My chase visa with chip worked at 95% of toll booths and gas stations last summer with no PIN required. As I back up I used my ATM card with PIN.

I believe that Andrews offers both chip & signature and chip & PIN cards.

All credit cards are accepted at gas stations with an attendant. Did you successfully purchase gas at a pay-at-the-pump location for example, early on a Sunday morning or when no staff was present?

I have had an Andrews Chip & PIN card for quite a while.

I've had trouble with it in Italy but no trouble in France. That is at unmanned locations.

I'm planning a trip to Germany and Netherlands for this summer so I called Andrews FCU.

At first the person I spoke to had no clue what I was talking about. So she put me on hold and asked for information.

When she came back she told me she found out they had two types of cards; a PIN priority and a Signature priority card.

She asked me if I knew which type I had. I told her I suspected mine was a signature priority card (as all of their older cards are) because when I use it in a store in Europe I'm asked to sign.

She told me she would order a new PIN priority card for me and my account would be locked until I get and use the new card.

What are the chances everything she found out and told is correct? I guess I'll find out this summer.

Please everyone who has no trouble at unmanned gas stations, share details about the cards that work!

I haven't driven in France or Europe so can only report that my Capital One card (with a chip) worked at the unmanned ticket machine at the train station in Bordeaux in 2016.

I would not know of many unmanned gas stations in Germany.
Maybe there are more than just a handful but I've not seen more than 2 or 3 in 50 years ;-)
Small stations may be closed at night, but even in smaller towns you should have at least one open 24/7.
Gas stations on motorways are always open and always staffed.
You pump first, then pay by card (or cash) inside. Very few stations offer "pay at pump".

Yes, motorway stations in France are open 24/7 so that would never be a problem -- except that one only buys petrol in such a place when one is desperate. The cost of the concession and the constraint of 24/7 service raises the price enormously

Away from the autoroute, I would say that close to 30% of the stations are unmanned, and they ALL have the possibility of paying at the pump. I saw lots of unmanned petrol stations in Switzerland also, but they also accepted payment with banknotes.

There are a dozen or more entities operating the French autoroute network. Each company has different criteria for credit card acceptance. Any credit card accepted on one autoroute may or may not be accepted on a different autoroute. Paying cash is always an option.

Purchasing gas at an unattended station requires that your card issuing bank establish acceptance rules that allows you to complete purchases. Those with chip & PIN cards should have no problems. Few with chip & signature cards will find their cards accepted but I can say that the PenFed, chip & signature Visa has always worked at such locations using its PIN.

I was using a Canadian Chip and PIN and it wouldn't work at a French toll booth. Didn't try unattended gas stations.

Actually, the automatic toll booths use neither the chip nor the PIN -- just the magnetic strip. I have travelled with friends from the US who had all kinds of cards, and in some cases, none of the chip cards worked, but some magnetic strip cards had no problem, for example the Visa card issued by Target (which now has a chip).

Our chip and PINs have a mag strip too, but it didn't help!

Every card in the world worthy of the name still has a magnetic strip or else we would not be able to travel to the backwoods of the United States. It is not a guarantee, though.

It's not just gas stations.

Train stations (yes there's a counter clerk but also a long line)
Subways in Paris

That isn't true, you don't need a chip and PIN card to buy metro tickets, I do it all the time with my American CC and it isn't chip and PIN. I also buy train tickets with it at SNCF kiosques (or some airports, like the tram you need in Lyon to get into the city from the airport).

Perhaps it's due to the low total cost, I've never bought any kind of ticket over 30 euro with it, as I recall.

Basically, acceptance is not at all set by the automatic machines in Europe. It is set by the card issuing institutions which decide the risk level that they find acceptable. It could be 10 euros or 50 euros or 100 euros or more. But banks do not communicate about this -- most of it is trial and error.

I agree with kerouac. The card issuing bank determines the no CVM (unauthenticated transaction) limit. Typically the limit is less than $50 which is why, for many, it is possible to charge a weekly Navigo fare (22.80€) but not a monthly fare (75.20€).