rjpjr

I've traveled in Europe for round about 30 years (yikes I am old....). Got an AMEX card before my first trip. Used it in all major cities at everything from bookstores to grocery stores (the big chains like Hertie and Karstadt). Ran out of cash and got an advance at a local office by reciting my bank account info - bet you can't do that anymore...but you can cash a check if you bring a blank one along. My daughter is now in Peru where she uses AMEX's pre-paid card to withdraw her father's cash ($ or local stuff) from any ATM with the AMEX sticker, and there are a lot of them. I also take another card on all trips, but the number of times I must use it are few. After some careful calculations from my last trip, I saved about 3% using the card rather than converting currency. And, no, I am not employed by them, and you can of course do all this with other cards too......

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Is your 3% the forex fee? or are you just saying because of the Amex rate being better than the rate at most currency conversion stations?

If the latter, then I should be saving close to 6%. Thanks for doing the computation for me.

uszkanni

My experience is that AMEX is widely accepted but VISA/MC more so. Many years ago the higher level AMEX cards (plat and cent) were seen as status symbols; now, eh.

stifle

In Ireland, Amex is accepted at department stores, most chain stores, most hotels, upmarket stores, upmarket restaurants, and some supermarkets. Guest houses, average stores, average restaurants, etc. will only take Visa/MC.

flydeu

Amex converstion rates are about the worst that exist if you are converting to/from anything other than Dollars. In a recent check they were consistently about 2% worse on all transactions once the fees had been factored in. My fee free (in all senses) VISA was far better and the basic exchange rate was practically identical to the Amex rate before the fee.

In my case I have been converting Euros/Pounds and Swiss Francs/Euros.

platinumPizza

If you are in Stockholm dont plan to use it in any place besides your well known shops. Go to a small restaurant or shop and they will look at you funny if you dont have a chip. Forget about the look on their face when its a cent card.. kind of sucks

stifle

How about a chipped Amex card?