Why Don't The Czechs Use EURO?
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- čas přidán 22. 06. 2024
- Traveling around Europe can get a bit confusing when it comes to money. Here's why.
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0:00 History of EURO
2:05 Traveling Before EURO
2:46 EURO Fun Facts
4:19 Czech Republic and EURO
5:13 Sponsor: Surfshark VPN
6:24 Pay With EURO in CZ
7:40 Honest Travel Tip
Thank you for your support!
Janek Rubeš & Honza Mikulka, Prague based journalists
#HonestGuide
If you went to the euro how would scammers be able to exchange Belarus Rubles on the street ... cmon guys , think about the poor scammers
are u gonna make videos on scammers from istanbul again?
They will still be able to scam the idiots who wouldn't be able to differentiate between euro and expired Belarusian rubles. Guess which country those idiots will be from 😜
@@m4d_al3x yes sir .. just relaxing in izmir for now but heading back to istanbul in a few weeks .. I'll try to find our bar scammer friend Omer 😄 Nice to see you here Alex .. Honest Guide is one of my inspirations
@@AStupidTourist
That guy omar again.
Hes gonna be famous some day lol
Just the idea of having currency that expires is odd. It tells me that the Belarus government is probably scamming it's people too, or avoiding the idea of people stuffing their mattresses for a rainy day fund.
Video title: "Why don´t the czechs use EURO?"
Video: "Ahhhh it´s complicated, I don´t want to get into it..."
Totally!
Indeed!
Really strange!
and immediately started talking for more than a minute about the sponsor....
Why don't we use it?
Because most of us don't want to.
Same goes for Denmark. We use Danish Kroner, but most tourist places will accept €. But card really is the best option
The difference is that first of all, Denmark is not obliged to adopt the Euro, while the Czech Republic is. And second of all, that Denmark already meet the ERM II criteria, so the DKK-EUR exchange rate is nearly fixed.
Same goes with Sweden, Hungary or Poland for example which have their own currency aswell while they are EU members.
@@saiien2 The difference is that Sweden can easily meet the convergence requirements but does some creative accounting so that it doesn't have to. Sweden doesn't want the euro.
DDK is pegged to the EURO and indirectly to the D-Mark.
@@saiien2 Sweden doesn't need to adopt the euro, Hungary and Poland do
When I worked as cashier back in Canada, some tourists would get angry that they couldn't pay in US Dollars. 🤦😕
that's because that's not real money. It's monopoly money
Dollar is dollar, right? ;-)
Ah, Americans, so worldly wise...
You should have paid their part from your pocket in CAD and keep their USD acquiring a good profit :D
Because Canada is a US territory, right?😂
ADOPTING EURO : Czechia has a legal binding agreement with the EU to adopt the currency. The EU aren't happy they it has not joined yet. REASON FOR NOT ADOPTING : The Central Bank has advised that it is "not time" to adopt the currency, despite in 2011 saying it would be the right time "in 3 years". The problem is that CZ interest rates must converge to the EU rates, which were negative for the past few years ( they have risen to 0.6% in the past weeks ). So CZ rates ( currently at 5.0% ) would have to drop significantly, and so borrowing costs would drop; borrowing would accelerate, and capital values would increase. A lot. So housing values would go up by 2 or 3 times at least ( look what happened to Ireland .... ). This would price out young voters ( even with reduced mortgage rates ), and so politically, it won't happen. Basically, it's bad economic planning by the government/ central bank to meet their legal commitments to the EU. So today, the Central Bank can freely use interest rates to try and dampen inflation; and use the official exchange rate to help the trade balance. Simple
Same with all the other EU members except Denmark, who negotiated the same exception as the UK when they were still in the EU. Sweden has been ready to join for years, but hasn't done so because it is, there, too, an unpopular measure. And because the EU doesn't want to be seen as the bully for forcing this down their throat, they turn a blind eye. Politically, I'd say it's more likely Denmark (which has an exception) might be quicker to accept the euro in the next decade or so than Sweden. Romania and Bulgaria aren't ready. Same with Croatia. Czechia and Poland are more in between, not yet ready, but also not in a hurry.
Ordinary people are already priced out of Prague. Last summer I chatted with locals on this. Interest rate at the time was just under 2% in Czech, but less than 1% in Slovakia with Euro. I noticed a number hotels cite euro rate, but the charge is always in kr. I suppose these hotels have euro loans?
High interest rates are a hidden tax on people without capital, since their salaries get lesser buying power. Only landlords and such can achieve a profit from it, within limits. If you look at it this way, shouldn’t most voters be in favor of a strong currency? Not saying Krones aren’t good, just more volatile, and probably beneficial to only a small group of people.
Hungary done the same.. every few years they say in 2-3 year we join, then they delay it... it's going for for the past 15 years now :D
Why they shouldn't postpone using Euro guys? Same as Czechia, Poland does that too. The cost of living is far less comparing to the countries in the Euro region. Plenty of companies are coming and opening their sites benefiting from paying less salary to the employees. They're a cheaper destinations for tourists. So, the countries definitely earning on that too. Switching from their local currency into Euro will mean losing all these advantages. If you check purchasing power vs cost of living index, these countries are much better comparing it to the others in Euro. Another thing, a lot of students outside of EU coming to these countries because of the currency advantage. Euro might be a stable currency but it doesn't mean that it won't make life a lot more expensive. I believe that they will keep postponing it especially considering there's a global inflation problem.
You can never go wrong with "Free beer logic".
The other way to interpret it is that the exchange office is stealing a whole case of beer from you
@@Friek555 Those alcoholic bastards!!! 😀
After living continuously in the Czech Republic, I returned to the USA and, forgetting where I was for a moment, tried to pay in Czech Crowns. It did not go well.
