Trip Report: How my cards worked in Europe

Carol, it would be helpful to know what countries you are talking about. Our experience with a "true chip and pin" card ( USAA) was quite different. In the UK and Italy, we were always handed the device to enter out PIN, never asked to sign.

Sasha, I was in Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. I used the credit card primarily for lodging and transportation. It might be the countries or the types of transactions that made the difference.

@ Carol....I was over where you were for a few weeks this past May/June, used a Bank of America credit chip and signature card..not exactly what you had but the experience was similar. Each vendor (hotel, restaurant, train station, etc) knew what the card was and each time I had to sign, was never asked for the PIN. In Paris I thought the waitress thought my card was taking a bit long (maybe it was just my subjective feeling), so I said that it was going to work (ça va marcher, Madame.) It did. I also the checked the exchange rates afterwards, no difference.

We've been in Tallinn, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and are currently in Dresden and have had no problems using our chip and signature card everywhere. I even used it in a machine in the Dresden train station and bought tickets with ease.

True...no problem with the chip and signature credit card at DB ticket machines (Automaten). For us Americans with the chip and signature credit card or the magnetic stripe card re: train ticket machines, Germany and Austria are the most accommodating, ie, insert the card and it works period, unlike in France, Holland, and Belgium.

Just returned from extensive travel in Spain and Italy (plus Paris). Used the card primarily for hotels, restaurants, gas and entertainment (opera in Verona, aerial tram in South Tyrol, etc). Never once asked for our PIN.

Carol,

You said "Although this account (Charles Schwab) is called an investor checking account, you are not required to fund an investment account to open this card. You only have to fund the checking account."

That's encouraging. If that's so, I'm going to try and get a checking account with them. When I first browsed through their site I was intimidated when I read that I had to have an investment account with them.

Jo

But you must OPEN that other account with it, even though it can always be empty. Been there, doing that.
BTW, the Schwab card is Chipped, and works as such.

Yes, got it, Larry; thanks. Was careless with my words. I will have to open both accounts, to be able to use the checking account.

Jo

Just to clarify, the Andrews Credit Union is a chip and signature card, like almost every other US chip card. The difference and convenience is that it also has an encoded PIN as a secondary validation. Your experience is exactly how it works: you will always be prompted to sign a receipt or touchpad unless it is an automated machine, in which case it will prompt for a PIN.

I had a card that was supposed to be chip and signature and supposed to ask for the pin in automated devices. The reality is I ended up using cash in those devices. Often I had to waste time seeking out a ticket machine that took cash after my chipped card failed to work. The experience was so frustrating that I simply desired to use cash for just about everything but the hotel bills. Why Americans have to be treated like 2nd class work citizens by our banks is beyond me.

@Barnstormer The sad truth is that no foreign credit card will work in all places at all times in Europe. That's why it is important to also carry cash, especially if you may be using some kind of ticket machine, toll booth, gas pump, or parking garage kiosk. If you want to increase the chances of your card working in these situations, you need to look for a true chip-and-PIN card, not a chip-and-signature card. Most US credit cards with a chip are chip-and-signature. There are some that are true chip-and-PIN cards, such as the Andrews Federal Credit Union card, which I use and have found to work well in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Other true chip-and-PIN cards are issued by the US State Department Credit Union, Barclaycard, and even some Wells Fargo cards (look for Visa Signature). There is a list maintained by the Flyertalk forum that rates US credit cards with chips here. For true chip-and-PIN cards that work at machines, you should look for cards that have "chip-and-PIN (off-line)" capability.

True, ...Belgium, France and Holland make it difficult for Americans holding the chip and signature or magnetic stripe credit card since their machines won't accept them or even the staffed ticket counter. Germany and Austria are the most accommodating in that their machines accept US credit cards, ie the chip and signature. I had no problem in Germany and Austria using the chip and signature.

Chip and signature is more common than chip in pin in Germany and Austria. The rest of Europe has adopted chip and pin.

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMV#Chip_and_PIN_versus_chip_and_signature

The pictorial on the Deutsche Bahn ticket machine shows just how accommodating it is, ie, how the machine accepts the magnetic stripe credit card (for us Americans) and the chip cards, or plain cash both coin and currency.

That is great to hear that the Charles Schwab debit card did not incur any international fees while you traveled. I just got this card for my trip to Europe in September and have been worrying that I might be missing the fine print somewhere and could possibly still incur foreign fees. Did you have any issues with Charles Schwab placing a hold on your debit card at all after purchasing things abroad? I have read in some places that travelers have run into this issue while in Europe with this card, but was not sure how common it is. Thanks!

This is a common problem with all credit / debit cards. The solution is to notify the card issurer that you are going to be in Europe. Some of my cards I can do that on line.

I have the Schwab debit card for travel this fall, particularly in Italy. Has anyone used it at automated ticket kiosks, such as those for vaporetto passes in Venice?

Simon