Pin-strip credit cards vs. pin-chip cards in Europe

artrell · 07-15-2012, 03:43 PM

We are traveling in Europe for a vacation in August. Paris, London, and Edinburgh and doing some research it sounds like we will have trouble with some merchants and ticket kiosks using our pin-strip credit cards. I have tried to find a pin and chip card however they are not available at this time.

Has anyone had any problems with their credit cards not accepted in Europe? We will be traveling by train from Paris to London to Edinburg.

cupcake · 07-15-2012, 04:23 PM

This post is about the UK only. You cannot assume what applies for one European countrywill apply to any others.

In the UK sometimes you will come across places which say they cannot take swipe card (as you call pin-strip) cards. This is technically illegal under the UK disability discrimination laws. They have to offer pin-strip payment facilities if they take cards. What they mean is, no-one has asked us about this for 2 years and we cannot be bothered to go and find the correct machine. Just insist. It is unlikely to be a problem in a very touristy place like London. You cannot use most automated machines such as those which dispense train tickets, unless you have chip and pin. This problem is easily solved by going to kiosk and buying the tickets from an actual person.

If you are using a hire car, you cannot use automated petrol pumps without a chip and pin card. Only a problem if you need petrol late a night (or in some places, on a Sunday) when the kiosk is closed.

One thing you will need is a 4 digit PIN for your card. Many ATMs will not take more than 4 digits. So you might not be able to withdraw money if you have a 6 digit PIN. Also, there may not be letters on the key pad, so remember your PIN as a number, not as a word.

Of course you may come across some small businesses which do not accept any cards, and very many which will not accept cards for a purchase of less than £5 (I would suspect for example that the tea trolley or shop on the London to Edinburgh train might be one of these). Therefore I would recommend you have at least a small amount of UK cash on you.

(NB it's spelt Edinburgh and pronounced Ed-in-bur-ra. There is no such place edin-burrow or edin-berg)

ihs76 · 07-15-2012, 04:34 PM

The only place where we needed the 4digit pin were on train ticket machines in train stations and ATMs. You could wait in line and get actual tickets but lines could be long. Never had a problem with any merchants.

coureur · 07-15-2012, 04:42 PM

>>Has anyone had any problems with their credit cards not accepted in Europe?<<

Yes. I just got back from a trip to Switzerland and was in France a couple of months ago, and in both cases there were instances where the US-style credit cards just couldn't cut it. Train ticket kiosks, as mentioned above, were hopeless. And some restaurants had to drag out their old, retired card reader to accommodate my card. And two restaurants apparently no longer had theirs and insisted I either produce another card that their reader didn't gag on or else pay cash.

Gibson1514 · 07-15-2012, 04:43 PM

Just got back from Scotland and Barcelona. I never have had a problem with credit cards. I travel to the UK every year. I mostly use Amex, but also travel with a Mastercard. I just let the merchant know the card is not a " chip and pin" , they simply swipe and I then sign either on the key pad or the more traditional print out.

Don't stress about it!

simpkin · 07-15-2012, 04:51 PM

I used my Visa card a bunch of times in Paris this spring, no problem. No issues in restaurants, stores, and museums. Did not try it in train ticket machines because I had been warned it wouldn't work for those.

NJres · 07-15-2012, 04:53 PM

We were in Italy and Israel and had no problem using our Charles Schwab debit cards at ATMs and ticket purchase machines. We had a 4 digit pin. It was very nice to see our statements come through with a very reasonable exchange rate and NO added fees. Be forewarned: Many (most) bank credit cards will charge you a 3% foreign exchange fee, and as far as what foreign exchange rate they use to convert your Euro purchase into dollars, it seems you are pretty much at their mercy. There are a few credit cards with no fx fees, and they typically advertise/promote that feature.

Just to compare, when my son used his Bank of America debit card at an ATM, b of a hit him with a $5 ATM fee plus approximately $8 fx fee every time he withdrew money..... very expensive money.

Pizzagirl · 07-15-2012, 04:57 PM

I had the same experience as coureur last year in France and Switzerland. Had to stand in long lines in a Paris train station to get to Geneva, when we could have printed our tickets from a kiosk if only we had had the chip card.

DrGoogle · 07-15-2012, 05:08 PM

Yes we had this problem recently purchasing train ticket in UK. The way to go about it is to get cash or get a bank account in UK.

notrichenough · 07-15-2012, 05:29 PM

Just got back from Spain. Every place we went used portable handheld machines, even the little sidewalk cafes, and they all had a spot for chip cards and a slot for swipe cards. Only had a problem once when the machine couldn't read the card when swiped, probably it was dirty.

Don't know about train tickets, ours were printed before we left.

A bigger issue is that both of us had our cards disabled for fraud alerts after the first couple of charges in Spain. A phone call resolved it, but it was a bit of a pain.

Several places gave us a choice of charging in US dollars or Euros. It wasn't clear which would ultimately be cheaper, so I didn't consistently pick one or the other.

We used ATMs to get cash, which had far better rates then the money-changing places. There was a 3 euro ATM fee, and the rate wound up being a couple percent worse than the market rate, which was decent. We changed some money in NY so we would have some cash when we landed, they charged a $10 "service fee" and about a 15% hit on the exchange rate. Not happy about that.

coureur · 07-15-2012, 05:46 PM

After I stood in line at the Swiss train ticket windows due to the above credit card problem, one thing I noticed on the train rides themselves is that no one ever asked to see my ticket. No conductor with a ticket punch. Nothing. I dutifully paid for every train ride I took, but I could have ridden around Switzerland all week for free had I been the dishonest type.

notrichenough · 07-15-2012, 05:50 PM

The high-speed train in Spain had an airport-style check-in - you got your luggage x-rayed, then you went through a "gate" where someone scanned your ticket. It didn't seem like there was open access to the platform.

The conductor did come around and check tickets for the first few stops, after that I never saw him again.

Top speed - 305 km/hr. Way cool.

coureur · 07-15-2012, 05:55 PM

>>...Spain had an airport-style check-in - you got your luggage x-rayed, they you went through a "gate" where someone scanned your ticket.<<

Nothing like that in Switzerland. Anyone off the street could walk right into the station, go out onto the platform, and get on any train. Completely unquestioned and unimpeded. Most everybody seemed to stop and buy tickets though. I think it must be a relatively honest country.

siliconvalleymom · 07-15-2012, 06:12 PM

We are just home from a similar trip and we used the "cash passport" card from Travelex. We had to get two-one in pounds, one in euros. The cards come with a four digit code and look and work like a credit card, and you just input the code at the point of purchase.
The real benefit for us is the ability to load more money on to the card for our daughter, who is still in Europe.

ihs76 · 07-15-2012, 06:31 PM

The few times we needed a PIN type card (train kiosks and ATMs), we used our bank debit cards, one of which had no fees (other than $1 ATM charge) and another that charged 1% fee. All other times, used our chase sapphire preferred which had no fees whatsoever and excellent exchange rates.

This was in Italy, England France and Belgium