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.
Surprised you didn't know about this. 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,
Don't let the bullies get you down. 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!
I kind of got schooled in Paris myself two years ago, when out walking and seeing a very old blind man navigating alone to get into church. I thought shame on all of us who find an excuse to not get to church!
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.
