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lol! Yeah, people don't make up stuff like this. Besides, price wasn't at all the focus of my post. I was actually defending, somewhat, Swiss customer service, by saying it's possible to get good service by buttering up the waiters.
This whole discussion makes me want to go to Switzerland for a lengthy stay to test whether or not I can make friends with a few locals, buy an affordable meal at a restaurant, and get decent service. If I ever make it there, I'll be sure to report back.
Switzerland today is expensive. Actually, it always was quite expensive compared to the USA although some of the stories on here are a bit of a joke.
The main reason Switzerland feels expensive today is the weakness of the dollar due to the Swiss Franc becoming a safe haven currency and which was accentuated by the financial crisis. When the Swiss Franc was at $1 = 1.25 (2006), an 18 franc pizza cost around $14.5. Today the same pizza, same price in Swiss francs costs $20. That is a 38% price rise for dollar visitors without any change in the local price due entirely to exchange rate fluctuations.
That said, not everything is more expensive. Wine is cheaper Health care is cheaper and taxes are generally lower. Also, visitors don't always see the same prices as the locals. For example, most Swiss have a half-price card when they use the trains (which they buy every year). Tourists pay full price.
Maybe it has something to do, in part, with the change from local currency to Euros. I also think the term "stronger dollar" is extremely relative. I didn't feel like the dollar was strong when I changed currency in Geneva. And it was February 1992, I remember that much.
In Feb 1992, the one dollar bought you 1.4548 Swiss Francs. Today, that dollar will buy you 0.95 Swiss Francs. That means that the dollar today is worth just 65% of what it was worth in Feb 1992.
Also, visitors don't always see the same prices as the locals. For example, most Swiss have a half-price card when they use the trains (which they buy every year). Tourists pay full price.
You bring up a good point, even though I was actually talking about a restaurant in Germany, not Switzerland.
This particular Pizza Hut was right across the street from American military housing. Maybe their prices were jacked up for that reason - I don't know. I doubt that much of their business came from the locals, since they were pretty much surrounded by US military personnel and their housing, kasernes, etc.
I had thought about that at the time but I didn't investigate it.
I always wonder why people visit Switzerland for the mountain scenery and alpine landscapes, when Austria, right next store is equally as beautiful (maybe more) with the same (or better) mountain landscapes, and far more history, and MUCH cheaper. The skiing is the same, the villages are generally more historic, and everything costs half that of Switzerland.
There is no Swiss city as scenic, beautiful or historic as Innsbruck or Salzburg.
This is what I'm thinking. I haven't been to Switzerland, but I have been to Austria. Supposedly, it's almost as nice and a whole lot cheaper (although still expensive by American standards).
This is what I'm thinking. I haven't been to Switzerland, but I have been to Austria. Supposedly, it's almost as nice and a whole lot cheaper (although still expensive by American standards).
Innsbruck is GORGEOUS!
I think there's a lot more of the quaintness and picturesqueness jammed together per square mile in Switzerland than in Austria. And more mountains squeezed together in a comparable amount of space to Austria. It's just more intensely quaint and Alpine, somehow. But Austria's great. And Slovenia's a LOT cheaper than both of those, with equally as spectacular scenery.
Rents are nearly always lower in Europe compared to the US for cities of equal size. And American housing quality is actually far worse than European. Groceries are far more expensive in the US compared to Germany or the Netherlands. And you forgot about the things which are really expensive in the US compared to Europe like health care, the need to have a car for every family member, or going to college. I've lived in TX and WI, so I can compare directly.
Switzerland is really the only country, maybe together with parts of Scandinavia and parts of the UK(London) that have similar costs of living to the US or Canada. It is also the reason why average salaries in those places are higher than the rest of Europe. I remember when I moved back a few years ago that even electronics(except Apple) like LCD tv's, fridges or computers are less expensive over here than in the US. It used to be the other way around once admittedly.
You are right about health care. I haven't lived in Europe, so I can't comment on rents based on personal experience. But anything I've read generally says the real estate costs in most European countries is higher than the US, on average. I will agree the housing I saw in Germany & Austria is generally of better construction quality than what I see in the US (although it does vary by region...the northern US generally has better construction quality than the southern parts).
But I live in high cost California and the groceries were NOT cheaper in Germany or Austria or the Netherlands (all places I've been to). This is pretty much common knowledge for anyone who has visited both the U.S. & Western Europe.
Also not true. Groceries are far more expensive in Germany than anywhere in the U.S. (and I lived in Germany). Restaurants are more expensive still. I doubt Netherlands is vastly different than Germany (I have only been to Amsterdam, which is much more expensive than anywhere in U.S.).
Our homes have more "features" but the construction quality is often crap.
Just checked the prices at the Pizza Hut in Darmstadt (right outside of Aschaffenburg). Two Rucola pizzas would cost around 42 Euros and a pitcher of Coke is about 8 Euros. At today's exchange rate, that comes to $62. So I don't know where you're getting two pizzas in Geneva for $36 or what kind of pizza that might be, but you won't be buying two Rucola pizzas with a cheesy crust at the Darmstadt Pizza Hut, I can assure you of that.
That's insane and quite hard to believe. This country is expensive and you pay €18 for two pizzas at Pizza Hut, 0.5 litre soda included.
You are right about health care. I haven't lived in Europe, so I can't comment on rents based on personal experience. But anything I've read generally says the real estate costs in most European countries is higher than the US, on average. I will agree the housing I saw in Germany & Austria is generally of better construction quality than what I see in the US (although it does vary by region...the northern US generally has better construction quality than the southern parts).
But I live in high cost California and the groceries were NOT cheaper in Germany or Austria or the Netherlands (all places I've been to). This is pretty much common knowledge for anyone who has visited both the U.S. & Western Europe.
When I lived in Geneva in the 1990s, I was paying CHF 2,000/month (then around $1600) for a two bedroom apartment right in the centre of Geneva. Top floor with two big terraces.
Today, my son pays around the same (but $2,200) for a three bedroom apartment, further out of town but well placed for public transport and stores.
Rents in Geneva and Zurich are broadly comparable to what you might pay in New York or San Francisco.
Our homes have more "features" but the construction quality is often crap.
Hey, speak for yourself!
I think a big difference in housing is that many Americans don't INTEND to build houses that are made to last 400 years. We know there's such a thing as "functional obsolescence" and that upgrades are often nearly as expensive as simply building a new house. And in many areas we have lots and lots of space to do just that. Generally speaking, we don't pass down the old homeplace most of the time, either.
American cities and towns and suburbs are very "fluid" and can spring up or morph in a matter of months in some areas. It's very common for a downtown area to have construction that is a a hundred or so years old (in the NE even older) but when you stop to realize that my gosh, some states haven't even been in the Union for 100 years, it sort of puts some things into perspective when it comes to the growth of towns and suburbs.
That being said, I have to stop a moment to say this - I just tore up all the 17 year old carpet in my house and replaced it with hardwood and travertine. So I got a close up look at my entire slab - and wow, it is a beautiful thing. There wasn't even the slightest hairline crack in it (hairline cracks are harmless and very common in concrete slabs). It was a veritable work of slab art.
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Health care is cheaper and taxes are generally lower. Also, visitors don't always see the same prices as the locals. For example, most Swiss have a half-price card when they use the trains (which they buy every year). Tourists pay full price.
