credit cards in europe
 

What is the best credit card to get while traveling in europe?

A Visa or MC that does not charge the currency conversion fee. Capitol One seems to charge less than most others. I use my Morgan Stanley Brokerage debit card. To get cash, use a debit or your ATM card - don't use a credit card. AE is OK, but it is not accepted at as many places as Visa & MC.

Stu Dudley

Note that Diner's Card is VERY rare in europe and Discovery is not supported at all. AMEX tends to be taken in more upscale hotels, shops and restaurants - but not in more modest ones.

If you are traveling by car check with the rental agency. (Our last rental in Brussels they took only AMEX for cars above the first couple of grades - since they wanted insurance not to be limited by cards with low limits - as some Visa and MC have.)

Another problem traveling with a car, the card may not work at some service stations. See if you can use your CC when you want to fill up. British cards have problems and maybe American cards won't work neither. Don't let your fuel empty before you stop.

Blackduff

In the last couple of years our AmEx and Bank of America VISA have started charging pretty hefty conversion fees - about $27 on something under 400 euros in airline tickets last May, for example. We have two ATMs for credit union checking accounts that are issued by VISA and can be used like credit cards, though the money comes out just about as fast as a cash withdrawal, at least in the US. But we've started using those in foreign countries now to avoid fees of sometimes over 5%.

Mastercard and VISA. Nothing else. Period.

Both cards are accepted throughout Europe by most shops, gas stations or restaurants. However, there are exceptions. Some merchants, espcially those with discount prices, still do not accept plastic because the credit card companies charge fees. So, look if they display a sign or ask before ordering.

Don't take Discover card as it's not accepted in Europe (for the most part, though some hotel chains like Holiday Inn seem to take it).

Is there any way to avoid credit card charges for currency conversion?

Anyone living in France with experience dealing with credit cards?

When I take my French Visa over the border to Spain and I have to pay a conversion charge. I don't remember exactly how much it is charged but it got my attention. Now I bring a pocket full of Euros when I go to Spain. Then there's no charge.

Blackduff

>avoid credit card charges for currency conversion?
Yes, get a credit card in an € - country and have some income paid in €. No conversion fees whatsoever. ;-) As long as you are a resident, you can apply for a CC. If you are a student without income, you'll have to prepay, but anybody can transfer money to your CC account using your IBAN and BIC. Now the question would be how much is costs to transfer from non € countries.

>When I take my French Visa over the border to Spain and I have to pay a conversion charge
That's illegal under EU regulations if the card is in €. You'll get your money back, if you complain! (please do report their policy to the authorities too.)

"You'll get your money back, if you complain! (please do report their policy to the authorities too.)"

There has a lot of complaining and the authorities say it's not an exchange coversion for euros but a service for inter-country business. In some reasons I can understand but everybody thought this would be great. It still is good, as long as cash method is the purchasing.

What really surprises me that many other locals haven't understood about how much they cost when they buy across the border in CC. Many of us buy fuel in Spain-it's 10% cheaper but if the punter buys fuel and then pays with his credit card, it's zero gain. The charge will cost the same as the 10% deduction on the fuel.

I did pay for a check in euros from a Spanish bank-I bought a car with this money. Everything worked fine but afterwards the companies will not allow this anymore.

There's no longer for free lunches.

Blackduff

Transfers with BIC and IBAN fortunatly are without extra fees, as are my CC's :-). (even Santander) You need to change your bank.

Wow...I never thought about the absolute gall of banks to charge currency conversion fees, and they can call it whatever they want, if a French persons using his or her credit card to charge something in Spain...that was the whole idea behind the introduction of the euro wasn't it.

Now the EU is on the verge of outlawing the outlandish roaming fees some mobile phone companies have put on intra eu roaming...I can't believe they will allow this to happen and have not outlawed it.

Just my 2¢.

Just for the record and for those who say ONLY Master Card and Visa:

Our mouths dropped open at a nice and expensive restaurant in Stockholm where they refused both MasterCard and Visa. The only card they would accept? American Express. But admittedly that was a real odd experience. We've faithfully carried an AMEX card ever since but don't think we've run into that again.

xyz123, the positve thing is that German banks up to now did refrain using these tricks, partly due to better supervision and greater competition, I belive. (no CC transaction fees in € countries, 1 - 2% conversion charge elsewhere) The national banking systems and policies still differ to a huge extent. Will be interesting to see what happens to roaming fees in the near future.

It drives me crazy when friends/colleagues come over to Europe and only bring their Amex. This happened recently in Vienna when a friend wanted to put everything on Amex. Our dining choices were much more limited. One of my favorite Vienna restaurants (Hotel Riviera) is cash only and I ended up buying my friend's dinner as a belated birthday present.
When my husband worked in Belgium for a company with a subsidiary in the U.S., the U.S. guys would invite him out for dinner at Brussels restaurants that didn't take Amex, then fake embarrassment when the bill came and they couldn't pay it. My husband picked up the tab twice; the third time they tried this dodge, he folded his arms across his chest and said since he was told he was the guest he hadn't brought his wallet. Eventually one of the guys sheepishly and reluctantly pulled out his Visa.

LOL, BTilke. I think unfortunately those business colleagues have your husband pegged as an easy mark.

I used to have a friend who would always pull the "all I have is a hundred dollar bill" routine when we would be splitting a round of drinks. One time I made sure I had 10 $10 bills in my wallet, and quickly pulled them out saying "oh, here, I can make change." He never pulled that again with me around.

