Credit Card Glossary
Using Credit Cards Abroad
Credit-card acceptance varies around the world. For example, in some countries (including France), Visa and MasterCard networks have been merged so that all merchants who take one type of card, take them both. On the other hand, the cash-advance networks have not been merged so it is difficult to take out a cash advance. To be safe it is a good idea to take both a MasterCard and a Visa abroad.
American Express and other travel cards were originally aimed at an upscale market and offer such perks check cashing, mail-holding and cash-advance services to traveling cardholders. Visa and MasterCard now offer the same. American Express and Diners Club are widely accepted in the United States, although not as widely as Visa and MasterCard.
In Europe, there are increasingly fewer places that accept only Diners Club or only American Express. In France, you can use American Express at more places than in the United States; in Italy, Germany, England and Greece, you can use it less, in general, except in shops with special appeal to tourists.