Is American Express widely accepted in Hong Kong?
Planning a 5-day visit to Hong Kong, with Disney Land being the main destination. I have an American Express card that I rarely use, and I would love to abuse it in this trip.
Is American Express widely accepted in Hong Kong?
Best Answer
It's better in Hong Kong than in mainland China but it's not great. You can certainly use it in hotels and high end stores & restaurants, but I highly recommend bringing a Visa or Mastercard as well.
Personally I tend to avoid stores and restaurants in China/Hong-Kong that accept Amex since it's a clear indication that they are overpriced and have high mark ups. Amex charges the merchants significantly higher fees than Visa or MC. One way or another the merchants need to recover those extra fees. In one hotel in London I had to pay 3% extra for using Amex instead of Visa/MC.
In my opinion/experience these days Amex has no benefits in terms of insurance, rewards, points, cash-backs, support etc., they are significantly worse in terms of cost & fees and acceptance outside the US is spotty at best. Time to dump them.
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Is American Express still widely accepted?
In the past few years, American Express has worked diligently to work with merchants in the U.S. to increase acceptance. A Feb. 2020 Nilson Report claims that American Express is now accepted at 10.6 million merchants in the United States, equating to a 99% acceptance rate.Is Amex widely accepted internationally?
American Express is accepted in more than 160 countries and territories internationally. That includes all the members of the United Nations, except for those under U.S. sanctions. Amex cards are more widely accepted in some international destinations than others, though.Is American Express accepted as widely as Visa?
Winner: Visa In fact, Visa is one of the most accepted payment networks in the world. American Express is accepted by 99% of the merchants that accept credit cards, but it's still not as widely accepted as Visa. American Express has long charged higher credit card processing fees than other payment networks.Why is American Express not widely accepted?
The different fees often make or break a deal for a merchant. This is why many merchants, especially small businesses, don't accept American Express. American Express' interchange fee is just too high. Providers like Visa and Mastercard charge between 1.5% and 2.5%, while Amex charges merchants between 2.5% and 3.5%.Is American Express Accepted Everywhere?
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