Credit cards in Italy

You should have no problems with using mag-strip credit cards in Italy.

Yes, you'll be able to use them practically everywhere. Maybe not to pump gas on your own at night, where there is no attendant. But Italian gas pumps accept cash too, so you won't be stranded.
Everywhere else magnetic stripe works.

Thank you both for the help, I appreciate it.

Incase you want a chip and pin card and not a signature card...kook at Andrews Federal Credit Union Globetrekker Card. I used the chip for my ticket machine train tickets. ,

I had trouble purchasing train tickets with debit/credit cards at the self-service machines in train stations, which I accounted to them not being chip-and-pin (although that may be incorrect). Using cash worked out just fine though! Just make sure you find a machine that takes cash (some do and some don't - they have a little symbol on them showing which forms of payment they take).

Thank you for the replies. Do you think the card I have will work ok in most generic situations (e.g hotels, gift shops, grocery stores)?

Yes it will.

For most cards, not all, it is cheaper to use a debit card to take a large amount of money out of an ATM, then pay cash for all but the largest transactions. Cash is wonderfully convenient.

As Southam says, it is often cheaper to withdraw cash via debit card and pay in cash rather than making many small international transactions. In addition, Italians use cash for nearly everything (groceries, shopping, restaurants and so on). I tend to only use my credit card for large purchases or hotels when in Italy - but it will function if you need it for other things!

Since it's your 1st trip to Italy, I'll alert you to a not-so-wonderful ploy engaged in by some merchants, restaurant owners, and even hoteliers. Despite displaying the credit card logos, they don't really want to accept them, whether for tax evasion purposes or so as not to pay the commission. When you offer the cc, you get an ever so "sincere" apology about the cc reader being broken. No alternative but cash. It's very annoying, especially at the end of your trip. If you have started to try to use up your cash before heading home, you have to run out to find an atm and get more.

I think it is a matter of personal preference and comfort. We have drifted to nearly a hundred percent cash including large hotel bills. Will used a credit card the last day or two when managing cash flow so that we return to the US with at least a hundred euro if not a bit more. We just find it far easier to use cash than worrying about acceptability of the credit card or credit card fraud. But you do have to be comfortable with carrying several hundred euro at one time. The only time we will used a credit card for a hotel bill is when we do not get a discount for paying in cash.

Be sure to get a receipt for the cash payment. One time several years ago we made a early cash payment at check-in for the room and did not get an immediate receipt. Ten minutes later in the room and I realized that I had forgotten to get the receipt. Went to the desk and received the receipt with no problem. A few days later when checking out, the question of our payment for the room came up. There was no record of our payment so I quickly produced the receipt, a few minutes of checking, received an apology for a mistake in recording the payment and we were on our way. Always wonder if it was truly a mistake since the desk clerk at check out was different than the desk clerk who took our cash on check in. Honest mistake or a little funny business? Will never know but it highlighted the need for a receipt when paying cash at a hotel in advance.