Using American Credit Cards in Europe

[Anonymous]

Hi, All,

Best wishes for a healthy, joyful, and fabulous holiday season!

Could anyone give me some advise on what types of credit cards are good choices in Europe travel?  I have called several credit card companies, discover card does not charge 3% foreign transaction fee; however, it is not accepted in all countries, such as the UK, Germany.  It can be used in France.  It will be great if you guys could share your experience by using credit cards in Europe. 

Thank you so much for any possible advise and sharing.

I look forward to reading your posts :-)

Kind regards,

Strengsthfinder1

[nixforfun]

Capitalone does not charge the foreign transaction fee as well..

[ArisGreek]

MC and VISA are the best to use in Europe. AMEX is really only accepted in big cities like Paris, London, etc but often at super high end places (at least in my experience). MC and VISA are more widely used.  The list of cards below I know do not have foreign transaction fees:

• All Capital One cards
• Chase Continental Airlines Presidential Plus (though this product is going away)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• AMEX Platinum
• Citi AA Executive Black card
• Citi Thank You Prestige
• Most, if not all Discover cards (but not widely accepted in Europe)

As you can see, most elite cards have no foreign transaction fees with the exception of Capital One and Discover. Of course, many other cards have no foreign transaction fees but these are the ones I know of.

[nixforfun]

You may also want to use a chip and pin card as thats more prevalent in Europe. I think you can find some threads here which list the companies which give chip and pin cards and no transaction fee. Atleast in UK, the magnetic strip cards were accepted in most places, although not all dealers will be comfortable using it.

[HoahCredit]

You can use Discover in Europe. I have used it in France, Paris to be precise, as well as in the UK. What you need to make sure is that the business you are getting into accepts Diners Club. If they do they will accept Discover. Now, many business do not realize that the Discover card is the same as Diners therefore you will need to let them now and they will swipe it.

Now, I have a little issue with my Discover card. Everytime I use the card, in the US or Europe, it doesn't, the receipt that is, requires my signature. Are you guys having the same issue or it's just me?

[Anonymous]

ArisGreek,

Thank you very much for your information!

[CreditMuppet]

Well as an ex-pat and frequent international traveller, I would recommend you take a Visa, Mastercard or Amex, all three are widely accepted in Europe.  Dont even try to use a Discover card in Europe IMHO you will be dissapointed as almost nowhere accept's Diner's Club.  Although chip and pin has been the standard way of doing credit  card transactions in Europe for the past few years you should have no problem using a traditional magnetic credit card, even the portable chip and pin readers can swipe a magnetic card!  Enjoy!!

[Anonymous]

Hi, Nixforfun,

Yes, I love the idea of using a chip and pin card in London and Paris.  Just want to share that the associated banks with Bank of America in the UK is Barclays and in France is bnp paribas. 

Thank you for your quick posts.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, HoahCrdit!

I have not had any issues with my discover card here in the US.  Most probably, I'd love to try it in Paris once.  Will come back to you guys with my experience.  However, I only plan to travel in May next year so I still have time to do some research :-)

Thanks again.

[CreditMuppet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, Nixforfun,

Yes, I love the idea of using a chip and pin card in London and Paris.  Just want to share that the associated banks with Bank of America in the UK is Barclays and in France is bnp paribas. 

Thank you for your quick posts.

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LOL It really isnt all that different to be honest, pretty much the same as using an ATM.  You have a good point about Barclay's though, if your a Bank of America customer there are no foreign transaction fees when using a Barclay's cash machine