Originally Posted by
tmiw
Yeah, the ticket machines etc. have been a known issue for a while. OP made it seem like regular stores were starting to say "no" to American cards though, which would be extremely concerning if true. Hopefully that's not the case.
I had one fashion store in Brazil (Osklen in Rio), one chocolate store in Buenos Aires (Alfajores Havanna), and a few bars and restaurants in South America. In Europe this happened ONLY in restaurants, and they were all in France, Spain, and Greece.
What happens each time is consistent, though: they see it's an Amex (which they seem to already not like much), turn the card and see it's from the US. In some places I got them to accept it by showing ID. In others my driver's license just wasn't enough and they flat out refused, every time citing fraud concerns.