Discover in Europe

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I encountered essentially zero Discover acceptance in Scandinavia last year. Not to mention almost no merchants willing/able to run a transaction without a PIN, so I was pretty much stuck with debit and cash. Other parts of Europe may be more flexible though, that was just what I encountered in Denmark and Sweden!

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yup... denmark is pretty much visa/master card territories, but major retailers accept cards without pin though, smaller stores definitely don't.

[Open123]

Also, lets remember, in the end, cash is King.  It really is.

If I'm in Paris about to make a large purchase, I couldn't care less what form of payment they prefer.  I'm going to spend $$$, and if the boutique refuses how I prefer to pay, I'll find another boutique who won't give me crap about Visa, MC, or chip & pin, etc...

I'm so tired of the "this is how the world does it."  Who cares how the world does it.  Since when was the world right about anything?  Just look at the EU, anyone want to be a part of that?  Well, I don't live in the world, I live in the USA.  And, if it's my $$$$, I'm going to do it my way period.  I mean, we're it's not like I'm offering to pay with an IOU, but Amex vs Visa/MC?  Chip vs chip less?  Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Not Europe, but I did just get back from the Caribbean.

I didn't see a lot of chip readers there.  I think that, in most places, they were still using swipe technology.

Also, I didn't see anyplace to use my Discover.  Discover's website said it was widely accepted (because of course they would), but I saw very few places that even indicated that they accepted cards, much less Discover/Diners.  And I really wasn't looking to get into a major discussion, especially at a restaurant, which is the only place I have used Discover the last three months.