Spending…. Card or cash?

[Kristal Blade]

25 minutes ago, the penguins said:

No good for UK cards. Our post codes are a mix of 7 letters and numbers - only around 25 properties have the same code. You can mail to any address in the UK with just the property number and the post (zip) code

My postcode is only 6 letters and numbers. It depends if your location has a single letter code. For example Glasgow is G but Edinburgh is EH. But yes, my code is shared with only 17 properties, I think.

 

I’m still enjoying how far reaching my original question has taken us. I’m learning lots about spending around the world. Thanks everyone for great input!

[ilikeanswers]

5 hours ago, KBs mum said:

The one I have now doesn't have the numbers on the front, so the person taking payment doesn't even get a glimpse of them when I put the card in the machine. The only numbers the till person can see are the last four of the long number which show up on the receipt. 

 

Are you saying your card has no numbers written on it at all? Or are they printed on the back?

 

One of my CCs stopped doing embossed numbers on the front, now prints them in tiny font on the back. Didn't think much of it till I visited French Polynesia 3 years ago and on some of the islands they still processed cards using an imprint machine. Who knew those machines still existed anywhere😂.

[Philob]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Are you saying your card has no numbers written on it at all? Or are they printed on the back?

 

One of my CCs stopped doing embossed numbers on the front, now prints them in tiny font on the back. Didn't think much of it till I visited French Polynesia 3 years ago and on some of the islands they still processed cards using an imprint machine. Who knew those machines still existed anywhere😂.

My old optometrist had a imprint machine until a few years ago. His bank told him to get a terminal because they were no longer going to process those slips. Sometimes his wife complains that she can't use the terminal to process any charges because the landline is tied up with a) the fax machine or b) he's trying to call in an order to lens company. 🤨

Edited December 2, 2021 by Philob

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Are you saying your card has no numbers written on it at all? Or are they printed on the back?

 

One of my CCs stopped doing embossed numbers on the front, now prints them in tiny font on the back. Didn't think much of it till I visited French Polynesia 3 years ago and on some of the islands they still processed cards using an imprint machine. Who knew those machines still existed anywhere😂.

 

I only have one card with embossed numbers. I do have one credit card with no numbers. Apple Cards don't have numbers printed on the card. 

[ilikeanswers]

37 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

I only have one card with embossed numbers. I do have one credit card with no numbers. Apple Cards don't have numbers printed on the card. 

 

I had to look up Apple Card. I had no idea Apple was now offering financial products😮. Not sure I like the idea of a card that is exclusive to a certain phone. It will be interesting to see if this concept travels across the Pacific😁. 

[KBs mum]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Are you saying your card has no numbers written on it at all? Or are they printed on the back?

 

One of my CCs stopped doing embossed numbers on the front, now prints them in tiny font on the back. Didn't think much of it till I visited French Polynesia 3 years ago and on some of the islands they still processed cards using an imprint machine. Who knew those machines still existed anywhere😂.

They are in small print on the back, the imprint machine is for convenience, if all else fails the numbers can be written on on the slip. 

[wowzz]

20 hours ago, KBs mum said:

American Express is not widely accepted in the UK, may be the case in other European countries.

The majority of supermarkets,  garages, restaurants, hotels etc accept AmEx in the UK - I use mine extensively. However, some small shops, the odd cafe etc will not accept the card, which is why I carry a spare Visa card. 

[Charles4515]

12 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I had to look up Apple Card. I had no idea Apple was now offering financial products😮. Not sure I like the idea of a card that is exclusive to a certain phone. It will be interesting to see if this concept travels across the Pacific😁. 

 

Any wireless terminal that takes Apple Pay I get 2% back. Have to use an iPhone or Apple watch for 2% , otherwise 1% so the card is not in my wallet. Online websites that take Apple Pay 2% back. On Apple Store purchases I get 3% back. There is no fee, easy to apply for and get,  and the card is secure, The merchant doe not get your CC number. It uses secure token on the device. It was a no brainer for me to get the card since I have an iPhone and Apple Watch. At the supermarket I tap my watch on the terminal and get 2% back. 

[slidergirl]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Any wireless terminal that takes Apple Pay I get 2% back. Have to use an iPhone or Apple watch for 2% , otherwise 1% so the card is not in my wallet. Online websites that take Apple Pay 2% back. On Apple Store purchases I get 3% back. There is no fee, easy to apply for and get,  and the card is secure, The merchant doe not get your CC number. It uses secure token on the device. It was a no brainer for me to get the card since I have an iPhone and Apple Watch. At the supermarket I tap my watch on the terminal and get 2% back. 

Have an alternate CC with you if you carry an Apple Card!!!  One of the hotels I worked with wouldn't take it - we just had swipers and there was no info to let us know it was really the card of the presenter...  Until everyone has the devices to take it, it's a PIA for the merchant.

[iancal]

The Amex cards (in Canada) that we rec'd last week do not have a number, embossed or otherwise, on the front of the card.  Only our names.   The number is on the back, below the signature line.  Thankfully not embossed.   Chip and pin as usual.

