Amex acceptance

Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Posts
90
Do I presume correctly that Amex credit cards face this issue? I've had their green charge card for decades and expect to regularly get the response that, 'sorry we don't accept Amex'.
Is this a limitation world wide as well? It affects the attractiveness of their fairly pricey cards if you can't use them everywhere.
 
Do I presume correctly that Amex credit cards face this issue? I've had their green charge card for decades and expect to regularly get the response that, 'sorry we don't accept Amex'.
Is this a limitation world wide as well? It affects the attractiveness of their fairly pricey cards if you can't use them everywhere.
It used to be a significant problem. I find now that it's rarely the case that AMEX is not accepted. But for those occasions I use a perfect gift card or Coles Gift Mastercard that I have purchased at a discount.
 
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My own Amex spent accounts for over 80% of my CC spend. Insurance monthly direct debits are largely MC. Some newsagents, food courts, vending don't take. I sometimes use DrRs giftcard strategy
 
I think the rise of Square and Tyro payment terminals among small, independent shops has significantly boosted Amex acceptance rates.

Almost all the major petrol chains also take Amex without a surcharge now.

It's not yet at the point where you can rely solely on Amex, I'd estimate 1 in 10 of my purchases go on the Visa/MC these days - mostly low value purchases at cafes, also ISP and insurance debits as mentioned above.
 
I'd estimate 1 in 10 of my purchases go on the Visa/MC these days
This is my experience too, the vast minority. For me I find it's mainly regional areas of the state (VIC) that don't accept AMEX for whatever reason, CBD and Suburbs I rarely have an issue. Old habits are hard to break I guess with the more regional vendors still seeing AMEX as high surcharge.
 
It used to be a significant problem. I find now that it's rarely the case that AMEX is not accepted. But for those occasions I use a perfect gift card or Coles Gift Mastercard that I have purchased at a discount.
Very OT but this reminded me that the $100 cards are on sale at Big W now with a very meh 1000 ER points. So $6 for 500 QFF. I'll partake because I have new Amex and need to hit the min spend.
 
Overseas, in say Europe, Britain, Ireland and Asian countries, are Amex ccs more widely accepted than here though? Or less?
It's that long since I've been to any of those destinations, I find it hard to remember! That said, I didnt have any credit card for about 20 years until about 2017 and had always been able to hire cars, etc with my Visa debit card. However the clamps came down on that, so had to apply for the Amex card. I can't recall anywhere in Europe and Asia where my Amex card was not accepted.
 
My impression - and keep in mind that I, like most Australians, haven't been able to go anywhere overseas for nearly two years, is:

US: Amex acceptance nearly universal. I think in a two-month roadtrip through the US where we made hundreds of transactions there were maybe two or three places that didn't take Amex?

Australia: Improving, but not at US levels.

Europe, Asia: Poorer than Australia. But acceptance is pretty good at hotels and car rental agencies.
 
Amex is my go-to card - I put through all except a few small charges on Amex now. Agree, can cover much of the balance using GCs though keeping track of spending is harder.

Agree, it helps that smaller retailers take Square which has Amex charges on par with MC and Visa. Also, merchants who surcharge tend to charge the same regardless of card "brand".

Hopefully, outside of the $A falling further, we won't see any further devaluations of AU MR points. I think the last enhancement was driven by a lower $A and falling merchant fees which fund MR.

I've found EU, there's more resistance to Amex acceptance. Agree, US, is on par with MC/Visa.

Hoping NAB will rejuvenate Diners after it take the keys to Citi Cards in AU.
 
Sorry, I should probably clarify my earlier remarks to the extent that most of my spend is through Amex. On an average month, the breakdown would be something like:
$6k Amex Plat
$2k Amex Edge (supermarkets and fuel)
$3k Visa

Most of the Visa stuff is recurring payments (insurance, some utilities) that don't currently take Amex. And some of those are beginning to be supportable through various payment platforms like Sniip which take Amex to pay via BPay, which can be worth the surcharge depending on your use for points.
 
