VISA, master card, cash only???

My husband and I will be on the July 17 sailing of the Oden from Amsterdam to Budapest and I have read at least one post saying that VISA was not excepted in Germany but Master Card was. I don't have a Master Card yet but I am willing to get one. Advice please.:confused:

This is not current but in 2011 we had no problem using Visa in any European country. The only card that is not accepted everywhere is AMEX probably like it is down here is too expensive for small businesses.

We used Visa and Mastercard in Germany, Hungary, and Austria in 2012.

cb

Last year on our river cruise I had no problem with either MC or VISA. Just let them know that it's a USA card since it may not have a pin code/chip. In places with auto pay kiosks, I had to either use cash or find a person to complete the transaction.

For the best exchange rate, let your bank do the currency conversion to US$, not the local merchant.

Darcy

We have been to Europe more than 25 times, Germany at least a dozen. We take an Amex and a Visa as well as our ATM card. We do not have a MC. We have never had an issue with Visa where credit cards are accepted.

We have had issues with a Debit card with Visa logo several times due to the card not having the chip required in certain countries/point of sale.

Visa is fine everywhere these days & most chip and pin terminals will allow the card to be swiped if there is no chip. In Germany Visa and MC are used virtually everywhere, it is only amex that is less used. As WatchHill says don't accept any offers to pay in Dollars as the exchange rate will be poor.

However having multiple credit cards that are kept in different places is a must for travel as you don't know when you will get your wallet stolen or whether card providers will put a hold on your card at an inconvenient time !!

Having a MC as well as a Visa card is a good option to have in case the banks are having connection issues with the networks.

Also watch those foreign transaction fees - some credit cards charge for them and others don't.

Visa is fine everywhere these days & most chip and pin terminals will allow the card to be swiped if there is no chip. In Germany Visa and MC are used virtually everywhere, it is only amex that is less used. As WatchHill says don't accept any offers to pay in Dollars as the exchange rate will be poor.

 

However having multiple credit cards that are kept in different places is a must for travel as you don't know when you will get your wallet stolen or whether card providers will put a hold on your card at an inconvenient time !!

 

Having a MC as well as a Visa card is a good option to have in case the banks are having connection issues with the networks.

We travel throughout Europe quite frequently (including Germany...many times) and NEVER had a problem with Visa. As mentioned before, the only card that we found can get "iffy" is AMEX.

My husband and I carry the same Amex card because Amex will handle other travel problems.

We each carry different charge cards - Visa and Mastercard - and different ATM cards - in case one of us gets mugged...

We carry these in waist belt wallets along with copies of the first pages of the other one's passport.

cb

We just received new VISA cards from CapitalOne with the chip and PIN -- although we didn't have any problem using our old one a couple years ago. We also used Discover in Prague -- Discover has been trying to get into the European markets and had a special promotional reward at the time (although they did charge the foreign transaction fee).

beeKate - Could you post more info on your Capital One chip and pin card? I called them and I was told they do not have chip and pin cards yet.

Thanks

We always use our CapitolOne overseas as there are NO transaction fees. (most others have at least a 3% surchage)

Here is their "chip and pin" info from their website.

Capital One is committed to stamping out credit card fraud. That's why your Capital One credit card is Chip and PIN protected. When paying with your credit card, you may be asked to type in your unique 4 digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) on a special keypad instead of signing. Chip and PIN combines a microchip with a PIN. The microchip helps prevent your credit card details being copied and your PIN helps ensure you are the genuine owner.

I called them yesterday and they said not available yet.

cb

I just called Capital one and was again told no chip and pin credit cards available. They are chip and signature. Bummer!!!!

Just got off an AMA cruise Amsterdam to Budapest and used Visa in all counties along the way so no problem there. I would use an ATM card for cash. We used it everywhere with no problems.

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Bring both types of credit cards but both should be fine. Also bring an atm card.

Keith

Everyone has been so quick an informative with their answers to my question!!! Thank you so much!

Mr Wonderful carries a MC and I carry a Visa and we ALWAYS alert the companies that we will be traveling outside the country and using our cards. If one is stolen or there is a problem then we have a fall-back.