fao Rob-jax

[catherine_5040027]

Hi Rob,

You answered my question on Holland in January, and we are due to go in 10 days time,I was planning to take a small amount of cash and use my credit card for shopping and petrol,however there has been some postings in here recently saying that there is a problem with our credit cards in Holland.As you spend a lot of time there

I wondered if you found this to be true.Thanks

Catherine

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Hi Catherine

We go to Holland quiet a lot in fact we will be there for a Rally over Easter. We tend to use cash when we pay at supermarkets etc but we have found no problem getting money out of ATM`s at Banks. We did have a problem at a dealer paying for some wheels once as their machine was not compatiable to a UK card. But you can always draw money as and when you require it from the banks and that way you do not have to carry so much around with you. Have a nice holiday.

Joyce

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Hi Catherine

Hubby has now told me that he also pays for petrol with a credit card and so no problem there!

Joyce

 

[GingerPete]

hi folks , we went to holland june 2005 , tried to pay for diesel at pump with visa card but couldn't , our friend used his master card for us as we where getting low on diesel , hope this help's .....pete

 

[smiley]

07:20 PM We went to holland a few weeks ago. Petrol using ban/credit visa ok. larger places ok. But we got caught out in supermarket, a restuarant, and a few other places.

They don't like english visa whether credit or debit

 

[catherine_5040027]

Thanks for all your replies,very helpful.Good to know our cards aren't completely useless. Have a good time at the rally Joyce.

Catherine.

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Thanks Catherine really looking forward to the break......... you enjoy your trip too, hope you do not have too much trouble with the money!

 

[rob_jax]

Catherine,

This is a copy of the answer I sent to a couple of others, expanded with some notes about VISA / AMEX / etc acceptance:

I've worked in Rotterdam for the past 10 years, commuting from the UK most weekends, and there's a bit of truth in what all of you say.

In the UK (and everywhere else) we have two basic types of card - either a debit card or a credit card. With this type of card, money is held in a bank account and balanced against expenditure.

Generally speaking AMEX, VISA, Mastercard, etc., are widely accepted - but each shop will have a list of the cards they accept by the entrance.

The problem that Mike experienced is caused by the Dutch having a third type of card - a pre-payment card - which is a "Chip & Pin" type but which is not directly linked to a bank account.

You download money from your bank account onto the card - say Euro 200 - and you can then spend money off the card - until you need to recharge it with more money.

The Dutch like these cards because if you loose the card, the most you can possibly loose is the money you downloaded onto to it - there is no way that a thief can access your bank account from these cards.

Nearly everywhere - fuel stations, toll tunnels, hotels, camping shops, camp grounds, tourist shops, etc. take the standard European wide debit or credit card (and always take the pre-payment card) and you chip and pin like in the UK.

A few places ONLY take cash or the "pre-payment" card - most notably railway station ticket offices, parking meters in Rotterdam and Delft, and some supermarket chains like Albert Heijn. In this case you will need to take cash.

Robert

 

[catherine_5040027]

Catherine,

This is a copy of the answer I sent to a couple of others, expanded with some notes about VISA / AMEX / etc acceptance:

I've worked in Rotterdam for the past 10 years, commuting from the UK most weekends, and there's a bit of truth in what all of you say.

In the UK (and everywhere else) we have two basic types of card - either a debit card or a credit card. With this type of card, money is held in a bank account and balanced against expenditure.

Generally speaking AMEX, VISA, Mastercard, etc., are widely accepted - but each shop will have a list of the cards they accept by the entrance.

The problem that Mike experienced is caused by the Dutch having a third type of card - a pre-payment card - which is a "Chip & Pin" type but which is not directly linked to a bank account.

You download money from your bank account onto the card - say Euro 200 - and you can then spend money off the card - until you need to recharge it with more money.

The Dutch like these cards because if you loose the card, the most you can possibly loose is the money you downloaded onto to it - there is no way that a thief can access your bank account from these cards.

Nearly everywhere - fuel stations, toll tunnels, hotels, camping shops, camp grounds, tourist shops, etc. take the standard European wide debit or credit card (and always take the pre-payment card) and you chip and pin like in the UK.

A few places ONLY take cash or the "pre-payment" card - most notably railway station ticket offices, parking meters in Rotterdam and Delft, and some supermarket chains like Albert Heijn. In this case you will need to take cash.

Robert

Hello Robert,Thanks for your reply I was getting a bit worried that I was going to have to travel with all our holiday money in cash!which I thought was probably not the case.

Catherine

 

[rob_jax]

Catherine,

All town centres have one or more ATM "hole in the wall" machines that will let you get cash out against your UK debit card.

Expect a charge of something like

 

[MarkG.]

We have just come back from Holland and did experience a lot of problems with our debitcard/Visa card. We even visited well known attarctions and couldn`t use our card. The only place we didn`t have a problem was Efteling theme park. Theres no problem getting cash out of the machines though.

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Hi Catherine

Just wondered how you got in in Holland and if you had a good time?

You said the date you were going but not when you were due back.

