Credit card latest?
 

I am travelling from Australia to Paris and would like feedback on visa?
My debit and visa credit cards are not chip and pin and I never had a problem in 2007.
I am assuming I won't have any problems drawing cash out of an ATM and purchasing in most places?
Could someone please confirm ?

We have been in France three or four times this year, including Paris, and not had any issues. Unmanned gas stations...another issue, but ATMs, no problem. Just be sure to let your card company know when you'll be out of the country so they don't put a hold on it for "unusual activity". (but you already knew this, I bet :)

Thanks for confirming klondike,

and yep, was aware of the unusual activity thing :)

The only change is that just about 100% of French card terminals have been converted to take EMV standard of chip and pin (new global standard, incompatible with native French system).
For those with non chipped cards, your only trouble remains unmanned petrol stations, some ticket machines and certain motorway automatic toll booths. In certain shops, you are asked to show photo ID like your passport when paying with your non-chipped card.

We had no problem using our non-chip/pin MC in Spain the last 2 weeks, other than a couple of merchants using Dynamic Currency Conversion for our purchases without asking if we wanted it. Both insisted that it was to my advantage to use DCC. When I wouldn't buy that line and asked them to cancel the transaction, both insisted that it was impossible to do so. One finally did cancel it and I paid in cash--but I had to create a bit of a scene to get him to do it. The other never budged as he tightly held onto my credit card and my merchandise. I finally gave up on that one. Neither would let me use their phone to call MC.

We also were able to get cash from ATMs using our bank cash card. However, a couple of ATMs we tried asked for phone numbers and additional security codes, so I had to find other machines in the area. Not a big problem, just don't get discouraged if a particular machine presents obstacles.

ATMs are never a problem, and all of card readers used by cashiers or restaurants are still equipped to read both chips and magnetic strips.