I moved to one of Victoria's larger regional towns this year and have been shocked to find that very few places accept Amex here. In terms of in-store shopping, where I used to get away with 8-9/10 purchases on Amex in Melbourne I'd say it's now more like 2/10.
 
I live in regional Australia where AMEX has much lower acceptance than in the capitals. My spend would probably be 60% AMEX, 40% MC by value, and about 50-50 by transaction volume.

Travelling OS, especially to exotic destinations, it still pays to take multiple cards and check in advance what is accepted. Just came back from Azerbaijan where AMEX is almost unknown. It was a complicated process getting a Hyatt to take it, which involved a form and their accounting department. Even my visa card I had trouble getting money from ATMs and mostly used a MC. And of course cash is king in much of Africa although credit cards mostly work in touristed places.

cheers skip
 
Even my visa card I had trouble getting money from ATMs and mostly used a MC. And of course cash is king in much of Africa although credit cards mostly work in touristed places.
This reminds me of the pain I used to encounter when I lived in Singapore and travelled to the Middle East. In many cities (Tel Aviv comes to mind) where I travelled, it was entirely cash for things like cabs and the vast majority of cashpoints were owned by business owners. Monetary Authority of Singapore had mandated 6 digit PINs for cards and all the cash points had a fixed 4 digit PIN prompt. Finding a bank that would accept your foreign card and issue cash involved quite a trek. Forget AMEX, getting a debit card to work would have been a win.
 
To revive an old thread, is it my bad luck or is Amex acceptance on the slide again?

I maintain an Australian Amex, and use only in Australia when I come in and out every now and then - most notably around Christmas when I'm usually here for a month. This time, apart from IGA, Coles, Woolies Big W Myer etc, I'm struggling to use it, and instead pull out my foreign Visa.

A couple of bakeries I frequent that used to take it last year, no more. Fish and Chip shop took it last year, no more. Subway I went to? No! KFC, No! And then variousr small businesses that I frequent, no!. C est' la vie.
 
I think you're right. AMEX seemed to do a big push on increasing acceptance a while back, but then it trails off again. But hard to tell. The top pub here didn't take it, but they do now after new owners and a makeover. The bottom pub took it but now they don't. Several other places been on again off again which is confusing.
 
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I don't know if there's an overall reduction in acceptance in Australia or just, you know, anecdata.

Our regular fish-and-chip shop (we don't have that many choices because my wife is coeliac, but they're actually really good anyway) used to take Amex (after initially not doing so) but a couple of months back they changed their payment terminals and Amex is no longer accepted.

A local newsagent, when it changed hands late last year, said they were waiting for approval from Amex to take Amex again. About Christmas I was in there and it seemed to be working again.

I would say that overall the majority of the places I shop, take it, but I don't necessarily frequent a lot of small local businesses (except for coffee).
 
I'm not sure if this is linked but I've also noticed a surge in places that are now surcharging for any card payment, often at different rates for different cards that aren't disclosed until you tap it (the generic "Surcharge may apply" message). I think it's because some of the terminals now automate the surcharge based on card type, but it's frustrating having no idea what rate an AmEx vs. Visa Debit vs. EFTPOS will be charged at.

Usually if a place surcharges I'll just pay cash and then won't go back there.
 
I'm going to be dropping my AMEX next month, and it's 100% due to AMEX Travel. I used to see the QF ultimate as the only keeper in a sea of ordinary deals because the $450 AF came with a matching $450 travel credit - it was effectively free, so I put up with the shortfalls.

But AMEX Travel has fallen to pieces over the past 2-3 years, it has no online management of booking which meant when they all went sideways you and the rest of the world had to get in touch with their agents, they have essentially turned off the chat function for the past 2 years and they are only available mon-fri business hours which is exceptionally poor service for travellers.

So now it's back to a card that costs me $450 and all of those limitations start to stack up again, why have a backup card for when AMEX isn't accepted when several bank visa cards can get 1ppd (vs the 1.25 for AMEX) with greater acceptance and lower fee, and I can always churn between them meaning I get something back for that annual fee in the form of points that are quite frankly 10 times more usable to me than the AMEX TC (and that's saying a lot), not to mention more valuable, and redeemable if anything changes and I need to cancel.
 

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