Credit card - chip and PIN

Don't stress out about it. Our magnetic strip cards will work at most-all places that accept credit/debit cards. The only time you will run into difficulties is at ticket machines at the train stations, and unmanned gas pumps. AAA sells their own per-loaded cards so they have an economic incentive, scare you into getting one;)

As Michael said, your regular credit and debit cards are fine (make sure you tell the issuers when and where you will be traveling). Amex is not as widely accepted, mostly VISA and Mastercard. And Michael is right - AAA suggested buying preloaded debit cards because they make money off of them.

Paul, As the others have mentioned, you shouldn't have any problems in the two countries you'll be visiting. One exception is automated fuel pumps and ticket machines especially in France. For example, the Kiosks at CDG will ONLY accept Chip cards. One point to mention though for everyone on the HelpLine. I'm presently in Europe and had to buy tickets at Amsterdam Central a few days ago. There were large signs on EVERY ticket window stating that they only accept Chip cards now. I witnessed a couple of young Backpackers get turned away after they'd waited in the queue for about 45 minutes. They had to find an ATM and come back. I guess the agreement with Visa and MasterCard that Merchants HAVE to accept these at staffed locations doesn't apply in the Netherlands.

If you are not driving in France, it shouldn't be as much of a problem. If you are taking trains from a smaller city, you may need to have your train fare available in coins, as some of the automatic ticketing machines don't take bills. However, if you are driving, getting gas and paying tolls on the autoroute without a chip & pin card may be difficult. The number of unmanned stations is increasing.

In France, the more you get into rural areas the more difficulty you may have in finding a staffed gas station. There are long stretches where the only stations are completely automated and only take chip and pin. We lived in Germany until this year when we moved to UK and we traveled often in rural areas in France. We now have a chip and pin card, but before that we learned to keep the car filled with gas as much as possible and not let it get too low before looking for a station.

Generally, I have not had any trouble using our American magnetic strip credit cards In France provided you don't use it at train stations, rural gas stations, etc. that call for a chip and pin card. I myself would not put any trust into using a Travelex card where a chip and pin card is required. Don't be surprised at a rural unmanned gas station and that Travelex card fails to work.

I was going to get the Travelex card for my upcoming trip and it is just too expensive. I only wanted to put enough for gas and tolls. They require a minimum of 150€ and the exchange rate is terrible. I have driven on 3 previous trips with no problems and I will just take my chances with cash.

Other places for chip and pin cards :- Velib (Paris) and Boris' Bikes (Barclays Bicycles) (London) More and more Asda petrol stations in the UK have petrol stations which are completely unattended and only accept
chip and pin. Also some Tesco petrol stations are going unmanned at night and leaving the pay-at-the-pump facility on.

An update to my earlier reply.... I bought tickets yesterday at the DB office in Berlin, and they DID accept the older magnetic stripe credit cards. I asked the Agent if would prefer a Chip card and she said "it does't matter".

Any automated system in Europe is likely to require chip & pin, and such systems are spreading. They provide better security and reduced staffing costs. If you want to pay for parking with a credit card, you will need a chip and pin card.