Can I charge train tickets point to point in Europe?
 

Help my memory...two years ago we purchased train tickets point to point in each city we visited. I can't remember if we had to pay cash or if I was able to charge on VISA. Help! We would purchase at train station. Thanks.

Europe has had CC's for several years now

Yes you can. But sometime you can't use automated ticket machines - US issued credit cards don't have the imbedded chips used in many parts of Europe.

But if your card doesn't work in the machine, simply go to a ticket window . . . .

"Europe" isn't a country, and practices still vary. AFAIA, credit cards are accepted at all stations in Western Europe. They most certainly aren't in parts of Eastern Europe, like Romania.

They weren't in Poland last time I bought a ticket, but that was a while back and I'd imagine PKP now take them. But my imagination isn't going to get you a ticket if I'm wrong, so east of the Elbe, check before starting out.

You know, Cotswold, throwing around acronyms like "AFAIA" and "PKP" really don't help much and, quite frankly, make you seem full of yourself.

And, no, if we all understood what they meant we wouldn't be here asking questions now would we?

Yes, you can. I do it regularly. By the way, for traveling in Germany, I prefer to plan my train rides point to point rather than take the itinerary Deutsch Bahn recommends on its web sites, as it is a bit too optimistic about the ability to make tight connections (under 10 minutes between trains). I've been on too many German trains arriving late. I'd rather have 30 minutes between trains and while away my time in the station than rush like a maniac or miss a tight connection.
One caution: it has been our experience in Belgium that when you charge tickets at the train station, the authorizing hold sticks around for quite a while, even after the charge goes through. For example, I'd bought a ticket for a private sleeper on a night train to Milan. It cost a couple of hundred euros. The authorization hold on my CC card hung around for weeks after my charge went through (I bought the ticket at the beginning of the month), far longer than the hold from buying tickets in other European countries. So in Belgium, I tend to pay cash.

Thank you. I thought that is what I did last trip but just wanted to check on my memory! If DELTA does not STRIKE we are set to go May 11th.

I have encountered a minimum amount of euros needed to use a credit card - i believe in Amsterdam so maybe you can't use CCs for every train ticket everywhere.

Amsterdam is one of those places where my credit card wouldn't work in the machines, by the way. And I was told it was because you must have a "chip" in your card, which our US ones don't have.