Maybe try Russian Rubles instead, in the same shop?
lol
It happened to me! With Euros in New York, the cashier looked at me as if I was crazy 🤣
Lol
Just off the coast West coast of Newfoundland Canada there are some islands called Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. They are the last piece of French territory in North America and they also use the Euro. They also issue French licence plates. So if you allow for ferry rides, it's actually possible to drive from France to any other country in the Americas.
That's really cool info! So you can even use Euro in North America!
You can also pay with euro in French Guyana in South America
Well you can use the Euro also in Mayotte and Réunion, French Overseas island in Africa
The west coast of Newfoundland?
@@Jesse13927 It's more on the southern coast of NL, near Grand Bank, Fortune Bay
The video answers everything clearly and succinctly, but I still have one question. Why Don't The Czechs Use EURO?
He literally said it was because 70% of the people is against it.
@@fiskfisk33 He doesn't say why the people are against it, which is what I was interested to learn about by clicking on the video.
😜😜😜😜😜🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
@@andrewdunbar828 thats different question
Probably because in countrys that do use Euro's everything was very quickly a lot dearer. For instance, in The Netherlands a pair of shoes was say 100 Dutch guilders when we got the Euro's the shoes very quickly cost 100 Euro's. Of course it made travelling through Europe a lot easier but it came with a fierce price. .
Why Don't The Czechs Use EURO?
5:05 I don't really wanna get into it.
But let me tell you about those bridges on the printed notes!
Just today, Czech Ministry of Finance announces a proposed law that would allow companies to keep their books and pay taxes in Euro :)
what a shame
@@mrdictator7030 Its actually just a pleasant detail. Most businesses won’t use it anyway and exporters will have less bureaucratic bullshit on their backs. But as Czech, no full euro for now.
@@mrdictator7030 ?? when you start a business you can already pay in euros, its just to attract foreing business and make the flow of capital smoother across borders, its great and just an option
To be honest the Czech should hold on to its own currency. This gives more freedom to recover their economy by devaluation.
@@anssi2267 In theory only.
The reality is that business is so interconnected that devaluing your currency means more expensive imports, more expensive imports translate to higher nominal prices, i.e. inflation.
Given the current Czech business environment, CZ has more to gain from Euro than it can lose.
From my own experience as german who is living not far away from the czech border. A good exchange rate I always get in normal supermarkets, mostly 24/25 Krones for 1 Euro.
Can't you swipe your card everywhere? But then also not surprised, Germans (stereotypically) love using cash.
@@wagondragon and many businesses don't accept cards like VISA, even petrol some stations... that is just ridiculous
@@wagondragon ...in Germany we use mostly EC Card/Girocard (no credit card), where are only very little costs (0,4%/0,6% a few Years ago, today even lower) for the shopowner. Credit card companys will charge much higher fees. But if I get money from a czech Bank they will charge maybe 4€ bankfee later on my bankaccount. So if I Change only 50 or 100Euro in the Supermarket it is quite good, not the very best exchange rate but not bad.
@@n.j.s.givemeasmile2158 You think 0.6€ is a very little cost for the vendor? ahahah that's a German rightly so! In the Czech Republic people pay for the equivalent of 0.2€ or less with a credit card and vendors are pretty happy with it, I'm sure they won't pay not even 0.001€ of fee for that. Anyways, this goes to show what I said on a comment above, the euro was made for Germany and it works for Germany. The rest of us that unfortunately use this shitty decadence of a currency, it's not working out. It will go away soon enough, no matter what.
@@JM-wr2fo ...Sorry it is 0,6% not 0,6€. If you have an EC Card/Girocard there is no reason for credit cards, because with EC Card you can pay everywhere.
Latvian here. 🇱🇻 We joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro on 1 January 2014. For the first 2 weeks of 2014 you could pay anywhere with Lats (currency we had before €), and get change back in Euros. And we had pretty smooth transfer, I think. Still missing our old currency, it kinda was a part of our nationality, with special edition coins and simbolism on banknotes.. One thing I must say - as a street musician I used to earn more money back then, cause tourists would simply get rid of coins before leaving Latvia 😀
You dont have your currency you also dont have your state
As a dane, I can 100% relate to this, since we have the danish krone. Now since I don't live in copenhagen I don't know how many places you'll be able to pay with euros, but I believe most supermarkets will allow it. And just like you said, the easiest would simply just be to use card, since close to all stores has that posibility
I think it will be wider than you think. A few years back, I was with my trucker dad in Serbia and we only had Euros. We were in a small village, can't remember the name right now, but we needed supplies and the only shop open at the time at night was local small convenience store. They accepted the Euros on the condition, that they'd not return any money. So, we we filled my 70L backpack with supplies and paid with a 5 € bill. If we could pay with Euros in what was basically Serbian equivalent of the Outback, businesses are sure to accept Euros everywhere in Denmark. Maybe not in every store, but there will definitely be at least one in every town.
Ja det er stort set lige så slemt som alle de souvenirs folk køber i Prag, som ellers er en virkelig skøn by
@Annabelle P I'm quite certain, that I was hundreds of kilometers from the nearest tourist trap back then. The largest employer in there was the local factory.
@Annabelle P Let me reiterate this. I was with my dad touring Europe in a truck, a lorry. I was entering countries on a work visa, because we were traveling from load to load and the border guards didn't exactly consider me not being employed yet. Not from luna park to luna park, but from factory to factory.
Any store, which want's to make a profit will accept commonly accepted currency and will have policies on how to accept them, including the exchange rate. I have toured most of the Balkans that year. Never had trouble dealing in Euros from local vendors in the market to some of the largest national chains. And you claim, that I wouldn't be able to pay with Euros in similar conditions in Denmark? In a country, that was always considered part of the western sphere? In a country, that is in the flipping EU, all be it not in Eurozone? Are you really suggesting, that the odds of that are lower, than in rural Serbia?
@@looseycanon Probably yes. Scandinavia use card payments a lot! We hardly know how to handle cash even in our own currencies. :) And in Serbia, for reasons unknown to me, all online ads for cars and apartments state their prices in Euro.
