american express - accepted in Italy??

A Capital One card will charge you NO Foreign Transaction Fee. Amex charges 2%-3% for each transaction.

Yes they do, there's even an Amex office in Florence for Travelers assistance!

We had a crisis and they were there for the rescue!

We were in Munich, Nice, Venice, & Monterosso in February and used American Express to save on Visa fees.

American Express is actually more widely accepted in Europe than Visa, or so it seemed.

I was able to use my Visa more than my AmX in Italy this past summer. I prefer the AmX for points so really do try to use it whenever I can. Hard to compare year to year, but felt like Italian merchants were more restrictive than merchants in other countries where we have traveled. But I have also run into companies in the US who do not take AmX. I carry both.

Amex is accepted widely.

Perhaps not as much as Visa or Mastercard in small outlets.

All the major places seem to take Amex.

Diners Card is the only one that can be a bit of a problem of the four major players.

Most major European cities have an Amex travel shop and in my personal experience they are very very good.

Amex on the Haymarket in London are second to none

Visa is accepted by virtually anyone who takes a card.

Mastercard almost as widely accepted.

AmEx used to be difficult but it gets better all the time. You may find some places that won't take Amex but it works most of the time.

Diners Club isn't widely accepted. I took my mom to the British Isles and she kept pulling out her diners club and being told they don't accept it. Bring one if you want a good excuse for other people to buy your dinners, drinks, hotels.

I agree with Brad. I have run into some problems using my Amex--Frankly, I've found if they take Amex, it's pretty touristy. While ir may be good for hotels, train tickets, etc., Amex is not something to use for smaller transactions, i.e. dinner. Similiarly, the back-up plan of an Amex office is helpful, even though chance are good that you will not use it!

It depends. Take both AMEX and a Visa/ Mastercard.

I have used AMEX all over Europe including Italy without a problem in both large and small stores/hotels. But as was mentioned by another bring a Visa or Mastercard as well just to be safe.

Hi,

Italy is the only country among all European countries where merchants like cash the most. You can pay with credit cards, but most places we visited from North to South we were forced to pay cash. For what we understood, I speak Italian, banks charge businesses a percentage for credit cards payments, and business people don't like this at all. And even when you cash, they like the exact amount. Also, take into account that European banks use 4 digit pin for their ATM versus 6 in the USA.
Hope this helps