Discover and Diner's Club accepted anywhere?
Jul 30th, 2001, 10:26 AM
#1
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Discover and Diner's Club accepted anywhere?
Are the Discover and Diner's Club cards accpeted in Europe? Do most restaurants take credit cards? I've hard that my World Perks Visa card charges a surcharge for using it in Europe. Does anyone know if that is in fact true and how much?
Jul 30th, 2001, 10:35 AM
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I don't have those cards, I have the usual (Visa) but I've seen Diners Club accepted in some places but never Discover. I have not looked much though. If you want to know your card's fees, why don't you call them? I would guess they do charge if it's one of those cards that gives you something for using it, like miles; those cards charge you just to have the card.
Jul 30th, 2001, 10:44 AM
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I've seen Diner's Club in a very few places in London and Paris, never out in the country. I've never seen Discover anywhere. As I recall, one place you are going is Greece, where I would expect your choices to be more limited than in some other European countries. Yes, most restaurants take credit cards, but it does depend on whether you are going to be in urban or rural areas. Visa and Mastercard are the preferred European cards. Definitely check with your card companies before leaving. If your Visa card charges a surcharge, change to another one if you think the charges will be significant.
Jul 30th, 2001, 10:49 AM
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Thank you! Yes, we're going to Greece and Italy. I didn't think Discover would be accepted since most places here in the US do not even take it. I was trying to think of ways to avoid the fees that my worldperks card charges. I still have to call to see how much they charge. I don't think I have enough time to switch to another Visa since we leave next week. Thanks again!
Jul 30th, 2001, 11:26 AM
#6
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We used my Diner's all over Italy. There were only two or three places (hotels/restaurants/shops) in three weeks that didn't take it. There was no extra fee on my bill. We used a MasterCard and a USAirways Visa too. None added a surcharge of purchases. There IS a surcharge if you use any of these for a cash advance. For cash, we used our ATM cards.
Jul 30th, 2001, 11:50 AM
#8
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No Discover in Europe, limited Diner's Club.
Most banks are now assessing a "fee" on international transactions (1-3%) which is pretty freakin' cheesy, considering they make the spread on the currency exchange AND charge near-usury rates on the unpaid balances.
Most banks are now assessing a "fee" on international transactions (1-3%) which is pretty freakin' cheesy, considering they make the spread on the currency exchange AND charge near-usury rates on the unpaid balances.
Jul 30th, 2001, 05:47 PM
#10
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The 1-3% charge will not show up on the bill as a separate fee. Rather it is wrapped into the total. Between not being sure of the exchange rate, etc. you may not notice the fee when you are charged it. I called all my credit card companies before a recent trip and they all charged an overseas transaction fee of 2-3% on every transaction. That 3% really adds up when you use a credit card for major expenses like hotels. (Plus they are already making a bit on the exchange rate.) The banks were American Express, Providian, Citibank, and Capital One - all charged for overseas transactions.
Feb 6th, 2005, 05:02 AM
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All hotels that I've stayed in in Rome took Diners Card - they have to because this is my company-issued travel and expense card. Unfortunately, quite a few restaurants and shops do not accept Diners - it looks like Amex, Visa and Mastercard are almost universally accepted.
Feb 6th, 2005, 06:28 AM
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1. Discover is not accepted in Europe, period end of the discussion.
2. Citibank, which owns Diners Club, is in the process of adding a MasterCard logo to the Diners club cards it issues. So one would suspect that eventually Diners Club will be absorbed into MasterCard.
3. MC/Visa convert foreign charges into your home currency (assume it is USD) using the interbank rate published in the paper. The latest closing rate for the euro is €1 = $1.285. That is not the tourist rate for exchanging cash...if you exchange cash you will be lucky to get out under $1.40.....but anyway to the interbank rate they add a 1% fee for performing the conversions which is probably reasonable to guard against currency fluctuations. This 1% is passed along by every bank so when MBNA, Capital One and USAA say they do not impose a transaction fee for foreign currency transaction they are sort of fudging a bit; they all pass along the 1% conversion fee of MC/Visa.
However, many banks such as Citibank, Chase, First USA (now part of Chase), Bank of America add an additional 2% fee for god knows what as they have nothing to do with the currency conversion. Thus by using a Citibank card in Europe you are paying 3% above interbank rate.
A class action suit was recently won against the credit card issuers not involving the surcharge (which is highly questionable to say the least as they have nothing to do with the conversion) but as regards disclosure of the fee. We read on these boards many people claiming they used their Citibank card in Europe and were not surcharged; that is absotively posilutely not true...the 3% fee (1% by MC and 2% by Citibank) are not disclosed but wrapped up inside the conversion rate.
