Originally Posted by
exbayern
Be aware that Amex is not as widely accepted. In France just point out that your card is a non-chip card, and it should work so long as a human is involved in the transaction. But non-chip cards may not work at machines such as SNCF ticket machines, etc.
This. Amex is almost worthless in France, IME. SPG personal and corporate Amex are my everyday cards at home, but in Europe I use my Chase BA card (still non-chipped) because it offers the benefit of no foreign transaction fee.
I spent 11 days in Provence this past March, Chase card was accepted everywhere with no problem, and the savings on foreign transaction fees more than made up for the $95 annual fee I just paid on the card.