I got a Chip & Pin credit card!

You can also apply for the BA card online: http://tinyurl.com/87x4agv

The key for those reading this thread is to understand that chip and pin cards are NOT required in Europe. As Deborah notes, they are helpful for tolls, gas stations and un-manned ticket kiosks. But few American tourists will encounter such needs. For normal point-of-sale, hotel and restaurant use, a regular magnetic strip card works just fine. No need to open a new account or pay hefty fees.

Thanks Deborah! Really good to know. We would have loved to rent the Velib bikes in Paris but couldn't without a chip & pin card.

Susan: You can rent velib bikes online without a puce in your card. Not as straightforward, perhaps, but feasible.

Adam, perhaps you could enlighten us - how is that done? And "puce in your card"?

Thanks Adam, I'll try to find the website and check it out. But if you want to explain it a bit that would be great too.

There's a better chip-and-PIN card offered by Andrews Credit Union in MarylandNO annual fees, 1% transaction fee, and only $5 to open a CU account. It's called the GlobeTrek Visa. When you join the credit union, there is a link to the American Consumer Council, which you must also join to qualify for credit union membership. The CU even has toll-free numbers you can call in Europe to reach the credit union in the States. http://www.andrewsfcu.org/page.php?page=553 While my US credit card worked for live transactions in France last year, I couldn't buy gas in rural areas and on Sundays at automated stations. I swore that I'd get a chip-and-PIN card for the next time I drove there. I agree with other posters that you don't HAVE to have one, especially if you aren't driving, but it sure is convenient.

Just a note to let everyone know you do not really need to get a chip and pin to drive around France. we are photographers and go almost every year to France and go for a month or two.We were just there in October and November. On the tollroads..go to the lane with the green arrow. Usually there is someone there, but if not there is a sloT that will light up.. Stick in your ticket, the amount you owe will come up and coins. you can even get a recu... A receipt for tax purposes. There is even a high and low place to enter ticket in case you are tall or in a truck. We keep change in a ziplock bag and use it on the tollroads. Also, there is noroblem getting gas.....really.The autoroute is always a place to get gas. If you are paying cash instead of a card then go to the middle by the booth. if the booth is unmanned, there is a sign saying go inside the cafeteria or boutique as they call the store and pay there. no problem at all.We also get gas at the big groceries......there are lots of them . Again if the person is not on the booth usually there is a sign that says to go inside. We always get money from the ATM and even way out in the countryside they will let you fill up and pay cash. Believe me, we go to the smallest of villlages all over France and did so for 2 months. Aslong as you have some cash and change you will have no problems.

"Puce" ("flea") is what the French call the chip in the card. A friend was in Paris recently, flealess. She rented velibs for her whole family by reserving online using her regular credit card. Got a PIN number to use at the kiosk. I think the PIN was good at any kiosk, but maybe not. I also think it was one PIN per bike. The purpose of the credit card, of course, is as collateral against theft or loss or damage. A regular credit card does that too, but only online.

I've found it's not quite as easy to get by without a chip and pin in France as Jane says. And it's getting harder. Some gas stations just don't have an attendant at all, and there is no way to pay inside. Last time I was there I ran into problems when I tried to gas up on the way to the airport on a Sunday morning. I wound up having to return the car with half a tank and pay the exhorbitant rental fees. And you can't buy a ticket at a train kiosk, but have to wait in the sometimes-long line inside. None of this is insurmountable, but it's easier to have a chip and pin.

If you haven't seen this, Both Visa and Mastercard have introduced a roadmap for migration to the EMV chip in the U.S. http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/mastercard-introduces-u-s-roadmap-to-enable-next-generation-of-electronic-payments/ http://www.paymentsnews.com/2011/08/visa-rolls-out-emv-roadmap-for-us.html It is still a few years down the road before everything will be converted.

This forum has been down this road so many times. It's good news that we can now get a chip and pin card instead of having to search for manned gas stations, hoping the underground parking will take coins, scrounging for coins in the bottom of the purse to buy metro tickets, etc. We solved the autoroute problem by getting a LiberT pass that goes right onto our AmEx, but the rest can be nerve wracking.

It's great that the U.S. card issuers are finally "getting with the program". At least there's light at the end of the tunnel!

I picked up a J.P. Morgan Card (Chip + Signature) last fall just for the reasons noted above. Unfortunately I found that the card did not work in Portugal from tasks as basic as buying a tram ticket to go from the airport in Porto to downtown and buying a train ticket for travel within the country, to even of all places, McDonald's! I don't know if the issue was with the card (Chip + Signature vs. Chip + PIN), or as some locals said to me, that they only accepted cards from Portuguese banks, I just know that it didn't work. So while you may be able to get by relying on just one source of payment, its best to have as many alternatives at your command (Cash/Change, Credit Card, ATM Card, and Chip Credit Card) to handle situations as they arise.

Looks like the US is coming along pretty quickly: "April 2013 as the date by which its U.S. acquirer processors and sub-processor service providers must support merchant transactions using chip-based cards." Then entire article: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399772,00.asp Now, this just means that merchants must have the processors to take the chip&pin cards, not that all cards will be issued with them. But I imagine they'll all switch over quickly.