How do Americans use Velib in Paris?

We tried last summer, no luck. As we understand it, you have to have a French bank card to get them to work.

What you can try to do is purchase a prepaid Visa or MC debit card once you're in Europe. The ones you purchase over there have the chip in them. In Holland you can purchase these cards at the ticket windows at any train station. I don't know if they are sold at the stations in France. Some other places that might sell them in France include banks or currency exchange places like Travelex.

I may have found an answer to the problem: I've just gotten confirmation over the telephone from AMEX that their Blue card has the chip. As I once had such an account and it's now dormant, I've reopened it and will attempt to use the card to rent a couple of bikes when in Paris around the first of April.

I'll post the results.

Tom

I used My Amex Delta Reserve card successfuly this past Summer.

I will admit that biking in Paris without a helmet was a little unnerving, but it was fun.

I think I was charged a token charge of 1 Euro or something like that.

Pretty easy!

Looks like it will work! Good News!

Well Rats.... I've had my question out there for a couple of days now, and it looks like we Americans with our chipless credit cards are out in the cold. Michael's suggestion probably is feasible, but when a 150 Euro deposit is required for what is designed to be a 1 euro daily rental (and I need two bikes), well.. I just don't think I want to rent a bike bad enough to go that route.

I share your concern. I am taking 5 family members to Paris this spring and I want to rent bikes. I talked to a friend from England and he suggested that I contact a french bank with a US branch and open an account in Euros to get a french credit card and protection from a falling dollar (like last year). I'll let you know what happens within the next couple of weeks.