Problems w/o Chip & Pin CC?

[BeachBum1007]

I've recently read some threads about American travelers not being able to use their credit cards in Europe because we are lagging on the "chip and pin" technology. I've heard that even the new updates of "chip and signature" are not sufficient.

 

I am traveling to Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, France, and Ireland/NI this summer. Should I be concerned that I will not be able to use my good 'ol swipe strip MasterCard? I do not want to carry around too many euros/lira/pounds with me, but do not want to risk not being able to pay my bill either.

 

Did anybody have any major issues?

[jljcruise]

I've recently read some threads about American travelers not being able to use their credit cards in Europe because we are lagging on the "chip and pin" technology. I've heard that even the new updates of "chip and signature" are not sufficient.

 

I am traveling to Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, France, and Ireland/NI this summer. Should I be concerned that I will not be able to use my good 'ol swipe strip MasterCard? I do not want to carry around too many euros/lira/pounds with me, but do not want to risk not being able to pay my bill either.

 

Did anybody have any major issues?

 

Last summer we spent a few weeks in Europe -- of your list, only France and Italy are the same countries we were in -- but we didn't have any problem with a swipe-type of Visa. The only thing was we had to be sure was that there was someone around to accept a signature for it. In other words, when we rented a car, we had to be sure that a gas station we went to was "manned" so that someone could take our signature. I don't know if things have changed over the past year, or how things are in the other countries you mentioned, but we were very worried too and found that it wasn't an issue for the most part. Also, we had Visa and I don't know if it's different for MC.

[Scrapnana]

I've read that many machines (such as to get train tickets) will not accept our credit cards. Have you talked with the issuer of your card to see if they have the chip cards? I have a card through Bank of America and was able to get a chip card to use when I travel.

[Keith1010]

We have not had any issues without having the pin.

 

Keith

[trabeler]

We've had issues with any type of unattended payment system (train station kiosks, etc) but it's never been a problem in restaurants, shops, or hotels. Always have some cash in case you can't find an attendant to process your card.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We never had a problem ..

[KirkNC]

We've had issues with any type of unattended payment system (train station kiosks, etc) but it's never been a problem in restaurants, shops, or hotels. Always have some cash in case you can't find an attendant to process your card.

 

Yes, the only place you may have a problem is unattended points of sale such as gas stations, kiosks in train and tube stations etc.

[SFCAcruiser]

...

Did anybody have any major issues?

I've been to Europe dozens of times and can support/reiterate the comments from others posters who stated you may encounter problems with the unmanned kiosk machines, but have no problem with the manned booths. These kiosks would have been convenient to me for purchasing tickets for trains/underground and for gasoline, but I learned to just head straight to the manned booths. It really was not a problem, just an occasional inconvenience.

[Dayenu]

We didn't have a problem with the credit card (MC) in Italy and Greece, but we only used when a person was present to run it for us, like shops and restaurants.

[PennyAgain]

I agree about not being about to use a plain MC in unattended situations. You won't be able to buy gas late at night if you have a car.

 

But some smaller merchants just refuse to 'bother' with a non-chip and pin card.

 

Check with your card provider to see if you can get a chip and pin card. That's how I got mine and it didn't cost anything extra. Same account # and etc and I can use it in the USA.

[dolittle]

Never had any problems with this we used a credit and debit card in England,France ,Spain and others.