Credit Card vs. Debit Card for Europe Trip?

[Liziz]

I’m familiar with needing a PIN in Europe though I’ve never had my signature card declined. My understanding is that it’s often due to the person processing it, not knowing what to do if the person doesn’t have a PIN because they’ve never seen that before. I think you can just hit enter without entering a PIN. Then they’re supposed to collect a signature from you instead. Most tourist places should know that.

Regardless of why traditional US signature credit cards sometimes don’t work, does anyone know how to obtain a chip and PIN card in the US? I tried several years ago and they didn’t seem available as far as I could tell. I’d get one if I knew where.


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Yes, I agree that usually there's a workaround to the PIN; we almost never had trouble....but, when we did, even if it was user error on the cashier's end, it didn't really help fix the situation and we needed to have an alternative. It was super super rare to have an issue when there was a person processing the payment though - the times we struggled were automated kiosks, like buying train tickets. The press enter to move past PIN didn't work on those.

[bisous]

Heading into our credit union at lunch today to see if we can get a CC.

Are you guys saying apple pay is widely accepted in Europe? Off to read up about that! That sounds sorta easy! We're huge apple people and will have our phones and are paying for phone service while in Europe!

[AnnieW625]

Heading into our credit union at lunch today to see if we can get a CC.

Are you guys saying apple pay is widely accepted in Europe? Off to read up about that! That sounds sorta easy! We're huge apple people and will have our phones and are paying for phone service while in Europe!

Just make sure the card doesn’t have transaction fees! I absolutely love my credit union but they do not have a credit card that doesn’t have transaction fees.

If your credit union cards do then just get the Amazon Prime card as you seem to shop there a lot. We mainly use ours for Amazon shopping and once in a great while gas.


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[nfceagles]

Apple Pay is widely accepted but is still no replacement for having a back up cc.


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[bisous]

We now have a credit card! Both of us. No transaction fees. So I think we’re good. Thank you for all your help!!

[AnnieW625]

We now have a credit card! Both of us. No transaction fees. So I think we’re good. Thank you for all your help!!

Yay!


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[Liziz]

We now have a credit card! Both of us. No transaction fees. So I think we’re good. Thank you for all your help!!

Excellent! One more box checked towards your fantastic trip!!

[Philly Mom]

We now have a credit card! Both of us. No transaction fees. So I think we’re good. Thank you for all your help!!

Excellent. Connect that card to ApplePay. Will make things easier.

[carolinamama]

We now have a credit card! Both of us. No transaction fees. So I think we’re good. Thank you for all your help!!

Now go have a fantastic trip!!

[bisous]

Credit card worked out great. We were told in Europe they don't like to touch the credit card so most often we were directed to a little machine and used it without issue. Nobody asked us for a PIN. We also used ApplePay and cash when needed.