MS in Germany
 

Tried searching but couldnt find any definitive answer so wanting to know if there are any helpful tips of MS in Germany. I am going to be there for a couple of months so any help is appreciated!!!

Buy a Mercedes or BMW.....

But seriously, not much in opportunities there.

You've got PM sfkhan

Good luck, man. I am originally from Germany, and let me tell you, we Germans like our rules and straightforwardness. MSing does not really fit that bill lol

I recall reading that the luggage trolleys at FRA take a credit card to the 2 euro deposit and then you can return the trolley and get a 2 euro coin, rinse and repeat. I don't recall is the CSP gave 2x travel tho.

lol... can just see it now, someone being reported for suspicious activity for continuously buying and returning carts....

good luck MSing with 2Euro trollies lol

Wanted to give this thread a little bump :)

I am in Germany as well and curious if anyone knows of any opportunities for MS.

From what I have seen of the culture to date, credit cards are not as common as in US so I am guessing not many options at present for MS but you never know...

Thanks
Steve

I wasn't aware that credit cards with cashback exist in Germany at all. As you know pretty much all of them do not even allow you to carry a balance (except that Advanzia card from Luxemburg) and many merchants don't accept them at all due to the fees, so there's no real incentive for the banks to give you a CC. It's more like a convenience tool they give their customers for travel purposes...

However, I've seen that some banks like DKB now offer like 1% cashback or so when you use their debit card (EC Karte). So you might wanna look into this stuff. I'd guess others in this small bank brotherhood like Cortal Consors or ING Diba would offer similar cards/programs/incentives.

I'm not sure if they exist either - I am still using (and plan to keep using when I can) my credit cards from the US. I have looked briefly into some German CC's but not the above - I will check them out though, thanks!

Yes I agree as well that CC's in Europe (or at least Germany) see to be a tool for travel purposes and not much else. Interesting to see how they differ from the US where it feels like everyone gets at least 5 credit card apps a day all with different types of benefits.

MS is not going to happen here... Especially now that the EU will mandate a max of 0,3% in future fees to be charged for payments. The margin is simply not there for generous point schemes or MS.

Different market here than in the US, almodt all that have credit cards pay their full bill each month and plenty of vendors are reluctant to accept these cards due to high costs.

Thanks RTW1 for the info!

Yes, this is what I feared, but oh well. I was a novice at MS and did not perform a whole before the move. It is frustrating though to not be able to use CC for a lot of common transactions, but part of the change of living in a new environment.

**Side Note - I was able to perform a little MS inadvertently. I bought and returned a modem to Saturn paid for on my CC. Doing the return the clerk looked at me funny when I gave him my CC to credit the amount back, he just asked if I wanted to get the cash instead which I accepted. Sadly this method is not likely to work on a larger scale and without hassle I fear :)

Money laundry ;) laws apply to financial institutes, outside USA.

Are prepaid visas sold there? what banks? No MSing without prepaids.
(years ago I was student at TU Berlin)

Good point - I will check when I return from the holidays. I have seen numerous gift cards for sale but not sure of the exact types.