VISA vs. Mastercard

Yes, I used MasterCard with no issues.

Mastercard and Visa are the two most widely accepted cards. You will be fine.

They are both widely accepted. Amex less so.

" Yes but to avoid ATM fees use a Capital One Visa." And , Capital One Credit Cards do not charge foreign transaction fees , usually around 3%

Clarification!!! Do NOT use a credit card in an ATM. You’ll be getting an expensive cash advance. Use only debit cards to get cash.

".that only amounts to $150 of fees on $5000 of expenditures. " Quite so , but why donate that money to a bank .

Thank you all for the info!

Bonnie, if only one of your cards is enabled for “tap and pay” ( aka contactless payment) that is the one to take if you will be using public transit in London. It works for contactless payment on the Tube and other transport just like an Oyster card, with the daily cap, so you don’t need to buy an actual Oyster card.

But I suggest you take both cards in any case. It is always good to carry a backup, in case your primary card becomes disabled somehow, or lost/misplaced.

Thank you Lola, good to know!

MC and Visa are interchangeable, no one cares which one you use. Beware Amex and Discover, you might have issues there.

Make sure you have a mix of MC and Visa, from different banks. 2 or 3 per person, just because.

As noted, you MUST have tap to pay on your cards. That is how things work in the UK, you tap for everything.

Of course you should have already shopped around for cards that have the best international usage rates.

You could also open a Schwab account and get a debit/credit card that charges you nothing for ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world, but as I mentioned recently you aren't going to need much if any cash on your trip. Just have a little to have it.

I have used either Visa or Mastercard interchangeably. But I prefer a card I have issued from Barklays that doesn't charge any "foreign transaction fees." Those can really add up. And I concur with the poster who said only use an ATM for cash advances.

As noted, your MasterCard will be gladly accepted by merchants, restaurants, etc. that take credit cards. However, a topic that has come up on this forum is that there are some who accept cash only. Then there are many who don’t accept cash, so your MasterCard will be essential.

In London last year, I was surprised to see a Diner’s Club decal on one door. Happy trip, happy charging!

" That is how things work in the UK, you tap for everything. " The continent as well . I recently returned from an extended stay in Europe , and tap to pay was virtually everywhere . I did carry cash for those few exceptions , but it was infrequent to say the least

I've always traveled with both Mastercard and Visa. There have been times when one card has been refused (for some unknown reason...)

Visa and Mastercard are fine, its American Express that is the issue - many many vendors won't accept it because of the high fees.

The thing is that a British business is going to be charged much more for taking an American-issued MC than a British-issued American Express card.

Similarly much more for a British corporate Visa than a British consumer Amex.

That's just how the fees work these days.

Discover incidentally is accepted in the UK at places which accept Diners Club.

I've found that for some reason taxis often have issues with the first credit card I give them, but the next one works. And then there was the guy who could barely find CDG and rejected all my cards except the one from Andrews FCU with the PIN (which I had packed as a backup).

And yes Paris is also all tap to pay, it just makes life so much simpler and faster for all concerned.

" except the one from Andrews FCU with the PIN (which I had packed as a backup). " Allow me to add to phred's comment about this so as to allay any confusion which may arise - While it is known that a PIN connected to an American issued Chip and signature credit card ( remember , credit card , not a debit card ) will only result in posting as a cash advance , at a usurious interest rate , the Andrews FCU credit cards , as well as many Barclay credit cards are an exception. Credit cards function with CVM's ( Card Verification Modes ) . Any given card may have several modes according to its internal structure . In the case of Andrews CC's , the order is chip and signature ( most common ) but then chip and PIN , as a secondary mode . I have two Andrews credit card acoounts , and when using an offline kiosk , for example , it will go to a PIN verification . As my Andrews cards have no tap to pay capability , they will default to a signature first ( especially for large purchases, like a hotel bill ) and then a PIN for offline transactions ,but the card will always require insertion into the reader . The Andrews CC's and Barclay CC's will indeed function with the attached PIN's and still not post as a cash advance . EDIT - Of course with the ubiquity of tap and go now , most of the necessity of signature or pin is disappearing . ( All my Capital One CC's are tap cards )

Definitely take at least 2 cards. It’s not uncommon for one to be blocked or not accepted for unknown reasons when travelling abroad. I take 1 credit card and 2 debit cards to be one the safe side.

I’m a bit worried about using credit card as twice I have attempted to purchase tours online and my card was declined and had to log into account and verify charge then repay. Has anyone had problems with card being declined.? Wondering if notifying ahead of time would prevent this?

@marklar74.

What’s the limit on your credit card? $5,000,
$10,000, unlimited?

And even though employees at Visa and Mastercard have told me “ you no longer need to advise us before you travel,” I do it anyway. Old school.

To marklar74, if your card was a Visa, they have a “Verified by Visa” system, where certain transactions get flagged for further verification, before the sale is approved and processed. I’m not certain what criteria are used to require the extra verification. Maybe higher dollar amounts, maybe foreign vendor, maybe just random?

Maybe your transactions got caught up in their verifying process.

I am going to share an embarrassing story. On our 5 week trip to France last year, I chose to not take a debit card. Told my husband to leave his at home as well, he protested, but I assured him we would be fine. Our bank clerk insisted that with our debit cards in Google Wallet, we could just tap our way, as we do here in the US. So many people say that everyone takes cc cards these days. Not so. We had several taxis that said the cc card did not work, or they did not have a card reader. We took a $$$ wine tour where the tour guide said we would just pay at the end, only for him to say he does not take cards. That's when we found out we couldn't use our debit card saved in our 'wallet'. We took a few different cc, that worked fine all other places, but those exceptions were stressful. People also suggest that you just get your currency exchange when you arrive. Fortunately we got 300 euro from our bank before leaving. We also got a couple lucky breaks, with help from other travelers. Needless to say, the advice we were given by our bank teller was wrong. My huge mistake was taking him at his word without verifying. We will not make that same mistake again. It all worked out fine, and I guess added to the adventure, but my debit card is coming with me from here on.

I'm so glad I glanced at this topic, while I still have plenty of time to apply for a tap card to replace my chip-only one.

Thanks, everyone.

Everyone must have tap to pay, it's just that simple. If you have an older card, call to replace it NOW

We probably are just the opposite. Am an old engineer by training who likes to have back up to redundancy. We carry five credit cards and two debit cards tied to different accounts. Three credit cards are joint accounts and the other two are individual cards in each of our names. We have pin numbers for three of the credit cards. In an emergency, those cards could be used for cash advances at an ATM. To keep things straight we encode the pin number on each of the cards. One set of debit cards is actually two different cards for the same account. And finally debit cards for a second account at a different bank. It is over kill -- I admit. In all of our travels we have never (knock on wood) had credit fail or be rejected. From time to time have had debit cards declined for unknown reason. But the card works on the next ATM or the next day. I think we have all the bases covered -- but never really tested.