Originally Posted by
luna6
I'll second what zyxlsy said. Here in South Korea, Discover is accepted but exchange rate is so bad it is stupid to use. Like 3% or higher than market rate. Meanwhile, Visa sucks too (usually 1% higher) and I stopped using it outside of United States.
Between Mastercard and Amex it's close. I've done 3 tests in the past month, Amex gave me the best rate 1 time and Mastercard gave me the best rate the other 2 times. Difference between the two is small enough that you should pick the card with the more appealing rewards program. Surprisingly, Amex is pretty much accepted everywhere here in Korea (probably because Samsung issues a local Amex card). I'm using a combination of Barclays Arrival+ and American Express Business SPG card for now. If I only had one card I would use Barclays Arrival+. The only time I have seen DCC in use in Korea is at Department Stores. Usually you have to select KRW or USD if using foreign MC/Visa. Amex is nice in that department as you don't have to worry about DCC. Aloft hotel in Gangnam also once charged me USD but they are an outlier rather than norm.
For those that travel outside of the U.S. less frequently, a card like Capital One Quicksilver with no annual fee, Mastercard network, no FTF and 1.5% cashback is nice to have (it will beat 2% cashback Visa cards ala Cap1 Spark due to better exchange rate).
Our Quicksilver cards are Visa, converted from a MC reward card by CapOne. Though we never use them outside US. Did 4 RTW trips this year and the primary cards were A+ (now gone) and Citi's Premier cards largely because of the bonus category, and one of it is from 2007 that still has unmatched flight points to drain. Guess we just luck out because we dont own a CSP since 2nd half of 2014. We did use AMEX Plat for rental cars but that car was gone also. So now it is all Citi's. I am glad AA cards will be 0% forex effective Nov 15.
Would still bring a Chase co-branded Visa on trip as back up though.