Any obstacles for credit cards without IC/EMV chips?

As a general rule, merchants that deal with tourists on a regular basis will have the hardware to read North American magnetic strip cards. Merchants that deal mostly with locals may or may not. Supermarkets, and gas stations typically only accept smart-chip cards. It's not something to be overly concerned about.

The machines at the airport did not accept my non chipped card for RER tickets, so had to get in long line and buy them at manned kiosk.

@pat: Thanks for the heads-up on the RER kiosks. That was my fear: that a lot of day-to-day things will be made quite inconvenient by the lack of a chip on the card. Gotta love how the U.S. drags its feet on these things. Sigh.

Our plan is to do a mix of tourist and non-tourist things, including shopping at the non-tourist shops and such. So it would be very handy to have a card with chip. Does anybody know of any U.S. banks that issue ATM cards with chips?

No US banks offer smart chip cards, and probably never will. Instead they're "leap frogging" technologies and are offering RFID contactless cards instead. With these types of cards you don't have to take them out of your wallet or purse, but they aren't compatible in Europe yet. But I have never found the smart-chip issue to be a big problem. I simply rely on cash from ATM machines which will always accept magnetic strip cards.

Rudi , I always arrive with at least 100 euros in my bag,, just for first day lunches etc.. After that I just use my ATM card and withdraw cash every few days and use it for daily expenses , I only use my CC for train tickets, hotels, and an occaisonal expenisve meal out.
There is an ATM at the airport but I don't bother using it as I am too tired after long flight and just want to go to hotel.
I go to my bank about 2 weeks before I leave and get some cash, and have never had a problem, but apparently I have heard many Americans say it is harder for them to get euros and they have to order them from their bank and it can take a week or two. ( I live in a tourist town so I guess our banks tend to have a bit on hand of many types of currency)

American Express blue issues cards with the chip in. I just one about 2-3 weeks ago.If that's the chip you are talking about.
Another solution is to use cash, this would avoid long lines.

The chip embedded in AE Blue Cards is used for RFID contactless transactions described in my previous post.
It's not compatible Europe.

We ran into one big problem--trying to get gas when gas stations were closed (on Sundays and sometimes in the evenings). If you have a smart card you can still fill up at the pump when the station is closed, but if not, no gas for you! We were on empty one Sunday and could not find an open gas station with an actual person to take our money. We finally did find a very expensive one in a very touristy town.

Other than than, as already mentions, we couldn't get RER tickets at kiosks or use the bikes in Paris.

Newbies take heed! As Christy noted below, the problem of getting gas can be a very serious one, and not just on Sundays. In Italy, in the middle of the day (1 - 3 or 4), you may also find self-service only and a smart card needed, though some pumps will take bills. Don't know about France. After a vexatious time one day (atms in the small town were also down) we made it a rule never to allow ourselves to go below 50 euros in cash and never to let the car get below a third. We also were unable to use the ticket machines in train stations in Spain, but could pay with cc's at ticket windows.

Just returned from Paris, London, and Prague 4 days ago and had no problem using a non-chipped credit card anywhere including the RER machine at CDG airport

The only place I had a hard time using either of my cards was at the CDG RER kiosks last month. There were a couple of times that the cashiers in grocery stores had to swipe my card for me instead of using the pin pad, but even the non-English speaking employees in the smallest non-touristy Greek towns knew how to swipe the US cards. In France, I had no other problems and I ended up using my card at the RER window.

I think the only place where you are likely to get stuck is the automated gas stations (not all gas stations are automated). Any place that has a cashier has optional ways to enter your purchase (even though they may not know it).

Just got back from a month in Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Paris. Used multiple (non-chipped) credit cards frequently. Never had the slightest problem.

Methinks this is a non-issue.

Getting gas in France on Sunday would have been a problem -- US credit cards won't work, and there is usually not a cashier. However, knowing this in advance helps one to remember to get gas on Saturday. We also could not use our credit card in the Metro at those times when there was no attendant. It's a good idea to carry enough coinage in Euros just in case you run out of tickets.
We were only on a toll road once (by accident) and luckily the machine took coins or paper Euros -- don't know whether US credit cards work in those machines or not. Never had a retailer refuse to take a credit card so no problem there.

On recent trips to Rome, Paris and Dublin the only issues with non-chip cards I had were "automated" ticket machines - I had to go to a person in a booth to buy both my Paris Metro pass and a movie ticket.

The only problem I had was with ATM's in Brussels, but I think that the main problem there was the exclusivity of the ATM-system, not with the cards. Other than the RER ticketing as already stated, I never had a problem (and always paid cash!).

Brian

Just returned and will be heading out again tomorrow to Europe, including France and my experience is that, as long as you inform your CC Co. in advance of your whereabouts, there shouldn't be any trouble with the CC-machines that require a chip or pin code (some do not).
I've used a various collection of mine, including Amex at retail shops and had no problems.
Coincidentally, in addition I have a European CC with the chip too and I actually feel much safer using it - there simply is an added safety measure in place and I don't understand why the American issuers won't comply with these safety issues and avoid massive CC fraud !

I don't believe you will have any problems. I used my master card in a few stores in Italy.I noticed that at the rail station there is a sign on the ticket self-service machines that says credit card with the chip acn be used. I didn't try to use a "regular" credit card.

Does that mean that without a credit card with a chip, one cannot use the Velib system in Paris? I was counting on it.

I'll find out first-hand later this week, but from all I can find on this, the Vélib system requires chip-enabled credit cards to use their system on an ad hoc basis. If you plan far enough ahead, it's possible to get a Vélib-issued card that can be used in lieu of a bank card.

As far as I'm concerned, while I'm pleased that U.S. banks are trying to race ahead with their RFID plans, I wish that both continents would come up with an agreement on banking systems, because the lack of chip makes some budget travel tasks (e.g. shopping in supermarkets and buying petrol on weekends) a real pain.

Hi Rudi,
I lived in France this last year for nine months and I too used a credit card without a chip. It only wouldn't work a few times and that had nothing to do with the fact it didn't have a chip but with my creidt card company. Pretty much everywhere I went it was perfectly fine using my crecit card and I went all over Europe and France. I hope this helps!

Back from France, and the lack of a chip proved problematic only with the Velib system - which is a pity, as I wanted to use it a few times while there (easier to coordinate than a bike hire for a block of time from a shop). Also, the inability to use the card for train ticket purchase was a hassle a couple of times when the manned booth wasn't open.

Otherwise, plastic worked fine. ATMs were the simple fix for most things, though: having cash on hand was often easiest.

Our American cards are not sufficient to use in automated toll road lanes, nor in automatic ticket machines, in my experience. My experience with trying the card in these places was in France and in Amsterdam, this year and two years ago. No problem in cash machines, so we just used cash.

Alice

My experiences were the same as some others -- could not use credit card in the metro stations if there was just a machine and no attendant; could not use in the automated gas pumps on Sunday. Not sure if you can use on the toll booth or not -- the machines do take coins and paper Euros.