Chip and Pin credit cards

Your card will not work in train ticket machines. This is only an issue if you are trying to purchase a train ticket in a station that has no manned window. Plan ahead.

My understanding is that even at manned ticket windows in the Netherlands, you need to use cash. They only accept chip & PIN credit cards. Correct me if I am wrong.

Occasionally a chip & signature card may work if the amount is under $50. Many cards are programed to automatically approved those transactions. But success depends on many factors: your card's settings, the validation settings for the terminal and the network system used by the terminal.

My wife and I were in Amsterdam late in May and were able to use our credit card, like yours with a chip but not a pin, at the manned ticket counter at Schiphol with a signature, and again to purchase metro tickets once we arrived at Centraal. We were able to do the same throughout Holland. There were also occasions where I was able to use my debit card with a PIN for transactions.

Schiphol airport station's staffed ticket windows have been known to be more US-card friendly (though we recently heard a report of problems there, too), but do plan to use cash at Amsterdam Centraal and other Dutch train stations, even at staffed ticket windows. Plan to get cash with your ATM/debit card and to use cash in many situations.

Mary,

As the others mentioned, many train stations (other than Schiphol) including Amsterdam Central require true Chip & PIN credit cards even at staffed ticket windows. Last time I was there, I watched a group from the U.S. wait patiently in the queue for 20 minutes or so, and when they got up to the window they were told they'd have to get cash and come back, which meant another 20 minutes in the queue. They had large hand written signs at each window warning customers about the cards, but I guess some people didn't bother to read the signs.

I just returned from Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris last week. Credit card is a chip and signature. Most places that accept cards we found were prepared to deal with chip and signature cards without a problem. We had problems really only at Schipol (machines and window) and one restaurant in Paris.