So many countries using euros is so handy when travelling
Doesn't really matter since debit/credit cards are widely used...
@@KapitanPisoar1 kinda true, but its mainly good that you dont need to think how much something costs, no need to calcuate how much something costs in euros
the bills are really interesting, but I personally love the coins :) every time Im traveling I like to scrape all the coins I come across to see all the countries they are from
At an estate auction for a ww2 vet he had kept the change from the countries he was in. Ive got currency from England, France, Norway, and Germany. Some are worthless like the Norwegian coins. They are made from zinc. Now history wise they are priceless. After Germany invaded Norway they sent all precious metal to Germany. After that Norway printed their coins from zinc. Not a lot survived that are mint or near mint condition. The German pennies I have have the German eagle with swastika on one side and adolph on the other. The internet said even during ww2 they were useless and kids used them to play games with.
I agree. And with the introduction of the Euro, this is something that has become rarer. I remember going on a road trip around Europe in the late 1980s, when I'd just finished college. I had a plastic bag full of money for each of the countries we planned to stay in (8 countries). Seeing and using the different currencies was so interesting. And after the trip I kept a handful of the lower value notes and some coins from each country as a souvenir of the trip. I get that the Euro is more convenient, but it also means the loss of something special and unique about each country.
Wish there was an Honest Guide in other countries. Your videos were very helpful before we visited Prague.
4:35 Just to give more details on top of what Janek says, all EU member states, except for Denmark, are required to adopt the euro and join the eurozone. However, to do so, they first need to meet so-called convergence criteria to prove that they are ready. These criteria include specific targets related to issues such as budget deficit, inflation, price stability, the full compatibility of the national and EU legislation on the national central bank, etc. According to the Treaties (which are something like the EU constitution), member states that are not in the eurozone must report every two years on the progress made to meet the criteria, with the end goal that once these criteria are met, they will adopt euro. However, the Treaties do not specify the timetable for meeting the criteria; hence, when a member state is unmotivated and slow in meeting them, like the Czech Republic, it is able to postpone the obligation to join the eurozone for quite some time.
The opposite is true for Greece. Greece did some accounting magick to make the numbers look better so we could adopt the euro 😅, so we managed to hit the targets without actually meeting them. (and then everyone became poorer, because the closing exchange rate between the two currencies was horrendous)
@@antony345 same happened in italy. The government keeps on telling us it's not true but we remember stuff doubling in price. We were so not ready
@@antony345 I may be wrong, not a rare occurrence, I believe the accountancy firm was British ? And this is the 5th time they defaulted.on various schemes.dont get me wrong, love Greece and
its people but may have been badly served
@@peterhamilton356 Did not know that thanks a lot for the info :)
@@lauravergot9995 I think it happened everywhere, but after some time people actually became richer compared to countries that did not adopt the euro
Welcome to the "Why does the Czech Republic not use the Euro" video, where we will NOT be telling you...why the Czech Republic doesn't use the Euro.
"I don't want to get into it" should be the title of this vid
Because they are well aware that sticking to their Koruna does not really provide any real benefit and they are ashamed to admit that it is only stupid nationalism that keeps the Koruna. Same BS as Brexit.
@@erikziak1249 ,
"Same bs as Brexit." Oh, you mean maintaining national sovereignty? Got it. Thanks.
@@jameswoodard4304 I guess Erik Žiak would argue that the benefits of maintaining national sovereignty is outweighed by the benefits of this particular European integration.
@@MrHirenP ,
Then it wouldn't be "same...as brexit." Brexit covers a wide rage of sovereignty issues and membership in the EU, while the issue at question here is a single smaller issue of choice of currency.
Euro was definitely beneficial for Lithuania. Sure, the prices rose, and some people do indeed go to Poland for cheaper groceries. But the wages are rising too. In 10 years or so, min salary nearly tripled.
Yess exactly. That's what people seem to forget somehow.
what's about inflation in Lithuania
It's not good you lost your currency total fucked if they kick you out of the EU and have to pay back loans in Euro as well.
What about power of buying?
Well, in Poland the wages are rising too, although Euro was not adopted. Adoption of Euro has multiple economic disadvantages (ask Greeks), so there's no surprise that Czechs, Poles or Swedes are not so eager to do so.
I wish I had seen a video like this before going to Prague. I usually do a ton of research, but this trip was spontaneous, and I assumed that most places in Europe used the Euro. Luckily, most places accepted cards, like Janek said, though I didn't know what the difference was when choosing to pay in USD or CZK. I loved that this video gave me a flashback to my trip because I stopped at that grocery store to get something to drink and found a really yummy gluten free dessert too. I can't wait to go back to Prague one day and explore it properly.
He doesn't explain the reason because that happens. If you pay in EUR, the bank of the store chooses the change, if you pay in CZK is your bank the one that does it. Obviously your bank will try to pay the less possible and the store bank will try to make you pay most.
And that's true EVERYWHERE, not only in check republic. On card always pay with the local currency.
In Spain, the adoption of Euro meant a huge inflation of prices for everything. Just a dumb example, if a coffee in a bar was 100 pesetas (0,60€) when the Euro was adopted the price was translated to 1€ instead, which was 166 pesetas, that's (that is almost double the price) and same happened with almost everything. However, after a few years I must say traveling and not having to worry about exchanges or different currencies is great when in Euro zones.
Isn't your salary much higher now?
That's one of the reasons why Czechs don't want it. We see how Slovak economy went down after accepting euro. Many of them work in Czech republic because euro f*cked their economy.
@@saiien2 Slovaks don't work here anymore, Romanians replaced them. I know only few Slovaks who are still working there and they are paid in euros, they say that Czech crown is worthless piece of paper. It's probably not so bad with their economy.
The transition period was problematic for a lot of countries, but after two years things got often better.
I love that everyone is complaining about inflation once Euro was introduced. Its a complete bullshit. Since all countries are opened markets people can ask prizes for goods as much as they want until someone buys it.. Just an example, why in Austria or Finland they have never complained?
