Using American Credit Cards in Europe??? - GoFuckYourself.com

jeffrey · 08-09-2007, 10:54 PM

Heading to Europe next week, and curious about using my credit cards.
Some people have said that I wont be able to use my credit cards for in store purchases because Europe uses some chip and a pin on their cards that american cards dont have.
I've tried calling my credit cards, but the people in India have no idea, and keep just saying if a store doesnt take it I can get money from a machine.

Anyways, I am headed to England, Belgium, France, Ireland, and Spain. Anyone have experiance with American credit cards in these countries?

Thanks

who · 08-09-2007, 10:58 PM

You'll be fine if you use VISA or any kind of VISA ELECTRON card.

jeffrey · 08-09-2007, 11:11 PM

Even thought my visa doesnt have any kind of chip on it?

Masterchief · 08-09-2007, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by who

You'll be fine if you use VISA or any kind of VISA ELECTRON card.

not true. i have a bmw credit card for instance and they only allow usage inside of the US (for me at least...learned the hard way). then some of my other cards charge a 3% fee for any purchases made outside the country.

i recommend calling your CC company to verify things for sure. it depends from bank to bank. but anyway, always bring enough cash so that if by some crazy coincidence all of your credit cards stop working you wont be completely fucked

jeffrey · 08-09-2007, 11:18 PM

I know there is a 3% fee for converting the currancy. And I know it will work in bank machines over there.
3% is cheaper then having large amounts of cash stolen or lost though.

Just in England in particular I was told without a chip and pin that I can not make a purchase with the card.

aico · 08-09-2007, 11:20 PM

ask your bank....

Shoehorn! · 08-09-2007, 11:21 PM

I've used my card all over Europe without a problem.

jeffrey · 08-09-2007, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoehorn!

I've used my card all over Europe without a problem.

What card?

I would like to use my MasterCard if I can.

LiveDose · 08-09-2007, 11:36 PM

I used my cards in Paris all over the place, shopping, restaurants. NP.

donnie · 08-09-2007, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffrey

Heading to Europe next week, and curious about using my credit cards.
Some people have said that I wont be able to use my credit cards for in store purchases because Europe uses some chip and a pin on their cards that american cards dont have.
I've tried calling my credit cards, but the people in India have no idea, and keep just saying if a store doesnt take it I can get money from a machine.

Anyways, I am headed to England, Belgium, France, Ireland, and Spain. Anyone have experiance with American credit cards in these countries?

Thanks

You will be fine if you can provide a valid passport when trying to make a purchase. You use either your pin OR provide a valid ID-card (in your case your passport) and sign the receipt

rowan · 08-09-2007, 11:47 PM

If you're having no luck with the indian call centres then consider notifying your bank in writing, so they won't ring the alarm bells when you suddenly make a purchase half a world away from your home address. My bank suspended my card when I signed up at a new web hosting company, even though I've been making USD purchases for years (I'm in Australia). I received the letter notifying me of the suspension 10 days later!

In my case it was just annoying (and I was lucky that no automated charges were attempted whilst it was suspended), but if you're on the other side of the world and something like this happens it could be considerably more inconvenient for you.

heymatty · 08-09-2007, 11:51 PM

Chip and pin only applies to UK cards. If they don't see the chip, they just swipe it and then it goes through the normal approval process.

RevDennis · 08-10-2007, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffrey

What card?

I would like to use my MasterCard if I can.

No problem! maybe only in France you need a pincode, but not everywhere.

v4 media · 08-10-2007, 08:15 AM

Spains fine, no chip n pin here

riabanana · 08-10-2007, 08:52 AM

I survived in Prague with my Mastercard, and mine doesn't have a chip so they just swiped it. But I'm not pretty sure if the Czech Republic is part of EU. I also used my card in Sweden and it ain't part of EU.

Nathan · 08-10-2007, 08:56 AM

Cards which DO have a pin and a chip can not be swiped in ALL cases, they can still be sometimes. Restaurants for example always just swipe it, even if it has a pin. At least the ones I go to.

In a store, if the card has a chip, you will require putting it in most likely.

