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Old 08-20-2015, 10:40 AM   #41
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Most US issued chip and PIN cards will never work with PIN in a restaurant or any attended site. They always revert to signature.

In Paris, I've read that US cards are accepted to buy metro tickets at the airport kiosks, but nowhere else in Paris.

I had no problem using Chip and PIN at Vienna Metro kiosks. Others have succeeded with Amsterdam metro kiosks. Deutsch Bahn, on the other hand did not accept my card at the Munich train station, and it was probably that they don't accept foreign issued cards there. This is a common problem and really depends on location and company.
We used the chip/pin card at Gare du Nord upon arrival in Paris. It worked.

Our apartment was near the Jussseu station in Paris - we defiitely purchased 10 packs of metro tickets as well as r/t tickets to Versailles at that station... not at the airport.

I think the key is chip and pin, vs signature.

And I totally agree - if there is an attendant (such as at a restaurant or grocery store) it will default to signature. The only places it asked for pins have been non-attended machines like buying transpo tickets at a machine or buying tickets from the machine at the Berlin Dome.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:35 AM   #42
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There are several factors to consider. How your card was coded. As noted, in most cases, US cards use signature when possible.

Some kiosks won't allow any foreign cards.

And other kiosks will let you use non chip and PIN below a certain amount. Pretty sure I was able to buy Mobilis day tickets on the metro at kiosks with my chip and signature repeatedly.

Where the Barclay's Arrival Plus card worked for me was at an unattended gas station in Avignon, France. The bill was over €50 so offline chip and PIN really had to work and it did.
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Old 08-20-2015, 02:39 PM   #43
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Originally Posted by rodi View Post
We used the chip/pin card at Gare du Nord upon arrival in Paris. It worked.

Our apartment was near the Jussseu station in Paris - we defiitely purchased 10 packs of metro tickets as well as r/t tickets to Versailles at that station... not at the airport.

I think the key is chip and pin, vs signature.

And I totally agree - if there is an attendant (such as at a restaurant or grocery store) it will default to signature. The only places it asked for pins have been non-attended machines like buying transpo tickets at a machine or buying tickets from the machine at the Berlin Dome.
That was just something I read. Maybe the metro kiosks at the airport take non-chip US/foreign cards and that was the difference compared to the rest of the metro kiosks. We just bought a karnet at CDG airport at the tourist info desk.

I'm not sure which metro kiosk Sengsational tried using their chip and PIN without success - I thought it was Paris.
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Old 08-20-2015, 03:30 PM   #44
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The side trips are listed in dollars in Cancun. If you want to pay in pesos, they just exchange the dollar amounts back to pesos. I did not check the exchange rates exactly. However, at restaurants when the prices are listed in pesos, they charge in pesos.
I saw that. Pretty strange that so much is in dollars. Though it works well to pay in pesos when they quote in dollars because many places had an exchange rate 10-25% below spot prices (12-14.5 pesos per USD when spot was 16:1).

We even had one taxi driver that couldn't make change in pesos so he gave me a US dollar when he owed me just 10 pesos. He had a thick stack of brand new crisp $1's in his wallet, most likely straight from a bank or ATM that in turn received them from the Federal Reserve.
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Old 08-21-2015, 09:29 AM   #45
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Lots of Americans and Canadians carry a wad of US $10s for tips. Since 10 peso notes are getting rare, it is easier than carrying a stash of coins.

The taxi driver probably cannot exchange them without paying a big FX fee.
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Old 08-21-2015, 10:38 AM   #46
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Lots of Americans and Canadians carry a wad of US $10s for tips. Since 10 peso notes are getting rare, it is easier than carrying a stash of coins.

The taxi driver probably cannot exchange them without paying a big FX fee.
I hope you meant US $1's

I know Cancun and other Mexican resort areas are ridiculously pricey compared to the inland areas, but jeesh!

