Originally Posted by bullfrog

FWIW, up until last February (when my HUECU card got a chip) almost all of my purchases in Europe were swipe and sign (to avoid the 1% FTF on the UNFCU card.) Never was I asked for ID, nor was my signature checked with any greater vigor than in the US, and I certainly didn't hold up the line.

I'm sure there are places that don't accept mag stripe in Europe (I never encountered one, but I'm sure they are out there and probably will increase in prevalence now that the US is finally going EMV.) I'm also sure there are places that scrutinize signatures or flat out refuse them, but it's hardly the norm as far as I can tell.

I'm certainly not opposed to PIN (personally I think it's the better option, but I'm also not up in arms about the US going mainly signature.) But the bottom line is that a traveler to Europe with EMV cards that only support signature is likely (but not guaranteed) to be fine in all cases at manned terminals. If you want to be sure about unmanned kiosks, have a card that supports offline PIN somewhere in the list. If you want to be as close to 100% sure as possible that your card is going to work, get a card that is PIN preferring.

As a frequent traveler to Europe, I do have a PIN-preferring card, though my primary card for overseas use (Capital One Quicksilver) is signature (and no-CMV) only. I've never had any trouble with the Cap1 card at manned terminals; in fact, the experience has always been exactly the same as using it in the USA.


Bottom line: I think the "perils" of using Chip and Signature in Europe are vastly overblown. It works fine in almost all cases, and it almost certainly won't add any complication to your attempts to purchase a T-shirt. An offline-PIN-capable card is useful if you're going to be using any kiosks and want to be sure you have a card that will work. I'll admit that I find it comforting to have a PIN-preferring card in my wallet, but I've never had a case where I actually NEEDED it.