topic Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard? in Credit Cards

"Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 01:35:55 GMT

When I first started reading up on these forums, I'd notice some people that seemed to believe religiously that it was important to keep all 4 major issuers (VISA/MC/AMEX/DISCO) in the wallet.

I'm currently sorting out my wallet/cards in general, and am pretty torn on whether or not I should keep my Citi DC simply due to the fact that it's a MasterCard. I don't have any no FTF MCs, and that's fine if I get an "effective" 1% FTF while using this card should I ever need to use a MC.

However, that's where my question comes into play. For those of you that travel out of the country (heck, anybody honestly), have you ever gone somewhere that you can recall within recent 5-10 years that ONLY accepted MC, but not VISA?

I ask this because, of my 8 card slots (2 of which are debit, so 6 available for CC) I'd have 5 VISA CCs and 1 Disco CC, along with 2 more VISA Debits.

So, cumulatively I'd have 7 VISA and 1 Disco.... just due to the cards that I happen to be feeling more "attracted to" happen to be VISA branded.

I'm torn on whether I should swap one out to carry the CITI DC MC, just to have a MasterCard for "worst case scenarios", but wasn't sure how common, if ever, that may become an issue....

FWIW, there'd be 4 different CC issuers (3 different issuers within VISA, and of course the 4th issuer would be Disco just because). So, they wouldn't all be blocked due to any unexpected fraudulent flags at the same time, I wouldn't think... just basically thinking on whether or not there'd ever be a time that I'd wish I had an MC in my wallet...

Again, this may be over-dramatic/overthinking, but figured it didn't hurt to ask for peace of mind even though I'm fairly certain I'm just being paranoid haha.

Sorry for the long-winded post, any insight others have would be much appreciated.

Short version: Have you ever been somewhere that did not accept VISA/DISCO/AMEX, and ONLY accepted MasterCard?

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 01:42:38 GMT

In my experience, no.

When I travel abroad, I usually take a Visa and MC. Both have been accepted (unless it was a small local business that only accepted cash and that was very rare).

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Peteyglad — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 01:46:15 GMT

Only one place for me. College .they only took MasterCard for any type of school fees.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Blodreina — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 01:48:03 GMT

Can't recall a situation where only mastercard was accepted. But I am one who carries each network with me anyway.

I once came across a parking meter that only accepted Discover, so things like that can happen.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

kdm31091 — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 02:02:32 GMT

I think in general people overstress about this. There is no need to have a card from every network. If there isn't a card in a network that has benefits that you will actually use, then don't keep it just because of network.

Remember that the general public does not think about these things much and somehow gets through life just fine. I think it's smart to have a couple networks available to you in the (very rare) chance that one network goes down, but don't stress about having all 4.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 02:08:33 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
I think in general people overstress about this. There is no need to have a card from every network. If there isn't a card in a network that has benefits that you will actually use, then don't keep it just because of network.

Remember that the general public does not think about these things much and somehow gets through life just fine. I think it's smart to have a couple networks available to you in the (very rare) chance that one network goes down, but don't stress about having all 4.

I agree.

I am not so much stressed about all 4, as I haven't really enjoyed AMEX much with my experience thus far.

But as of now I am basically just between all 5 VISA and 1 Disco, or having 4 Visa, 1 Disco, and 1 MC that wouldn't get touched except for the rare occasion that MC is the only network being accepted at said merchant... Versus a 5th Visa that would see slightly more usage/benefits long term.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 02:14:02 GMT

I’ve spend quite a bit of time in Asia, South America, Australia and the South Pacific. I carry a visa and Amex. I’ve never ran into a time when neither of those two cards were not accepted. The Amex is not as easy to use sometimes but they always take Visa/MC if Amex isn’t an option from my experience.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

UpperNwGuy — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 02:25:39 GMT

I have seven credit cards. All seven are Visa. I don't have any MasterCard, Amex, or Discover cards. I don't need them. I have traveled to a number of European and Latin American countries in the last ten years and Visa has never failed me.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

OmarR — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 02:26:19 GMT

I posted a similiar thread several months ago.

After analyzing "MY" habits, the only major vendor that came close to just taking MC (and nothing else) was if I ended up in a Costco in Canada.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 03:11:38 GMT

Your first question to yourself would be, do you plan on traveling abroad? And last minute at that, before you would have time to retreive differnt cards from home? Also, I think you're carring too much plastic at any one time. lol

I only carry what I truy need at any given moment, which is 2 CC, 2 debit, and 1 charge in case of emergency. Of course I'm not constantly traveling either, or in a situation where I'd need all my cards at one time.

On a differnt note, I used to have more Visa than MC. But somehow through the years it has reversed, now only one Visa with the rest being MC. Aside from Discover and Amex.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Shadowfactor — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 04:05:26 GMT

I spend about 8 months a year overseas. Mainly the Caribbean and sometimes on the rare occasion Central America.

I have yet to come across any place that doesn’t take Visa/MasterCard combo. Amex and Discover acceptance is poor but any place that takes credit cards always accepts both V/MC

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

MAZDA3 — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 05:37:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve spend quite a bit of time in Asia, South America, Australia and the South Pacific. I carry a visa and Amex. I’ve never ran into a time when neither of those two cards were not accepted. The Amex is not as easy to use sometimes but they always take Visa/MC if Amex isn’t an option from my experience.