 

This makes it so much easier to read in any light when we are placing on line orders.  Which we do often.

 

We are hoping that when our Visa and MC cards are renewed they will follow the same format.  It is a PITA to read the numbers on our black card when placing an order...the color on the embossed number has long since warn off.

 

IF we end up in a situation where the sales slip requires the embossed number the vendor can simply write the number on the slip.  Just as I did years ago when taking phone orders in my  university days dept. store job.  Or manually writing the number on the back of a cheque.

 

We always travel with three cards each, different cards.  And we keep them separate from each other.    I cannot remember how it worked but since retiring ten years ago our chip and pin cards have always worked in Europe, Africa, Australia, and SE Asia ATM's.   I was quite surprised at this.

 

You do have to be aware of local customs.  We encountered a number of unmanned gas stations in Italy where the only form of payment is cash that one places in a reader. So you need the right denomination bills depending on how much fuel you need.  Exact amount only, no change given.  I got a local at the next pump to give me a lesson.

Edited December 2, 2021 by iancal

[Charles4515]

5 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Have an alternate CC with you if you carry an Apple Card!!!  One of the hotels I worked with wouldn't take it - we just had swipers and there was no info to let us know it was really the card of the presenter...  Until everyone has the devices to take it, it's a PIA for the merchant.

 

I don't carry the physical Apple Card.  I only use it at contactless tap terminals using my Apple Watch or iPhone or online with websites that take Apple Pay. I also have four other credit cards in my Apple Wallet on my iPhone and Apple Watch. I carry a physical card to use at restaurants. That physical card is also the card I would use at hotels as it includes insurance and other travel benefits . Chase Sapphire Reserve......

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, iancal said:

We always travel with three cards each, different cards.  And we keep them separate from each other.    I cannot remember how it worked but since retiring ten years ago our chip and pin cards have always worked in Europe, Africa, Australia, and SE Asia ATM's.   I was quite surprised at this.

 

I am also believer in backups when traveling.

 

4 hours ago, iancal said:

 

This makes it so much easier to read in any light when we are placing on line orders.  Which we do often.

 

My cards are in my iCloud keychain and I autofill them when ordering online. I do have to enter the CVV number on many sites when ordering online. 

[navybankerteacher]

17 hours ago, KBs mum said:

They are in small print on the back, the imprint machine is for convenience, if all else fails the numbers can be written on on the slip. 

That is the format on my recently received Amex gold card.

[navybankerteacher]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

The majority of supermarkets,  garages, restaurants, hotels etc accept AmEx in the UK - I use mine extensively. However, some small shops, the odd cafe etc will not accept the card, which is why I carry a spare Visa card. 

I believe this is increasingly necessary as the Visa and Mastercard marketers are pushing the fact they  only charge a 2% 0r 3% discount vs Amex's 5%.  That 2% difference can add up -- particularly for an operator who survives on narrow margins to begin with.

 

Of course, Amex's bigger slice enables them to give more generous benefits to their holders.  At the end of the day: nobody gets anything for nothing. (Except, of course those blessed CC posters who "ALWAYS WIN IN THE SHIP'S CASINOS".

Edited December 3, 2021 by navybankerteacher

[Charles4515]

5 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I believe this is increasingly necessary as the Visa and Mastercard marketers are pushing the fact they  only charge a 2% 0r 3% discount vs Amex's 5%.  That 2% difference can add up -- particularly for an operator who survives on narrow margins to begin with.

 

Of course, Amex's bigger slice enables them to give more generous benefits to their holders.  At the end of the day: nobody gets anything for nothing. (Except, of course those blessed CC posters who "ALWAYS WIN IN THE SHIP'S CASINOS".

 

My drycleaner would not aceept Amex. Also I often traveled to Bermuda and Amex was not widely accepted. 

 

Three people I have traveled with a lot always won at the ships casino and they had the winning tickets to brag about it. Eventually by watching them I figured it out. The casino does not give out loser tickets. Their losses were greater than those winning tickets.

[ilikeanswers]

8 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Any wireless terminal that takes Apple Pay I get 2% back. Have to use an iPhone or Apple watch for 2% , otherwise 1% so the card is not in my wallet. Online websites that take Apple Pay 2% back. On Apple Store purchases I get 3% back. There is no fee, easy to apply for and get,  and the card is secure, The merchant doe not get your CC number. It uses secure token on the device. It was a no brainer for me to get the card since I have an iPhone and Apple Watch. At the supermarket I tap my watch on the terminal and get 2% back. 

 

Thanks for the description👍truly informative. The news did a little feature about phones yesterday and said only 11% of Australians use Ios phones so I'm thinking now that Apple Card like Google Fi is probably not coming to Australia. We have a lot of cash back options that are much more generous than 2% so even of we had the iPhone users numbers they might not be able to compete anyway😝. 