Anyway hope everything went ok with the money and you did not have any trouble.

Joyce

 

[catherine_5040027]

Hi Joyce,

We had a lovely time got back last Tuesday, we stayed at Camping Koningshof,which was a lovely site, We had no problems with our credit card at all and used it at all petrol stations and restaurants so that was a relief,I was quite surprised how built up Holland is and even with the amount of bikes on the road we still managed to get stuck in the morning rush hour traffic,just like home!However I thought it was a lovely place and will have to go back to see all the places we didn't manage to this time.We travelled with the Norfolk line ferries and I'm not sure if we will do that again,the service was definately not up to P&O standards.

Hope you had a good time on your Rally,Were you at the same place?

Catherine

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Catherine,

Pleased you had a good time in Holland.

As yes, the area between Rotterdam and Amsterdam (which includes Den Hague, Leiden, and Delft) has around 1/2 the total population. Outside that region it's pretty thinly populated, but it's still a small country.

Next time, try "forgotten Holland" in the south.

Robert

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Hi Catherine

As you can see I am working late and only just had time to read the forum.

We also had a great time over Easter and got back the same day as you. We were further over to the German border near Borculo a small place called Haarlo.

We had such a good rally and it was so good to see old friends again as we only see some of them each Easter. Next year we are in Begium and so a little closer to the UK.

It is quieter and so lovely in the area we were although I do believe we know the camp site you were on as I think we spent part of our Honeymoon there three years ago....it rained nearly all the time so we left and went to Luxemburg!!

We travelled with P&O (

 

[rob_jax]

Re: Club Class

As a (very) frequent traveller, you can buy a "book" of tickets on either Eurotunnel or P&O - the price is pretty good - and in the case of P&O includes "free" Club Class and Priority loading.

The best ever experience was arriving at Calais on a Friday evening to find the port heaving with cars (some sort of delay had backed everything up) - waved striaght through the queues and straight to the boat.

They were just about to start loading and an "older" gentleman was about to drive on - he was stopped and I was waved on - Great.

Robert

 

[EvansofSprot]

Re: Club Class

As a (very) frequent traveller, you can buy a "book" of tickets on either Eurotunnel or P&O - the price is pretty good - and in the case of P&O includes "free" Club Class and Priority loading.

The best ever experience was arriving at Calais on a Friday evening to find the port heaving with cars (some sort of delay had backed everything up) - waved striaght through the queues and straight to the boat.

They were just about to start loading and an "older" gentleman was about to drive on - he was stopped and I was waved on - Great.

Robert

Remember that the "'older' gentleman's" life is shorter than yours.

It might have been me! lol

 

[catherine_5040027]

Hi Joyce,

I see you work unsocial hours like me.Silly me I spent hours looking at the lovely plants in the markets and didn't think to bring any back.I just brought bunches of tulips,a good excuse to go

back again. I think we will probably go in the summer time and have a look at the beaches this time.

Catherine

 

[catherine_5040027]

Re: Club Class

As a (very) frequent traveller, you can buy a "book" of tickets on either Eurotunnel or P&O - the price is pretty good - and in the case of P&O includes "free" Club Class and Priority loading.

The best ever experience was arriving at Calais on a Friday evening to find the port heaving with cars (some sort of delay had backed everything up) - waved striaght through the queues and straight to the boat.

They were just about to start loading and an "older" gentleman was about to drive on - he was stopped and I was waved on - Great.

Robert

Hi Rob,

Thanks for all your advise you are right it is a lovely country,I expected it to be like France,which of course it isn't.I did

think you of you as we past the traffic jam at Rotterdam,I wouldn't like to be stuck there every morning,but I expect you get the train

or arrive at 10.00!

Catherine

 

[rob_jax]

Evans of Sprot,

Which is exactly why I did not tell the second part of the Priority loading story - when I had parked at the front of the boat and the "older gentleman" had also parked, he came over and rather brusquely asked why I was allowed on first.

He'd obviously been waiting a fair length of time, and for some johnny-come-lately to be waved through in-front of him was causing the vein in his neck to throb.

I politely showed him the big "Prioritie" sign in the window and helpfully explained that if you have a Mercedes you get one these for free...

Robert

 

[rob_jax]

Catherine,

Thank you for your thoughts - no we start work around 8:00am Dutch time, so I usually leave Brielle around 07:00 arriving about 07:30, and the traffic is not so bad - but I always need to cross under the waterway with the Bennelux tunnel (just to the west of Rotterdam) and that can be a real nightmare.

Robert

 

[EvansofSprot]

Evans of Sprot,

Which is exactly why I did not tell the second part of the Priority loading story - when I had parked at the front of the boat and the "older gentleman" had also parked, he came over and rather brusquely asked why I was allowed on first.

He'd obviously been waiting a fair length of time, and for some johnny-come-lately to be waved through in-front of him was causing the vein in his neck to throb.

I politely showed him the big "Prioritie" sign in the window and helpfully explained that if you have a Mercedes you get one these for free...

Robert

It does sound like me! lol