Submitted by TugboatCrypto t3_1051s4y in personalfinance
I first saw it pop up in August when we traveled to Ashville for a weekend, they said it was to "curb inflation". But now I'm seeing it all over, it was at most of the restaurants we visited in Charleston in Early December, and most recently it has popped up in basically every restaurant near where we live (Atlanta metro) excluding fast food.
Just thought I would give everyone a heads up so they aren't blindsided or haven't been paying attention, it may not be a lot but it certainly adds up and I'm not one to be charged a 'convenience fee' when it's easily avoidable. Options are to start carrying cash or a Credit Card with a restaurant cash-back bonus that's at least 3% but still may be worth having cash and checking the bill, one establishment had it at 5%. Chase offers a zero fee cc with a 3% cash back on restaurant dining, I'm sure there are others but I haven't looked into it.
I can only speak on my market areas, not sure if this is something that's happening (or has been happening) outside of the Southeast; my Wife and I eat out a few times a week with most meals going somewhere between $50-$120, napkin math is that without prepping with cash or a new cc its anywhere from $300-$500 a year in fees that I wasn't paying a few months ago.
Edit: To be clear, I don't blame/judge restaurants for doing this, free market and all that jazz. This to me feels similar to preventative maintenance, I never once had a reason to carry cash on me before, and I don't plan on reducing the number of times we eat out (most of the time it's during travel) so it just makes sense to start carrying cash or a dining card to avoid these costs. preventative finance!