Finally, as has been discussed on this board, a new system is arising called dynamic currency conversion where merchants prey on the stupidity of tourists. They offer to write up charges in your home currency telling you they are doing you a favour of saving you the surcharge. So for example, with Friday closing rate of the Euro, MBNA and USAA would be charging $1.29785 on the Euro, Citibank would be charging $1.32355 on the Euro. But if the cash rate is $1.40, the merchant would probably be charging about $1.35 on the Euro. See, we're saving you money they tell the dumb tourists. Right...they're charging you over 6 cents/Euro if you are smart enough to use the credit cards that don't add the additional 2% and costing you almost 3 cents/Euro even if you use the surcharged credit cards....always insist foreign charges be written up in local currency and if the merchant says it can't be done, they are liars...
2. Citibank, which owns Diners Club, is in the process of adding a MasterCard logo to the Diners club cards it issues. So one would suspect that eventually Diners Club will be absorbed into MasterCard.
3. MC/Visa convert foreign charges into your home currency (assume it is USD) using the interbank rate published in the paper. The latest closing rate for the euro is €1 = $1.285. That is not the tourist rate for exchanging cash...if you exchange cash you will be lucky to get out under $1.40.....but anyway to the interbank rate they add a 1% fee for performing the conversions which is probably reasonable to guard against currency fluctuations. This 1% is passed along by every bank so when MBNA, Capital One and USAA say they do not impose a transaction fee for foreign currency transaction they are sort of fudging a bit; they all pass along the 1% conversion fee of MC/Visa.
However, many banks such as Citibank, Chase, First USA (now part of Chase), Bank of America add an additional 2% fee for god knows what as they have nothing to do with the currency conversion. Thus by using a Citibank card in Europe you are paying 3% above interbank rate.
A class action suit was recently won against the credit card issuers not involving the surcharge (which is highly questionable to say the least as they have nothing to do with the conversion) but as regards disclosure of the fee. We read on these boards many people claiming they used their Citibank card in Europe and were not surcharged; that is absotively posilutely not true...the 3% fee (1% by MC and 2% by Citibank) are not disclosed but wrapped up inside the conversion rate.
Finally, as has been discussed on this board, a new system is arising called dynamic currency conversion where merchants prey on the stupidity of tourists. They offer to write up charges in your home currency telling you they are doing you a favour of saving you the surcharge. So for example, with Friday closing rate of the Euro, MBNA and USAA would be charging $1.29785 on the Euro, Citibank would be charging $1.32355 on the Euro. But if the cash rate is $1.40, the merchant would probably be charging about $1.35 on the Euro. See, we're saving you money they tell the dumb tourists. Right...they're charging you over 6 cents/Euro if you are smart enough to use the credit cards that don't add the additional 2% and costing you almost 3 cents/Euro even if you use the surcharged credit cards....always insist foreign charges be written up in local currency and if the merchant says it can't be done, they are liars...
Feb 6th, 2005, 07:18 AM
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"2. Citibank, which owns Diners Club, is in the process of adding a MasterCard logo to the Diners club cards it issues. So one would suspect that eventually Diners Club will be absorbed into MasterCard."
I think I know that you know what's about to happen in the process, but let's just be careful about using the word "absorbed" in the corporate world. Yes, it's true that the Mastercard logo will soon be on the Diners Card. All this means is that, for example, Diners Card can now be swiped on Mastercard machines in shops, restaurants and hotels. What is also means is that a non-profit membership-based organization such as Mastercard WILL NOT own Diners.
I think I know that you know what's about to happen in the process, but let's just be careful about using the word "absorbed" in the corporate world. Yes, it's true that the Mastercard logo will soon be on the Diners Card. All this means is that, for example, Diners Card can now be swiped on Mastercard machines in shops, restaurants and hotels. What is also means is that a non-profit membership-based organization such as Mastercard WILL NOT own Diners.
Feb 6th, 2005, 08:49 AM
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I had never heard of the connection between Master Card and Diner's which makes it all the more interesting that once when a restaurant in France refused to take Master Card, but did accept Visa, they also said they'd take Diner's Club! Very odd, indeed --Diner's but not Master Card!
Feb 6th, 2005, 11:15 AM
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Just wanted to confirm everything xyz says is spot on. From the US I always used an MBNA card while spending abroad because they don't charge anything above the Visa/MC 1%. I have a Fleet (now BofA) card that I use in the US but they charge an extra 4% above Visa's 1% for foreign currency. It just seems like a scam to me that other banks impose a surcharge for doing nothing. Ridiculous.
Also, yes, Discover isn't accepted anywhere, and Diners is sometimes accepted.
Also, yes, Discover isn't accepted anywhere, and Diners is sometimes accepted.
