riversights Posted June 28 #1 Share Posted June 28 We'll soon be joining the Nautica at Stockholm for our voyage of the Baltic and North Sea states. Have you had good experience with particular credit cards in this region? We are hoping to use Discover and American Express in addition to Visa and Master Card. Your experience will provide valuable insights. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted June 28 #2 Share Posted June 28 35 minutes ago, riversights said: We'll soon be joining the Nautica at Stockholm for our voyage of the Baltic and North Sea states. Have you had good experience with particular credit cards in this region? We are hoping to use Discover and American Express in addition to Visa and Master Card. Your experience will provide valuable insights. Thank you! Not from personal experience, but I think that you will find Discover and American Express generally not accepted in Europe. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in most places. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted June 28 #3 Share Posted June 28 Agree with @gnome12, Discover and American Express are not going to be widely accepted, if at. MC and Visa are the way to go. There have been a few threads on the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallasm Posted June 28 #4 Share Posted June 28 Yes, Visa and Mastercard. Suggest contactless card/ chip:pin. Many small vendor terminals cannot read magnetic stribe. ApplePay on your mobile is widely accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riversights Posted June 28 Author #5 Share Posted June 28 Thank you for all of these knowledgeable replies. You are the cognoscenti. We are informed and made wiser! These details made seem trivial to frequent cruisers, but being occasional voyagers, we must ask the question. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted June 29 #6 Share Posted June 29 6 hours ago, riversights said: Thank you for all of these knowledgeable replies. You are the cognoscenti. We are informed and made wiser! These details made seem trivial to frequent cruisers, but being occasional voyagers, we must ask the question. If you don’t have one and have time to apply, a credit card with no foreign transaction fees is a really good idea for international travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riversights Posted June 29 Author #7 Share Posted June 29 Do you know of any cards without these foreign transaction fees? (I'm wondering about cards with no annual fee.) Thank you for pitching in on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnia 432 Posted June 29 #8 Share Posted June 29 (edited) We use Wise - a multi currency debit card, works through the Visa system, gives us great flexibility. DH and I have separate accounts, his “holds” the money and stays in the safe on the ship. We transfer the daily “spending money” to my card which we take ashore (limiting any potential loss to what is on my card only). Very easy to transfer funds between accounts, using the phone if we need more when we are out. https://wise.com Edited June 29 by Sarnia 432 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted June 29 #9 Share Posted June 29 1 hour ago, riversights said: Do you know of any cards without these foreign transaction fees? (I'm wondering about cards with no annual fee.) Thank you for pitching in on this. I’m in Canada so can’t advise, but there should be some fee-free cards available where you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riversights Posted June 29 Author #10 Share Posted June 29 These replies have been helpful in thinking through the matter of credit card use. You have given us confidence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted June 30 #11 Share Posted June 30 I don't think anyone takes Discover. American Express is often not accepted, but larger museums for instance may. Visa and Master Card are generally accepted And many places will not take cash including the local currency! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted June 30 #12 Share Posted June 30 I was in Oslo for 4 days, then a 2 week cruise all in Norway except I disembarked in Copenhagen yesterday. I am on the second of 4 days here. I have not changed any money, nor have I had any need for cash anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne G. Posted June 30 #13 Share Posted June 30 On 6/28/2024 at 11:56 PM, riversights said: Do you know of any cards without these foreign transaction fees? (I'm wondering about cards with no annual fee.) Thank you for pitching in on this. Capital One offers cards with no foreign transaction fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted June 30 #14 Share Posted June 30 47 minutes ago, Joanne G. said: Capital One offers cards with no foreign transaction fees. Many issuers do. We have a Chase card and an USAA card that don't charge any foreign transaction fees. No annual fee is an entirely different proposition, much rarer, but our USAA card doesn't charge an annual fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riversights Posted June 30 Author #15 Share Posted June 30 Thank you for these leads! We'll check out Capital One and Chase, and other issuers. You have provided short cuts. Very helpful indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird19 Posted June 30 #16 Share Posted June 30 I believe Costco credit card also has no forgein transaction fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marys350 Posted July 1 #17 Share Posted July 1 We have a Capital One Quicksilver card with no annual fees, no foreign transaction fees, and 1.5% cash back on purchases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATSEAMYLIFE Posted August 11 #18 Share Posted August 11 On 6/30/2024 at 2:46 PM, Thunderbird19 said: I believe Costco credit card also has no forgein transaction fee. Correct, we don't have one but our neighbors use their Costco card all the time. We have used both USAA and Well Fargo debit cards loaded into our Apple wallet with no issue. AMEX only seems to be taken at major hotels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCJack Posted August 12 #19 Share Posted August 12 one other credit card travel tip... we usually make sure I only carry 1 or 2 cards and my wife carries different 1 or 2 cards. We make sure we don't carry a card the other one has. In this way if we lose a bag or wallet, one of us will have a card that has not been lost or compromised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericosmith Posted August 13 #20 Share Posted August 13 11 hours ago, CCJack said: one other credit card travel tip... we usually make sure I only carry 1 or 2 cards and my wife carries different 1 or 2 cards. We make sure we don't carry a card the other one has. In this way if we lose a bag or wallet, one of us will have a card that has not been lost or compromised. I do the same although to be truthful I just spent 3 weeks in Europe and I don't think I ever pulled out a card (well maybe once or twice in for a sit down meal). I paid with my watch or my phone everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langoustine Posted August 31 #21 Share Posted August 31 Discover is useless in Europe. Merchants hate AMEX because their transaction fees are higher than VISA or MasterCard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightOne Posted Wednesday at 08:50 PM #22 Share Posted Wednesday at 08:50 PM Went to London, Paris, and Norway with the expectation that American Express would not be widely accepted there. However, my experience was not that. I don't think a single place in London or Paris did not accept Amex. In Norway I would say approximately 1 in 5 did not accept American Express. Bring a Visa/Mastercard as a backup but you may find Amex is accepted in more places than you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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