Credit Cards

Don't stress about it. Any merchant that deals with tourists on a regular basis has the hardware to read magnetic strip cards. The only problem you'll encounter will be at the ticket machines in the train stations. In the case, the ticket windows will accept strip cards.

This question is getting asked a LOT lately here. As I posted elsewhere, just last month I used my regular credit card to buy train tickets at the machines in Rome, Verona, Padova and Venice without any problems.

Thanks for the heads up. I was pretty sure my normal credit cards would work as normal. seeing's how it did two years ago but just wanted the reassurance. Love this site for great help everytime I ask a question and Nobody say's my questions are dumb. HA! HA! Russ

The question isn't dumb but not doing a little search here isn't the brightest idea either. Unless you are financing your trip on credit cards, I'd opt for a fee free debit card and use cash. The exchange on credit cards is probably gonna cost you more.

Its not easy to search the site and most thread titles are less than informative. We're getting this question all the time because these travel articles are really, really misinformed. I just want to scream because they are leaving people with this wild idea that their credit cards won't work in Europe and nothing is further from reality. Whether someone gets a better financial deal using cash from the ATM or credit cards really depends on each individual's accounts. Some cards - like Capital One - are good deals with no foreign transaction fees and some banks offer low fees/charges from foreign ATM's. Other not so much so each person should research their own accounts and make the best decision.

Russ, Just to clarify, they aren't "switching to a card with "chip and pin", the "switch" has been going on for some time and is mostly complete. You likely won't have any problems using your magnetic stripe credit cards at Hotels, restaurants or staffed ticket offices. You may have problems with automated devices such as fuel pumps, ticket Kiosks, etc. When I was in Italy last year, I had no problems with the ticket machines at Termini or FCO. Although I have "chip & PIN" cards, the machines processed the transaction only using the magnetic stripe (it didn't request a PIN). I'll be interested to see whether there have been any changes since then. Cheers!

You'll be fine. Do be sure to use a credit card that doesn't charge international fees. We use a Capital One credit card and we have a Capital One money market account set up for ATM use. Neither one charges any international fees. But there are other companies that also provide similar services if you don't want to use Capital One. Try a credit union. Also, the train ticket machines also accept cash, so that's an additional option. You just feed in the euro notes as needed.

Had no trouble using a Visa card. So much for "don't leave home without it " American Express. Lost our Capital One card which was easy to replace. In the meantime, the American Express card was NOT accepted in most of Ttuscany and some places in the big cities. There are a few places that did not accept credit cards.

I just got back and had no problem. Capital One worked well with no international fees!

We just got back yesterday from 2 weeks. Automatic ticket machines were great and used my strip, not chip Visa card. We also used that card other places. The main problem is that they don't WANT you to use your card. All of our hotels,RS recommended, wanted cash or gave a significant discount for cash. Most of the museums we visited would not accept credit cards, cash only. I would recommend,personally, taking a fair amount of Euros with you and keep a reserve. I used both a neck wallet and a belt wallet, no problems. If you are a AAA member that may be a good place to start checking for Euros. If you live near a University or college, put a note on their bulletin board and buy Euros from folks who have been overseas and brought some back. No fees there.