Searching this forum and others before our recent trip to Europe gave little consistent info on whether I needed to worry about getting a rare (in the USA) Chip and PIN vs a merely unusual Chip and Signature card. Rather than opening a new credit card, I had found that Citi would replace my current card with Chip and Signature.

In retrospect, I absolutely wish I had opened a new account with someone else to get a card with Chip and PIN. Here's where the Chip and Signature failed me.

--At a French tollbooth with no attendant at 11:00 pm when we had just arrived in the Eurozone a few hours earlier and just needed to get the kids to bed.

--At several gas stations on a rural mountain road in France where there were no cashiers (or where the cashiers could not take cash because it was Sunday).

--At a train station in rural Sweden where there was ONLY a machine for tickets.

These are just the highlights--the ones where my blood pressure spiked because workarounds were difficult. The card was pretty much useless in gas pumps and toll booths everywhere we went. It generally did work where we could get a human to help, but that's not always the case.

What amazes me is that cards branded by airlines and hotels--which are obviously targeting travelers--don't offer this option.

Anyway, those were instances where Chip and Signature failed me. What about others?