3DS is the name of the system that powers "Verified by Visa" and "MasterCard SecureCode".
I'd like to apply for a card that has or allows for the use of that security scheme. This will allow me to buy things online from European vendors, whereas cards that don't participate simply won't work, or won't work without a whole lot of telephone calls or other work-arounds. The problem I'm having is that there seems to be no way to tell in advance if a card is or can be enrolled in the scheme.
So I'm shopping for a large sign-up bonus travel card with a waived annual fee the first year and found Navy Federal Visa Signature Flagship Rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite, all on nerdwallet. But there's no details on if these cards have what I consider the "defect" of not participating in the European online security scheme. The card I just got, CapitalOne Venture, does NOT participate, so I'm searching for one that does.
Could it be that there's someone in this European credit card thread that has figured this out?
I'm not absolutely sure but I've used the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (similar to Chase Sapphire Preferred) to book hotels from European hotel websites. I don't know if it Was verified by Visa but probably it was.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is my go-to for hotels because it gives me 3x points (Preferred is only 2 points I believe).
But Chase points are very useful, as you can transfer them to frequent flier mileage programs from several airlines including United.
However, whether a European website takes a US card or not doesn't only depend on Verified by Visa. I think some vendors just won't take foreign cards, especially from another continent. An example would be European mobile carriers, where you can't use a US card to "top up."
I've even heard in some cases, they won't take a foreign card even if the foreign card is a neighboring EU nation.
Anyways, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards are both considered the most valuable points which could be transferred to airline frequent flier programs.
Citi often has very generous AA points offers but the thing is, AA doesn't offer too many "Saver" rewards on its own aircraft for frequent flier tickets. Instead, you can go on One World carriers like Cathay Pacific to fly to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations.
But the main choice for going to Europe with AA miles is British Airways, which imposes steep fuel charges. For instance, to go to Europe from the West Coast on AA, which is rarely a directly flight when you're redeeming AA miles, costs like $1500 on top of the miles.