Has anyone had experience using a Bank of America debit card in Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg for purchases or at restaurants? Or can we only use the card to get cash from the ATM? BA says yes to using it for debit purchases but looking to see if anyone can confirm that. Anxious to hear from you.

Many thanks

Frank

have you got an internationa symbol like Maestro or Visa on your card?

yes, it is a Visa

During our long term trip we carried 2 debit and 3 credit cards from 3 different banks, just in case one or the other got goofy. Glad we did because each car had an "episode" somewhere. We normally used one card for ATM and another for fuel etc. We preferred to use ATM's in order to keep the number of folks viewing our card to a minimum. ATM's were our preferred method.

Be SURE that you notify each account holder by phone of your travel plans so that they know that you are there and that your card is not being scammed by overseas thieves. They can and will cut you off in the short term.

Travel checks are now a liability rather than useful.

Empty your wallets and purse of everything that has no value to you in Europe (and you may find that you don't need it on you in the USA either).

Lose the Fanny pack. It just screams out to the thieves "Easy Mark here, Rip Me Off".

Travel smart, don't be a victum. You should not have any problems, but in tourist areas anywhere in the world bad things can happen to unprepared good people.

Bon voyage

If it has a Visa symbol, you shouldn't have any problems. But make sure the card issuer knows which countries you are going to. If you have any problems at ATMs, just go into the bank and ask for help. They can almost certainly arrange for you to draw money on the card.
You need to remember that credit cards are still not widely used/accepted in Austria and that is probably even more true of Hungary - I only have experience of Budapest. But if you are not going too far off the beaten track you should be able to use Euros in cash in Hungary just as you can in Austria, although you need to make sure that you always know the correct rate of exchange. From that point of view, using the card is always better when possible as you get a much better rate than if you use 'foreign' cash (i.e. Euros in Hungary).

Thanks so much folks. I appreciate your comments. Do I understand you to mean that they will accept Euros in Budapest in place of the HUF?

This will be our 1st visit to Hungary, so I am a tad unfamiliar with their customs and way of doing things. We generally go to Italy every year, punctuated every few years by other EU countries. We are really looking forward to Budapest. My research tells me we won't be disappointed in our decision to visit.

Again, many thanks

Frank
Sarasota, FL

I have to be honest and say that I have not been to Hungary for a couple of years. But I would think it very likely that it is still just like Prague - many places will accept Euros because of the huge number of visitors from the Eurozone. But ATMs should only issue HUF, so you have the option both ways. My advice would be to use your card wherever you can, HUF anywhere which won't take cards but bear in mind that you can probably use Euros if you have to (card not accepted, run out of HUF).

Euro was accepted in Hungary two years ago. Change was usually given back in HUF. But as Margaret says, be aware of the exchange rate.

Elly