. My husband picked up the tab twice; the third time they tried this dodge, he folded his arms across his chest and said since he was told he was the guest he hadn't brought his wallet. Eventually one of the guys sheepishly and reluctantly pulled out his Visa. >>>
What's really funny is likely either senario would result in SOMEONE expensing this outing. Our rule when I worked was most senior person paid cause he could expense easier.

That's funny, why don't you split the bill in the first place as it's the standard and expected where I live. People can stay friends and there's no reason to start a fight later (under whatever pretext!) or to feel being taken advantage of. An invitation however is an invitation, nobody could play the same trick twice on somebody, as there would be no more dinners together.

Please! American Express offers services that Visa/Mastercard don't. Perhaps compare it to trip insurance. Visa and Mastercard are economical. The cheapest personal system? Cash!!! Carry USA dollars and convert them at local rates. Yes, the risks are great or high but the savings are there. TC's are super safe. They can be lost or stolen but the issurer will replace them. Dollars gone are dollars gone. American credit cards are usually safe, liability limited to $50 for unauthorized charges. Suggestion: confer with your card people, learn their advantages, limits and costs. Make notes and have them acknowledged. There is too much anecdotal material floating about. Ignore it!

"Cash!!! Carry USA dollars and convert them at local rates. Yes, the risks are great or high but the savings are there."

GSteed,you'd be doing us all a great service to provide us with a list of the places in Europe where you can convert US dollars for a rate better than ATM's offer. You say "the savings are there" -- where? I sure haven't seen those places anywhere in Europe I've been. Do you know a secret?

"There is too much anecdotal material floating about. Ignore it!"
So very true!!!!!

I'm surprised all the above posts infer total acceptance of credit cards. No one asked hoby1083 where he/she was planning to go.
VISA and Mastercard are accepted in many places, but by no means all. We ate at a Parisian restaurant 14 months ago which accepted NO credit card.
We know of many places (pensions and restaurants) in Germany that did not accept any. In Czech Republic, only in Prague was it common, and not everywhere there. In Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland the same. Plan on using an ATM card for cash unless you stick to metropolitan areas. It's not like in the US, where almost everywhere (except "dives") accepts CC

StLSusan, it's not quite that easy. When my husband submitted the receipts he got bollocked by the bean counters for the amount of the bill (he had ordered the least; his American "hosts" had much more expensive tastes). Also, the money had to come out of his department's travel budget, which was pretty tight to begin with. And logos, these were business dinners. Those guys were never what we'd call "friends."
Funny thing was, about a year after those instances, the subsidiary was spun off and a few of the execs were fired by the new owners for significant "accounting irregularities" including playing way too fast and loose with their expenses.

I started paying for almost everything with cash in the first place after coming across a couple small restaurants that said their credit card machine was "broken". I know it's not true, but I just wanted to avoid further confrontation of that sort, and I know it makes the business owners happier to use cash. Now the dynamic currency conversion issue is a big thing, and I don't enjoy the fight trying to get that resolved. So I just prefer to use cash, taking reasonable amounts out of the ATM now and then.

If you pay with AMEX, you don't have the DCC problem, but as noted, few places in Europe take it. Most chain hotels do, though.

Different countries have different traditions regarding credit cards...Germany, Austria, Holland seem to be very cash centred countries.

The UK is a lot like the US in that credit card acceptance is very very close to universal (except for pubs)..but they have silly rules negating visa/mc regulations regarding minimum amounts for use of a credit card and the barring of surcharges for use of a credit card.

The French...well for a long time they weren't all that credit card oriented but after the strike by armored car drivers delivering currency to banks, found that credit cards are neat substitutes for cash....

For the most part visa/mc are well near interchangeable. I wouldn't say Amex is rarely accepted in Europe but mc/visa is far more accepted...but what's the big deal..simply carry both.

My only recommendation is make sure you take more than one credit card. It would appear from previous comments a VISA or MASTERCARD plus an AmEx would be best.
When we were in London our VISA was refused at a restaurant on our first dinner out. We were horrified as we knew the card was perfectly fine. It was a little embarrasing to say the least when on our honeymoon we had to call (collect) back to the US to have BIL wire money. When we returned home VISA could not figure out why they refused card. They paid us back for extra expenses, money wire fees, etc., but that meant little at the time!
I was unaware of the fees the banks charge. My next emails will be to VISA and AmEx to check on fees before we take off for Scotland. Thanks for that update.

I would agree with carrying more than one CC.

I used to think the Capital One card was/is great because they don't charge the "conversion fee" but lately I have begun to seriously wonder if they aren't simply folding that "fee" into the exchange rate they use.

All you have to do to find out is run a transaction through xe.com/ccc

Just returned from Denmark where hotels and restaurants added 3-4% to the bill if we proposed using a "foreign" (i.e. non-Danish) credit card. They were upfront about it, but we didn't appreciate it. Were we supposed to have the equivalent of $1000 in Danish kroner currency after a four-day stay? Their fee of course would be in addition to our own credit card's transaction fees!

This thread has given me a lot of insight into my October Trip. I will call my bank as both of my Visa cards say they charge 3%. I have not checked with AMEX yet. I have an enviable position of visiting my daughter and her husband and will be able to deposit $ into their Navy Fed. Credit Union and access it there with minimal difficulty/expense.