It reminds me of the Puerto Rico statehood question. Puerto Ricans don't want official statehood because right now they kind of get all the benefits without the responsibilities.
Who said Puerto Ricans don't want statehood?
I've been there and they all seem very enthusiastic about wanting statehood. In fact, I looked it up and about 97% of Puerto Ricans want statehood.
But Americans don't want Puerto Rican statehood because they believe that then there would be too many states, and that Puerto Rico would get too many benefits from the US Federal Government, and you know how Americans are with their tax money. "Don't waste my tax money rar rar rar" as they spend $21.6 billion of their tax money on a 2000 mile long wall.
When using your card, be wary of the currency selection. If you use your home currency, the merchant will have to pay any exchange rate that their processor requires. However, if you use the local currency, your bank might charge you a conversion fee on top of the purchase.
Usually your bank fees for doing the conversion is lower than a store fee how offers to do it
@@EudesRJ they can be, but very well may not. It depends on a lot of factors.
@@sailyui not quite. It depends on what contracts included when they were signed. For instance, going to Canada from the US. Almost all Canadian merchants will take USD, and they don't pay the conversion. Their processor contracts do not have the conversion included. The US account holder will pay the additional fee which can be a direct conversion rate or have additional transaction fees or rates added.
Conversely, the Canadian can go to the US and pay in USD, but will not face additional conversion fees from their bank because of contracts.
The fees can be at the issuing bank, card brand, and/or processor.
Whether the cost is baked into the price depends on a number of factors as well, such as how often it occurs or geographical proximity to borders
You could always use Revolut, Wise, Monzo, etc when traveling
@@bazbond6004 you could, or even travelers checks. The credit card generally provides far more protections.
My wife is from the Middle East. We met when she was solo backpacking around Europe 6 years ago. Originally she was not planning to visit Prague, so she didn't even know about the different currency. She arrived to Florenc station and a took a taxi to Holesovice (about 2km). Driver asked for 300 CZK. She didn't have any CZK, so he happily suggested that he can take EUR and asked for 20€. She got the full welcome package within 10 minutes of her arrival - ridiculously overpriced taxi and exchange rate rip off 😅 By now we laugh about it of course, but when I first met her and she asked me if this was an ok exchange rate, I was really ashamed of my city.
O yes ,famous taxi drivers in Prague!!!! This is very well known around the world and Prague is loosing more tourists because of them. I live in Canada
Its good and i hope Czechs will not adopt euro at all. Slovakia adopted it, ruined middle to low class completely.
i'm going to prague with my danish school in a few weeks, are there anything you would recommend us seeing, or something we should look out for?
Please mention that restaurants next to the German Border suddenly only accept cash and give you a bad rate for Euros. In the same place ATMs ask for 120 CZK fee.
I just returned from Prague. I use your recomandation and eat in "the hidden place" very good meal and fare price for it ...and once i tryed Baghetaria ...really good sandwishes. Hope you and Honza will continue to give us great content. Probably I won't return soon in Prague but I'll watch your channal every week.
I always enjoy watching your video. It is so much fun to go on the journey with you. 😊
Best tourist channel on the web. Literally saving so many tourists. Thank you for your work!
Well done at 2.15 for displaying a Scottish bank note over the map of Scotlamd!
But beware of exchange rates - I've seen different [worse] rates quoted for Scottish notes compared to English.
True, traveling Europe before Euro was more hassle but it also brought funny situations.
For example, Italian Moto GP fans traveling to Brno for the race used to pay local hookers with Italian liras. They used to give them like 10000 or 20000 liras. The girls were so happy, not realizing they actually got peanuts.
We are still waiting for the FUNNY situation, since you just described a SCAM... in a YT channel partly known for fighting SCAM
@@maniakid No, they knew they weren't getting czech crowns, in the case of the tourist scam, the tourist think they are getting czech crown when in reality they're not.
@@HedwigV Besides, they thought it's a lot of money. After all, tens of thousands seems a lot if you don't know the truth. Especially in the Czech Republic of the 1990s. In the end, someone told the girls how it really is, and they started asking for a realistic amount.
@@maniakid It's not a scam if you don't ask the "customer" for a set price, and give them liberty to give you amount they want.
Lmao I love how halfway you just say you don't want to explain the answer to the question you posed at the start.
You guys are extremely valuable to the foreigners like us
I use Currensea when travelling, it's linked to my bank account but pays in local currency without any bank charges
1:53 province* 😊
3:32 It's not in Rotterdam, it's in the city of Spijkenisse.
Also at 7:04 , you also use the Euro because the exhange rate of CZK to USD is bound to the rate of EUR to USD. (Same goes for Danish and Swedish Kroner/Krona and some more countries, but I'm not sure exactly which ones.)
But Spijkenisse is basically a suburb of Rotterdam.
Glad you mentioned dynamic currency conversion. I'd say it's a really counterintuitive choice to face when you don't know what it is about.
If you travel to Canada with American dollars, most stores will let you pay in US$ & similar to your Czech example return your change in Canadian $. For Euros, you'll have to go to a Bank to convert them. A few years back the exchange really favoured US $ so much so that one restaurant advertised breakfast, pay with a US $5 bill & your breakfast came with Canadian $5 bill as change. Not free beer, but pretty cool.
I'm glad that the majority of Chech people stand against the Euro. Thank God we still use the Danish Krone in Denmark !!
Enjoy until the nuclear flash.
You know the Krone is pegged to the EURO, right? As in it really doesn't make a difference.
Why don't we have Euro yet? Well I would say that it has one critical reason: people simply don't know enough about it and how currencies function now and at this point most of against Euro Czechs are against it bcs either a national pride or a fear that there would be quite major change that they would need to solve.
exactly
People resist change
Czech people can calculate and they know what happened to other eastern countries after they switched to Euro. Slovakia is good example.
