If there's a place that doesn't accept cash, it's the place's fault. Cash is what's legal tender, credit cards are the convenience. The airport is absolutely in the wrong here.
However, the concept of "legal tender" is very limited and unfortunately could not be used here to put pressure on Ryanair. Cash being legal tender only means that it must be accepted as settlement for an incurred debt, which was not the case here. What's more, I seem to remember that technically it only means it in the context of legal disputes, such that the cash will always settle the debt if deposited at the corresponding court (or something like that).
Nitpick-- it is a RyanAir policy, not an airport policy.
RyanAir was absolutely in the wrong here.
I've been burned one time too many by RyanAir's deceptive pricing schemes.
Previously, I had always believed that in the US it was a law that places had to accept cash.
Except when paying with more then 50 coins
Except when paying with coins over 200€ (bills are fine)
Except when clearly contractually precluded beforehand.Wherever you are quoting from almost certainly applies to creditors, not vendors in general.
Only France has a national law requiring universal acceptance. There is no such EU requirement.
I doubt this is the case; it's easy to see the costs associated with taking a credit card because they are all upfront - e.g. a card may charge 1-5% plus a fixed fee.
However the costs associated with cash happen after the transaction and are extensive: * Cost of the time spent 'cashing up' - i.e. reconciling the cash in a till with the transactions made, * Cost of the time spent taking cash to a bank, or the direct cost for a cash collection business, * Losses due to mistakes in making change, * Losses due to fake currency, * Losses due to staff-theft, * Losses due to robbery,
I can imagine these easily adding up to some small percentage of the costs of accepting cash, comparable to the cost of a CC transaction.
It's always more expensive to handle cash here. Business plans usually estimate the total cash handling cost to be 2.5%, compared to 1% for cars payments.
(I think CC costs are also likely lower in Europe - cashback credit cards are less common/rewarding, debit cards are a lot more common)
Try checking into a hotel, getting a rental car without a credit card and see how far you get.
Alternatively, try mailing cash to Amazon to buy something.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm
> There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise