Unattended kiosks and credit cards

Since this is your first posting here, you don't realize that this subject has been frequently discussed and several different chip and pin cards have been recommended. If you had been here earlier you would have read about the problems with unattended kiosks and gas stations. But I am curious, how do you know that the Barclay's works like a charm if you just received the card? Or are you just a tout for Barclay's?

There was a time when German Rail experimented with a train ticket kiosk that only accepted cards. In 2008, I needed to purchase a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket from a Bahn automat in the FRA Regionalbahnhof, and it only accepted cards, but my strip card worked. More recently, they have abandoned that system and gone back to automats that accept cash as well.

Other than that incident, and once when I used a card-only automat when the line at the counter was long, I almost never use plastic cards in Germany. And I don't have to use gas stations or toll booths because I have found I can get anywhere I want to by public transportation and it's less expensive.

With some pre-planning there is no need to "get stuck". Carrying cash is one option. I purchased train tickets just fine at un-attended kiosks in Italy for train tickets using a Chip and Signature card, no problem. I purchased the day before our travel to make sure my card worked, if not I would have returned during hours that the station was manned to but my tickets with cash. Most Capital One Credits cards and chase Sapphire also do not charge a foreign transaction fee. I agree with the PP, this subject is discussed on many travel forums and should be known before you go.

Glad you're giddy about your new card. We've been discussing which cards do what for years. The Andrews Federal Credit Union card has worked for years around the globe with a chip and pin--has to--serves US government employees globally. No transaction fees either. I've used mine for the past four summers.

But I'm thoroughly confused on how your new card could be a life saver now. How do you know you won't get stuck? If you still have to sign in restaurants, it means you are in the US with a chip and signature card. Are you sure it will revert to a pin in Europe. Have you tried it? You sound like an ad.

Edit: thank you for answering my questions. Enjoy your trip.

Hello all,
I posted thus because the info i found after my challenging experience in October was not very helpful. Cash was no an option at many of the new unattended kiosks (the parking garage in Ghent and ine in Brussels) and certain metro stations in Barcelona as well as all of the unattended gas stations between Amsterdem and Brussels. l am back in Europe on anither trip and pleased to have a card that works with a pin at all the unattended kiosks. i just wanted to share the positive experience sunce it was such a contrast to the trip six weeks ago,

Well , I hate to pile on , but my reaction is the same as Frank and Bets - If you just obtained the card and you are stateside , how do you determine the card's efficacy in Europe ? My reaction is the same , this sounds like a plug for the card . What I am about to say in no way alters my judgment . I have a Barclay World MasterCard which I have used on my last two trips ( Autumn 2014 and 2015 ) , and in addition to my Andrews FCU cards ( I have two separate Andrews accounts ) They have all performed as expected . Evidently my judgment is based on first hand experience . One or two other points I would like to make - All of these cards come with anywhere from one to five or more CVM's ( card verification modes ) and depending on how they are programmed , they will default to a predetermined setting . My Andrews accounts and the Barclay card , as well , will default to a signature verification most of the time , The secondary mode ( in kiosks , parking garages , gas stations , etc . ) call for the PIN . One of the frequently raised complaints , in this regard is " I have a Chip card , but I still have to sign a receipt " That alone does not determine whether the card is Chip and signature , or Chip and Pin . I am not concerned with whether or not I have to sign , I am only interested in whether or not the card will function with a PIN when required . Out there on the internet there are resources which go into detail about which cards do have true PIN capability , Andrews does , and was one of the first ( now some of the Barclay products ) As far as " not getting stuck " , it is always wise to have adequate redundancy in that regard - multiple credit cards ( they don't take much space in my underclothes belt ) adequate currency ( both bills and coinage ) is the best approach . No matter how carefully you plan , no one size fits all .

I recently purchased train tickets in a kiosk in Budapest. The machine did take cash too so I did have an option. When I used my chip and signature card it asked me for my PIN. What the heck I thought, and I punched in 4 random numbers. It worked. I did the same thing about 6 years ago in Romania when a credit card machine insisted on a PIN despite the fact I had used an old swipe card. I told the girl I had no pin. She then typed in 4 random digits and the transaction went through. I am not saying this is something you should count on. Actually I might say this is something you should not count on working, but ...................

Wow, quite the snarky crowd here - so much for offering a positive experince about the situation in Europe as if october 2015 (not 2008) . I did try the random digits, that didn't work anywhere so I would not count on it, i did have plenty of cash but more and more unattended kiosks are becoming card only as of late 2015. i had lots if credit cards, but none worked in October and btw I'm back in Europe (just watched Barca beat Real Betis at Camp Nou) after having spent a week in Flims Laax Falera and I'll be back again in Obervellach and then Cortina in Februray so i'll report in from there.

I've also noticed that more Kiosks in Europe are becoming "card only". I have no idea whether they can still handle older magnetic strip cards, as all of my purchases at Kiosks in Italy in September were processed using Chip & PIN. For the most part, I found that only Kiosks that were adjacent to a staffed ticket office would accept Cash. Kiosks in unattended stations were "card only".

