Dollars and Euros in One Envelope

A guest near the end of a long trip had a small problem that many travellers know. They had some euros left, but not quite enough, and a few dollar notes from home. They asked, in their booking message, whether they could pay the balance with both.

The question was a good one, and the way it was asked made it easy to answer.

What made it easy

First, it was asked before she set out, in the thread. That meant it could be settled in writing, with no discussion at the door. Second, the guest wrote the currency with its code, USD, and not with a dollar sign. Many countries use the dollar sign, and their dollars are worth very different amounts. The code names only one currency. Third, the guest said how many euros they had. So the question was not vague. It was: I have this many euros, can the rest be in USD?

How it was settled

The reply gave one exact figure for the part in dollars, written in the thread, with the euro part beside it. Two figures, both in writing, before she set out. The guest counted the two sets of notes that afternoon and put them in one envelope, with the dollars on one side and the euros on the other. At the door, the envelope was on the table. The first minute of the visit took about fifteen seconds.

What would have made it hard

Imagine the same guest without that message. She arrives. The balance is in euros, as usual. The guest has some euros, and some dollars, and asks at the door if the mix is acceptable. Now two people who may share only a little English are working out an exchange rate, by hand, in a hotel room, at the start of a visit. Nobody wants that. It is the kind of thing that makes a relaxed evening feel like a shop counter.

That is why the rule on this site is that another currency is agreed in writing before she sets out. It is not a formality. It is the thing that keeps money out of the room.

A few practical details

Some things help whatever currency you use:

• Notes only. Foreign coins are difficult to exchange anywhere.
• The exact sum, counted before she knocks. Change is often not possible in another currency.
• Notes in good condition. Torn or taped notes can be refused by exchange counters.
• Everything in one place, so the first minute is short.

What cannot be mixed

The deposit is a different matter. It is paid before she travels, by card, or by Revolut, Wise or crypto, and it can never be cash in any currency. Only the balance, paid when she arrives, can be cash. So a mix of euros and dollars is only ever a question about the balance.

When card is simpler

The same guest might have paid the whole balance by card. It is charged in euros, and the bank changes it into dollars at its own rate. There would have been nothing to count and no envelope to prepare. For some guests that is easier. For others, using up their last notes before flying home is the point. Both are fine.

The guide to cash in another currency explains what major currency means here, why the three letter code matters, and what to know about card payments abroad. If you plan to pay in anything other than euros, it is worth five minutes before you write your message.

A note for the deposit, if there is one

If your booking has a deposit, the balance is only half of the price, and the envelope is smaller. That makes a mixed payment easier still. Some guests pay the deposit by Revolut or Wise from euros held in the app, and then use their foreign notes for the balance. That way the conversion happens twice in small amounts, once in the app and once in writing in the thread, and never at the door.

The rule underneath

Everything above comes back to one rule. The balance is the figure in the thread. If the currency is euros, it is the euro figure. If you asked for another currency, it is the figure in that currency, written before she set out. Nothing is worked out at the door, and nothing is added there. Money is dealt with at the start, it takes a minute, and then it is finished.