a list of countries may help to better answer the question.But personaly never had a problem with my visa bank card anywhere in europe,allthough I mainly used it to get cash.

I had a discover card last time I went, but didnt find too many places that it was accepted. I would suggest you get the four digit pin number so at the very least you could get a cash advance. Better to be safe than sorry…

Yeah, as far as your ATM/debit card goes, make sure it has a four-digit pin number. Also, for emergency sake, have you though about purchasing a few traveler’s checks as well? It’s "old fashioned" but it helps.

Visa and Mastercard are much more widely accepted than American Express or Discover. However, for the budget traveler, ATM card is a must. Hostels and the kiosks and markets where you’re likely to eat are sometimes "cash only."

Discover is not the best card to take to Europe. I’m not even sure if an independent merchant over there can sign up to accept Discover. Anyway it’s alomst nonexistant.
AmEx would be accepted here and there, but in Europe "American Express" pretty much spells "upscale." As a result, a budget traveller won’t have a chance to use it very often.
Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted. You are not likely to have problems in larger supermarkets, department and specialty stores, and everywere tourists (sorry travellers) go: train stations, hotels, gift shops.

Well, you are going very soon, so this won’t change anything, but try to get a MC or VI by the next time you go overseas. Also if your ATM/debit card has VI or MC logo, you can also use it just like a credit card at the stores.

You will have no trouble with a Visa or MasterCard – as they take it almost anywhere in Europe. American Express is accepted at most hotel chains, and about 40% of the larger businesses, etc. However, I think it will be difficult to find a ton of places that accept the Discover Card, other than major hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott, & Sheraton, etc. I do not recall seeing their card logo on small businesses or pubs, etc.

quote:
However, for the budget traveler, ATM card is a must. Hostels and the kiosks and markets where you’re likely to eat are sometimes "cash only."

Great point here by OldLady. This is the biggest trueism on here. It does depend on the city. I know for example, that I charged ALOT of stuff in Prague, Vilnius, Riga, Tallin, but when I was in Sarajevo and Montenegro, I don’t think I even pulled out my card. So it depends on the places. But in Western Europe, you’ll be OK most often.

What you want to ensure if (and I’m prob. repeating what many have said already)

1) You have a VISA/Mastercard
2) You have some sort of ATM Card to get cash easy & cheapily

In addition, with the ATM card, you will want to ensure that your "type", either Cirrus, PLUS, Star, etc, is accepted in the countries you are going. A quick search on the owning companies website for the country will answer that.

Enjoy your trip!

-A

The smaller the business, the less likely they take credit cards. And even if they supposedly do (you see logos on the door), they might claim their machine is broken when you go to pay. The merchants have to pay a fee to the credit card company, and use of CCs also has tax consequences (forces them to be honest), so they don’t like to use CCs. I got tired of this, and just started using cash for all but big businesses or governments.

Getting back to the original question of whether or not Discover Card will be accpeted in Europe…

In all my travels of Europe, I’ve never seen any place that accepts the Discover card.

Also, if you look at the Discover card’s website on using the card outside the US, there is no mention of Europe.
http://www.discoverc…

Finally, from the BUG Europe website:

quote:The most useful cards in Europe are MasterCard and Visa, followed by American Express and Diners Club. In tourist areas you may find some places that accept JCB card, but Bankcard and Discover card are not accepted in Europe.

So, it appears that there is no use taking your Discover card since you won’t be able to use it. Sorry.

quote:And even if they supposedly do (you see logos on the door), they might claim their machine is broken when you go to pay.

I found this a very frequent occurance in Romania and Ukraine. Giving you directions to the nearest ATM that would give a cash advance on your credit card met the local definfition of "accepting" Mastercharge or Visa.

Thanks everyone for the help. I guess I’m out of luck with that Discover card. But luckly my Debit IS a Visa and I DO have a 4-digit pin so I should be fine everywhere I go.

Take a backup just in case. There’s nothing worse than being stranded penniless in a strange city (say, San Jose, Costa Rica, just for the sake of argument…) 12 hours before you’re due to depart for the airport, after having just been mugged and robbed.

I recommend taking two sources of funds (e.g. two cards) and keeping them in separate places. For example, keep the one you’ll use regularly in your wallet, and lock the other one in a hostel safe or stash it in your moneybelt. That way, if you’re robbed or pickpocketed, you’ll have a backup.

Just sayin’…

as far as the four digit pin goes….my bank (bank of america)wouldnt let me change mine to 4 digits.But never had a problem in using it from london to isthanbul….either way check and notify your bank before you leave with intended countries and also any possible ones you may visit