I mainly used a Bank of America chip & signature Visa card on my last trip to Europe. Worked fine at every chip card terminal I tried it at. Worked where I had to sign too. Even though it is not a PIN card, sometimes a PIN was asked for. I entered the cash advance PIN I was given and the card worked just fine. And, no, the PINed transactions were NOT treated as cash advances! I also entered random numbers on a couple and had mixed results on them being accepted. (The Bank of America Travel Visa has no fees of any kind, not even an annual fee, and gives points you can use to offset the cost of any travel related charge. Very nice benefit considering it costs absolutely zero to have it!)

As far as those cards you listed not working, did you ask the issuers why they would not work? If it was because the kiosks asked for a PIN and you simply did not enter one, then you don't know they really don't work. My Chase Visa, AmEx, and debit cards were all recently replaced with chip versions. They all worked perfectly well at all terminals I tried them at.

Glad this card works for you. Since I have no desire to fly AA and I have other cards that work just fine, not much value for me.

@dmartz, thanks for the report on your successful use of your new Barclays Aviator MC. Traveling by car in France two years ago we encountered unattended gas kiosks -- not fun if you're getting near Empty ! Just wish American banks had more faith in their customers' ability to remember a 4-digit PIN code (but since they still have to remind people not to write the PIN on the back of the card ...)

hi mark,
i did call my existing credit card companies (amex chase and citi) since they are all chip cards now and was told by each that they do not support pins at unattended kiosks.. i think current travellers will find that unattended kiosks with no cash option at petrol stations, parking garages and late night metro stations are becoming more and more common, so future travellers may want to pay attention to what their cards will and will not do. while the US sticks with an antiquated and insecure signature system (to save money and avoid buying new terminals) Europe is moving ahead with a more progressive infrastructure that makes traditional us cards obsolete.

Europe isn't exactly moving ahead with this system since it's been on chip and pin since the last century. What's changing is more unmanned kiosks and more young cashiers who've never swiped a magnetic strip.

I got an Andrews chip and PIN several years ago precisely because I encountered the problems the OP describes, and it's worked fine. Now I've started to receive chip cards from my other banks, but they're all chip and signature with no PIN.

I think the earlier criticism of the OP was unwarranted and continued even after he came back to explain that he has been using his new card with the secondary PIN successfully. And why the criticism of his post just because there have been other posts on the topic? This happens all the time and he came here to report his experiences and what has worked for him.

Credit card only machines and acceptance is a growing issue, especially in northern Europe and Scandinavia. Sweden is moving towards a cashless economy and rail stations in the Netherlands only accept credit cards with PINs (attended ticket windows accept cash but aren't always available in smaller stations). Saying that one should take public transportation and avoid gas stations and toll plazas is not helpful or useful advice. So it is an increasingly good idea to have a credit card with a secondary PIN validation (almost every US credit card will be chip and signature).

My Capital One CC has a chip but not secondary PIN. I recently struggled at the rail station in Delft because there is no ticket window and the change machine was out of order. Made it extremely difficult to buy a train ticket.

Renting a car brings with it a potential host of problems, getting a parking ticket, the problems incurred when paying for it, paying for gas by the liter, etc and unmanned kiosks and US credit cards is one of them too, if you're going to drive in France. That's why I don't use rental cars, even in Germany, don't want to be bothered/hassled by these problems. I got stuck like that once in 2011 outside of Perpignan on a week-end in the summer. Luckily one of us in the party remembered having a credit card tied to a French bank. We weren't desperate for gas but still cutting it close.

thanks Douglas,
I'm lucky to have been travelling to Europe quite a bit lately ( averaging two trips a year for the past four years ) visiting lots if different countries and this past October was the first time I was ever really challenged by money issues. My guess is that folks who haven't been to Europe recently might find that things have changed since their last visit - especially regarding the increased prevalence of unattended kiosks with no cash option - which is precisely why I added the post in the first place.

It seems as though the Andrews Card and the Barclay's Card are two known and proven options that can make American traveller's lives a little more relaxed.
Happy New Year from Barcelona !

dmartz,

Two trips a year - wow, you are indeed lucky!

The problems you've experienced will no doubt increase in frequency as the inexorable move towards only Chip & PIN technology continues. It's astounding that the U.S. banks keep offering excuses instead of getting with the program as most of the rest of the world has done, or offering half-baked compromises like "Chip & Signature".

yes, very fortunate to be invited to speak at a conference in the Netherlands 3 years in a row .. I've discovered that Schipol airport via KLM is the gateway to Europe: Sweden, Denmark, Prague and Croatia for only US $100-$150 added to each business trip has afforded me the opportunity to tag extensions on every time. With frequent flier miles I've added trips to Switzerland, Germany, Italy the UK and Spain (making all the business travel worthwhile)

Every credit card, chip or mag stripe, has a PIN. It is a cash advance PIN. This is what your card issuer will tell you when you ask for it and is why they don't give it to you unless you ask. This is the PIN I used on all of my chip & signature cards issued to me. This is what worked at unmanned kiosks for me. And none of the transactions were treated as a cash advance when I got the bills from all of the card companies I listed earlier.

Ask for a PIN for your chip & signature credit card. Use it at unattended kiosks in Europe. What have you got to lose? Just don't use it at an ATM unless you intend to do a cash advance and pay the related fees!