Credit Cards - the original Plastic Fantastic

[railfancwb]

As far as I know, there are four major credit cards in the States.

Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express

There are places which don’t accept American Express.

More widely accepted than AmEx, but still refused by some is the Discover Card.

Visa and MasterCard are often shown as though there is really only one card.

So...

Are there locations in the States where Visa is accepted while MasterCard is not?

Conversely are there locations in the States where MasterCard is accepted and Visa refused?

Just pondering, wondering whether to get a MasterCard.

 

[blueiron]

The only two exceptions that comes to mind where Visa is accepted and MC was/is not was during the Olympics and at Costco. Visa was a sponsor of the Olympics and only their branded cards were accepted. Costco takes only Visa as a store exclusive card.

[blueiron]

Costco.com allows Mastercard for online purchases, just not for in-store purchases.

 

[Huaco Kid]

If they don't take my (one and only) amex,  I don't buy anything there.

[RenoF250]

I believe Sam's only takes Discover.  I use Discover all the time and very rarely is it not taken, Costco is the main exception.

I think Discover is clearly the best and Amex the worst.  I have one but never use it, it may have auto cancelled by now.  I guess they are good for International travel but I don't do that.

I really like Discover because when you call you go right to a person in an AMERICAN call center and they are very clear, if you did not buy it, it is not your problem.  So there is no fraud concern with their card.  I also pay for their security service since someone applied for unemployment in my name.

[Swampfox762]

American Express has always promoted themself as "The Elite" card, and mostly popular overseas.  Back when I had one overseas, they charged for the card about $90 a year.  Here in the states there's alot of places that don't do them.  Don't know why...I've had em all and have finally settled over the years on Visa.  They've been outstanding for me personally and still are. I do NOT do debit card, EVER, though I have one I use at the BANK ONLY ATM.  

[NPTim]

1 hour ago, RenoF250 said:

I believe Sam's only takes Discover.  I use Discover all the time and very rarely is it not taken, Costco is the main exception.

I think Discover is clearly the best and Amex the worst.  I have one but never use it, it may have auto cancelled by now.  I guess they are good for International travel but I don't do that.

I really like Discover because when you call you go right to a person in an AMERICAN call center and they are very clear, if you did not buy it, it is not your problem.  So there is no fraud concern with their card.  I also pay for their security service since someone applied for unemployment in my name.

Nope, Sam’s takes them all. For years I labored the, I guess, the false assumption that Sam’s only took MasterCard.

Costco used to only take Amex, then a year or two back they switched to visa only.

[Huaco Kid]

27 minutes ago, Swampfox762 said:

Here in the states there's alot of places that don't do them.  Don't know why...

The retailer gets charged a higher percentage to transact through AE.

It's their business and their call.  That don't befront me.  But,  I've put $1000s on the counter and when they said they wouldn't accept my card,  they'd insist that you use another card and don't believe you when you tell them that's all you have.  A couple times,  as I turned to leave,  the guy said,  "Really?!?  Let me see what I can do."  Tada!  They can accept it when they choose to.

32 minutes ago, Swampfox762 said:

I do NOT do debit card, EVER, though I have one I use at the BANK ONLY ATM.  

My debit card only ever sees the insides of my bank's ATMs.

[larry_minn]

Agreed.  I made it very clear.  No debit card.  A CC dispute it’s THEIR money.  A debit it’s your money, it possible the account could be frozen. (If scammer tries for large amount)

  I always have at least two cards.  A discover, and a visa, or MasterCard.    They used to expire from non use.  But now I use them a lot.

[railfancwb]

So far as I’ve noticed, only one business I interact with regularly does not take Discover. 

Have several Visa cards and one Discover. Cancelled my only MasterCard several years ago. Working to get all auto renewal items off the Visa cards and on to Discover. Plan to get down to the Discover card and one Visa, maybe adding a MasterCard.  

[crockett]

Using a CHASE VISA card only. I get 1% cash back on everything and 5% on certain categories that change every quarter. Stuff like gas stations, PayPal / eBay purchases, grocery stores, etc. Its usually 100 bucks I get back every month, too much to be ignored by using cash or a debit card.

[jmohme]

I don't use credit cards much, but I take them all in my business. 

I never understood a business not taking one or the other. Yes American Express has higher fees, but my sales increased more than enough to offset that when I started taking it.