Except in Bangkok, where cash rules the land outside the hotels, shopping malls, Boots, and Watsons. I wasn’t even able to use a credit card at Starbucks because my purchase wasn’t for more than the cost of a grande frap.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

red259 — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 05:46:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
When I first started reading up on these forums, I'd notice some people that seemed to believe religiously that it was important to keep all 4 major issuers (VISA/MC/AMEX/DISCO) in the wallet.

I'm currently sorting out my wallet/cards in general, and am pretty torn on whether or not I should keep my Citi DC simply due to the fact that it's a MasterCard. I don't have any no FTF MCs, and that's fine if I get an "effective" 1% FTF while using this card should I ever need to use a MC.

However, that's where my question comes into play. For those of you that travel out of the country (heck, anybody honestly), have you ever gone somewhere that you can recall within recent 5-10 years that ONLY accepted MC, but not VISA?

I ask this because, of my 8 card slots (2 of which are debit, so 6 available for CC) I'd have 5 VISA CCs and 1 Disco CC, along with 2 more VISA Debits.

So, cumulatively I'd have 7 VISA and 1 Disco.... just due to the cards that I happen to be feeling more "attracted to" happen to be VISA branded.

I'm torn on whether I should swap one out to carry the CITI DC MC, just to have a MasterCard for "worst case scenarios", but wasn't sure how common, if ever, that may become an issue....

FWIW, there'd be 4 different CC issuers (3 different issuers within VISA, and of course the 4th issuer would be Disco just because). So, they wouldn't all be blocked due to any unexpected fraudulent flags at the same time, I wouldn't think... just basically thinking on whether or not there'd ever be a time that I'd wish I had an MC in my wallet...

Again, this may be over-dramatic/overthinking, but figured it didn't hurt to ask for peace of mind even though I'm fairly certain I'm just being paranoid haha.

Sorry for the long-winded post, any insight others have would be much appreciated.

Short version: Have you ever been somewhere that did not accept VISA/DISCO/AMEX, and ONLY accepted MasterCard?

I don't think you will be in a situation where you can't use visa but you can use MC. That being said its always good to have a MC because I had several instances in the past where for various reasons it was better for me to use a MC over a visa. In the end do what you want. Its not the end of the world if you don't have a MC, but I always like to have one for unique situations that can arise.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

UpperNwGuy — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 06:22:35 GMT

Red259: Please give an example of “unique situations that can arise.”

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 08:42:45 GMT

Having lived, worked and played in Europe and Asia over the years, I never had any issues with Visa or MC.

As an aside, Bank of America really came through for me in short order when I lost my wallet...good times!

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

SunriseEarth — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 09:04:57 GMT

In my own usage, I wouldn't say this is an issue at present. When I first joined Costco, only MC and Discover were accepted. However, as Costco switched from AMEX only to VISA only, Sam's Club begain accepting AMEX. And now they take Visa, as well.

My only international experience is through ordering items online. My recent purchases have been from England and Scotland. I use my QS WMC, due to lack of FTF and 1.5% cash back. However, I will probably use my NFCU cashRewards VS during my spend period. The sites I've used accept both cards.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

noobody — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 11:04:02 GMT

Only thing I can think of is
Few years ago i was at one of the outlet mall, they had a promotion to get certain discount if you spend certain amount on MasterCard.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

EAJuggalo — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 12:59:00 GMT

I've run into a couple times where there were some tangible benefit to having a MC with you. I was at the MLB All-Star FanFest a few years ago and there was a seperate, shorter line for a couple experiences if you were a MC cardholder. I seem to recall a stadium or major event that only took MC at the concession stands.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

OmarR — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 14:02:28 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
Red259: Please give an example of “unique situations that can arise.”

I know that the question wasn't aimed at me, but:

Costco USA = VISA only

Costco CANADA = MC only

I do understand that that this is not the norm, but for most, these examples fits the definition of "unique" & "exception to the rule". I am not a world traveler, but I am sure there are other "uniques" that exist.

My Citbank DC was taking up a slot, as a backup to my Limitless 2.5% VISA, NEVER being swiped. Now, with the Paypal 3% trick (business debit 1% card/Paypal 2% CB), my DC has been sockdrawered and my Limitless only gets swiped at Costco now.

OP, if you aren't finding a constant need/use for any number of your (non-AF) cards, sockdrawer them. If this should leave you short on a specific network (ie VISA or MC or Discover or AMEX), just retrieve them before you travel.

My understanding is that China is mostly also "cash-only", unless you have whatever "China-apple-type-pay" that exists over there.

Re: "Necessity" of carrying a MasterCard?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 14:58:59 GMT

@EAJuggalo wrote:
I've run into a couple times where there were some tangible benefit to having a MC with you. I was at the MLB All-Star FanFest a few years ago and there was a seperate, shorter line for a couple experiences if you were a MC cardholder. I seem to recall a stadium or major event that only took MC at the concession stands.

But then there also things where you have an advantage if you have a Bank X card (e.g. Capital One at Capital One cafes) so should I attempt to carry cards from all major banks (and as many minor ones as I can)? The question really is the potentional cost/benefit of getting/carrying another card for these (IMO exceedingly rare) situtation.

Now historically there have been differences between exchange rates offered by V and MC, with one somewhat consistently better in certain regions. So if you could rely on those trends, it's possible you want both. But since nothing is guaranteed and the difference is fairly small, I don't count this as a reason either.