Currently in Egypt and they just asked us to pay in USD cash for an added activity but, not being American, we don’t have USD. We have the local currency and the ability to get that out at ATMs, but no way to access foreign currency. So annoying but they accepted local in the end.
How does this scam work? Is it based on the assumption that tourist won’t know the exchange rate and can be easily (and presumably grossly) overcharged?