Credit cards in taly ,Visa vs Master card
 

I have heard that most places in Italy accept the Visa cards and not Master Card. Has anyone had a problem using Master Card in Italy?

Both are very widely accepted. It's not called MC in Italy but the logo is the same and any one displaying it will take your MC.

That said I would not travel with only one credit card - ever. We always travel with at least 3 CC and 2 ATM cards between the 2 of us -since it's possible to have a machine eat your card anywhere (my Citibank ATM card was once swallowed at a branch 4 blocks from my house). At least the branch was open and they retrieved it and did whatever to make it active again.

ny traveler, thanks for the reply, we both have capital one cards plus our debit cards ,but they all have the mc logo's,
we were told they didn't take the mc cards in rome at a couple of places,just visa
dw

I've never had a problem with MC in Italy, or anywhere in Europe.

Also, if there are two of you traveling together, don't both of you carry the same card number. If you have 2 different cards and each of you has both in your purse/wallet, and it gets pick-pocketed and has to be cancelled - you're outa usable cards. We have a laminated list of what cards we have, phone contacts in the US for reporting lost/stolen cards, and who is carrying the card. My wife keeps this list in the sole of her shoe.

Stu Dudley

My wife & I spend 2 months each year traveling in Europe - mainly France & Italy. Although my wife worked for Visa for 20+ years, all of our CC & ATM cards are MCs. Never had a problem.

Only problem is that there are an increasing number of merchants that can't handle a magnetic swipe card - so we have a Visa Travel chip card if our swipe is refused. I think Cap One is coming out with a chip card soon. We've had about 6-8 refusals from different merchants in the last 3 years - mainly grocery stores, gas stations in non-touristy regions, and 2 restaurants.

Stu Dudley

Your swipe card also won't work in un-attanded gas stations and at some toll booths on toll roads.

Stu Dudley

Yeah, but the chip card doesn't work in some toll booths, either! :o)

Yep - we now always get in the attended toll both or one that accepts cash - except once when there was no attendant & no cash receptacle. I had to get out of the car & lift up the arm blocking our path, so my wife could drive under it.

Stu Dudley

We used Cap One mc in Venice, Florence, Rome and Siena and had no problems although we also had a debit/ credit card from Charles Schwab to get cash or use as credit card. They had much lower fees and will reimburse other fees. Love them. We also considered chip and pin, but had no problems without it in those cities. We always kept some cash and used that when possible except for hotels.

It IS called MasterCard in Italy. NYTraveler is probably thinking of Maestro cards, which are debit cards on the MasterCard circuit. (Maestro is Italian for "master".) On the Visa circuit, there is an equivalent debit card, called CartaSì.

If you have a Cap One ATM ( from a checking account) card from before they took over ING, they still don't charge for ATM withdrawals and reimburse up to $25 a month; just confirmed this with them yesterday.

I agree with all of the above. MC has not been the problem in our experience.

All hotels, restaurants and stores have been able to handle do our magnetic swipes, but automatic vending for transportation, gas, etc are a bit trickier. I carry one chip-and-pin (Andrews) if I think we're going to need to access automatic vending.

I HAVE heard that AmEX can be problematic, but I have no first-hand experience of that.

95% of the time I've been able to use AMEX without a problem.

<I>I had to get out of the car & lift up the arm blocking our path, so my wife could drive under it.</I>

Be careful. They often have a camera that records incidents like that and can send a penalty notice and fine by post months after your return. Rental car agents are obliged to disclose who the renter was at the time of offence.

Alec - I had no other choice. This happened around 11PM at night when we were returning to our gite after dinner. I didn't want to wait around until morning when an attendant finally arrived. The "machine" had already sucked in our ticket - so I couldn't back up & go to another toll booth that was perhaps 40K away and hopefully had an attendant or a means to pay cash.

>> send a penalty notice and fine by post months after your return. Rental car agents are obliged to disclose who the renter was at the time of offence.<<

Yep - I'm the recipient of 3 tickets - all paid by me on-line. Speeding.

Stu Dudley

All I am saying is that being able to extricate yourself doesn't necessarily mean you haven't been captured on film and there may be consequences. You may be able to plead mitigating circumstances but may have to go to a foreign court for that.

This happened in 2008 - so I think I'm safe.

If they had sent me some kind of ticket that was around 300E or less - I would have done some kind of inquiry - pleading my case. But I would have promptly paid the fine if the "pleading" got complicated. I would have done several passes at pleading if it was over 300E - then I would have paid it if I was getting nowhere.

Thanks for the warning/insight.

Stu Dudley

Thanks to all reply's, we will take what we have and some euro's and see how it goes, We will have tolls and car gas only in Tuscany during our 5 days there and then turn in the car at the train station. Cash is still king most places
dw
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Not sure about Italy but in France, Norway and Sweden there were often times when the gas station was unattended and if you didn't have a card that worked, you were SOL. Plan accordingly and keep you tank full.