In Bulgaria do fast food chains, convenience stores, or petrol stations typically accept credit cards for small purchases?

6/12/2013 8:10:04 PM

I would say “yes”, gas stations, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants will accept credit cards for small purchases. I have encountered problems with cashiers not knowing how to accept my credit card from the US, though.

I have been in Bulgaria for 2 months. I brought a couple credit cards from the US. It has been hit and miss with them, even for larger purchases. Some cashiers know which buttons to press to accept the card with a manual signature (instead of putting in a pin). Some cashiers don’t. I’ve even went grocery shopping in a modern supermarket, spending $50, and the cashier didn’t know how to print off the receipt to let me sign. I don’t speak Bulgarian, so I paid with my debit card and put in my pin.

Eventually I watched which buttons cashiers pushed on the pad, so I would know how to get it to work when they didn’t. If they accepted credit cards, I was even able to make small purchases.

9/12/2011 2:48:02 PM

What Mark Mayo said is basically correct. Some other tips/notes:

  • You should have no problems making purchases with a credit card in
    any petrol station in Bulgaria. Same applies to international chains
    such as McDonalds, Subway, Billa, Metro, Lidl etc.

  • Coffee shops, bars and restaurants, as well as clothing and apparel
    stores will usually accept credit cards, unless they are decidedly of
    the low-cost/fast-food variety.

  • A hard-and-fast rule: if it looks fancy or is a brand name you
    recognize, it shouldn’t be a problem, especially in big cities.

  • I’m not sure whether there’s a hard limit on the minimum amount of
    purchase, but if paying by card is an option, anything above $3-$4 should be okay.

  • Paying with card for travelling (e.g. city transportation, trains,
    buses) is particularly troublesome, and you probably won’t be able to
    do it anywhere, so I’d always keep cash on hand for that.

  • If you just want to get something to eat at a random place you see on
    the street (especially at night), chances are they won’t accept your
    card.

  • There’s a small possibility that your card won’t work with some
    POS terminals, for inexplicable reasons — I had this problem a few
    times with my foreign-issued VISA while shopping in Bulgaria.

  • Most commonly accepted credit card types are VISA, VISA Electron, MasterCard, Maestro (debit cards). If you have some other card operator, be prepared for a major disappointment.

Disclaimer: I am Bulgarian.

9/6/2011 11:07:06 PM

(trimmed)

Best I can find is http://www.bulgaria-travel-guide.com/Bulgariantraveltips.html which claims that credit cards are taken in most hotels but must smaller hotels and restaurants won’t accept them…

http://wikitravel.org/en/Bulgaria claims that “Bulgaria remains a largely cash economy in the rural areas but in major cities credit cards are generally accepted. “

http://www.mcdonalds.bg/#/restaurants-rest specifies a list of all the Bulgarian McDonalds and which have wifi, and which support credit cards. Certainly not all of them appear to. So I’d go with keeping cash on your person, just in case 😉

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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