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| From Singh Around The World |
"Here's a typical situation: You're ready to buy your RER ticket to get in from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. You line up behind your fellow travelers at the boxy ticket machines and watch them effortlessly touch-screen their way through their purchases. You step up, follow the onscreen instructions in English, insert your credit card and..."CARTE NON LUE"Hmmm. It didn't read the card? The machine spits the card back out (in slowmo). You reach for another card and..."CARTE NON LUE"(pause for suspense, and then, in red letters)"TRANSACTION ANNULÉ"No matter how many times you try, it won't work. Hopefully you have cash (and coins, too, if your machine doesn't accept bills). If not, you'll probably be spending the next hour waiting in a line in the ticket office behind travelers hearing about all of their TGV options.Ironically, your card will work in the ticket office. So why the rejection?"
The reason for the "rejection" is that Europe switched to a Chip & Pin system. A Chip & Pin card has a small computer chip in the card and requires a pin to complete the purchase. Why can you use your magnetic card in stores, but not at machines? The reason can be simplified that the "PIN" becomes the verification in absence of the signature.
Meyers suggestion is less than be desirable:
"My advice is to be prepared for your card to be declined anytime you try to pay at a kiosk or machine. Bring cash. Have coins ready. And be prepared to wait."Really? Use cash and coins? That's not really a solution.
Here's my solution, get a Chip and Pin credit card. And don't believe what Meyer's says:
"While there are a few American credit cards that now offer the chip-and-PIN technology, most seem to be for high rolling corporate business travelers, and the banks charge dearly for it."American chip and pin credit cards are becoming more and more available for all and not just rich corporate business travelers. However, you need to do some research before getting chip and pin card. At the moment, there are two types of chip credit cards floating around: 1) Chip and Pin and 2) Chip and Signature. Credit card companies are advertising the cards as one in the same.
The two are not the same. Chip and Signature credit cards have been reported to not to work in machines in Europe. The reason for them not working is the card has no pin to authorize the transaction. Therefore, when you must ask if the card is a "chip and pin" card.
Two years ago, the hottest credit card was the Chase British Airways Visa. The card was one of the first offered widely to Americans with a chip offered to it.
What does this mean for Americans?
First, call your credit card company to see if any of your current credit cards can be upgrade to one with Chip and Pin technology. Many of the major credit card companies offer this service upon request.
Next, if applying for a credit advertising "Pin" technology, ask questions about which type of "pin" technology the card offers: chip & signature or chip & pin.
Finally, do research online about which credit card is best for traveling abroad. For instance, when we went to Canada, Cash Back Boy tried to use his Discover Card only to be turned down at every restaurant, bar, and attraction. A quick search online would have turned up that Discover's foot print in Canada is very small. He should have brought a different card.
A little bit of preparation before your trip to Europe, can allow you to catch that train!
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