@@ivancech2614 Nothing happened to Slovakia, btw, Czechs have no idea what's happening in Slovakia, since we are not one country anymore, it's just some country on the east for most of Czechs.
@@Pidalin Your answer doesn’t make sense! I didn’t say Czechoslovakia exist and I know where Slovakia is. So if nothing happened in Slovakia after Euro introduction why everything is more expensive there and many Slovaks travel shopping to around countries for shopping? And talk to Slovak people how many would be happy without Euro. I mean average people, not rich, they don’t care doesn’t mother where they stay.
it's mostly because there are still countries in the EU that joined the EU and adopted the EU under false pretences stating that they are financially sound *stares at Greece* and in the future that could happen again, whereas having your own currency will allow you the flexibility to recall denominations to deflate your economy or print more money to allow for healthy inflation.
If you lose the financial independence of what rates your reserve has put out then it will allow local businesses to go to other countries take out a loan at a lesser rate, bring the money into the country, inflate the economy and you won't have the ability to raise the reserve interest to stop the hyper inflation.
However you can place limits on how many crowns can be purchased per day from the vendors or how much crowns can be sold to limit the damage caused by foreign interference...
Also it stops the problem of money bombs effecting your economy because.... the more popular the currency, the greater the chance of it being forged.
Also the number 1 reason that is widely accepted is... PATRIOTISM!!! nothing is more patriotic than holding up something and saying "my country made this, this IS my country, I will protect it's value!" when you join a vague currency like the euro... it loses that.
You joining the EMU allows for cheaper/better trade, it's an economic boost. You can also lend money at near / no interest, which is why Italy is stable and why Greece hasn't completely collapsed (including because of the Covid pandemic).
Greece just didn't have any of the measures in place needed for an EMU, over the last few years they finally did and managed to get their debt in check, economy is growing well, they already repaid the Covid loans they took so back to 2018 % levels debt. They are also a net importer, it's not great to devalue your currency then.
Overall for the EU it's better to keep getting more members as long as they're stable/can become stable, it means more business overall and has a positive feedback loop.
Love your videos. My wife and I are traveling to Karlovy Vary this Friday for a four day weekend. 🙂
As a kid, I delighted in seeing dozens of different currencies traveling through Europe, though I can now appreciate what a pain the ass it probably was for my parents.
I remember those! The pesetas, the francs, the Lires…man, that is a lot! I can’t imagine moving around without the ease we have now.
yea sure but the concept , trade culture for comfort idk ... Doesn't sound nice , life is not ment to be easy
One of my favourite things about the euro is on the back of every coin there is a unique design depending on the country that the coin was minted in. It is always really fun when you’re in Paris for example and you see a coin that was minted in Greece Italy Finland et cetera. Also on the exchange rate when paying with card there was one time I was in a hostel in Dublin and I asked staff when paying for the room what would be cheaper and they actually lied to me as to which one will be cheaper for me this is why your videos are so important keep up the good work!
I think it would be great if banknotes had it too
@@anoNEMOs you can see where they were printed with the serial number, although with the new series, it's a bit murkier, as not all printers still print all denominations.
@@barvdw Yeah, but i meant design
Not minted in*, its minted for*. Not every country have printers themselves anymore. Finland for example mints Estonian coins. I believe Slovenia gets their coins from multiple other countries. But yes, the symbols are great art to look at. Each year there are 2 new types of 2 euro coins that can be minted: one thats for all eu countries and every country has right to print nation specific annual 2 euro coin. These are sometimes chased by collectors and might have some value (i have multiple coins that are valued between 20 and 40 euros each. I have gotten these thruout the years from chance cashier gave me from normal grocery shopping - people don't seem to pay attention what kinda currency they use or don't care.. imagine buying soda thinking you paid it with 2 euros but you accidentally used 40 euros instead? Well.. I'm not complaining ^^)
Dear Janek&Honza, I wish you get a sponsor like Revolut, Transferwise etc. Keep up your good work!
Děkuju za český slov na konec videa🤟🏻 každý den učím se něco nového
Last time I was in Prague, a lot of restaurants and bars took only cash and refused to accept card, even in the more touristy areas like around Old Town Square
This is not EVEN in the more touristy areas, but ONLY there. They do it for 2 reasons - it makes it easier to rip off tourists and cheat on taxes. I haven't seen a cash only place out of the center for years now.
@@cz.travelmaster Many cheaper pubs and food bistros also don't accpet cards. I think the best thing is to get like 500,- czech crowns for those cases in advance and pay everything else by card.
@@Dlabanec64 I guess there are some places like that, although I haven't been to such in ages. In any case, I think that for tourists, the "cash only" sign is a good first indicator that there's something wrong with the place and it's better to go elsewhere.
@@cz.travelmaster Not necessarily wrong, just not for the average tourist but more for the locals.
@@apveening You exactly missed my point. I'm a local in Prague, born and raised. And as a local, everywhere I go I pay by card. Only the touristic places which aim to rip off tourists are cash only these days.
clarification: you choose to pay with czech crowns because then your bank does the exchange, not the owner of the terminal. And your bank very probably doesn't want to scam you.
Thank you for this video!
Finally! A useful and informative Honest Guide video! :) (I really do not like the scam guide videos!) It was a good summary about the EUOR(zone) money theme/subject.
In Europe bank card do not charge transaction fee for currency exchange, but other country such as north America any bank will charge all kind of fee, I know, I was in big shock when I saw my bank statement after return form over sea vacation.
Thats not true... It depends on the bank
In Sweden we also do not use the euro, but a majority of businesses will accept a card or swish payment (maybe 100%?), however when I have traveled to other European countries, there are some that do not accept cards, only cash or coin. How is Czech republic or specifically Prague in this regard? Do I need to get cash?
money loundring
yes definitely get cash. Not a lot, it depends on your spending style, but I'd say have at least the money to pay for a restaurant meal. After covid many restaurants,bars and pubs that previously accepted card now refuse to accept it so you're stuck with paying with cash. However you're still able to pay with card in most places, and if you check before entering you may spend your whole trip without touching a czech crown banknote
With a Swedish card, you will be safe at most places in Prague. Outside Prague, it can be a problem in smaller shops or restaurants. However the cash back service is available in many shops also outside Prague.
(BTW, I had problems with my Finnish card in Sweden about 10 years ago. Funny thing.)
I would get some, just in case, but a place that doesnt accept cards is not common, there are credible (!) atms everywhere and the staff usually will direct you to the nearwst one as they must be used on people being surprised by this
As someone living in Prague, I can go weeks without cash just fine. The biggest nuisance is stuff like public toilets, which often don't accept cards (some do, but it's a minority). If you come across a shop or restaurant that insists on 'cash only', just move on next door. In my experience, animosity to cards often correlates with bad service.
the reason you would select CZK when paying with your card is to avoid so called double conversion, which basically means your are going to pay more if you select paying in USD or EUR.
I have found many places accept USD, Euro, GBP and even Yen in addition to their currency. It's the xrate as verbal agreement where you lose value as it's often in their favor. Places I remember are Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, Egypt, Iceland, Switzerland, E. European countries, etc.
I don't know how it is now, but in 2010 a couple of Russians had problems paying for some basic food at a bus break stop as they only had USD with them, expecting it to be accepted. I was able to help them out as I was carrying enough VND.
adopting euro is better in the long run, all eu countries should have done it as quickly as possible in order to be mitigating potential damage as early as possible
Yes, it’s stupid not to use the euro when all the trade your country does is with euros
@@namelessnameless9879 and you're a net importer*
We have a similar battle here in Bulgaria. Nationalist parties are strongly against the EURO for some reason, and I'm not sure why exactly. It's a good currency. However, with the Bulgarian LEV it's easy to convert. 1€ is approximately 2 leva (1.95583 to be exact) so we just know that if something is 1 euro, it's about 2 leva. It's just easy. While with Czech crowns it's pretty hard to do the conversion. 100 crowns is about 4.22€ and yeah, you gotta kinda use a calculator if you're not used to it.
I went to that place in Rotterdam when I was living there. To say it was disappointing is an understatement
The bridges are tiny and it's just a residential area. Not really a touristy place
I think those attractions are the best ;)
you answered a question that I've had for quite some time, thank you!
Except he didn't.
For that, I always remember the Tip to change money on the Postal Office. It got better deals than any exchange office.
Sweden uses Swedish Krona and has not planned to adopt the Euro as of today. You can pay with Euro in most stores though, but I never heard of the exchange rate or if you get SEK or EUR in return for change.
According to a study by Centre for European Policy that calculated the potential GDP of 8 countries; "Italy has lost the most on giving up the lira - 4,000 billion euros. The French have lost 3,500 billion euros, and Spain 224 billion. Germany, on the other hand, has gone up by almost 2,000 billion euros. Of the countries examined, only Germany and the Netherlands benefited from joining EMU. (the zone that adopted the Euro)"
And that is why I say don't you ever join Euro.
Source?
@@esesininkas Centre for European Policy "20 Years of the Euro: Winners and Losers" should be at the top of your Google result if you Google "Italy lost 4000 billion Euros by joining eu"
Bro that study is pretty bullshit
@@rawbin2K study is quite flawed:
"These figures did not consider politics, reform and other external factors. Although researchers said this method was "far superior to other methods," they also said that "a lack of reliable empirical data" made the analysis difficult."
On what is it based? Most of these countries needed to reform since they now had to be internationally competitive (and the entire global economy moved in that direction). It also doesn't take into account debt levels stabilizing, trade boost, etc.
Just to add, some bank cards offer no charge on currency exchange rate (and a pretty good rate too!), if you can get one of those it will save you a lot
Bank of America Travel Visa is the most advantageous I believe. p.s[ just came home from Mexico, they happily allow purchases in dollars and give you change in dollars or pesos. The exchange rate fluctuates depending on the vendor between 19.5 to 21, slightly better than bank posted rates.
Another tip for getting currency in a foreign country is to go to a reputable bank that you’ve heard of before such as Santander or a large national bank of whatever country you’re in. They may charge like a 5€ fee but the currency will come out at a 100% market rate. It’s just like going to an out of network bank in your home country but you get foreign currency. Also NEVER LET THE ATM DO THE CONVERSION, just to be safe. For example if you live in the eurozone do not select the amount in euros, select the amount in czk.
I was laughing throughout the video. Super fun watching you man, cheers!
I am in Prague Janek. hope to see you.
In Mexico, they use Mexican Pesos MXN (Symbol $) but they also accept American Dollars USD (Symbol $).
If they accept your USD, they usually give you back MXN
But because both have $ as the symbol, its kinda confusing what the actual price is sometimes lol
Hello Janek, I don't know where to ask the question, actually this is not a question than a wish. I am going to start my PhD in Charles University end of the 2022, and if nothing crazy happens I will live Prague for about 4 years. Is it possible to you make a video about the paper works for the long time staying or making contracts to the flat owners or how official government offices works in Czech Republic? I learned lots of information about the Prague because of you. Thank you for that. Cheers.
As far as I know, it's a pretty common practice to accept payment in foreign currencies.
Some major supermarket networks in Slovakia (like Kaufland, if I recall correctly) accept (or used to accept not too long ago) payments in Czech korunas and Hungarian forints. I saw the exchange rates but didn't pay much attention since I had euros
The reason why CZ doesn't use Euro is because the The EU Economy as a whole is very different (worse; heavilly in debt) to CZ economy. This means that by accepting euro Czech National Bank will lose it's power to control the economy. This power will be transfered to European Central bank. But ECB will not manage Euro for the best of CZ. They will manage Euro for the best of EU average which is actually bad for CZ.
