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You'll be alright at most places. The kiosks and booths usually didnt work for me (I somehow got lucky at a few places) but stores and restaurants were fine.
You'll be alright at most places. The kiosks and booths usually didnt work for me (I somehow got lucky at a few places) but stores and restaurants were fine.
Add the toll booths on the Autoroute to that list of places where chip & sign doesn't work. I pissed off a bunch of French drivers when I ran myself out of cash.
Yikes, it's late for me to be worried about this - I have two credit cards with the embedded chip, and thought they would be fine for Europe travel, only to find after more googling that EU uses chip and PIN tech, and the US-issued chip cards are chip and signature.
Googling gives me varied info about acceptance of the US-issued cards and it seems they may not be valid at train kiosks?
Does anyone have personal experience they can share? I'm going to Paris, London and Madrid. Thanks!
I have the answer! I am in London right now. Going home tomorrow--daughter is face-timing w/boyfriend and my social life is so pathetic I'm checking in on City-Data lol.
I just did Amsterdam, Paris, and London. I have one chip and pin card which I realized I left home when I was on the plane. Only times I was unable to use my plain ol' magnetic stripe card were in the metro and underground stations to buy fare cards in Paris and London (used cash) and last night in a supermarket at the self checkout here in London. Used the card everywhere else--restaurants, museums, stores--with no problem.
US Chip and Sig cards can still be processed as chip and signature for most places, including the little handhelds they have at restuarants. The only thing is they will ask for your signature - though you need ot remind some of the people who almost automatically forget to give you the slip. In the vast majority of cases they can also take magnetic stripe cards.
For trains and metro, you will have to use the cashier lane. Almost all stations have them. You will have some issue with park and pay meters and a few other unmanned machines, though even a number of those will work, it is a matter of trial and error to find out.
There are two different PINs. One is for the ATM network - Pulse, NYCE, etc. Then if you have a chip and pin (very rare in the US) you have a pin for the credit card systems. I believe most companies combine them enough so that when you change one, you change the other. But be aware, that just getting "a pin" from your credit card company, if it is just an ATM pin, will NOT work. And if you keep trying it you will trigger the fraud warnings on your credit card.
I wouldn't worry. Most people over there understand that the US credit cards dont work there. They are more aware of our practices than we are of theirs.
I agree that you'll be fine in the UK. I was there about a month ago and my chip cards worked fine. They did make me sign though. I rented a car with the card, paid for self service gas with the card. My cards worked for food and lodging except for places where they didn't accept credit cards at all. The only card that most places would not accept was the Discover Card. We had some cash for the few places that didn't take credit cards. We also used cash for the pay and display parking, IIRC. I got the cash from an ATM and I used the card I always use at an ATM, the debit card with a PIN. A card from your bank account would work too, as long as you know the PIN for it.
I would advise you to take one card that you can use at an ATM because you will probably come across circumstances in which you will need some actual cash. Otherwise you are fine in the UK with your chip credit cards and no PIN. Make sure you use cards that don't have a foreign transaction fee or you'll be charged extra for every purchase you make!
Just to clarify--the card I've been using has NO chip whatsoever, just the magnetic stripe, and it's fine. And it's a no-foreign-transaction-fee card. So you really don't have tone limit yourself to a chip card.
I am currently in Europe (Amsterdam and Brussels) i have used my ATM card with a chip and 6 digit pin to take out cash with no issues, i used a bank with a partnership with my US back so I'm note sure if that's a factor. I have also been able to use chip and signature cards with no problems
Update! As some some it would be, it was totally fine - I generally couldn't use my card at certain vending machines even with the chip, because it needs the same type of pin they get in the UK, but where a human being ran the transaction it was no problem. Relief! Now, when can I go back ? :-D
Just to clarify--the card I've been using has NO chip whatsoever, just the magnetic stripe, and it's fine. And it's a no-foreign-transaction-fee card. So you really don't have tone limit yourself to a chip card.
Yup. Every time I was in Europe I used the kind of card you describe.
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