I'm with Joe on this. I also travel extensively, including in non-tourist areas, and have never had my US Visa or Mastercard declined because it didn't have a chip. Cheers, Andy On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 6:31 PM, Joe Abley <jabley@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On 2010-03-31, at 20:56, Phillip Hallam-Baker wrote: > >> In theory it is possible to use a US issued credit card in Europe. >> >> In practice, forget it unless you are willing to face the >> embarrassment of 50% of places declining your card. >> >> My experience in the UK is that outside London you are very likely to >> find that the only cards they accept are chip and pin cards. > > I travel somewhat frequently through Asia, Europe, Africa and Australasia with credit cards issued by US institutions (Bank of America Visa, American Express) and Canadian banks (TD Canada Trust, CIBC, Desjardins, all Visa cards). The Desjardins card is the only one with a chip. > > I occasionally find that people don't take American Express. This happens more often outside North America, but not only outside North America. I have found that in some countries (UK included) people are unfamiliar with cards that don't have a chip, but it has never stopped me from using one. (In New Zealand it seems more common that people are confused about chip cards, since the EFTPOS terminals support them but very few people have them). > > I have never had a problem with any of my North American cards being declined, chip or not. I have spent a reasonable amount of time in the UK in particular, since most of my family lives there. I was most recently there in December 2009. > > Your comments above do not match my experience in the slightest. > > > Joe > > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf