I was surprised to discover that American Express is not taken everywhere in Paris
My cab would not take it. My hotel did not take it and a fast find restaurant would not take it.
Other places like the Cluny did take it.
Be certain to have a Visa or Mastercard as well.
Unfortunately, several places don’t take it because the (merchant) fee on Amex is higher. That also happens in a few places in the US. My local bakery doesn’t accept it or small ice cream shop (not chain).
Even when using hotels.com to book hotels in South America, many times they don’t let me use Amex because the hotel won’t accept it.
I always bring my Amex and a Visa. Both travel cards with no fees.
This is a worldwide phenomena. When traveling internationally, I just leave my Amex at home.
No ,not everywhere. Chances are if you go to Asian restaurants or eateries, the AmEx will be taken. and not only in Paris but other cities in France as well. I don't bring the AmEx over , only the MC and Visa cc, 4 in total, all no FT ,all with the PIN
fortunately I always have more than three credit cards with me I always have both Mastercard and Visa along with American Express
And no I did not know that Amex was not taken in most places. Never had this problem before.
You need 3 brands of cards: master card, Visa, Amex.
My AmEx is a Hilton card--it goes with me overseas if and only if I'm staying at a Hilton property during the trip. Otherwise, yeah, I leave it at home and take only the MC & Visa.
bostonphil17,
I hope you are having a wonderful time in Paris! Don't feel bad about not knowing about difficulties using the Amex card. I confess to not following lots of threads and am thus unaware of certain problems that may pop up on a trip, whether related to finances or phone/internet issues or even public transport issues.
Do keep the forum in mind and let us know occasionally how the trip is going.
Amusez-vous bien!
Here in Australia there are many places that don't take it either, and I don't blame them, the fees are crazy!
We did used to have one and let it go due to the difficulty of using it both here and overseas.
I believe now it is improving again, so one day we might get another.
bostonphil7,
It's not possible to know everything.
There are plenty of people who don't know American Express is not widely accepted in Europe and other locations in the world.
I thank you for providing this education.
I look forward to reading more about your trip. Enjoy!
Traveler Girl
Let’s give Phil a break. Not everyone has time to read everything that is posted on the forum.
Enjoy the rest of your trip!!
Let's all admire bostonphil7, a senior solo traveler who uses a cane, taking on Paris for the first time, proving you are never too old to try new things and a willingness to share things she has learned. Sharing mistakes and experiences good and bad, so others will know for their own future trip!
fortunately I always have more than three credit cards with me I always have both Mastercard and Visa along with American Express.
I am glad you were prepared! I learned the hard way to bring extra cash for emergency exchange when an ATM swallowed my only debit card abroad on a weekend and I was leaving that city to another country next day. I had to take cash using credit card but that was very expensive. Now I always bring extra dollars for emergency exchange, and got myself a Wise card.
an ATM swallowed my only debit card abroad
I've heard of that happening several times here on this forum. Another reason to use Apple Pay or Google Pay.
And one more datapoint, we were in Ireland last month, and my friend tried everywhere to use his AMEX, and only succeeded once, I think.
Hi Phil. I’m glad you had other cards and hope you are having a great trip.
Visa and Mastercard are a duopoly in Europe more than the US I think. This article (the first paragraph anyway) tells us they processed 7 trillion Euro of transactions in 2023. They have 60% market share in the wider Europe and as much as 95% of card transactions in the UK are on those two networks. In the current global climate, such dependence on services from these two American corporations is a wee bit scary.
This has been a known thing not only in Europe but even in the US, but from the sounds of it not everyone knew about it after all.
Perhaps someone should start a more general thread on another forum?
For that matter, don't expect a Discover card to work everywhere ...
I’m not surprised - there are quite a few places that didn’t take it in my tourist city in Canada . Too expensive.
Visa is the most accepted card.
I stopped carrying my Amex in Europe long ago as it really has limited use there. But it is too bad, as it is also my Delta rewards card. I still use it to purchase anything from Delta, and use it fairly often in the states just to keep my points active. But currently my American Airlines MasterCard, with no foreign transaction fees, is my go to card when overseas (was Barclays, but it just changed to Citi). And kudos to Phil, from another "Phil" from Boston. Hope you're having a blast!
Some of us older folks remember when Amex was THE payment method all over Europe, and had offices worldwide where you could get travellers checks, assistance and even mail! So yeah, it can be a bit of surprise to find places in Paris and other cities that don't take it anymore!
And for those U.S. travelers that don't know, add Discover Card to the rarely accepted payment method.
Bottom line: Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted. Other labels much less so. To quote David Byrne, same as it's ever been.
Is this really news? (Sorry, apparently I'm in a foul mood this evening.)
Bostonphil,
I’m glad you are having a good vacation!
You planned in advance, and knew to have different cards with you, just in case…..well done!
How was your Paris Greeter day?
Hi,
If you use booking.com to do the hotel reservations, whether a hotel accepts the AmEx card or not is shown on booking.com My 5 "go to" hotels , in Gare du Nord and Est , 2 and 3 star, show that 3 of them take AmEx.
Bottom line: It all depends on the establishment. on the establishment
Well, I have now been having success using American Express. Used it many times the past two days.
S j
I wrote about my experience with my Paris Greeter in yesterday s TR
He was a really nice person. But ……. Read the TR
Did not work as well as I hoped. I feel sad
Thanks to everyone for responding.
AMEX refusal in France is as old as time. Its all about their higher transaction fees. Things have evolved but small cafes, stores, etc might still refuse to take it.
Over decades of travel to Europe it’s Visa or Mastercards that I travel with.
Hi,
Good that you have found establishments accepting the Amer. Ex. It's all hit and miss. One place for sure are Asian /Chinese restaurants and eateries which accept several payment ways and cards, Visa, MC, carte bleu (which only the French have), pay pal, and also AmEx.
Either Amex acceptance has declined in recent years, or I was lucky. I gave up my card in 2022, about the same time the prices charged to businesses were increased. But, I didn't have too much trouble using the Amex in France.
Today, AMEX was accepted at the restaurant but not the souvenir shop.
This is a longtime thing in Paris - and London too. Applepay, as someone mentioned, is great but if your Applepay is attached to your Amex, they won't take that either. As everyone says, have a backup alternative including some euros.
I checked as this pertains to France re: the French hotel chains where I stay or sometime, at least once, in the past, Mercure, Novotel, Campanile, Ibis, Kyriad, ....they all take the AmEx. So, you decide to use these chains , 3 and 4 star, no problem upon presenting the AmEX.
Amex has never been well received in Europe. Our company provided us with Amex cards for company travel. We quickly learned that in Europe they were virtually worthless. I recall having to fund a VP's hotel bill with cash in Germany when he casually spent hours on the phone only to learn about the phone rates when he checked out and then learn that he could not cover his bill. No Amex....
Another time travelling with a different VP we arrived at a hotel in Munich that his admin had reserved for us. We found out during check in that they would not accept Amex. Ouch. We were lucky enough to find another place that had rooms and accepted Amex.
I always carry Mastercard and Visa in Europe.
I take one VISA and one MasterCard, my debit card to get cash from bank ATMs, and my Delta card because that’s the airline I am flying on. But it’s AmEx so only good for backup if something happens with the flights.
I am travel in the Burgundy region of France and there are places that do not take AMEX.
Been having good success with AMEX but have Visa And Mastercard just in case
