Hey all...

My son is settling into his first week in Vienna and I had a question.
He indicated that according to what he sees nobody accept Visa there, only MasterCard. Is that possible?

He said there are MasterCard logos on a lot of the cash registers but no Visa logos.

If that's the case, cash will run out soon so we need to come up with a plan.

Regards

Steve

Visa is accepted everywhere !!

can he not use the visa card at a cashpoint (ATM - hole in the wall) to get money from his visa account

this should be a last option if others can be found unless you have the means to pay off in full at the card statement date as money withdrawals are more expensive than paying with the card

i used my VISA debit card in vienna - i am sure without problems

hope you can sort it out

We had absolutely no problem using a Visa credit card in Vienna. Just because a Visa logo is not displayed doesn't necessarily mean that Visa isn't accepted.

Has he perhaps mixed up "Master" and "Maestro"? The logos look very similar. "Maestro", former "EC", are those debit cards Europeans have.

Ultimate panic measure is to send money by Western Union. It works and it's quick. But it's not cheap - they charge around 5%

Recent developments within the banking industry, has seen an increasing amount of travellers having their credit/debit cards stopped whilst on holiday.
The banks computer system sees money being spent abroad as odd or a possible fraud. The banks are after all, looking after you and your money.
Please ensure you inform your bank before you leave, that you are going away and to which part of the world you will be using your cards. Some travellers were left without access to their money for up to 5 days.

The young guy seems a little lost; at VISA's homepage he could find an "ATM-Locator" (http://tinyurl.com/4h9r29), that would show him more than 100 location of ATM's in Vienna, 10 in the district he is staying.

1) Visa is accepted in a limited number of shops. As a rule of thumb it is only accepted in shops that sell expensive goods or shops with lots of tourist customers. It is not accepted in supermarkets, CD stores, groceries etc.

2) He can take out cash with his Visa (also debit) card in every ATM in the city. ATMs are all over the city (there must be a thousand of them), in the central areas practically on every corner. They are marked with blue and green signs and are very easy to spot. There is actually one in a building called WIFI at the corner of Gentzgasse/Währingerstraße, which is on his way to the U6 station.

The cheapest for him is to withdraw larger amounts of cash and keep it at home. Unless you have an Austrian pay card you simply have to be prepared to pay cash everywhere.