So where is American Express accepted, then?

Have an American Express card and want to maximise the number of frequent flyer points you can earn from your monthly spends? Then you'll want to use it wherever it's accepted - so take a look at our list below of some of the places where you can pay by AMEX. It's certainly not a complete list, so feel free to post a comment with the places you've successfully paid by AMEX and we'll add it to this list.

We've left out things like airlines, hotels and car hire companies to start with (as AMEX is usually always accepted).

Supermarkets

• Coles
• Woolworths
• IGA (varies by franchise)
  
• The Standard Market Company
• Bi-Lo
  

• Telstra (0.33%)
• Optus (0.385%, waived for direct debit)
  
• Vodafone (2.365%)
• Amaysim
• TPG (3.13%)
• iiNet (3%)
• Foxtel (0.7%, waived for direct debit)
• Netflix
• Stan
• Presto
• Quickflix
• Spotify
  

• Suncorp
• Bupa
• Marsh
• RACQ
  

• BP (no surcharge, plus get Velocity points with Velocity card)
• Woolworths-Caltex (no surcharge when owned by Woolworths)
• Caltex-Woolworths (aka Calstores/Star Mart - 2.5% surcharge)
• Coles Express

• McDonalds
• KFC
• Red Rooster
• Subway (varies by location)
• Nando's (varies by location)
• The Coffee Club (varies by location)
• ALH Hotels (pubs owned by Woolworths)
• French Twist
• Grill'd
• Guzman y Gomez (varies by location)
  

• BWS
• Liquorland
• First Choice Liquor
• Dan Murphy's
  
• epiQure
• Virgin Wines
  

• Lumo Energy (no surcharge, plus earn Velocity points on Velocity plan)
• AGL Energy (when paying using AMEX via PayPal)
• Rental Rewards (pay rent using credit card - 2.65% fee)
• GoVia (toll roads payment - based in Qld but works in any state. No surcharge)
• Sydney Water (via PayPal)
  

• PayPal (except for payments to airlines where you can normally use AMEX directly)
• Visa Checkout
• Debit Success (used by Goodlife Health Clubs)
  

• Myer
• David Jones
• Prouds
• Australia Post
• Stefan Hair Fashions
• 7-Eleven
• Lighting Illusions (2% surcharge)
• Target
• Kmart
• Uber
• Veronika Maine
• Bonds
• Big W
• Cotton On (3% fee)
• Rock Wear (2% fee)
• Tarocash / Connor / YD (2% fee)
• Strandbags
• Secure Parking (no surcharge online, some parks have 3% fee)
• Bunnings
• Robins Kitchen
• JR Duty Free (1.5)
• Terry White
• Louis Vuitton
• Rolex
• Hugo Boss
• AMF Bowling (1.1% - same as all cards)
• Netregistry
• GoDaddy
• The Good Guys
• Westfield car parks (2.5%)
• Brisbane Airport Parking (off-site)
• Brisbane Airport Corporation (on-airport parking)
• Tiffany & Co.
• Chanel
• Duty-free retailers at Sydney and Melbourne Airports (surcharge TBC)
• Taxis (surcharges usually range from 5.5% to an excessive 11%, including GST)
  

• Ticketek  (surcharge TBC)
• Qtix
• Eventbrite
• Ticketmaster
  

Aldi, Ikea, Fetch TV, Lorna Jane, Tigerair, Jetstar Asia, Chemist Warehouse, H&M

I know you're after places where AMEX isn't accepted, but its worth noting AMEX does a lot of work with small business - see here - https://www.americanexpress.com/au/content/shopsmall/index.html 

Thanks for sharing Mark. We're happy to include places big and small (we could even make a list for each city when the time is right).

I've noticed an increase in acceptance at small businesses too. For example, my local favourite cafe now takes it with no minimum or surcharge, where I'm now 'AMEX local champion' (so earn an extra point per dollar on all spend there).

Other places it's accepted without a surcharge include Guzman y Gomez and Brisbane Airport Parking

Hi MrT, every Chemist Warehouse I've been to has 'NO AMEX' stuck onto the EFTPOS terminal. Do you mean online, or are you lucky enough to have it accepted at your local store?

Same deal with Guzman y Gomez - every time I've tried in both Queensland and NSW, it's been only Visa/MC. Perhaps this is another which varies by franchise and location?

IIRC Brisbane Airport Parking is a separate company and run off-site, not owned by BAC?

BAC certainly takes AMEX for car parking too, and while I've noticed that it doesn't work via contactless and sometimes doesn't read the first time you insert it, when you insert it again at the boomgates it always seems to work (for online bookings).

You're quite right re chemist warehouse, my mistake - I've edited my comment above. But re gyg, I've had Amex accepted at several stores in QLD and also using the app to order online. 

Originally Posted by ChrisCh :

That's my experience also. You need to insert the Amex card and sometimes try a few different orientations but it does eventually work at the boomgate.

Incidentally, does anyone else have problems paying for cabs using Amex? It's usually accepted but I've found it tends to crash the hand held payment machine and I've been stuck waiting a few mins while they reset the unit. It's not a simple case of trying a different card, it's a hard reset which is time consuming and frustrating. As a result I don't even try the Amex in cabs anymore.

Dan Murphy's liquor stores takes it.
Most 'high end' retailers like Tiffanys, Chanel, etc
Duty Free outlets at Sydney and Melbourne take it.

Noticed that you can now pay for Sydney Water with Paypal, therefore works with Amex. 

Don't forget Parking Machines in both Car Parks and on Streets.

I recently travelled to Europe, which I thought this article was going to be about, but in saying that; if a place doesn't support AMEX I don't shop there. I take my business else where Unless it's for Croissants... fresh croissants! (I know a place) :D