I've traveled for years without a chip and pin card in Europe and not had a problem. The only countries where a chip and pin card has been sometimes required is in the UK. This seems to be because many of the hand held machines there have been manufactured without the swipe function. In Denmark, you need to swipe your credit card and use the PIN they gave you for cash advances. In all the other countries, you just say you need to swipe and sign. It's never been a problem for me in France, Germany, Spain, or Italy.