In hotels it is so so... I was in switzerland with my belgian card once, it has a chip and a pin. They tried with pin first, I just do not have it for that particular card since I usually never use it to buy things, and they just swiped it instead and it worked fine.

So I doubt you will have a problem.

psili · 08-10-2007, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffrey

I know there is a 3% fee for converting the currancy. And I know it will work in bank machines over there.
3% is cheaper then having large amounts of cash stolen or lost though.

Just in England in particular I was told without a chip and pin that I can not make a purchase with the card.

I used my regular visa and mastercard just fine in England. Only issue I had was that my wife and I have "CID" written on the back of our cards. We constantly had issues explaining what that meant when the person looking at our driver's license couldn't match "CID" to our real names.

KRosh · 08-10-2007, 09:55 AM

You will not have a problem using your US Master Card in any of those countries.

The chip and the pin are for local cards issued by the bank within that country.

If you go to some small far off town or tiny village you might not be able to use your CC. In that case make sure to go to an ATM and withdraw money

- if you get 300 euro for instance the charges from your bank are less than the 3% you pay the CC for the exchange

- Have fun!

Peaches · 08-10-2007, 10:04 AM

Be sure and call your CC company and let them know you'll be traveling. In 72 hours I used one card (the one that gets discounts on travel

) in Georgia, California, Mexico, London and Ireland and they put a hold on my card until I called them from Ireland to let them know it was really me. They said that the best thing to do is let them know whenever I was leaving the country.

I used other cards in Europe and didn't have any problems - Visa and MC. Never tried getting cash though - not sure how that would work.

TubeTitans_SusieQ · 08-10-2007, 10:05 AM

I just got back from my Europe vacation last year, I don't know how it is now, but I was able to use my credit cards there just fine, AND it paid off even more because my credit card converted the money to the least amount for Euro's and zloty.

DutchTeenCash · 08-10-2007, 10:07 AM

No problem at all, just realize that some US banks charge huge fees esp taking cash from an ATM

JakeR · 08-10-2007, 10:07 AM

I spent 4 months in europe last year, was all over the place, never had a problem using a mc or visa, amex was a problem tho

mineistaken · 08-10-2007, 10:13 AM

100 percent no problem with any VIsa or mastercard CC
Have a good trip

pornguy · 08-10-2007, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowan

If you're having no luck with the indian call centres then consider notifying your bank in writing, so they won't ring the alarm bells when you suddenly make a purchase half a world away from your home address. My bank suspended my card when I signed up at a new web hosting company, even though I've been making USD purchases for years (I'm in Australia). I received the letter notifying me of the suspension 10 days later!

In my case it was just annoying (and I was lucky that no automated charges were attempted whilst it was suspended), but if you're on the other side of the world and something like this happens it could be considerably more inconvenient for you.

The problem with that, is it is not always the bank that has control over it. I am in mexico and on a regular basis, my debt card is denied at the register but has no issue with the atm machine. I have called the bank, they say to call Falcon, the security company, and Falcon says to call the bank. Neither one of them say that they can make a note on the account about me being outside the country.

Star 69 · 08-10-2007, 10:22 AM

I think with VISA or Mastercard you will be fine. Anyway call your bank

Evil E · 08-10-2007, 10:23 AM

have a nice trip!

Calvinguy · 08-10-2007, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riabanana

But I'm not pretty sure if the Czech Republic is part of EU. I also used my card in Sweden and it ain't part of EU.

Dude... leave the drugs

rowan · 08-10-2007, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pornguy

The problem with that, is it is not always the bank that has control over it. I am in mexico and on a regular basis, my debt card is denied at the register but has no issue with the atm machine. I have called the bank, they say to call Falcon, the security company, and Falcon says to call the bank. Neither one of them say that they can make a note on the account about me being outside the country.

The ads for Falcon in Australia show a geeky nerd reporting to his supervisor that he noticed a fraudulent transaction, reversed it, cancelled the card account and shipped a new one to the customer.

Yeah, I'd imagine the customer would be ecstatic to know that their card no longer worked, and it would take the best part of a week to receive a new one.....

