Many places in Lisbon (can’t speak for the rest of Portugal yet) do not accept Amex cards. Have had about 50% success with it. Bring a VISA with tap capability as that is what most merchants want. Many older VISA cards have chips but will not tap. Most merchants in Europe use handheld point-of-sale machines for charges. Maybe the U.S. will advance to that level of technology someday.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7947 posts
You should really check with your credit card company (Visa or MasterCard) nearly all have reissued cards, or can, with contactless, no need to wait until the expiration date.
Posted by
Connecticut
88 posts
I can confirm the AMEX is almost useless in Portugal. Get a Visa/MC that has no foreign transaction fees.
Dennis