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This is our most common problem with credit cards these days as well, some automated terminals won't work but then we can pay if we go to the counter.
You're right, I find that to be a very frequent problem on international cards. Especially at ATMs. Your transaction could not be completed. You have to keep your cards clean. One way is to scrub the sensors with a paste of water and baking soda. Non-gel toothpaste might work.
Public access machines are often poorly maintained and can have dirty readers. Often, a merchant can enter a card number manually and get results.
No, it is a chip and has nothing to do with clean. The merchant doesn't enter anything manually, they just pop it in the machine same as us and it works.
MadMona,
We are going to Athens, Greece in June this year. I have never been there and have not travelled to Europe in the last 20 yrs. I am looking for recommendations:
- What to take along with us that would make our trip more comfortable?
- What to watch out for?
- Recommend a nice restaurant for dinner
- any words of wisdom that might help?
Thanks.
It was a snowy Sunday and not much going on, so I took a one hour express train ride to the city of Plauen, on the western end of the state of Saxony in the Vogtland region. I had never visited Plauen so I walked around the mostly empty downtown area for a few hours. Stores are closed on Sundays and on snowy days there is almost no car traffic and not many people walking around either. It is a very hilly city above the White Elster River, not hardly a flat spot to be found.
Plauen is a mix of some old buildings from the 1500s like the city hall in the photo below, and many post WW2 buildings, mostly built in the communist era 1949-1989. 75 percent of the inner city was destroyed in 14 aerial bombing raids during WW2. The area around the train station was nearly 100 percent destroyed, so all the buildings near there are newer ones from the communist era.
I just returned from a few weeks in Europe, and the credit card swipe vs chip & pin problem seems to have completely disappeared.
In previous trips I would almost always encounter some vendor that could not take my American cards. This time, everybody had the contactless readers, and they worked flawlessly. I used two different cards at museums, restaurants, hotels, taxis, etc. Not a single problem.
My wife took some money out of an ATM. She did not have a problem, but it may not have been contactless.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishbrains
I just returned from a few weeks in Europe, and the credit card swipe vs chip & pin problem seems to have completely disappeared.
In previous trips I would almost always encounter some vendor that could not take my American cards. This time, everybody had the contactless readers, and they worked flawlessly. I used two different cards at museums, restaurants, hotels, taxis, etc. Not a single problem.
.
#1. Did you have a USA CC with pin? (Some USA cards issue pin, others don't, of course your debit / cash card is a pin transaction, but that is not a CC transaction)
#2. Did you need to use a CC in an unattended international location? Ticket machine at rural train station that has no staff ticker window, or unmanned toll booths?
#3. If you have a USA CC with a pin and no international transaction fees, who issues it?
Just curious for information that will be helpful to others.
We've always found a way around the CC w/pin when traveling in cities, but we rarely go to cities.
i don't want to buy tickets online, with my credit card, over a public wi-fi. I don't do stuff with money over a public connection, i'm not too comfortable even checking my mail over it (although i do that; i have to, if i am traveling abroad for 4-6 weeks).
I'm on a VPN pretty much 100% of the time, no concerns with public connection.
#1. Did you have a USA CC with pin? (Some USA cards issue pin, others don't, of course your debit / cash card is a pin transaction, but that is not a CC transaction)
#2. Did you need to use a CC in an unattended international location? Ticket machine at rural train station that has no staff ticker window, or unmanned toll booths?
#3. If you have a USA CC with a pin and no international transaction fees, who issues it?
Just curious for information that will be helpful to others.
We've always found a way around the CC w/pin when traveling in cities, but we rarely go to cities.
No, my cards are chip and signature. But the RFID/contactless option was used universally.
No, I did not go to any unattended train stations or similar this time. I have done this in the past with mixed results. Might still be a problem, but that is also a relatively niche problem.
Does anyone have travel plans to Europe? I have decided to complete my bucket list in the next 2 years. In April I am going on a tour that includes Zurich, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Prague. I had one planned for during the pandemic which didn’t happen of course. Then in fall 2024 I am taking a tour of France. I have been to Europe 5xs and these trips will complete my must do list. Another of my good friends died 2 weeks ago and it really hit home that as one gets closer to 70 life can be short.
We are going to Iceland for a week this year. I am really looking forward to it. It will be a short, one week trip, compared to our 10 - 12 day trips we have taken the last few years. Another plus is that the flight will be a lot shorter (from Chicago).
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