No custodial usage. No custodial accounts. No 'permissioned' access... just an LND node + Umbrel + Zeus on a phone that's all I needed.

Overall the experience was flawless, all my transactions processed for... around (.1)-(.3)% in transaction fees and none of them failed.

I only made around a half-dozen transactions (for a number of reasons) but none of them failed, I was able to pay from my own Lightning Node (a big deal) and I didn't have to worry about converting currency, Francs to Euros to Dollars or paying "exchange fees" which are high... Bitcoin is universal everywhere.

Transaction amounts ranged from a few francs (for a coffee) to around a few hundred (a hotel stay) and everything just... went through.

The employees I interacted with didn't understand Bitcoin (from what I could tell) and most of them said that Bitcoin transactions were... uncommon. 1 or 2 a month maybe. However the payment device they used was very easy for them - they just selected USDT (which I'll get to in a moment) OR 'crypto' and after selecting 'crypto' (one of the 2 options USDT/Bitcoin) they input the amount in Francs and a QR code appeared for me to pay.

A really positive feature about using Lightning (aside from the monetary properties of Bitcoin) was just how universal it is. I didn't have to convert Euros to Francs... or worse Dollars to Euros to Francs while traveling (and pay high conversion fees). Lightning fees were around (.1)% way way less than a credit card.

The Lightning transactions took up to perhaps 20 seconds to show on both ends (sender and receiver) because I was on cellular + TOR using a node on another continent??? But after that there was no waiting for settlement. I paid and the business received their funds there was no waiting for credit card settlement which can take days. Why more businesses don't immediately jump on this... is beyond me Lightning worked really well.

Connecting to my own node over Tor on another continent using a cellular connection... required sometimes 30 seconds. 30 seconds to open the Zeus app the first time. Then once it was open it was OK but I wanted to open the Zeus app a little bit before using it so it would be already open when I approached the payment teller.

One of my transactions used AMP (atomic multi-path-payments) which was OK... however I didn't want it to by default. I would have preferred it just use that particular Channel (big enough to pay for a hotel stay/150 Francs) without drawing from other channels too... but I don't see this as a big deal.

User interface and simplicity is still improving, and even as someone whose hobby is Lightning and Bitcoin I am still learning every day.

Tether which I have never owned, used, or transacted with in any way whatsoever was another payment option advertised many places in Lugano. My understanding is that Tether has offices there which... explains that. Having said that it might be confusing for 'normies'... Bitcoin and Tether have nothing in common and long-term it is not a great solution to see them side-by-side although I understand why Tether has appeal (trading platforms + developing/3rd world economies access to dollars).

Isn't that the point of Lightning, to bring Bitcoin to layers and be fast and cheap?

Isn't using your 'own node' sovereign and decentralized?

And if I can figure this out (mostly watching Youtube) can't other people as well?

Lightning's transaction fees are a percentage of those with a credit card. Lightning worked (for me at least) day and night without any failures... and I didn't have to exchange Euros for Francs or Francs for Dollars. The Sats worked the same anywhere in Europe, the US, or online and it's just... more efficient and private in my experience.