Loch · 08-10-2007, 05:28 PM

i just love questions like this LOOOOL

DaLord · 08-10-2007, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffrey

What card?

I would like to use my MasterCard if I can.

I still haven't seen a country in Europe that didn't take MC. I think you'll be fine.
If you have a problem in Europe you can always go into a back and ask for help. They are very helpful.

directfiesta · 08-10-2007, 07:05 PM

First of all, you say you are in Alberta, so you don't have " american" credit card ... ( let's not get into Canada is in America; we all know that, aside from our neighboors ).

Secondly, your cards will work just like here . Alot of cards in France and Italy are in fact debit cards with visa , so this is why they enter a pin.

DateDoc · 08-10-2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffrey

I know there is a 3% fee for converting the currancy. And I know it will work in bank machines over there.
3% is cheaper then having large amounts of cash stolen or lost though.

Just in England in particular I was told without a chip and pin that I can not make a purchase with the card.

go to your local AmEx office and get a prepaid credit card to use in Europe. It will be cheaper than using your regular credit cards.

uno · 08-10-2007, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoehorn!

I've used my card all over Europe without a problem.

Me too. Visa and MC work fine. Discover will probably only work in the UK.

react · 08-10-2007, 08:53 PM

I had problems in the UK and France trying to buy train tickets from automated machines with both my Visa and MC. Seems they require the smart-card chipped CCs.

The only other problem I had was with one of my banks putting holds on my card for fraud protection purposes. Make sure you call them ahead of time and let them know where you are going to be to try and minimise this.

Petra · 08-10-2007, 11:32 PM

My only experiences with CCs is Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France...so I hope this helps.

I found out in May when my mother came to visit that the Netherlands is pretty CC unfriendly. However, she didn't have a hard time at all in Belgium. Most of the little shops will take CC, though they prefer cash/pin. Not sure about the public transport system since we bought the train tickets to Antwerp here in the NL.

France, well, I just experienced that last month on holiday. Now, I didn't go to Paris or any of the huge cities in France...I was camping. You can pay for meals at the bigger places with CC, the French toll roads, the bigger grocery stores and shops, and for really expensive items with a CC. Most castles/museums will only take cash and the smaller towns and villages will only take cash. And make sure you have plenty of cash because you can not depend on there being a pin/atm machine in every location...bigger cities may have all their atms in one spot in the center of the city. Oh, and the smaller towns tend to only have one atm and if it's down count on it being down for the whole providence. (we drove to 10 towns before finding one that had 6 atms all within 10 meters of each other...)

OH...and be sure to call your CC company and let them know you're going to Europe so they don't think your CC has been stolen when you start making purchases there. And as a side note, you might want to call your health insurance to see what your international coverage is. My mother called hers for the heck of it and found out everything is covered over here if something were to happen.

Have fun on your trip. ;-)

V_RocKs · 08-11-2007, 12:16 AM

As a back up I would leave some cash on the Epassporte. I know a shitload of webmasters from the UK to Croatia that have no problems getting cash from ATM's.

08-09-2007, 10:54 PM	#1
jeffrey Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Alberta Posts: 1,864	Using American Credit Cards in Europe??? Heading to Europe next week, and curious about using my credit cards. Some people have said that I wont be able to use my credit cards for in store purchases because Europe uses some chip and a pin on their cards that american cards dont have. I've tried calling my credit cards, but the people in India have no idea, and keep just saying if a store doesnt take it I can get money from a machine. Anyways, I am headed to England, Belgium, France, Ireland, and Spain. Anyone have experiance with American credit cards in these countries? Thanks __________________ Coming Soon!

08-09-2007, 11:11 PM	#3
jeffrey Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Alberta Posts: 1,864	Even thought my visa doesnt have any kind of chip on it? __________________ Coming Soon!

08-09-2007, 11:18 PM	#5
jeffrey Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Alberta Posts: 1,864	I know there is a 3% fee for converting the currancy. And I know it will work in bank machines over there. 3% is cheaper then having large amounts of cash stolen or lost though. Just in England in particular I was told without a chip and pin that I can not make a purchase with the card. __________________ Coming Soon!