I can't recall seeing a $10 peso note during my whole 7 week stay. I forgot they existed until I looked up Mexican currency online (though recall using them 15 years ago when $10 MXN peso = $1 USD, so the $10 peso note was basically a buck).
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Old 08-25-2015, 09:45 AM   #47
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Yes the 10 pesos coin has replaced it, although if a paper shows up, it is still legal.
(and yes, I meant USD 1 dollar bill!)
I wonder if tourists can order paper 10 peso notes now that a USD 1 is worth 17 pesos!
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Old 09-03-2015, 02:15 PM   #48
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The PenFed Chip and Pin worked for us (with Pin) in kiosks for metro tickets (we were buying 10 packs and bought tix to Versailles.) I'm not sure if we used any other kiosks in Paris.

Here in Barcelona it worked (with pin) for the barcelona metro tix, as well.

Schwab ATM and CapOne venture are both being consistent on exchange rate spot price. I am very careful to pick euro denominations when offered the choice.
Which Penfed card are you using The Penfed Platinum Rewards Visa? They only label it as chip enabled which makes me think it is chip and signature
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Old 09-03-2015, 02:21 PM   #49
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Just got back from a week in Belgium.

Took a lot of train trips, including to and from BRU airport and in all cases, the kiosks needed chip and PIN cards. The machines have signs that it requires chipped cards but my Sapphire Preferred Visa didn't work at all, it was declined.

My BofA Visa prompted for a PIN. I didn't request a cash advance PIN from BofA so I couldn't use it either.

So what saved the day was the First Tech Federal Credit Union World Choice Master Card, which is a pure chip and PIN card, that is it defaults to chip and PIN and works both online and offline, meaning it should work at kiosks which are not online like at gas stations.

In any event, this Master Card is all I used at the train station. I even used it at a store where I entered my PIN, not sign.

Used to have the Barclays Arrival Plus MC, which probably would have worked (though defaults to signature in at manned POS). But my annual fee was due so I canceled it and got the First Tech MC instead, which has no annual fee or FTF.
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Old 09-03-2015, 02:47 PM   #50
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explanade, you were lucky. When I was in Belgium last year, I used my chip & PIN Visa card from Andrews FCU. Most of the time it worked fine, but not in the kiosks at train stations.

I subsequently found out that it had nothing to do with the chip/PIN but everything to do that the Belgian (and German) train systems don't accept cards issued outside the EU. No problem going to an attended window to buy a ticket, but it would have been more convenient to just use the kiosks.

One interesting thing was that one time, undoubtedly due to a software glitch, a kiosk in Antwerp let me use the card to buy tickets. But every other attempt (in Brussels, and Bruges) was a failure.
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Old 09-03-2015, 03:10 PM   #51
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Good to know. Yes there is the foreign issuer factor but in theory, if they belong to a credit card network, it shouldn't matter where the card was issued.

Of course that's not how it works in practice.

Visa and Master Card needs to crack down on those merchants though.

Supposedly Visa is pushing chip and Signature because when verification isn't possible, it's suppose to simply accept transactions below a certain amount.

But that wasn't the case at all with the Chase Sapphire Visa. The most expensive transaction was 20.60 Euro with most under 15 Euro yet I could only use the chip and PIN card.
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Old 09-03-2015, 04:05 PM   #52
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Which Penfed card are you using The Penfed Platinum Rewards Visa? They only label it as chip enabled which makes me think it is chip and signature
The PenFed Cash Rewards VISA is a true chip and PIN card.

I've used it successfully with the PIN in some kiosks in Europe.
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Old 09-03-2015, 04:06 PM   #53
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My BofA Visa prompted for a PIN. I didn't request a cash advance PIN from BofA so I couldn't use it either.
I'm not sure how that would have worked. You might have been charged for a cash advance or it might not have worked at all.
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Old 09-03-2015, 04:09 PM   #54
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I couldn't use DBahn kiosks in Munich, Germany. I don't think they accepted foreign credit cards, and I think many kiosks in Europe have that restriction - but not all. Fortunately the machine took Euro bills, and the things I was trying to buy weren't that expensive.
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Old 09-03-2015, 10:30 PM   #55
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I think by the end of this year or the beginning of next year all American cards (credit, debit) will have chips in them.
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