Credit cards in Europe

[Anonymous]

Besides the Paris bike rentals, the other place we ran into trouble w/ the non-chip card was trying to get gas at unmanned pumps on a Sunday. Alot of stations are unmanned on Sundays and you could just pay w/ a credit card, but the pumps did not take our card. Or, just be aware of this and fill up on Saturday. We finally found an open station in the middle of a town, but it was a bit stressful. Also, make sure you have cash to pay tolls b/c I don't think non-chip cards work in toll booths, and many are also unattended.

[naomibatac]

AMEX is accepted in hotels and shops at the tourist areas. However, Visa or MasterCard is preferred in other places. I understand the microchips thing is not a concern anymore. http://www.creditcardshelplines.com/

[Anonymous]

Visa and MC are definitely widely accepted but call your bank to find out what % their per transaction fee is. Wells Fargo was between 2-5%. We did cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Besides the Paris bike rentals, the other place we ran into trouble w/ the non-chip card was trying to get gas at unmanned pumps on a Sunday. Alot of stations are unmanned on Sundays and you could just pay w/ a credit card, but the pumps did not take our card. Or, just be aware of this and fill up on Saturday. We finally found an open station in the middle of a town, but it was a bit stressful. Also, make sure you have cash to pay tolls b/c I don't think non-chip cards work in toll booths, and many are also unattended.

Just got back from a long trip in France and Belgium. We used a Cap One visa, no chip. The only issue we had was unmanned gas stations on Sunday. We had zero issues using our card an unamnned toll stations on pay highways--it worked fine. Major roads with rest areas are manned on Sunday, so we bought gas fine there, too. Had no problems in restaurants, hotels, etc.

[naomibatac]

Any credit card of Visa or MasterCard are accepted in Europe. You may also want to consider prepaid credit cards that are ready with the chips system.

[Anonymous]

I called my Visa card customer service before I left to make sure they knew I would be in France. I had no trouble paying with it. I also had a debit card with me, since it has a PIN and I used it to get money at ATMs. I also used an amex card sometimes. I had no trouble at all. However, a relative had trouble with a Visa card when buying a train ticket, and that was with a person. Not sure what the problem was, but she ended up paying with cash.