Originally Posted by
gobluetwo
Partly the tourist thing and partly the size of the shop. Definitely in places like convenience stores and small restaurants that are usually only frequented by locals, you'll have a harder time using a card without a chip, or sometimes even ANY card. I've had this happen in London, Prague, and Zurich, mainly because I like exploring local joints.
If you do stick to tourist zones, you're probably ok. Agree on ticket machines. Had that experience in Paris and Zurich where it wouldn't take my chipless card.
In one close suburb of Paris, and two very centrally located restaurants in Nice, three restaurants in Frankfurt and two in Warsaw, big department stores in Porto, Madrid and Milan, large shops catering to tourists in Rome, Monaco, Nice, Zurich, Munich, Cologne, Marseille, Bordeaux and Paris - the same problem
Originally Posted by
fischi
<snip>
For example, in Russia I have about a 50% success rate with my Chase Explorer card. Sometimes the clerks refuse swipe cards and sometimes the terminals can't handle them. I've also had transactions kicked back by the retailer-side bank - transactions that never even make it to Chase. I've had this happen at supermarkets, chain stores, small retailers and restaurants.
Good luck and enjoy your trip!
Originally Posted by
augustus21
You won't have a problem in any European capital.
Please read other posts
Originally Posted by
gobluetwo
<snip>
On topic, though, I've had issues at smaller, local establishments in London, Prague, and Zurich. Granted, Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland, but Zurich IS its largest city.
Originally Posted by
Braindrain
From personal experience, the longer-haul trains in Spain and France only take cards with a chip. Meaning, many of us tourists buy the wrong fare and an add-fare paid on the train can only be done with a chip and pin card.
OK, what is the answer to OP? To me it seems that there's an inverted relation between the ability to use Chipless cards everwhere in
Europe and the distance from own location to that continent. OP did actually not ask for access in capitals of any country. Each to their own taste, of course. My advice to any traveller is to aquire at least one card with chip/PIN, and you'll be safe (or bring cash)