Try to use elementary common sense: Why should CZ a Greece use the same monetary policy when they are in completely different position...? By using the same monetary policy, both countries will lose.
Exactly! Nicely said.
Except any advantage you gain this way is eliminated by burdening your market and business environment with conversion costs and exchange rate volatility. And so in reality, you'll find that even many Czech companies price their goods/services in Euro, and it's quite common for a Czech vendor to invoice their Czech client in Euro.
So yeah, 'common sense' of a CZcams commenter :)
but any fluctuation in the market is likely to influence the CZ crown more than it does the EURO, not to mention how the more join a currency the stronger that currency is making it more resilient to outside interference.
@@jurajkovac8507 not at all mate, no one wants to invest in Greece because the economy sucks and it's just as expensive as the rest of Europe. But because they can't devalue their own currency they can't make their country a good investment option. So Germany keep pumping money into failing economies and those economies keep sucking.
Currency conversion isn't such a huge deal as you make it out to be.
Denmark has the exact same deal and doing better than most countries in the Euro
Nicely said!!
I got to see euro bills IRL a few weeks before January 1st 2002 as one girl at a course I was attending too brought some. Her father worked in a bank.
About having the Euro as a currency in your country, well, it has its benefits but also its problems. Yes, those who travel abroad will benefit from that, but travelling abroad is not everyday's life for most people. I live relatively close to the Portuguese border and yet I don't visit the country that often (and when I do, I actually don't go too far from the border) but it makes buying there completely seamless. If this were over twenty years ago, I would have to think before hand and get some Escudos (Portuguese currency before Euro) at the bank. Not practical if you decide to go to Portugal for the day on a weekend.
It also makes it easier when you're shopping online, as there's no need to convert prices into your local currency. And as a country, well, you're not in risk of devaluation if your government decides to, as ours did back in the day.
However, although it's almost not mentioned in the video, the risk of inflation for the first year or two after having Euros is high. I mean, there will be a higher inflation that it should be.
Why? easy: because of rounding. In Spain we had things like, for example, a cup of coffee, it might cost 100 ptas. (Pesetas, our currency back then) and once the Euro came, bars were not ashame at all to charge you 1 euro for the same coffee. The problem was that 100 ptas. were 0,60€, or, if you want it the other way, 1€ was 166,something pesetas. That happened here, I guess it had happened elsewhere and I bet it will happen in any new country joining the Euro.
8:25 Whilst Janek is mostly correct about which currency to use at the POS (point of sale) terminal, it’s worth noting that a lot of banks still employ foreign currency transaction fees, which can be sometimes up to 4.99% of the value of the transaction. But while the price the POS terminal gives you in your home currency is tempting since you’ll know up front exactly what’s deducted from your bank, the rate is set by the POS provider or the shop itself and often at an inflated rate. Your bank will typically use the daily rate set by MasterCard or Visa (or other scheme provider) plus whatever transaction fees. Best way to deal with it? Make sure you get a travel account with a digital bank (e.g. Revolut) who have binned the transaction fees and just convert at the daily MasterCard/Visa rate - you’ll also have the advantage of an immediate push notification with the amount of the transaction in both currencies!
Wow, I didn't know that the bridges in the euro bills were built! I hope I remember to go there if I ever go to the Netherlands
I'm from England so have only used the Euro when on holiday. When using your card abroad though be prepared for some English banks to add a rip off fee called "Non Sterling Transaction Fee". This can be as much as £2 a time
My German bank also adds a few of 1,50€ if I pay in another currency. And: not directly but at the end of every month. Therefore, I would be very careful using the hint from Honest Guide in the video to select CZK at payment.
You should find better bank.
2£ can be meaningless if you are taking out say 100£ worth from an ATM with the bank's rate. Take from one of those scam exchanges though..
@@rkan2 true, but if you use your card to buy something for 2 or 3 Euro,then that additional charge starts to cost you a lot of money
@@bakerloobadboy Of course
"In THE European Union", THE. Naopak u měsíců se to nepoužívá, viz "in THE January 1999" je špatně.
I don’t understand this comment but him leaving out “the” before “European Union” was bothering me too haha.
also "using THE cash" is wrong
@@LorcTheBest I understand it’s hard for those who speak Slavic languages since articles do not exist.
@@jinjysbro I am learning English for 20 years and I still don't understand where to use articles and where not. I am using it mostly only in phrases which I remember and I know there is always article.
@@jinjysbro This was a comment directed at the uploader, as he is Czech. But yeah, despite making these videos for years, he keeps making these basic mistakes that are extremely annoying to hear.
The money in the Czech Republic looks cool !
Good Morning from Los Angeles! Great videos as always. Have a great day/night ahead!
The adidas outlet (Fashion Arena Praha) always have an excellent exchange rate. Last week I got 26.2 CZK for 1 EUR although the official exchange rate was about 24.5 CZK.
Do they have good offers in general?
@@beckerskarl Standard outlet price you can find anywhere in outlet centers. But from time to time you can make a bargain. I like the Fashion Arena much and I always visit the adidas store when I am there.
It makes it just sooo affordable to travel to Prague - and that can be and is a strong tourist pull factor. At least I really liked it when I visited Prague 😁
I don't really think that the currency has that much to do with the price level. Slovakia has euro and the country is even a bit cheaper than the Czech Republic.
Doesn't really have an influence besides stopping you from being ripped off as easily. Czech balance of trade is import, so going EUR would probably make more sense.
these are awesome videos !
😍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼good tips👍🏻
Czech crown, as currency, have a long history, so maybe that's one of the reasons some people don't want to change it 👌🏼
Yeah, that's probably it. This is probably the reason why people don't want the change. But if you think about it, this reason is not good enoght.
For the reason why politicians are against if look for comment of TomAtom...
Man... Czech crown is 30 years old...
