Originally Posted by
mrand
Wow - lots of unrelated discussions going on in this thread :-(
Just got back from a trip to Ireland, Wales, and England. There were only two places where I needed chip+pin (chip + signature was accepted EVERYWHERE else):
[LIST][*]London underground
unmanned ticket machine rejected chip+sig only card. Accepted Barclay Arrival+ which requested my pin (since of course it has chip+pin backup).
My wild theory is that since there are manned windows nearby (which do accept chip+sig), they want the teller to verify the signature on chip+sig cards. Note that there were other (completely unmanned) places across Ireland and the UK where the chip+sig worked fine, including Dublin public transport ticket machines, and even a remote park and display in the middle of nowhere for Avebury stones.
I was in London last week, and used my C&S Amex Platinum at a few underground stations, unmanned, to top-off my Oyster card.