Discover Credit Card

Discover is not accepted in Europe.

While I greatly appreciate the feedback I know that's not completely true. I know its accepted in a few EU countries but I don't know where in the country its accepted like restaurants, trains stations, etc. You can use your card everywhere you see the Diners Club International acceptance mark in the following countries: Austria Czech Republic Denmark Finland Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Turkey

Diners Club is only accepted at very expensive hotels and restaurants. For everywhere else, use your Visa.

When we moved to Europe the Discover went in a drawer. The only time it came out was to be shredded. I have never seen a Discover welcome sticker in Europe. I have also never seen a Diners Club accepted sign, but perhaps that's just because of how near the gutter I travel. The first advice you had was the best advice, regardless of your quote. Sorry

I agree, regardless of what they might tell you, Discover is not accepted anywhere that I have been. Haven't seen Diner's Club, either.

Jennifer - A few years back my Diners Club was converted into a Mastercard and is now accepted wherever Mastercard is accepted. In recent trips, I only see old Diners Club symbols. Also, many of the shops and hotels have vintage credit card stickers in their windows so it's hard to tell if they are current. International large hotels, very touristy restaurants and large chain stores might take your card. From my experience most places seem to only take only Visa and Mastercard except I have started seeing more places taking American Express lately. Once you get back, please share your experience so we know if you were able to use your Discover Card. Enjoy your trip!

The Discover web site makes it very clear where it is accepted. http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/account/international.html You asked about the EU. Only a couple of countries on that list are in the EU. Being accepted and widely used is two different things. Like most of the experienced travelers on this board I have not see a sign of acceptance anywhere. Maybe it is coming but I sure would not want to depend on the Discovery card as my main card in the EU. VISA is the dominate card with Mastercard close behind. And everyone likes cash so we seldom use our cards.

Use Capital One credit cards. They are accepted anywhere a credit card is accepted in Europe,hat we know of. Plus they do not charge any transaction fees, as do other cards.

While Discover may advertise that it is accepted in certain countries, like Austria and the others you mentioned, it does not mean it is accepted in every restaurant or every store in that country. Like others have mentioned, Disccover (and American Express) is rarely accepted in Europe. I, personally, have never seen a place that accepted it. (Though I also have not tried, I brought Visa and Mastercard.)

Thanks for all the feedback. Julie, good idea I'll be sure to follow-up.

While very few places accept Discover, many ATMs do. Not that you want to use a credit card for cash advances due to the high cost. Here is what I would do with your Discover card.... 1. Make sure you know the pin. 2. Hide it somewhere separate from all your other credit cards etc (e.g. in your suitcase in a pair of pants pocket) check it location daily to make sure it was never stolen. Then it can be your OMG we lost everything back up plan. Yeah you will get hit with insane charges if it ever comes that you need to use it. But that is better than no being able to afford to eat or replace your passport.

Leave your Discover card at home. I have never seen it anywhere in western Europe, not saying you can't use it somewhere, but pretty uncommon.

So, what I learned is that Diner's Club/Discover is excepted widely in Austria and Paris (that was surprising). I didn't see it accepted anywhere I was in Prague. Something else I learned is that in Switzerland I had a hard time using MC/VISA without a pin. However, my AMEX was accepted without an issue.

"....Visa/MasterCard can be used everywhere it is accepted without a pin, except at automated train station machines, unmanned toll booths and automatic gas pumps. Everywhere else where there is a person, you can use the card. They simply swipe the card in their machine, rather than use the chip reader slot...." Not always the case. There is a growing trend in Europe for merchants to accept magnetic strip cards, but only if you enter a pin to finalize the transaction instead of a signature. This includes both credit and debit cards; so if you've forgotten your CC's pin you might want to call the bank to get a new one. Last time this happened to me was in Holland back in May at the Etos health & beauty chain, which has a lots of outlets in the region.

Wouldn't it be easier to simply use the pin:) I happened to know the pin for my credit card, because it's happened on previous trips to the region. By knowing the pin you avoid all the hassle you describe: phone calls, supervisors, holding-up the people behind you in line etc.

Pins are not required for credit card purchases when the card is swiped. They are in some places, you know. It is a perfectly valid way of checking security in Europe. Try to buy fuel in some stations, particularly in the Netherlands or Belgium, and you will be there ages. Isn't the idea to get in and get out? Have never seen a logo for a Discover on this side of the puddle, Austria included.

Nigel, you're right about the lack of discover card logo but there are diners club logos are in some places which work for discover.

Most merchants in the US have not taken Discover because doing so involved more fees than Visa/MC. Discover worked on a different system, so a statement fee of $5-10 a month was incurred even if only a few transactions were made. About 6 months ago, Discover finally piggy-backed onto the Visa/MC system, and now most merchants can take Discover without added fees. Some merchants may not know that, and they may not have put a sign on the window, but a Discover card will run on their terminals. (Rant alert-Discover card holders can be an odd breed. They'd carry a card that no one took for years, and then gripe about it. I've said for years that if Discover would take that ad money directed towards cardholders, and direct it towards merchants and making it cheaper to take their cards, they'd increase business. It's nice that my private rantings were listened to.) Anyway, the whole point of this is that it is possible that now European merchants now take Discover and don't really know it. I would explore this more with Discover, and even then would not count on it. And, by the way, since we started taking Discover on the same system as Visa/MC, we have about 2 or 3 transactions a month. Woo hoo, setting the world on fire.

I do not understand why anyone uses Discover. If it's for the cash-back, it's not much of a deal when you get only 1/4% for the first $3,000 per annum and have to work your way up to the 1% (or better) that you get with most other cards. It can't be for the convenience when so many places have not taken it (1 is enough). IIRC, they were the first free cc to offer cash-back, back around 1980. But then they were surpassed by banks offering MC and VISA deals.