credit card

Search this site for "Discover Card" and you will find that it is virtually useless in Europe. Almost no one will accept it. It is also not part of the main network.
I also do not understand why it even stays afloat here, as its reward structure is so poor.

Thank you, Very helpful
Sissy

You want a Visa, or as a second choice, a Mastercard. Amex will also work in the larger hotels, etc. Leave Discover at home.

Thanks George, I cut up a Visa Capital One just a month ago. It was exactly what I needed.
Sissy

AmExp works in a lot more places than most people think - - even the small, cheapies. That scoop is old dope, but still repeated for some nutty reason.

I have a Discover card and on long trips (more than two months) I will transfer balances from Visa and/or Mastercard to the Discover card, just to keep the Visa/MC credit lines fully available. Otherwise the Discover card is useless in Europe. I take American Express because I use it to buy train tickets online before I leave, and the French Rail system asks to see the card you used to purchase the tickets if you have to pick them up at a station in France. Amex also charges a foreign transaction fee that I would rather not pay, and gets a higher commission from the shopowners/businesses that Visa or Mastercard does (so some businesses prefer payment with a different card).

My mom always packs her Discover card. Why, you ask? (So do I). I'm convinced it's so she doesn't have to pay for anything. She offers to buy lunch. When the check comes, she feigns surprise that they won't take Discover - then someone else has to pick up the check. LOL. Seriously though, a Discover is pretty useless. AMEX is much better than it once was, but still not nearly as widely accepted as a Visa or Mastercard (which are now virtually interchangeable). I bring AMEX as a backup and use it primarily for rental cars because mine has a really good rental insurance deal.

Hi from Wisconsin, I would get a card with a chip. Few companies offer this in the USA but they are available if you look. Now most people don't need them yet for their purposes. But if you rent a car...and want to buy gas at a 24 hour station...that has no service attendant...and after 6 PM in France...you need a chip. Additionally, we found that at a few restaurants they looked at our card and went into the back room to drag out the old technology reader. How long does that old machine continue to function? Just a thought. I have mine. wayne iNWI

An additional note to Wayne's comment (Wayne - I'm also from Wisconsin). I tried to rent a car recently in Croatia. My new Visa card didn't have the raised numbers on it....the bank recommended this new card because it's safer to use. But because it didn't have raised numbers the car rental company couldn't run a car deposit over their old mechanical machine. They could use the card to actually process the rental but couldn't produce the deposit transaction for potential damages to the car. They kept telling me my new card wasn't a credit card. Had to use a companion's card instead. Take a card with raised numbers.