Hi everyone,

I am from Brazil and I will go to the U.S. on May. My expenses will be mostly charged on credit card and I have an AMEX card. Since AMEX is not as widely accepted as VISA or MARTERCARD in my country, I was wondering if the same happens in the USA. Thanks.

Amex is accepted just about everywhere as is Visa and Mastercard.

I have noticed that smaller merchants sometimes don't accept AMEX because AMEX charges a higher merchant fee than MC and Visa.

Yep, I have to use Amex for corporate charges and it can be a hassle.
Smaller restaurants, convenience stores, cab drivers and other independents often do not take the card... and to my dismay, Trader Joes does not either.
But outside of their own card, Amex is the only card Neiman Marcus accepts.

Sometimes even Amex merchants refuse to take it if the charge is less the 10.00.
I offer to let them add the fee to the total, which usually works.

Unlike europe - have never found a merchant in the us that didn't take AMEX (assuming they take cc at all) - including supermarkets, drug stores etc.

nytraveler, Ohhh I beg to differ. AMEX is absolutely not as accepted as MC and Visa. My local grocery store (the largest in my city) and the super mega home improvement store do not accept AMEX. There are also many other businesses which I frequent which do Not except AMEX.

cchean, Unless you plan on using your card at mostly restaurants, malls and gas stations you better get an additional card.

As a business owner myself for many years, I can tell you I never took AMEX and I was far from alone in that. I refused to take it as they charged more, and make the receiver wait up to a month before receiving credit for the money, as opposed to Visa and Master Card, where electronic swiping provided instant credit for the charge. I have often seen restaurants refuse American Express and ask if the person had Visa or Master Card.

I agree with Patrick and jor. Most places take it but quite a few don't so get another card to be on the safe side and ask before you run up a big restaurant bill and then be stuck.That happened to us once in Marco Island, FL. I had to wait at the table while my husband drove back to our place to get another card!

The simple answer: Most take Amex but not as many as Visa and MasterCard!

I HATE using my cash or personal credit card for business travel so I always ASK before ordering a meal or shopping. I'll generally go elsewhere if it is not accepted.
Quite a few times I have had merchants change their mind when I am walking out.
I assume they were trying for a different form of payment but when faced with losing the sale, they decided it was better than nothing.
But as I said, if they hesitate I offer to pay the fee in addition to my purchases. It is a sincere offer... as I appreciate their willingness to accomodate me.

On the other hand if a business is not set up for American Express, they can't suddenly say, "OK, I'll take it". I had a few people pull the "OK, if you won't take it, I'm leaving" routine when I said we didn't take it, and they called my bluff. But there was NO WAY I could take it, as I wasn't established to do so. I let them walk, or what usually happened was they came back with one of the cards we had clearly posted on our door and by the desk. I thought it was more than a bit rude for them to essentially call me a liar by saying, "you just don't want to take it" when I clearly stated we were not set up for it.

By the way, one of my most embarrassing moments was at a very nice restaurant in Miami when after the $100 or so bill was presented they refused to take VISA or MASTERCARD, stating they ONLY take American Express. At the time neither of us had AMEX cards, and scrambled and fortunately came up with just enough in cash for the bill. That also happened twice in Europe by the way, once in Stockholm, and I forget the other one.

Thanks you guys. I can see that the situation in the U.S. is pretty much the same down here. Usually, there are many places that advertise themselves as "we accept all credit cards" and in this case the AMEX card is included. But in smaller merchants, as Patrick pointed out, many of them don't take AMEX. I will be using my credit card heavily on rental car companies and chain motels like Econolodge, Motel 6 and so on. I hope I don't have a problem...

Well - perhpas NYC is different. But I've never had it turned down here - anywhere that takes CCs - nor anywhere else in the US - although I don;t frequent supermarkets, home depots or dry cleaners everywhere across the country.

You just reminded me nytraveler, that last year we had dinner one night in the East Village at a nice little neighborhood sort of French restaurant -- Leon's?? In any case at the end of the meal, they wouldn't take our Visa or Master Cards. They only accepted American Express. My parnter hadn't used his in so long, he had left his home this trip, and I didn't have one at all. We had to go to a neighborhood ATM and get cash to pay the bill. If there are restaurants in New York that ONLY take American Express, I'd certainly believe there are some that will only take MC and Visa. No?

Hey Patrick... I would never imply that someone was a liar. I have just had it happen several times that they only liked to take Amex when the sale was going to be higher than they thought my purchase would be. It has also happened 2 or 3 times in NYC with cabs. I have offered 5.00 extra to take that darn card. It was still worth it to me to not use my own money. I report it to my company as additional expenses related to getting merchants to take that darn card. I am still irritated that they switched us from MasterCard to Amex.
I have found I have the HARDEST time in NYC.

Well here in N.CA I can say for sure a lot of small stores and independent restaurants do NOT take AMEX. I would never travel with just an AMEX card. I would always have a visa or mastercard also.

See, I'm just the opposite. I can't ever remember being anywhere that would not take my Amex card. Or Visa for that matter.

Diners Club is a weird one.

AMEX is widely accepted, but not everywhere. The larger the city, the less likely it will not be accepted.

We do not accept American Express where I work for the reasons stated by Patrick (and others).

It's easy enough to check with specific hotels and car rental agencies ahead of time to be sure.

If you have a choice, go with MC or Visa. Any place that takes credit cards will take them. The same cannot be said for AMEX.