@@RMKL1900 myslel jsem tím, že generace na ní už vyrostla, a nechce se jim to měnit :)
@@mrmudrpablo3608Tak větší podporu eura než u mojí generace v Česku nenajdeš. Takže jo, chtělo by to změnu 😅
Yeah, because putting a load of countries with different economic bases and different economic policies together under one currency to make it more convenient for tourists was such a good idea. Everyone quickly forgets what happened with Greece.
+1
For business mostly... much easier for the bigger companies, especially those many years ago. Saved them a lot of money.
For us as travellers and people living close to the borders it made life also a lot easier though. Before everytime I went to the next big city which is in Belgium in my case, I needed to have those Francs, even when they were already on a fixed-rate to the Dutch Guilder for a long time and in general here we accepted the Belgium Francs and the other way round, same for German Marks as they were all important neighbourhing countries already without real borders (untill 2020 with the C-pandamic of course when they closed borders for persons)...
I and many with me would rather have kept the older currencies because the change has cost us a lot of money. But yea, for companies and most countries cheaper in the long run. Now we just have to get the USA to change to the Euro and life will be much easier again for internetshopping!
@@elvinhaak The sarcasm clearly escaped you.
It was't primarily done for thw people though
Evidently Vonatar has forgotten what happened with Greece. The corrupt Greek government mismanaged the country's finances appallingly, whilst lying to the EU about the Greek economy. In no way is that the fault of Greece being in the Eurozone.
Oh, and it's wildly inaccurate to say that the Euro was adopted "to make it more convenient for tourists". The Euro was adopted to make things more convenient for _businesses_ first and foremost, and customers second. Tourism was at most a tertiary consideration.
Yeah....a head spinning video 😂! BUT appreciated the lesson.❤ Thanks 😊
Thanks for the information 👍 👍
Euro was a desaster for Slovakia.
The best is to be part of EU but not change currencies.
Poland, Czech Republic and others that keep their owm currency are much better.
Slovakia was very cheap in the 90s its not now.
because Czechs are wise
You can pay in euro in Albania too. though easier to convert it to Albanian lek first. Same situation as Czech it seems. It's perfectly legal accepted currency but you will get the local currency in change and it's up to that shop keeper to calculate the exchange rate.
Excellent video. I really appreciate it 👌 Ahoj!
Czechia, Poland, Hungary! No euros for us, thanks!
And Denmark
Hmmm, I thought the Czech Republic/Czechia didn't use the Euro because you had not passed all the economic stages to be able to use the Euro? As opposed to Denmark, which has qualified, but votes not to use it.
It's both things... people don't want it and the country isn't in the position to adopt it right now, but they aren't really trying to improve to abide by the requirements, because again they don't really want to adopt the euro
I think this is the main reason, the unwillingness of the people being the secondary one
Or, as I heard, Sweden which deliberately fails on at least one of the economic criteria.
That's not the case. Most of the countries that uses Euro actully do not pass the economic criteria anymore. Czechia is one of the few countries in EU that actually does. Look it up... :)
@@katkamyvalova9088 Sweden doesn't use the Euro. And as I heard it they've been doing the above for as long as they've been in the EU.
Hi! Love your videos! Can you do a guide to football in Prague, how to get to Sparta or Slavia games and best way to buy tickets etc?
For the first time since covid I get to go back to Prague tomorrow! Man I missed that place so much !
When you print your own currency you are better off.....just ask Italy or Greece
True. If Italy and Greece still would have printed their own currencies, the rest of the Eurozone wouldn't have had to suffer from the sh!tshows the Italians and Greeks call their economic and monetary policies...
@@jdjphotographynl In times of economic crises, they could also easily depreciate their own currency, thus lowering the impact of the crisis on their economy.
Or Spain
@@Darwinek Depreciating your currency means inflation, which indeed means your debts will become smaller, but at the same time consumers will see the money evaporate before their eyes as goods and services get more expensive.
As a result, I'm afraid you'll get in a continuous downwards spiral, ending in a hyperinflation like situation like Zimbabwe in 2008/2009, or Hungary shortly after WW2.
Nope (from Italy)
Idk, I just like crowns more :D
Hi, small correction, the bridges are around Rotterdam. A few of the picuteres as I saw in the video are in surrounded area near Rotterdam.
Not all places accept card though, so better have some cash on you it will be a lot less stressful. Specialty for small amounts or places outside of the center
Yeah, and sometimes the card reading machine is broken when you have to pay. Or the place doesn't accept your type of credit card (typical in rural regions, as you say) Or even worse: the whole electronic payment system is down. We had that in Germany this year - card payment was not possible for a couple of days, especially in supermarkets. Always better to carry enough cash for 1-2 days (In Germany 25-50 Euros if you do not intend on buying or doing anything expensive). So for Czech Republic about 100 Korunas every day.
Best thing the Czechs did was not to use the Euro. Just look at what happened to Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. Even Ireland and Slovenia went on buying binges and then the central bank called in the debts and threw these local economies into chaos. Better to stick with one's own currency.
or Slovakia - prices are so high there comparing to Czech Republic
@@FilipDworniczak Funny, I just watched a short clip by Mark Woler and his choice for a cheap city was Bratislava!
Denmark is also a part of EU, and have there own currency
Denmark has however negotiated that they do not have to use the euro, we in Czechia did not do that so as it stands we have to apply for euro sometime in the future, does not specify the date tho.
Yeah, but Denmark is exempted from the Euro, while Czech Republic doesn't yet meet the criteria for implementing it (like all other EU members, who aren't in the Eurozone yet). The Danish Krone is fixed to the Euro at around 7.44 DKK for 1 EUR, while the Czech Korona has no ties to the value of the Euro.
My Czech Crowns are my favorite addition to my coin collection.
Great video! Only one thing : I think that the example you showed about payement in card is wrong. 42.5 EUR is currently equivalent to 1063 CZK, so by choosing to pay 1153 CZK you end up paying more than if you had chosen the 42.5 EUR (actually we can see that they pretend that 1 euro equals 27.1 CZK instead of 25.0 which pumps up the price!)