro" countries
 

Please help with with some confusion about the Euro.<BR><BR>I'm planning a trip to Prague and Budapest where hotels quote rates in Euro, however neither of these countries are countries which are Euro member nations. Are countries other than the "Euro" nations using the Euro?<BR><BR>Thanks for any insight.

Jay: Switzerland is not a Euro land, but it's seems to be widely accepted already, especially close to the borders, in cities and in touristy areas, only bills though. Change, however, will be given in Swiss Francs. <BR>A lot of hotels here quote rates in Euro next to SF and sometimes US$. I'ts probably to facilitate the comparison.

I'm going to Prague in May and the hotel I am staying at also quotes rates in Euros, in addition to CK. However, they did this before when I stayed there a couple years ago, pre-Euro, when they quoted rates in AS as well as CK. For one reason, they are Austrian-owned. HOwever, the charge to my credit card was always in the local currency, CK, regardless of how they quote the rates. I think the reason is as Ursula says, just to make it easy for people looking for a hotel to know the rates without conversion and much of their clientele would be familiar with the Euro. Budapest may be another story, I've only been there once and just spent money in stores or restaurants, some of which would take a variety of currency (USD, AS, DM) because they really like hard currency there in comparison to their own and don't want to turn tourist business away. If you are using a credit card, it doesn't matter, anyway. If a hotel takes Euros or something else, I would bet you might pay a hefty conversion fee. Even in Budapest, some places in the main tourist area would not take foreign currency. I wouldn't take Euros with me, if that's what you are contemplating.

Euro prices may be done for comparison purposes, but for Eastern Europe it has been a custom for a number of years for hoteliers to quote room rates in DM. They've done it to guard against a run on their local currency, common in unstable economies. Now that euro has replaced DM, they are simply continuing their practice. You need to ascertain if the euro rate is indicative only, or your transaction will be actually carried in euro, rather than the local currency. Some of those currencies are linked to euro (for tourist rate anyway), but others are not. So if you use a credit card, your transaction may appear on your statement in euro, or in the local currency before being converted to your home currency. You may either lose or gain, depending on currency fluctuations, but there's nothing you can do about it.

I guess my main question is whether merchants widely accept the Euro in Prague and Budapest or should I plan on getting local currency?<BR><BR>Thanks for any input.