logos99 just enjoys insulting people when ever he gets the chance. The rest of us pay him no mind.

Using a credit card does NOT bring dishonor on people. Next thing you know, he will tell us that we will have to sit in stocks and have rotten veggies thrown at us for not paying with cash and being credit card slaves.

Most people using credit cards here are not even thinking about "credit", for most it is just a card that gets money from your account to the merchant without having to bother with withdrawing cash. Normally the money is withdrawn straight from your account if it is a debit card, or once monthly if it is a credit card, but that is the whole difference. Few people (except some undisciplined ttenagers :-) use the card without having the needed cash in the account beforehand.
That said, I do see occasionally old people coming to the bank when their pension payments are due, and withdrawing the entire sum in cash. Mostly 80+ generation though...

Thank you both for the information.

Not sure what meds logos is on, but living in Germany I would not know one single individual not owning a credit and debit card.
You can pay with credit in any supermarket, any other than mom and pop stores, any hotel but many"quaint" small pensions or B&Bs, restaurants, train ticket machines etc
Cash still rules in pubs, smaller restaurants, newsstands.. So more establishments which usually have smaller transactions of up to appr €20.
These places may take the local debit cards, though which is probably of no interest for the visitor from overseas.

There are the debt slaves like a few of you and there are the others, which are still a majority in Germany. They earn the money before they spend it. The majority of savers is the reason, people prefer cash and only spend what they have. Those are the facts.

I very much doubt Mamhattaingirl has ANY knowledge about Germans and Germany by the way, she claims K(F)rankfurt is a nice place, so.. , somewhat delusional.

Logos999, you must have had a cc refused/cancelled/disputed charge denied..No credit rating or abused in financial situations otherwise why the vitriol like comments.. Generalizations (ie:majority of Germans) do nothing to add to your position if you are even aware of your nonsensical stance!

LOL

As a visitor to Germany for the first time last May, we found that the places we chose to stay, small B&B's and family owned guesthouses all requested cash rather than credit cards. We also chose family owned restaurants where payment by cash was expected rather than credit cards. In our experience, we used credit cards much less in Germany than we have in our travels to other places in Europe.

We had a very interesting discussion with the owner of the current #1 TripAdvisor restaurant in Rothenburg on the topic of cash vs credit in Germany. Deborah

Cash is often desirable as it allows the recepients to put it in the cookie jar if they so desire..Taxes are brutal for some and although this is undoubtedly illegal it certainly can be a temptation. I have received published discounts for cash in some countries (Hotel in Turkey for 1) and cash eliminates the fees that credit cards charge the businesses. In the present economy every little bit helps. We always use cc in travelling except in small stores, villages and where it is requested initially.

"Cash is often desirable as it allows the recepients to put it in the cookie jar if they so desire."

Germany is more cash based than many other countries but additionally if you want to pay with a card, Germans more often use a debit card (Maestro system) than a credit card.

It's the most common payment system and the card is issued with a bank account anyway. So many Germans just don't see a reason why they need a credit card since it offers no advantage to them. You just need them if you deal with non-German companies which don't offer this option.

Personally I've never used a credit card before my early thirties when my job required booking of hotels and flights.

I agree with Hans that a debit card (EC Karte) is more common in Germany - even at IKEA near Frankfurt there is a lane at the checkout for EC Karte only, or there used to be when we were regular visitors. Here in Australia the IKEA checkout lanes are marked 'credit card or EFTPOS', so credit card gets more of a look-in. And many household bills are not paid by credit card but by automatic direct debit from the bank account. I also find nowadays when I want to buy something over the internet from Germany that frequently businesses expect direct debit like a bank draft and don't take credit card. I swallow it but it's annoying because to arrange a bank draft it costs me A$35 at my bank, and they then issue a cheque which has to be sent by mail, and even then it sometimes costs the recipient money to cash it, which I have to pay for as well. I have only just discovered businesses like Xoom which will pay anyone anytime but have not yet had a chance to try them out.

Lavandula

Most comments have been so helpful and someone commented about taking out enough cash to pay for incidentals which made a lot of sense. I always check my transactions via a secure internet connection and pay back the credit card straight away if I have had to use it from a savings account.
Now while I am on the subject of money will France, Nice, Bosnia,Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania accept Euros and it is better just to depend on those rather than a lot of different currencies? Also being a frequent toilet user what is the normal cost in most European countries for a trip to the loo and are there any loos I should avoid (reasons of personal safety, absolute lack of hygiene while I like and expect clean I am not clinically pedantic).

For countries not on the euro, it is best to use the currency of that country. While you may find places in those countries that are willing to accept the euro, they will usually be only the really touristy places and you will end up paying more for things.

Thanks November_moon. I know I will always get a good and helpful response from you.