Are major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX) widely accepted in Saigon?

Question

I'm planning on spending 3-4 days in Saigon and trying to figure out how much cash to bring. Are ATMS plentiful and would you be able to withdraw money using a US bank card?

thanks in advance

Answer 1

In many upscale restaurants and hotels but not in all places (e.g. many restaurants there only accept cash.) Some might also charge extra 3% if you pay by credit cards. If you plan on spending 3-4 days there, I'd recommend you bring around $500 USD. You can pay the hotels using credit cards, and over $100 USD a day is more than enough for you to spend there. Good meal costs between $1 to $20 USD, depend on the restaurants :-).

Answer 2

I feel either Visa or Mastercard would be the top choice. Liek you stated about Amex, some places do not accept that. Visa should be number 1 overall, followed by Mastercard. Those two you can't go wrong

Answer 3

I just returned from Saigon last week. The most up-to-date answer I can give is that in district 1 (central city) you will find ATM's available in the Shopping malls and some other more up-scale places. If you stay in the Pham Ngu Lao district (backpacker district) the Zen plaza is within walking distance on Nguyen Trai and there you can access Master Card/Visa accounts via the ATMs. There are other places dotted around the city to withdraw cash but if you are going to take cash, make sure it is the cleanest and newest $50 or $100 bills you can find. Sometimes they will not change it for you if the bill is worn or dirty.

Saigon is becomming more and more beautiful every year. Enjoy yourself.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Yes they are. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) does accept most major credit cards. I was there in 2005 and used my visa card. I was there for a week and took 500 dollars for food and stuff and only used 300. Stuff is fairly cheap. There are ATM's but I chose to just exchaneg the money that I brought at the hotel. Hotels can also give advance on your credit card. Enjoy your trip. It's a wonderful place!

Answer 5

saigon is full of atm's and the numbers are growing literally daily. beware of atm's away from central districts as many only cater for vietnamese cards, but in districs 1 and 3, most machines accept visa and mastercard. its worth knowing that there is a 2 million dong ($125 US) daily limit per machine, so for larger ammounts, several machines will need visiting, although many places now have 3 or more machines side by side allowing an accumilative maximum withdrawal of 6 million or more. many shops and all the larger hotels accept visa and mastercard as payment, but amex doesn't feature that well here. there are exchange counters dotted around the city, but they are definately outnumbered by the ever increasing popluation of atm's so dont worry about bringing cash with you, just make sure you remember your pin code and come safely armed with your plastic.

Answer 6

Not AMEX - not always available, Mastercard and Visa your best bet. But the best option is to take cash out of ATMs on your credit card - if you use saving you'll get transaction fees, conversion fees, but you shouldn't get these charges if you use credit - just pay it off before the interest hits and you could save hundred. BTW - Hanoi is much nicer than Saigon - much more Vietnamese!

Answer 7

my bad experience there is the AMEX is widely NOT accepted by most of them, except for Five star hotel and center shopping mall.

Fgos, suggest to take VISA card,which is available for ATM cash drawing. ( Mastercard as second preference)

Answer 8

Yes, most cards are accepted at hotels with 3 or more stars. But if you do stay at a hotel that does not accept them, the rooms are cheap anyway.

Answer 9

NO ! and it's always a pain in the "neck" even when you find a place that takes credit cards.. that said ,its better now than it was 5 years ago.. give it 5 more years.. in the meantime use cash! atm places are around and are usefull to americans.. but sai gon is cheap. bring some travelers cheques.. but remember you can only exchange them at banks and travel shops [ sinh cafe etc] and then you need you passport and there is a small fee. bring cash!

Answer 10

From I know, Master and Visa are accepted, I believe in some places, they take American Express as well... But to tell you the truth, most Vietnamese rather you pay by cash...