is amex more accepted?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Sharingan]

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.

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@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.

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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? 

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[RonM21]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[cjesser15]

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.

[Creditplz]

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