Europe and Chip & Pin Credit Cards

[Jan115]

Those of you US residents who have cruised to Europe recently - did you have any trouble with your magnetic-strip credit cards anywhere - whether a car rental, tour, vendor, etc.? From what I am reading, more and more merchants throughout Europe are making the switch from slide and sign to chip and pin format. Some unmanned gas stations, for instance, accept only chip and pin cards. It sounds like the US will be very slowly making the switch, eventually, but seem to be dragging their feet. If you have a chip and pin card, what credit card company did you go with?

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[WeCruiseToo]

We’ve traveled to Europe five times between April 2010 and November 2013; we never had any issues using our traditional credit card. But, we will definitely be contacting our credit card companies (we have “no international fees” cards through two banks) before our next trip this August. While in Vancouver last month we had a couple of cashiers sigh and roll their eyes because they had to process our cards “the old-fashioned way”. We’ll report back once we’ve talked to our banks.

[sailingrose]

Just be careful with the chip cards, they should be encased in a sleeve to protect you from someone scanning the chip. My credit card company warned us of it when I inquired about getting one.

We decided against it for now, the tour operators in St. Petersburg take the regular card and most of our tours are booked through one company.

[Jan115]

We’ve traveled to Europe five times between April 2010 and November 2013; we never had any issues using our traditional credit card. But, we will definitely be contacting our credit card companies (we have “no international fees” cards through two banks) before our next trip this August. While in Vancouver last month we had a couple of cashiers sigh and roll their eyes because they had to process our cards “the old-fashioned way”. We’ll report back once we’ve talked to our banks.

Please let me know how you make out, as we are cruising Europe in August.

[Jan115]

Just be careful with the chip cards, they should be encased in a sleeve to protect you from someone scanning the chip. My credit card company warned us of it when I inquired about getting one.

We decided against it for now, the tour operators in St. Petersburg take the regular card and most of our tours are booked through one company.

Good point, Rose - so much for progress! I'll remember that when and if I get one.