Pulaski

They will continue to think that until somebody snatches the days takings, and perhaps uses a gun to threaten an employee, or worse , then the fee for accepting credit and debit cards will look pretty cheap.

tom169

Up in the mountains of Boone, NC there is a wonderful authentic southern restaurant.

They only accept cash or cheque.

The best part is that they have an ATM inside by the cash register in case you didn't realize.

tonrob

Which I'm sure charges you a nice fee for the privilege. There are so many great restaurants round my way that take credit cards, I'll eat in those on principle. No ATMs, no fees, no mucking around with cash, earn points/miles.

Things I don't like about the US: If actually needing cash, faffing around trying to work out which few ATMs I can use without incurring a fee.

Things I do like about the US: Tens of thousands of dollars worth of free/near-free travel paid for using credit card points!

london_calling

Eh?? The US is horribly expensive for flights.

london_calling

The credit card deals here are something to behold. I got the BoA Travel Rewards card with almost no history.

tonrob

My thoughts exactly. You can fly around Europe for buttons on the plethora of low-cost carriers. There are some deep sales in the US on select routes from time to time, but general availability of cheap fares is much lower than in Europe from everything I've seen.

Steerpike

Several banks offer to cover all ATM fees. Typically, banks that don't have their own network of ATMs. It's probably a smart investment on their part - give their customers an incredibly large virtual network of ATMs all for the cost of about $3 per transaction. Of course these days, I only withdraw cash about once every 2-3 months.

mrken30

I pay $125 /hr wet C172, it's double that in the UK, also lot less landing fees.
I agree flights are expensive in the US, but flying for fun is much cheaper.

mrken30

And you can get cash back in most stores for free.

Wintersong

Not to mention that identical (in reverse) trans-atlantic flights are cheaper if they originate in the UK.

mrken30

There is a lot less consumer protection in the US compared to the UK and some industries rip of the customer. Prices and policies are mostly market driven.

ddsrph

I have never had to pay a landing fee. Only two or three times in 48 years have I ever had to even pay a overnight tie down. AV gas here (TN) has been a good deal also between $3.40 and 3.80 for quite a while. When I started flying in 1969 in a Air Force flying club near Santa Maria, Ca I paid $7.00 per hour for a wet Cessna 150. I still could barely afford it on my measly enlisted military pay.

mrken30

I think it's only class C airports and up that charge landing fees around here. Also I think there is a $20 fee for flying into Canada

Twinkle0927

I can't understand why anyone would buy a ticket originating in the U.K. Before emigrating, I visited The Husband numerous times. If I couldn't get a staff ticket I would always go from Dublin, Oslo, Copenhagen or Stockholm and use air miles or easyJet to get to said departure point. My cheapest revenue ticket (not employee discounted) was Copenhagen to Seattle return for £121.52 - unfortunately it was Air Canada but for that price I'll put up with them. United from Oslo to Seattle were a close second at £135 and some change. Over the last 5 years I have never paid more than £280 return from Europe to the west coast.

morpeth

Good point.

Recently I bought a ticket for someone going from Latin America to the US. Buying it in UK on the same airline, same flight was 10% less than buying in Latin America or from US. ( Only issue was annoying charge for making the phone call).