# Chip/Pin Credit Cards for Europe



## ouaifer (Apr 15, 2011)

_Not quite sure how to approach this....this is just for information.

For those traveling from Canada and the States (and elsewhere, not members of the European Union) to Europe...who want to get a secure *Chip/Pin "Credit Card" *for use in Europe....We don't have these in the states, and at times one can end up in a situation that might present a problem without one of these cards.  

The only place that actually issues them in the States is the United Nations Credit Union...and I doubt if there is anyone subscribing to this Board that is a member.

However, you can now get a Secure chip/pin card here in the States at Travelex Offices for use overseas.  OK...so the rate is not the best, but it does provide peace of mind for some.  Their card is called a "Cash Passport", and you can get it loaded in Euros (or British Pounds).  There is no charge for the card, just a built in amount that varies with the exchange rate when you purchase it.  The Pin comes along with the card, and you obviously cannot change that.  You can load it with any amount and add to that amount at anytime via phone or internet access.  If you don't use the entire amount, you have the option of "cashing" out within 90 days with no additional fee....otherwise it is valid just like a regular credit card.

Now, for the kicker....do not....that is, *do NOT* use a credit card to charge this.  Why??? you might ask??  Ahhhh...well, the "charge" goes in as a Cash Advance...and there is the 3% charge applied to your credit card statement.  In addition, because it is a cash advance...you might think you have paid your previous balance in full, but you have *not*, because the payment is first applied to paying of the "cash advance", which now leaves the remainder of your credit card bill unpaid...and whamo! and interest charge suddenly appears.   

So, there you have it in a nutshell...the good, the bad, and the ????   Hope this helps some who are traveling in Europe._


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## Art (Apr 15, 2011)

Travelex is  noted for this kind of procedure that hides the  true cost  of a currency exchange.  Run, don't walk, the other  direction if you see a Travelex exchange operation.

The consensus over on cruise critic is that the  chip/pin credit card is not required  in Europe unless one runs into a clerk/sales person who is too lazy  to enter one's  purchased manually.

Art


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## Carolinian (Apr 16, 2011)

I have a card from an account in an EU country with the chip/pin, but I prefer using my US Cap One card that does not have them.  In eastern Europe, there is no need for them, as the chip/pin cards are not necessary anywhere.  In western Europe, you usually run into the problem with machines that only take chip/pin cards such as those selling rail or subway tickets or gas pumps at automated 24 hour stations.

And Travelex, like Chequepoint and Thomas Cook, are absolute bandits when it comes to foreign exchange.  I would not go near any of them.


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## Laurie (Apr 16, 2011)

Carolinian said:


> In western Europe, you usually run into the problem with machines that only take chip/pin cards such as those selling rail or subway tickets or gas pumps at automated 24 hour stations.


And toll booths (a really bad place to get stuck, as are the gas stations when they're the only place to gas up in a 100-mile radius and you're running on empty), and those selling ferry tickets ... ie everything transportation-oriented.

I sure wish Cap One would offer the chip.


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## falmouth3 (Apr 16, 2011)

In the last year I went to Switzerland and Finland and didn't need the chip in my card.  In fact, for my last trip to Finland I didn't use any cash.  Made my expense report easy to do.


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## enma (Apr 17, 2011)

I go to Finland and Sweden frequently and have never had a problem using my US credit card. However, I haven't bought tickets from machines and paid cash at gas stations (gas stations have cash machines where you insert euro bills)


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## Carolinian (Apr 18, 2011)

enma said:


> I go to Finland and Sweden frequently and have never had a problem using my US credit card. However, I haven't bought tickets from machines and paid cash at gas stations (gas stations have cash machines where you insert euro bills)



That is better than France, where they usually only take chip/pin plastic.

Of course, I can see them taking euro notes in Finland, which uses the euro, but I suspect in Sweden they actually take kronor notes as the kronor is the currency of Sweden, thanks to the citizens who rejected the euro in a referendum some years ago, as citizens of Denmark also did.


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## falmouth3 (Apr 18, 2011)

I was in Paris 2 years ago and had no issue with my non-chip credit card.  But that was 2 years ago and things may have changed.


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## Carolinian (Apr 19, 2011)

falmouth3 said:


> I was in Paris 2 years ago and had no issue with my non-chip credit card.  But that was 2 years ago and things may have changed.



Maybe I should have been clearer.  My reference on France was to the ticket machines and automated gas pumps.  I have run into the same thing with the automated ticket machines in the Netherlands and elsewhere.


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## Margariet (Apr 20, 2011)

You will need a card with a pin and chip in most cases. Certainly in France  and in the Netherlands.


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## x3 skier (Apr 22, 2011)

Margariet said:


> You will need a card with a pin and chip in most cases. Certainly in France  and in the Netherlands.



Last year, the automated machines in the London train station(s) still worked with a non-chip and pin card. Saved me from having to wait in a hellacious line for the "human" system.

I agree with the French automated machines since I had to use the "human" version when the RER ticket machine would not work with the same card.

Cheers


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## Armada (Apr 22, 2011)

Does anyone know if the chips in the Amex Blue cards would qualify for use in the EU?


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## ouaifer (Apr 22, 2011)

_No, sorry...the only place in the states you can get one of these cards is as posted in the beginning thread._


BillMorrow said:


> Does anyone know if the chips in the Amex Blue cards would qualify for use in the EU?


