No Amex in New Zealand

Remember to take two brands of Credit Card when travelling. Contrary to advice for many consumers in Australia which advocates reducing the number of Credit Cards to keep annual fees and charges to a minimum, this can backfire when travelling overseas. Some cards aren’t as acceptable overseas as in Australia.

American Express seems to be a case in point when travelling in NZ, according to feedback from one InfoChoice member, having tried to use their Amex on five occasions only to be advised “sorry, we don’t accept American Express” on three of them. It appears that the reasons range from the higher commission charged by Amex to the merchants – reportedly up to 5% – and the delay in the merchant receiving payment from Amex compared with EFTPOS, MasterCard or Visa.

These issues were common in Australia a few years ago, but Amex seems to have improved locally, something their NZ counterparts need to do as a matter of urgency. For the consumer in the meantime, take a back up card such as Master card or Visa, but remember that foreign currency transactions can attract some additional fees which increase the total cost of the transaction.

Apart from a safety issue in case of loss, always keep cards in a body pouch or separate from cash, passports etc to minimise total wipe-out in the event of theft or loss.

See BankChoice for information on credit cards.