[iancal]

34 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I believe this is increasingly necessary as the Visa and Mastercard marketers are pushing the fact they  only charge a 2% 0r 3% discount vs Amex's 5%.  That 2% difference can add up -- particularly for an operator who survives on narrow margins to begin with.

 

Of course, Amex's bigger slice enables them to give more generous benefits to their holders.  At the end of the day: nobody gets anything for nothing. (Except, of course those blessed CC posters who "ALWAYS WIN IN THE SHIP'S CASINOS".

Same here.  We seldom use our Amex card.  In fact, we would not even bother taking it on some trips such as SE Asia.  Just not accepted very many places.  We often end up paying cash because of the discount for cash we negotiate.

 

As a traveler, I would say that Amex is by far the least accepted card we have.   We only have it because it is Marrriott Bonvoy affiliated and includes some benefit that we find attractive.  Otherwise, we would not bother with Amex.

Edited December 3, 2021 by iancal

[ldubs]

On 11/30/2021 at 12:09 PM, navybankerteacher said:

I suspect that with more travel you will find greater need for chip and PIN.

 

Dude, I'm dozing off here.  

[ldubs]

On 11/30/2021 at 12:37 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

I do too, two types:  Cash and Traveler's Checks.  Not as easy to do anymore as it once was, but I have been successful in getting Traveler's Checks cashed when I needed some additional cash.  

 

This has been an interesting discussion; I have learned somethings that I didn't know and never considered.  

 

I didn't know travelers checks were still around.  In the good old days the AMEX travelers checks were good as gold.   

 

I too have learned a lot of things in this thread.   

[ldubs]

On 11/30/2021 at 8:21 PM, ilikeanswers said:

 

After I posted I did wonder if things have changed🤔. My road trip around Denmark was about 7 years ago back then they would not take my card anywhere apart from Copenhagen and Frederiksborg Castle so we ended up taking out a lot of cash (for a European trip). It was quite a contrast when we went over to Sweden and everytime we showed cash they would get all flustered because they weren't use to dealing with it😂. Maybe the Swedish aversion to cash has rubbed off on the Danes😜.

 

When I read your original comment about this I assumed they wouldn't take it because it didn't have a PIN.     IF they wouldn't take credit cards in general that would be a true hassle.   I've been to at least one small town in Denmark outside of Copenhagen.  I recall following Mrs Ldubs through some shops, but don't think we used a CC for anything.   

[navybankerteacher]

12 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Dude, I'm dozing off here.  

Stay awake -- you might learn something.

[ldubs]

On 11/30/2021 at 11:20 AM, slidergirl said:

Let me add something about the chip & PIN.  There are the PINs that you set yourself, aka a soft PIN.  These are the ones that work in ATMs in the US.  You still have a chip on the card, but most places in the US you'll get asked for a sig or for nothing.   There is a PIN that the CC company puts on the card, aka a hard PIN.  This is the one that you get asked for at those unmanned kiosks, hotels that have switched to the new CC device (like the St. Regis Deer Valley).  Your soft PIN won't work, at least my experience is that.  

 

That Jet Blue CC sounds like it has the hard PIN.  

 

Interesting.  Have you actually tried the "soft" pin in Europe?  I have not (don't want a "soft" pin because I don't need it).  The reason I ask is my CC company says I could use the soft pin in Europe.   They don't use the term "soft" pin, but I think that is very descriptive.   

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, navybankerteacher said:

Stay awake -- you might learn something.

 

Yes.  There are many helpful & friendly posters that I learn a lot from.  

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Thanks for the description👍truly informative. The news did a little feature about phones yesterday and said only 11% of Australians use Ios phones so I'm thinking now that Apple Card like Google Fi is probably not coming to Australia. We have a lot of cash back options that are much more generous than 2% so even of we had the iPhone users numbers they might not be able to compete anyway😝. 

 

I think you are right. Probably not coming to Australia. In the US over 50% are iPhones as of November 2021.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Charles4515

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

When I read your original comment about this I assumed they wouldn't take it because it didn't have a PIN.     IF they wouldn't take credit cards in general that would be a true hassle.   I've been to at least one small town in Denmark outside of Copenhagen.  I recall following Mrs Ldubs through some shops, but don't think we used a CC for anything.   

 

Oh sorry for the misunderstanding😳. Pins have been around as long as CCs in Australia so that is never an issue for us and we did need them in Copenhagen, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Especially in Iceland they have a lot of unmanned petrol stations and without a pin you would have to track down one with a shop.

 

In Denmark they kept telling us their machines only process local cards. At one point we were in a small supermarket with a Norwegian couple and they wouldn't accept their card. We found ourselves in conversation with them about how odd the CC situation is in Denmark😂 and reassured when we get to Norway our cards would be fine😁. I had google since the last poster said they had no issues with their CC and it seems Denmark has gone the way of Norway and Sweden and removed or decreased whatever barriers were stopping retailers from accepting international cards so perhaps it is not as much of a hassle anymore as it was for my trip. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by ilikeanswers