^

FirstTech credit cards are available nationwide, not just if you live on the West Coast. The application process is a bit annoying, but it works, and the card does make a difference when travelling in Europe.

Is a chip-and-pin card essential? No, of course not. But it's saved me a lot of time and even some money - for instance, at a museum in Sweden that was swarming with Americans who had to stand in line to buy tickets, whereas I could waltz up to the zillions of free kiosks and buy my ticket in seconds. Or in Amsterdam, where if you buy your tram ticket from an agent, they charge you extra, but not if you buy from a kiosk (PIN only). Or in train stations in Italy (and just about everywhere else), where the only people standing in line to talk to an agent have a complex itinerary or some other issue to discuss, so by the time you get to the front to use your signature card, your train has come and gone without you as you gaze enviously at the row of empty automats that don't accept your credit card. Etc etc etc.

Exactly. If I weren't so points-inclined I'd even get rid of all my other credit cards. It's unfortunate that competition from these small issuers isn't significant enough to motivate the big US banks to start offering real chip-and-pin.