Just a note to anyone seeking a Chase Sapphire Preferred: the online promotion is 40,000 Rewards after spending $3000 in the first 3 month. At the bank, the paperwork says $2000. The promotions are supposed to be the same, so either they are not the same (and we were told they used to be different)or the bank's paperwork is incorrect. Whatever. We'll hit most of the higher amount with plane fare alone.

We're getting that card for primary usage--it's already on its way. The last will be the USAA atm card. I can do that this weekend or next week.

Thanks to many posters here and their patience, this is one issue down for me.

Not meaning to criticize your decision for one second and the Chase saphire preferred does indeed have nice rewards, no foreign transaction fee and the annual fee (I think it's $85) is waived for the first year. Good choice and all that. Just as a reminder, like all Chase cards with emv chip, the card is chip and signature which should work most everywhere in Europe but...well read the thread.

Since you already have an account with USAA, perhaps you might consider the USAA mastercard credit card. You can apply and be approved online if you're already a member of USAA and once you get the card request the chip and pin version and have it, if there's time, as a back-up just in case. Just a suggestion, not a criticism.

Also Barclay Bank USA has a new card, the arrival card with no annual fee (it's got a big brother a preferred arrivals card with an annual fee but waived the first year) and has the usual good thing (no foreign transaction fee, no annual fee at least the basic card and what seems to be some good rewards. Although as of this writing the cad is not emv compliant, the talk out on the street is Barclay Bank USA is about to make the card available with an emv chip and is going in the direction of chip and pin rather than chip and signature but that's just speculation. Just passing along info.

But, weren't the pin numbers compromised (for debit cards, I guess) in the Target debacle ????? So how "safe" is that ?

@xyz

This is me, whom you've been advising for a week or so now. And, in case anyone assumes I'd just follow advice blindly, I did my research on multiple sites, including the various card issuers. I know not to believe everything I read on the internet.

I am happy to report that xyz was absolutely correcting all counts. Very correct and knowledgable on the subject of credit cards for Americans traveling overseas.

You were the first to suggest to me a USAA World MC. I followed your advice and that will be our backup. We already got the card and the pin.

The CSP, one of those you suggested, will be primary for its 0% FTF. That should arrive next week.

So we will have chip and sig, and also pin and chip.


@Bedar
Different kind of PIN as these cards have chips in them. The card is inserted in the reader so the chip makes contact, then the PIN is entered, then it's good to go. These chips are not the RFID (touch) chips. Contact must be made, that's why it's inserted and not just touched.

Bedar, the Target issue has nothing to do with the type of card. The problem was that Target was storing the data on their computers. If they hadn't stored the data, no one could have accessed it.

Once you complete a transaction at a Point of Sale terminal (POS)then that transaction is COMPLETED, there is no NEED to store the data. Either it has gone onto your credit card account or has been debited from your bank account.

What the chip and pin does is make that transaction AT the POS more secure. You can't expect any card to stop Target from storing data.

If I were a Target customer what I would be getting angry about is WHY were they storing my personal data and asking where and when did I ever give them permission to do so? I'd be after my Congressman to introduce legislation that forced all companies to have to ask me to 'opt in' before they could store my data. But that's another story for another day.