I just got back from a week long trip to see my son living in Europe and I wrote about my expenditures here but I didn’t go into detail about a significant challenge I had while traveling from city to city there and how I overcame some of my issues.
Payment With Credit & Debit Cards
When visiting a major city such as Amsterdam and staying within the major tourist areas, I didn’t have too many issues paying for goods at restaurants or shops. When I left the major tourist areas however, I encountered nothing but problems with payment cards.
Visa
I don’t know what’s happened to the Visa brand in Europe but once upon a time their slogan was, “It’s everywhere you want to be” but it doesn’t seem to really want to be in Europe because most shops don’t advertise that they take (or presumably) want to deal with Visa branded cards. Visa’s new slogan by the way is now, “Life Takes Visa.” Life may take Visa but Europe doesn’t.
American Express
I once had a few Amex cards but for some reason I closed all those accounts over the years but this was one of the cards that was advertised at shops and restaurants on store fronts. Not all stores take Amex though so it’s hit or miss but as a guideline, if it’s a high end restaurant or store they’ll usually take Amex.
MasterCard
If there is ONE type of debit or credit card you should take to Europe, it should be MasterCard. The shops all advertise MasterCard on their store fronts and I was fortunate enough to have a MasterCard branded debit card from Wise that worked at most places I needed it when it did work.
Debit Over Credit
By far the most problems I had was trying to pay with credit cards so most of the time I had to use a Visa or MasterCard branded debit card to pay for things.
Cash is King
Of course, to avoid all payment problems, the best thing to use is cash as this readily solved most payment issues however things such as parking meters don’t take cash nor did they take U.S. debit or credit cards.
The only catch with cash is trying to find an ATM machine to withdraw money. There are plenty of ATMs in many places however I tend to avoid those by EuroNet because they are known to charge high fees.
Two Best Cards: Charles Schwab Platinum Debit Visa & Wise Mastercard
The two cards that got me out of binds were my Chase Visa debit card and my Wise debit MasterCard with an honorable mention for Charles Schwab Visa Debit Card. Note that Chase had foreign conversion fees for debit transactions which are normally not charged on some of their travel credit cards but since I couldn’t use the credit cards, I had no choice. Charles Schwab has no foreign fees on their debit card and I regret not using that one first until I realized it toward the end of my trip.
If you plan on traveling to Europe or anywhere outside the United States, I would suggest looking into Wise debit card. Be forewarned that it takes a while to get setup and you may need to send copies of your passport or other identification to get setup. So far, I’m happy with the card and the service allows me to send money between the U.S. and Europe when I need. I think the 2% withdrawal fee over $100 is very excessive so use sparingly or in emergencies.
The next time I travel, I will prioritize my use of the Charles Schwab Visa Platinum Debit Card and my Wise Debit MasterCard as a backup. Note that for the Charles Schwab card you’ll need an investment account with Charles Schwab. Also note that I have no affiliate relationship with either Charles Schwab or Wise, I’m just a happy customer (for now).