is amex more accepted?

[core]

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.

[Anonymous]

My local Popeyes chicken. No Amex or Discover. 

[Anonymous]

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.

[core]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Guess it will be nice it's being switched over to Visa here soon.

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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.

[Anonymous]

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. 

[takeshi74]

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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.

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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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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..

[Creditplz]

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