08-09-2007, 11:21 PM	#7
Shoehorn! Die With Your Boots On Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hawaii Posts: 22,872	I've used my card all over Europe without a problem. __________________

08-09-2007, 11:36 PM	#9
LiveDose Show Yer Tits! Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Somewhere Out there... Posts: 25,792	I used my cards in Paris all over the place, shopping, restaurants. NP. __________________ Scammer Alert: acer19 acer [email protected] [email protected] Money stolen using PayPal

08-09-2007, 10:58 PM	#2
who So Fucking Banned Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ICQ #23642053 Posts: 19,593	You'll be fine if you use VISA or any kind of VISA ELECTRON card.

08-09-2007, 11:20 PM	#6
aico Moo Moo Cow Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 14,748	ask your bank....

08-09-2007, 11:47 PM	#11
rowan Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 17,393	If you're having no luck with the indian call centres then consider notifying your bank in writing, so they won't ring the alarm bells when you suddenly make a purchase half a world away from your home address. My bank suspended my card when I signed up at a new web hosting company, even though I've been making USD purchases for years (I'm in Australia). I received the letter notifying me of the suspension 10 days later! In my case it was just annoying (and I was lucky that no automated charges were attempted whilst it was suspended), but if you're on the other side of the world and something like this happens it could be considerably more inconvenient for you.

08-09-2007, 11:51 PM	#12
heymatty Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Scottsdale :) Posts: 2,188	Chip and pin only applies to UK cards. If they don't see the chip, they just swipe it and then it goes through the normal approval process. __________________ Cashlantis ~ Black Book Cash

08-10-2007, 08:15 AM	#14
v4 media Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Spain Posts: 2,934	Spains fine, no chip n pin here

08-10-2007, 08:52 AM	#15
riabanana Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 313	I survived in Prague with my Mastercard, and mine doesn't have a chip so they just swiped it. But I'm not pretty sure if the Czech Republic is part of EU. I also used my card in Sweden and it ain't part of EU. __________________ Vibrators, dildos, cock rings and all other sex toys? We've got them ALL for you. http://venustoys.com

08-10-2007, 08:56 AM	#16
Nathan Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 3,108	Cards which DO have a pin and a chip can not be swiped in ALL cases, they can still be sometimes. Restaurants for example always just swipe it, even if it has a pin. At least the ones I go to. In a store, if the card has a chip, you will require putting it in most likely. In hotels it is so so... I was in switzerland with my belgian card once, it has a chip and a pin. They tried with pin first, I just do not have it for that particular card since I usually never use it to buy things, and they just swiped it instead and it worked fine. So I doubt you will have a problem. __________________ "Think about it a little more and you'll agree with me, because you're smart and I'm right." - Charlie Munger

08-10-2007, 09:55 AM	#18
KRosh So Fucking Outlawed Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 5,114	You will not have a problem using your US Master Card in any of those countries. The chip and the pin are for local cards issued by the bank within that country. If you go to some small far off town or tiny village you might not be able to use your CC. In that case make sure to go to an ATM and withdraw money - if you get 300 euro for instance the charges from your bank are less than the 3% you pay the CC for the exchange - Have fun! __________________ ICQ 115433750

08-10-2007, 10:04 AM	#19
Peaches Old broad Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Away Posts: 13,933	Be sure and call your CC company and let them know you'll be traveling. In 72 hours I used one card (the one that gets discounts on travel ) in Georgia, California, Mexico, London and Ireland and they put a hold on my card until I called them from Ireland to let them know it was really me. They said that the best thing to do is let them know whenever I was leaving the country. I used other cards in Europe and didn't have any problems - Visa and MC. Never tried getting cash though - not sure how that would work.

08-10-2007, 10:05 AM	#20
TubeTitans_SusieQ Confirmed User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sunny Florida Posts: 3,884	I just got back from my Europe vacation last year, I don't know how it is now, but I was able to use my credit cards there just fine, AND it paid off even more because my credit card converted the money to the least amount for Euro's and zloty. __________________ Make $40 on Every FREE Lifetime Registration ICQ: 370399852

08-10-2007, 10:07 AM	#21
DutchTeenCash I like Dutch Girls Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: dutchteencash.com Posts: 21,684	No problem at all, just realize that some US banks charge huge fees esp taking cash from an ATM __________________ ICQ 16 91 547 - SKYPE dutchteencash bob AT dutchteencash DOT com ... did you see our newest Sweet Natural Girl Priscilla (18)?

