kick53rv3

I signed up for chase sapphire preferred to use in our euro trip in december, I wanted to use that particular card because it offers no foreign transaction fee. But after doing some search I see that these US based chip and sign cards do not always work.

for people that used similar chip and sign cards: can you comment on how widely they are accepted, any other alternatives?

we are going to be in paris and london if that matters, I am assuming all europe is mostly chip and pin.

buferson

I just used that very card in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Never had any problem with chip and sign. I used it several times in ticket machines and once in a pay toilet.
I've used the card in London and Paris, but that was pre-chip.

StCirq

I live in Europe and, yes, the standard is chip and pin. But unless you are using ticket machines for, say, trains or metros, or trying to pay for gas at an unmanned station, or passing through toll booths, chip and signature works fine.

janisj

>> I see that these US based chip and sign cards do not always work.<<

Maybe not <i>always</i> . . . but 95% of the time they are fine. The only places you will generally run into issues are some ticket machines and un-manned petrol pumps. My magnetic strip and Chip/Signature cards worked in train/tube stations in London and Metro stations in Paris.

But even in stations where your card might not work in ticket dispensers -- there are usually staffed windows where they can run your card.

In all my travels I have only run into one restaurant where my card wouldn't work.

janisj

was posting the same time as StCirq . . .

Andrew

I used a Chase Chip-and-Signature Visa card this spring in Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Russia. It worked everywhere, including several bus and museum ticket machines, except for one machine in Amsterdam - a ticket machine for train tickets, and with that machine I simply used a different card, a true Chip and PIN credit card.

If you use the card with a person involved (an agent at a train station, hotel clerk, etc.), their card machine will print a slip of paper for you to sign, even though the European ahead of you with a chip-and-PIN card will simply enter their PIN. Occasionally I found vendors who were confused that there was a slip of paper to sign - I had to tell them I needed to sign it and have them keep it for authorization. Mostly they were familiar with the paper slips for (mostly) tourists, though, and knew how to handle it.

StuDudley

We've maybe passed through 30 toll booths in various regions of France in the last 3 years - and my chip/signature card worked 100% of the time. 100% at grocery stores also.

It worked on one (but only one) un-manned gas station.

Stu Dudley

greg

It is not yes or no question. It depends.
What matters is who you are dealing with and less on in which European country you are in.

Chip and signature card:
Works when you are dealing with a person who can print a signature slip.
Works on some machines for trivial amounts where they accept your card without any kind of authorization. Some people interpret this to mean it would work on other machines for larger amounts. It is not so.

Chip and pin card:
Unless blocked by your bank, it would works both when dealing with a person as well as dealing with machine for larger than trivial amounts.

Whether it works always/most of the time/sometimes/a few/never, etc depends on the usage model. If your usage is with machines for non trivial amount, your success rate would be 0%. If your are always dealing with a person, you success rate would be 100%.

Michael

Once or twice our credit card with magnetic stripe, no chip, did not work. It was attributed to the bank to which the card reader was connected; changing reader solved the problem in one instance. What has worked as an alternative is my debit card.

happytourist

Can you get a PIN number from your bank? Mine offers one but you have to ask for it.

Andrew

Don't confuse a PIN for cash (expensive) withdrawal from an ATM - something even the old magnetic strip cards had - with a completely different PIN for making purchases, which is what Chip-and-PIN cards have. A PIN for cash withdrawals will not work to make PIN purchases.

janisj

happytourist: >>Can you get a PIN number from your bank? Mine offers one but you have to ask for it.<<

That will help not one little bit. The PIN you get for your chip & signature cc is not a PIN as used w/ a chip & PIN card.

So don't bother

jubilada

I used a chip and sign card, no pin for absolutely everything for three weeks in Italy up until last week. No problems.

xyz123

It will work 99.9% of the time. From time to time, so kiosks will violate mc/visa rules and not authorize a payment lacking pin capabilities and almost all US issued cards lack pin capabilities for purchases so I suppose in the 1 in 1000 times it fails it is an inconvenience. But there is nothing you can do about it anyway as only3 or 4 financial institutions i the USA offer chip and pin preferred cards and one of them, First Niagara, the day after it announced a true chip and pin card merged with Key Bank and all their chip and pin cards are being withdrawn. So don't worry.

happytourist

janisj: It worked for me in Canada.

janisj

Canada isn't Europe

fmpden

Just back from a month in GB and France. The chip and signature worked fine everywhere for us BUT we did not hit any unmanned ticket booth or machine. From my understanding that maybe where a problem can develop. Always stuck it with the chip end into their hand held machine and out printed a slip that we had to sign. Some waiters joked about the Am system.

giro

Used chip and sign cc in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Spain with no problem whatsoever.
Just make sure you tell cashier that you want the charge as Pounds, or Euros and not dollars.

Hobbert

I was in Paris this summer and used my chip and sign card just about everywhere with no issue. The only problem I had was at a train station. I wanted to buy tickets but the station was closed and, alas, my card wouldn't work at the machine outside. Ironically, a machine that accepted cash was available...inside the locked station. Oy.

MonicaRichards

We have a chip and pin card from USAA that now defaults to chip and signature if that option is available, but will accept the pin at un-manned ticket machines and gas stations. I wouldn't be so certain that a bank-issued PIN wouldn't work for machines, even if your card is chip and signature.

As an aside, I was really annoyed when USAA switched cards like this on us. This same card/account used to be true chip and pin.