topic Re: is amex more accepted? in Credit Cards

is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 21:09:29 GMT

A friend wants to try for an amex and asked me if they are more accepted than they were a few years ago? My answer is yes but wanted other peoples opinions also. The only reason he is wondering is due to the costco change and the airline that they lost.

For me most places I want to use them at accepts them (except for my mechanic) but I only use him for stuff that needs a lift.

Anyways, curious what others experience has been in terms of the card being accepted.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 21:14:49 GMT

I think it has only been one or two times that a place told me they didn't take Amex. It was a small mom and pop shop if I remember correctly. Due to the higher swipe fees, it makes sense. Never had a problem using Amex at a "larger" place of business.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 21:58:02 GMT

Always have a Visa/MC in your wallet just in case...but never had problems with places not accepting Amex in the good ole USA.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Sharingan — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 23:21:28 GMT

I can't remember the last establishment in my city that I've been to that didn't accept AmEx, but that could be due to the tourist heavy city nearby or it could be that businesses that don't accept AmEx likely aren't places I would want to shop at anyway for other reasons. When I am in Europe, however, I don't even bother bringing the AmEx cards at all because it's almost futile with the rather low acceptance rate there.

@Anonymous wrote:
A friend wants to try for an amex and asked me if they are more accepted than they were a few years ago? My answer is yes but wanted other peoples opinions also. The only reason he is wondering is due to the costco change and the airline that they lost.

For me most places I want to use them at accepts them (except for my mechanic) but I only use him for stuff that needs a lift.

Anyways, curious what others experience has been in terms of the card being accepted.

Although, what exactly would the connection be between AmEx's lost contracts with Costco and JetBlue and their overall network acceptance everywhere else? Why would other businesses suddenly decide to not accept AmEx because those two companies chose to move their respective credit cards to other banks?

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:09:09 GMT

I've had no issues. I think it's much more accepted now than it used to be.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:10:49 GMT

My AMEX has been refused at 3 places in the last 6 months, Goodwill, my local nail place and the local movie theater (Marcus) we go to. Everywhere else I've tried it the card has been accepted.

Re: is amex more accepted?

RonM21 — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 23:19:00 GMT

It seems to be a lot less of an issue now. Probably more rare when it isn't accepted.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 23:21:47 GMT

The impression I have gotten is similar - it seems like AMEX is accepted in most places, with the exception of really small stores. Also, it seems to me that most places on most college campuses only accept Visa/MC. But I guess that counts as 'small stores' too.

I went about 8 months (the first 8 months of my credit history) with only Discover and AMEX, and I was quite surprised at the number of places, esp. middle to higher end restaurants, that only took Visa/MC/Amex, but not Discover.

But of course, if you're looking to pay by credit card absolutely everywhere, then you should probably carry a Visa or MC as a backup.

Re: is amex more accepted?

cjesser15 — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 23:29:48 GMT

Seems to me it varies by where you live. I live in a rural area and I can't use Amex at numerous places. None of my utilities take it. My preferred grocery story only recently started taking it. Many other shops and restaurants don't take it. But when I travel to larger cities or stick to the large chains it's not an issue.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Creditplz — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 23:34:48 GMT

Here in SoCal I always go to mom-pop markets and a lot of the time they don't take Amex or Discover.

Re: is amex more accepted?

core — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 00:08:50 GMT

Lots of places around here don't take it. Yeah, some mom & pops which is expected, but lots of other places too. Equipment dealers with 4-5 locations and no doubt millions in revenue I wouldn't consider mom & pop shops.

The surprising part though is how poor the acceptance rate is online, still. Yeah, if you're just buying some shoes you're fine just about anywhere. But do anything more interesting than that and you don't fare as well. None of my bills will let me pay online with Amex (utilities, most insurance, etc). Maybe State Farm does take it... it's been a while. Open a bank account and the opening deposit is Visa/MC only. I just tried to buy a downloadable game on my Nintendo Wii and the Wii store is Visa/MC only. I could go on and on with examples that are not rinky-dink operations by any stretch.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 00:27:44 GMT

My local Popeyes chicken. No Amex or Discover.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 01:31:24 GMT

I use my Fidelity Amex everywhere. No issues.. Although I did order Chinese delivery last Saturday and they didn't take Amex... but besides that. Guess it will be nice it's being switched over to Visa here soon.

Re: is amex more accepted?

core — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 01:36:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Guess it will be nice it's being switched over to Visa here soon.

Whoa, what? I knew about it being switched to Elan, but I wasn't paying attention to my letters. You're saying when the Elan transfer happens it will be a Visa??? Guess I need to go re-read everything. Doh.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 02:27:27 GMT

I've never had an AMEX until two months ago so I can't really compare now to a few years ago. I've only had one place that didn't accept AMEX and that was my local dry cleaners.

Re: is amex more accepted?

takeshi74 — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 13:07:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
A friend wants to try for an amex and asked me if they are more accepted than they were a few years ago? My answer is yes but wanted other peoples opinions also. The only reason he is wondering is due to the costco change and the airline that they lost.

General discussions on acceptance aren't really relevant. Your friend needs to look at the merchants that your friend frequents. Everyone doesn't shop at exactly the same places. I've never had problems with AmEx (or Discover) acceptance at merchants where I use mine but your friend's MMV. Don't rely on polling others for things like this.

If acceptance trumps all other considerations then your friend should probably consider a Visa or MC.

However, your friend shouldn't be starting with creditor or payment network but should be sorting out needs/wants specific to that person and then finding cards that suit those requirements.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 14:04:13 GMT

I pay at Popeyes chicken with Discover here in Utah...

Haven't tried Amex yet but i do know of quite a few smaller shops and restaurants that very clearly don't accept it.

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 17:12:05 GMT

Terminal is made to accept all card but some merchant doesn't want to accept discover and Amex cause of the high fees

Re: is amex more accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 18:46:36 GMT

Recently burger King in albertville mn did not accept amex. Otherwise I did not see anywhere amex not being accepted in most places I shop..But I do belive amex is accepted at more places now than it was a few years ago..

Re: is amex more accepted?

Creditplz — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 18:52:38 GMT

My local Popeyes, Burger King, and a few other fast food franchises don't take discover or Amex. That's fine with me since I normally don't eat fast food