51–60 of 115 posts
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not everyone wants to give their identity to every street vendor to buy a taco
How am I giving my identity to a street vendor when I pay without cash?
> The rules of travel to Europe have changed. Starting in mid-2025, some 1.4 billion people from over 60 visa-exempt countries are required to have a travel authorization to enter most European countries. I don't remember voting for this....
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There is just no desire in Germany to go there. That said, why is Estonia still a net EU receiver of funds then?
From what I've heard from people living in Germany, there very much is, but the government is afraid of change, and love bureaucracy to the point that nothing ever actually gets done or changed. That said, Estonia has been an independent country only for the past 30 years, previously under Soviet Union, and within that time we have technologically surpassed Germany in every way possible, and yet Germany, a huge econo…
Germany has a very weird relationship with technology, and, yes, right now it is turning itself into a museum of sorts because change is not popular.
Not sure there is winning if one side has no interest in going there, though.
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A huge percentage of daily life in Germany (Europe's biggest economy) and Austria is conducted in cash. https://www.bundesbank.de/en/press/press-releases/payment-be...
Germany is not a good benchmark. Germany is scared of exploring the future.
Aside from standardizing this process across the entire EU, this seems to be a tourism tax which will bring in several billion euros yearly.
The same thing US does. Isn't it like 70 bucks every couple of years for ESTAs applications?
Our children are US citizens and Spanish citizens and we live in the US. When we book flights to Spain to visit family we always use their US passport details to ensure we aren’t denied boarding returning home due to lack of an ESTA. I can already imagine the inverse and an over-zealous ticket or gate agent denying boarding to Spain because of no ETIAS and not accepting the physical Spanish passport because it’s not…
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It's a tit-for-tat response to ESTA.
It's way cheaper and dure 50% longuer, so i don't know. Imho it's just another McKinsey idea. How i envision the discussion: """ - Most of our illegal immigrants entered legally within our borders, quick find us a new revolutionnary idea! - Hey, we have this ETIAS idea. bla bla.... .... bla bla... So it's nothing at all like ESTA at all (two hour presentation) - Nice, here's 5 million """
> You will need a payment card to cover the EUR 7 fee. You can use a variety of online payment options to pay the fee. And no cash options?
People still use cash in the modern world? I haven't needed it in years. Don't know anybody else either (Estonia).
Also this creates unwritten requirements to traveling to the EU: 1. You must have a bank account. 2. Mastercard/Visas/$otherPaymentProcessor will be aware of your application.
I don’t have an issue with these payment methods being available, I take issue with them being the only available methods. Countries’ immigration departments have no business compelling travellers into a contract with a private entity (the bank), and I also believe their dealings with european immigration departments shouldn’t be exposed to foreign payment processors.
At the very least cash payment at a local embassy should be an option.