08-10-2007, 10:07 AM	#22
JakeR Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: il and nc Posts: 1,760	I spent 4 months in europe last year, was all over the place, never had a problem using a mc or visa, amex was a problem tho __________________ Adult Merchant Accounts & Chargeback Management Solutions Domestic & Offshore icq: 152-058-005

08-10-2007, 10:13 AM	#23
mineistaken See signature :) Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: ICQ 363 097 773 Posts: 29,656	100 percent no problem with any VIsa or mastercard CC Have a good trip

08-10-2007, 10:22 AM	#25
Star 69 Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Russia Posts: 8,602	I think with VISA or Mastercard you will be fine. Anyway call your bank __________________ e-mail star69

08-10-2007, 10:23 AM	#26
Evil E Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Lazyness is a lifestyle Posts: 3,201	have a nice trip! __________________ A girl once told me "Give me 8 inches and make it HURT". So, I fucked her twice and hit her with a brick.

08-10-2007, 05:28 PM	#29
Loch Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 7,674	i just love questions like this LOOOOL __________________ Contact us for Beta store access (4000 HD/SD productions) - Editing - Encoding/Post production ICQ - 277 862 930 E-mail casper /@/ cool-content.com

08-10-2007, 07:05 PM	#31
directfiesta Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 29,628	First of all, you say you are in Alberta, so you don't have " american" credit card ... ( let's not get into Canada is in America; we all know that, aside from our neighboors ). Secondly, your cards will work just like here . Alot of cards in France and Italy are in fact debit cards with visa , so this is why they enter a pin. __________________ I know that Asspimple is stoopid ... As he says, it is a FACT ! But I can't figure out how he can breathe or type , at the same time ....

08-10-2007, 08:53 PM	#34
react Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NZ Posts: 673	I had problems in the UK and France trying to buy train tickets from automated machines with both my Visa and MC. Seems they require the smart-card chipped CCs. The only other problem I had was with one of my banks putting holds on my card for fraud protection purposes. Make sure you call them ahead of time and let them know where you are going to be to try and minimise this. __________________ -- react

08-10-2007, 11:32 PM	#35
Petra Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 515	My only experiences with CCs is Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France...so I hope this helps. I found out in May when my mother came to visit that the Netherlands is pretty CC unfriendly. However, she didn't have a hard time at all in Belgium. Most of the little shops will take CC, though they prefer cash/pin. Not sure about the public transport system since we bought the train tickets to Antwerp here in the NL. France, well, I just experienced that last month on holiday. Now, I didn't go to Paris or any of the huge cities in France...I was camping. You can pay for meals at the bigger places with CC, the French toll roads, the bigger grocery stores and shops, and for really expensive items with a CC. Most castles/museums will only take cash and the smaller towns and villages will only take cash. And make sure you have plenty of cash because you can not depend on there being a pin/atm machine in every location...bigger cities may have all their atms in one spot in the center of the city. Oh, and the smaller towns tend to only have one atm and if it's down count on it being down for the whole providence. (we drove to 10 towns before finding one that had 6 atms all within 10 meters of each other...) OH...and be sure to call your CC company and let them know you're going to Europe so they don't think your CC has been stolen when you start making purchases there. And as a side note, you might want to call your health insurance to see what your international coverage is. My mother called hers for the heck of it and found out everything is covered over here if something were to happen. Have fun on your trip. ;-) __________________ SKYPE - petra.ann Email - [email protected] Last edited by Petra; 08-10-2007 at 11:34 PM..

08-11-2007, 12:16 AM	#36
V_RocKs Damn Right I Kiss Ass! Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Cowtown, USA Posts: 32,409	As a back up I would leave some cash on the Epassporte. I know a shitload of webmasters from the UK to Croatia that have no problems getting cash from ATM's.