Does this apply to USA CCs in England?

My experience of this has been that above the limit or every X number of transactions the card reverts from tap to its “normal“ process. For UK cards that would be chip-and-pin, for Americans, that’s chip-and-signature — even when traveling.

BIG QUESTION: Will I need my PIN if I have to sign. I don't have one on my Mastercard & my Chase Bank insusts I won't need it (no time to get it mailed) AND that anytime I use my PIN it will compute as a very high fee cash advance even though my travel Rewards card has NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES.

Also-Does revert to Chip/Signature limit use on TFL Tubes?

You should just be asked to sign a charge slip if you go over the tap limit. This happened to me or the friend traveling with me a few times when we were paying English hotel bills.

From reading this forum I've learned that it's pretty common for credit card telephone agents to tell folks credit card PINs are only for cash advances. That part is true for nearly all US credit cards, but it doesn't mean that if you somehow are asked for a PIN when you charge something, you will be charged the cash-advance fee if you input a (made-up) PIN. Cash advances only happen at ATMs. Charging a hotel, restaurant or purchase of any type will not result in a cash advance. Absolutely no one has come to this forum to report that has happened.

Thank you. My Branch manager thinks I'm wrong...

But my problem now is after she convinced me I don't need a PIN for my CC, I'm too late for one to be mailed & I'll be in London without one.

So how often are PINS now being requested there & under what circumstances.
ALL HELP much appreciated.

We used a Capital One Visa card for five weeks in England in May, 2022. If the charge was over 100 pounds we were asked to sign. Otherwise we “tapped” to pay. We were never asked for a PIN.
I’m not sure how this could affect using your card for the tube—you would never have a 100£ tube charge.

Thanks...It seems FREQUENCY OF USE is a possible reason PIN requests show up via Mastercard & Visa...

Relax, most U.S. credit cards only have pins for cash advances. If you go over the 100 GBP limit, you will be asked to sign the charge slip. Don't worry about not having a pin.

I've spent nearly four of the last five months in the UK and none of my credit cards have pins. They are US credit cards and none have ever refused payments. Pins are not necessary to sign.

So, yes, US credit cards are different.

Jut make sure you alert your credit card issuer of your travels or they may block the card thinking it is stolen.

Jenny, even if you had all the time in the world, you wouldn't be able to get a PIN that would work with 99% of the current US credit cards for purchase transactions. You'd just be sent a cash-advance PIN for use in ATMs. I tried this myself, intending to test out that cash-advance PIN if asked for a PIN during a credit-card purchase. I traveled for 3-1/2 months this summer (in Norway, Finland, England and Italy) and was never asked for a PIN when I used my credit card (hundreds of times). Usually I just tapped; for a few larger transactions I had to sign.

Only a tiny number of US credit cards are designed for use with PINs for purchase transactions. It's annoying, but at least the upward creep in tap limits is helping. We'll just have to be patient for a while longer, until the US eventually catches up with the rest of the world.

There's nothing you could have done differently, and you'll be fine.

Thank you all.
In accordance with other online chattter (PINS used as SECURITY step even for rightful owner after a Contactless CC is used X times) & pursuant to the first reply to my Question, below quote is from Barclays (B of A UK partner) & also appears on a variety of UK sites as the reason a PIN COULD be requested from ANYONE.

I will take the advice to relax... Much appreciated & will report back here about my experience.
Thank you everyone!

"If your card does fall into the wrong hands, the maximum amount per transaction is £100, and after repeated payments, the person will be asked for a PIN. For payments over £100, authorisation is required, so nobody can make purchases without your PIN or mobile phone passcode."

Jenny that applies to UK credit cards not US credit cards.

We have pins for all our credit cards. Basically it is our ultimate back-up should all three debit cards fail. The probability of that happening is low but we still have them. The pin number is encoded on the back of each card so we don't forget the pin number.

Jut make sure you alert your credit card issuer of your travels or they may block the card thinking it is stolen

We’ll, that was a necessary step, until about 2 years ago. All our cards - Chase, US Bank, Capital One, all say they don’t need/want to be informed about our upcoming foreign travel. They say they’ll figure that out from the context of our purchases. Hmmmm - we still call them to advise them of our upcoming trip, and they keep saying there’s no need to let them know.

I’m in England, using my card for everything, and can tap if under the £ limit. If over the limit the card is inserted and I sign. No pin is necessary.

That being said the ONLY time it was an issue was at Gas stations with automatic pre pay pumps. And then only in France. And if there was an attendant (not always a sure thing) they could override the pin requirement. From various trips adding up to about 2 months we had one time that we had to give up.

If asked for a PIN at a gas station in France, we've put in our US Zip Code and it has been accepted. I don't know why.

Jut make sure you alert your credit card issuer of your travels or they may block the card thinking it is stolen

I've traveled now in Europe and South America with my debit card/ATM card and that is the only one the bank wants to know about for travel. It is a Mastercard-branded card, so I thought they would have the same "we don't need to know about travel anymore" line. Not so. I got to an ATM in Colombia and couldn't get cash. Same in Ireland--I had let them know all other countries I am traveling to, but forgot when I made a quick trip to Dublin from Germany. All it takes is a quick call to your local bank or an online secure message.

@ als466

If asked for a PIN at a gas station in France, we've put in our US Zip Code and it has been accepted. I don't know why.

You get an award for clever thinking!