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## ocdb8r (Apr 23, 2011)

I'm an American living in London and quite often traveling throughout western Europe for business.  I would never tell anyone they HAVE to have a chip and pin card to get around.  There are very few instances where chip and pin is absolutely necessary.  Yes, automated ticket machines for some types of train and metropolitan travel do only accept chip and pin, but this is hardly justification for trying to get a hold of a chip and pin card.  Most of the machines also take cash and there is always the option of waiting in line to process with an actual person.

Bottom line, please don't feel like this type of card is in any way necessary for getting around Europe.


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## x3 skier (Apr 23, 2011)

ocdb8r said:


> I'm an American living in London and quite often traveling throughout western Europe for business.  I would never tell anyone they HAVE to have a chip and pin card to get around.  There are very few instances where chip and pin is absolutely necessary.  Yes, automated ticket machines for some types of train and metropolitan travel do only accept chip and pin, but this is hardly justification for trying to get a hold of a chip and pin card.  Most of the machines also take cash and there is always the option of waiting in line to process with an actual person.
> 
> Bottom line, please don't feel like this type of card is in any way necessary for getting around Europe.



About the only time I feel it is necessary is if one is driving late at night, there are no clerks at a petrol station and one is about to run out of gas. Since one can generally avoid such a situation, I agree a chip and pin is not required.

Cheers


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## caribbeansun (Apr 23, 2011)

+1

Used a non-chip Amex throughout Italy, Monaco and Switzerland without any issues whatsoever in Oct/Nov 2010.



ocdb8r said:


> Bottom line, please don't feel like this type of card is in any way necessary for getting around Europe.


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## Laurie (Apr 23, 2011)

x3 skier said:


> About the only time I feel it is necessary is if one is driving late at night, there are no clerks at a petrol station and one is about to run out of gas. Since one can generally avoid such a situation, I agree a chip and pin is not required.


The caveat being, in some French rural areas such as Brittany (which maybe don't have lots of non-European tourists), on certain days, there are sometimes *no* gas stations with clerks for hundreds of miles - some towns of size don't seem to have any - and often their machines don't take cash. So even for daytime driving when you're covering a lot of distance in a day, this can be a problem, and was for us on more than one occasion.  

It forced us to modify our itinerary once, and skip some places/things we really did want to see (after wasting time and precious fuel driving around hunting for a gas station we could fill up at).  

Another time we just had to wait until a person finally drove up (the surprising thing to us was how deserted these gas stations can be), who accepted our cash, and filled our tank using her card. This was at the only gas station we spotted between the sizeable town of Dinan and one of the major roads going to it, and during the day. 

We later discovered a little gas station with a clerk, in the parking lot of a supermarket way *inside* the town of Dinan, but it wasn't easy to find. 

We even had trouble en route to a small airport in Brittany, where we needed to fill up our rental car right before turning it in.  We did finally find one with a clerk, but had to stop a few times to ask for directions, in an area where our language skills were inadequate and English wasn't widely spoken, as our extra time alloted for this activity was being used up and we were almost late for our flight. (Of course we could have turned it in without filling it up, but we kept expecting there to be a gas station right around the corner that would take our money.) 

So I appreciate the OP's post here. Obviously in many/most countries you can use your regular chip-less cc or pay with cash, but if you're off the beaten path of North American tourists & business travelers, it sounds good to have this option.

Edited to add: I wouldn't have missed this segment of our trip for the world. No timeshares nearby though!


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## Carolinian (Apr 23, 2011)

Laurie said:


> Edited to add: I wouldn't have missed this segment of our trip for the world. No timeshares nearby though!



Brittany is a great place, but there is a timeshare there - Chateau de Tredion with RCI, and DAE also gets quite a few country cottages there.  One of my HOA board colleagues did a DAE trade to a 17th century village house not many kilometers outside Dinan.

Was your airport Dinard?  I flew into there once on a Trislander operated by Auvigny Airlines, a strange little 3-prop plane.

And you are quite right about gas stations in rural France.


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## Laurie (Apr 23, 2011)

Carolinian said:


> Brittany is a great place, but there is a timeshare there - Chateau de Tredion with RCI, and DAE also gets quite a few country cottages there.  One of my HOA board colleagues did a DAE trade to a 17th century village house not many kilometers outside Dinan.
> 
> Was your airport Dinard?  I flew into there once on a Trislander operated by Auvigny Airlines, a strange little 3-prop plane.


Our airport was Rennes, we flew on Flybe to Manchester - which we discovered Brits call "Maybe" Airlines, appropriate in light of the lengthy delays. (We needn't have worried about missing our flight after all, and have several really funny stories about that experience.)

Oh yeah, Chateau de Tredion - in fact I had a confirmation a few yrs ago which I ended up cancelling when my itinerary changed. This trip we took a detour off the main road looking for the Chateau just to check it out, didn't find it after a few passes so went on our merry way. 

Dinan however was a more perfect location for us, and about the nicest town we've ever stayed in. DAE also has a townhouse right inside medieval Dinan, so I contacted the owner directly to see if they'd make a DAE deposit for my dates.    They wouldn't (though they offered it as a rental) but I found a wonderful and even more perfect rental apartment. Had it been an exchange, it would have made my Top 10 ever.


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## betyg1 (May 3, 2011)

*Chipcards*

Chipcards are expanding across europe. A lot of the old readers that allows both magnetic stripe and chip have now been replaced by chipreaders but I think most dealers always have a second plan to accept payment from you as a tourist even if you dont have chip on your card.

I think you would manage without the chipcard byt it would ofcourse be quicker and easier for you with one.

//Sweden


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