Which plastic to take?
 

We are traveling in Germany and Austria in July. Are Mastercard and Visa both equally prevalent when it comes to debit cards and ATM machines? Anything I should know about using them? From reading here, I gather I should withdraw cash and use that as much as possible to avoid the 3% transaction fees with credit card purchases. I found a website that locates Visa Plus ATM machines, but I can't find a similar one for Mastercard. Or do they all accept all cards? You can probably tell by my questions, I don't even use a debit card at home! Thanks for any help.

Both Visa and MasterCard are widely accepted, with Visa the most widely accepted.

I use Master Card, and I've had no problems finding a machine that would accept them In 2005 I was in several small towns in Germany (Jena, for example) and in Beijing, and it was easy to find machines that would accept Mastercard in all of them.

We use CapitalOne when we are in Europe because there is no transaction fee.

We use AmEx or another MasterCard while at home because they don't require as many points to earn miles. CapitalOne is the worst for this.

All the machines in Austria seem to have the same blue and green "B" logo. I have used both VISA and Mastercard debit cards in those ATMs and they were both accepted every time.

My local bank's VISA debit card has a 1% total foreign transaction fee for ATMs and purchases. Since I pay 1% regardless of the amount, I can visit the ATM daily without regard to per-withdrawal fees and carry less cash.

Don't forget that even Capital One (I have one as well) does have the 1% foreign transaction fee imposed by VISA. I suspect its a matter of time before Capital One adds its own fee in addition to that of VISA.

Don't rely on ATM locator websites. I have found them to be inaccurate and unreliable. All medium and large cities in Austria and Germany will have ATMs everywhere. If headed to rural areas, I would advise to stock up on cash, just as you would in the USA. It really is no different than in the USA.

I checked with Citi Mastercard and they have a 3 percent transaction fee. Capital One -- no transaction fee. Guess which card I'll be using in N. Ireland?!!

For ATM cash withdrawals, either Visa/Plus or Mastercard/Cirrus card will do nicely. In Germany, where credit card acceptance can still be patchy, esp in supermarkets, increasing number of outlets accept debit cards directly linked to current (checking) account. They have their own system called EC Karte, which is sometimes affiliated to Maestro system (part of Mastercard) so you may have more luck with a Mastercard debit card. In both countries you should always have some euro cash with you, as you can't rely on paying with a card, even in some larger stores or restaurants.