Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
. A couple of places near me actually say they will take it but charge an extra 3%.
Pay it, report them to amex. Amex can contact them, and can refund you the fee.
hunton69 said:
Paid 4 grand for BA flights with my BA Amex credit card and they charged me 1%.
The fee is charged only to UK purchasers.Funny how I regularly move to Ukraine for a few minutes whenever I am buying BA flights.
EddieSteadyGo said:
Out of interest, how did you find great exchange rates? The conversions from USD into GBP is at their default rates, and 'great' it is definitely not.
Perhaps 'acceptable' for one off purchases, but if you assume the points are worth circa £0.005, a poor exchange rate on foreign currency purchases removes all of the value of the points and then some.
The rate is acceptable.....it is the 2.99% fee for non £ transactions that bites. My US platinum amex has no forex fee, but my UK one does, a point I stress to them every single time I am asked if I am happy with the service and the card. Perhaps 'acceptable' for one off purchases, but if you assume the points are worth circa £0.005, a poor exchange rate on foreign currency purchases removes all of the value of the points and then some.
Edited by GCH on Saturday 15th July 04:06
I've not had any major issues with non acceptance. B&Q being the stand out really. I use cash for small amounts in small shops anyway as I don't think it is fair to by a £2.50 sandwich on plastic there.
Quite a few places take it but not contactless - Asda self service and Ikea to name a couple that do still accept it with the pin. Never tried to use it abroad because their exchange charges are horrendous - got a Halifax Clarity card for that and as a Mastercard backup if Amex isn't accepted.
Quite a few places take it but not contactless - Asda self service and Ikea to name a couple that do still accept it with the pin. Never tried to use it abroad because their exchange charges are horrendous - got a Halifax Clarity card for that and as a Mastercard backup if Amex isn't accepted.
small taxi company in Glasgow here, we happily take Amex,
few facts,
fees are the same as mastercard and visa, payments take exactly the same length of time to be processed(we get ours within 5 days) wasn't always the case but these days there no reason for a merchant not to take Amex.
few facts,
fees are the same as mastercard and visa, payments take exactly the same length of time to be processed(we get ours within 5 days) wasn't always the case but these days there no reason for a merchant not to take Amex.
bad company said:
I've had Amex Platinum for many years but about to cancel the card. I travel a lot and don't want to pay 3% (2.99%) for the privilege of paying in a foreign currency.
I'm now using the Lloyds Bank Amex card which costs just £24, gives Avios points and does not charge FOREX fees.
I use Amex in the UK day to day, and to book & pay (from the UK) for flights and accommodation abroad . Those tend to be the bulky items that generate lots of membership rewards points, and also are needed for the travel insurance to cover you (AXA have started being difficult, if you haven't paid your flights AND hotels with Amex they start trying to weasel out).I'm now using the Lloyds Bank Amex card which costs just £24, gives Avios points and does not charge FOREX fees.
Once I'm abroad, I switch to a Halifax Clarity card which allows me to withdraw cash and pay local stuff at mid FX rate, and zero commissions.
Best of both worlds?
Personal opinion,
- Make sure you have two credit cards from different providers in case one gets lost or blocked
- Don't bother with AMEX
- For UK use - get a Visa or Mastercard that gives you back a % of spend, in cash or in store vouchers (e.g. John Lewis/Waitrose)
- For foreign use - Halifax Visa which has no additional charges for overseas use.
Glasgowrob said:
small taxi company in Glasgow here, we happily take Amex,
few facts,
fees are the same as mastercard and visa, payments take exactly the same length of time to be processed(we get ours within 5 days) wasn't always the case but these days there no reason for a merchant not to take Amex.
I assume you have unfavourable rates for your visa transactions then?few facts,
fees are the same as mastercard and visa, payments take exactly the same length of time to be processed(we get ours within 5 days) wasn't always the case but these days there no reason for a merchant not to take Amex.
Our charges at work are roughly 1% for visa/mastercard and 2.5% for Amex. (figures not exact but margin more or less right)
I'm finding more places take it, not fewer. With the likes of iZettle and PayPal Here springing up in a lot of smaller shops and cafes, they are now able to take pretty much all cards, including Amex.
Other than B&Q I can't think of any of the shops that I frequent that don't take it, maybe Lidl and Aldi.
But thinking about my most recent purchases, Tesco, waitrose, shell, Costa, they all take them
One thing I do do when shopping online, though, is I pay via paypal if I can. That way I can use my Amex on the PayPal payment if they can't take amex with their own card provider. With Amex I get £1 for 1Avios, with the master card on the same account, it's £5 for 1 avios, so worth doing.
Other than B&Q I can't think of any of the shops that I frequent that don't take it, maybe Lidl and Aldi.
But thinking about my most recent purchases, Tesco, waitrose, shell, Costa, they all take them
One thing I do do when shopping online, though, is I pay via paypal if I can. That way I can use my Amex on the PayPal payment if they can't take amex with their own card provider. With Amex I get £1 for 1Avios, with the master card on the same account, it's £5 for 1 avios, so worth doing.
blindswelledrat said:
I assume you have unfavourable rates for your visa transactions then?
Our charges at work are roughly 1% for visa/mastercard and 2.5% for Amex. (figures not exact but margin more or less right)
We use iZettle in the store and Stripe on the website.Our charges at work are roughly 1% for visa/mastercard and 2.5% for Amex. (figures not exact but margin more or less right)
Stripe is 1.4% + 40 p per transaction
iZettle is 1.93%
both take all cards, and the rates are the same
(when our retail transaction rate increases, we'll probably move to other providers, but it's early days on that side of the business yet)
blindswelledrat said:
Kinds of makes my point, though.
Those charges for Visa seem very high to me.
They are high as there are zero barriers to entry, it doesn't require a merchant account and there are no monthly fees. You just register on the site, buy the Chip and pin card reader for £70 and off you go. Those charges for Visa seem very high to me.
As I say, once our retail turnover sees sufficient growth, we'll move onto a more 'traditional' platform
Bristol spark said:
rockin said:
- Don't bother with AMEX
My 2016 spend ~£50K on my Virgin Amex, got me an upper class return flight to Vegas (for £400) so around £2000 saved by using points.
What cash back card gives a better return?
bad company said:
I prefer the Lloyds Bank Amex card. £24 annual fee, Avios points and no FOREX fees.
I believe a key benefit of the BA Amex card is the companion vouchers. If you have sufficient spend to build up enough points for long haul first or club tickets, the companion tickets double it up.EddieSteadyGo said:
bad company said:
I prefer the Lloyds Bank Amex card. £24 annual fee, Avios points and no FOREX fees.
I believe a key benefit of the BA Amex card is the companion vouchers. If you have sufficient spend to build up enough points for long haul first or club tickets, the companion tickets double it up.Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff