Common money scams in Czechia, and what they cost you

The tourist-area exchange kiosk, the smenarna, is Prague's most durable money trap. The board advertises zero commission while the rate itself is dreadful, or the headline number turns out to apply to some amount you are not exchanging, or the count in the handover comes back short. It is a slow, legal-looking way to lose ten to twenty percent of whatever you change.

What makes Czechia unusual is that the law gives you a way back. The Czech National Bank sets out the rules plainly: you have the right to cancel an exchange free of charge and without giving a reason within three hours, at the same booth, for amounts up to the equivalent of about 1,000 euros. The booth may not prevent you from exercising that right, and it is obliged to issue you a receipt, which is what makes the right usable, so insist on one and check the date and time on it. If a booth refuses, complain there first, then in writing to the Czech National Bank, which can sanction them. Two more rules from the same source are useful ammunition: booths may not charge separate fees beyond the rate itself, and only one rate table is allowed, so the VIP rate trick is banned. Simplest of all, skip the booth and pull koruna from a bank ATM.

Prague's taxi reputation is largely historical now, because apps dominate and most licensed drivers are straight. What survives is targeted at arrivals: a friendly man, sometimes in something that looks like a uniform, approaches you inside the terminal or at the main station and offers a fixed price. The car is unmarked or vaguely marked, and the final figure is two to three times the quote once luggage fees, a night surcharge or a changed story appear. An investigation published in late 2025 documented a fake operator at Prague Airport charging 70 koruna a kilometre plus a 500 koruna luggage fee, against a city-set maximum far below that, and issuing a receipt for a company that did not exist.

The defense is simple and total: never take a ride from someone who approaches you. Book Bolt, Uber or Liftago from the arrivals hall, where the airport Wi-Fi is free, and the price is fixed before you get in. If you want a traditional cab, use a known company such as AAA Radiotaxi and check the rate is displayed on the door, which licensed Prague taxis are required to show, then make sure the meter runs from the start. The Czechia taxis and apps guide has the full picture, including the Airport Express bus, which is cheaper than all of it.

Two costs here are entirely legal, which is exactly why nobody warns you. The first is the bright yellow Euronet ATM, which clusters around Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square and Charles Bridge precisely because that is where disoriented visitors are. They charge high fees and push the conversion prompt hard. Use a machine attached to a real Czech bank instead: CSOB, Komercni banka, Ceska sporitelna, Raiffeisenbank or UniCredit. Searching maps for bankomat finds them.

The second is the pay in dollars offer on card machines and ATMs, which uses a marked-up rate and costs you a few percent every time you accept it. Always choose koruna. The same applies to paying in euros: Czechia kept the koruna, and places that accept euros set their own rate, which is never in your favour. The mechanics are in the Czechia cash and cards guide.

In the streets immediately around Old Town Square, a few places run the standard European bill-padding playbook: a couvert charged for bread or nuts you did not order, a service charge added and then a blank tip line offered on top, or prices that were never actually shown to you. Some venues will quote verbally rather than hand over a printed menu, which is the tell. Ask for the menu with prices before you sit down, and walk if there is not one.

At the end, look at the itemized bill rather than the total. If a service charge is already there you do not need to tip on top, and Czech tipping is about 10 percent by rounding up, stated to the server rather than left on the table, which the Czechia tipping guide covers. Walking two streets away from the main square generally solves the whole problem, since prices in ordinary Prague pubs are a fraction of the ones on the square.

Everything here costs tens of dollars at most and is avoided by four habits: book a ride in an app rather than hailing one, get koruna from a bank ATM rather than a booth, choose koruna at every terminal, and read the itemized bill before you tip. If you do use an exchange booth, keep the receipt, because without it the three-hour cancellation right is much harder to use.

Handled calmly, none of this should shape your trip, and Prague outside the immediate tourist core is straightforwardly good value. For getting and spending money well while you are there, see the Czechia cash and cards guide and the Czechia cost guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Czechia

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Do I need cash in Czechia, or can I use cards?Short answer: cards work well, especially in Prague, but the currency is the koruna, not the euro, so do not pay in euros. Carry a little koruna for small shops and pubs. Here is how to handle it.
• Tipping in CzechiaCzechia tips a little more than Western Europe: about 10% at a restaurant, told to the server rather than left on the table. Here is what you actually owe.
• Prague taxis, the apps, and the airport scam to skipPrague's taxis had a bad name for years, but apps have quietly fixed most of it. Here is which one to install, the airport trick that still catches people, and how to get into the city cheaply.
• Bringing your dog or cat to Czechia.Czechia runs on the single EU pet-entry process for a US-origin dog or cat: microchip, rabies in the right order, and an EU health certificate on a 10-day clock. No quarantine, no rabies titer. Here is what that means for Czechia, and the local parts worth knowing.
• Staying connected in Czechia.Czechia has excellent coverage and some of the cheaper prepaid data in Europe, and no connectivity story worth padding out. That makes this page short, which is the honest length for it.
• What does getting sick in Czechia cost a visitor?Czech medicine is better than most Americans expect and priced for a country where doctors are paid in crowns. The part worth learning in advance is not the price. It is the mechanics at the front desk.