Lack of PIN-enabled Chase CHIP card impacts acceptance in Italy?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 495
Lack of PIN-enabled CHIP Chase Sapphire Reserve card impacts acceptance in Italy?
I am traveling to Italy soon and am wondering whether the Chase Sapphire and Chase Freedom card will be accepted at hotels, restaurants, etc., given that these cards are not PIN enabled. Let me know your experience.
Last edited by edealinfo12345; Jul 22, 2017 at 3:51 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend; Moderator: American Express, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Credit Card Programs, Diners Club, Signatures
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Freedom applies a 3% foreign transaction fee. I would not use it outside the USA, even with the 5X dining bonus.
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 495
My question pertained to the "acceptance" of non-PIN enabled credit cards in Italy, not whether any surcharges apply. In any case, I didn't mention the Freedom card anywhere in my question. I was actually planning to use the Chase Sapphire Reserve. So my original question still holds and the reason I am asking the question is so I may determine if I can take a minimum amount of cash and rely on my credit cards, or would have to take cash to fund expenses if the non PIN enabled card is not generally accepted
#4
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Will you be using the card mainly at hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops in the typical tourist districts? Will you travel between cities by rail? Will you have a smartphone with Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay enabled?
Last edited by mia; Jul 22, 2017 at 9:54 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 495
Yes...mainly for hotels, restaurants, tourist sites (museums, etc), and shops. I may travel by train but have not decided as yet. I will not be using my smartphone for payments. (As a side question, does Samsung Pay need wifi or data service for payment and how widely accepted is it in Italy?)
#6
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 12
Just moved back from Italy after 3 1/2 years there...you will be fine...every place will take it no issues. You don't need a Pin in Italy except an unattended gas station (maybe) and a train station...but even then just go to the window...you'll be fine.
#7
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 12
Done!
Yes...mainly for hotels, restaurants, tourist sites (museums, etc), and shops. I may travel by train but have not decided as yet. I will not be using my smartphone for payments. (As a side question, does Samsung Pay need wifi or data service for payment and how widely accepted is it in Italy?)
Yes...mainly for hotels, restaurants, tourist sites (museums, etc), and shops. I may travel by train but have not decided as yet. I will not be using my smartphone for payments. (As a side question, does Samsung Pay need wifi or data service for payment and how widely accepted is it in Italy?)
#8
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,691
I just got back from Italy and with one possible exception I had zero problems with various chip and sig cards. It is probably not a bad idea to have a pen handy as sometimes the cashiers will have to fumble around to find one if you are at a less touristy place.
The only place I might have had an issue was an unattended ticket machine. Not sure what the issue was because while the main screen had English as an option once you went to use your card you had to use the LCD screen on the card acceptance terminal and that was in Italian. I couldn't decipher what it was asking/telling me so I ended up using cash to buy the tickets.
The only place I might have had an issue was an unattended ticket machine. Not sure what the issue was because while the main screen had English as an option once you went to use your card you had to use the LCD screen on the card acceptance terminal and that was in Italian. I couldn't decipher what it was asking/telling me so I ended up using cash to buy the tickets.
#9
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If OP is using Samsung Pay it likely won't matter either way thanks to its ability to send magnetic pulses to the terminal to emulate a card swipe. Explaining that it's how you want to pay, especially with a language barrier, is another issue.
#10
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 495
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks
Last edited by mia; Jul 26, 2017 at 4:06 am Reason: Consolidate consecutive replies and prune quotations.
#11
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEL
Posts: 1,053
I just got back from Italy and with one possible exception I had zero problems with various chip and sig cards. It is probably not a bad idea to have a pen handy as sometimes the cashiers will have to fumble around to find one if you are at a less touristy place.
The only place I might have had an issue was an unattended ticket machine. Not sure what the issue was because while the main screen had English as an option once you went to use your card you had to use the LCD screen on the card acceptance terminal and that was in Italian. I couldn't decipher what it was asking/telling me so I ended up using cash to buy the tickets.
The only place I might have had an issue was an unattended ticket machine. Not sure what the issue was because while the main screen had English as an option once you went to use your card you had to use the LCD screen on the card acceptance terminal and that was in Italian. I couldn't decipher what it was asking/telling me so I ended up using cash to buy the tickets.
Automated kiosks often won't take cards without PINs; here in Brussels that'd be ticket machines for the metro and the train system. You can also buy tickets from a real human, and in both cases the chip+sig card works fine. (And for SNCB you can also use their iOS or Android app, which takes your American card just fine)
I have Belgian cards, but 99% of the time I use my CSR because the rewards program is far more generous than anything here.
ETA: <hangs motorcycle helmet in shame>... pay at the pump fuel terminals. I have never had one of these anywhere in Europe accept my CSR. First Tech or a Belgian card to the rescue. This is particularly annoying in Belgium where lots of gas stations in town are closed altogether on Sunday, so the cardlock is the only way to buy fuel. With no way to pay cash, it's very possible that a tourist in a rental car could get stranded in the countryside on a Sunday or after 8pm Mon-Sat.
Last edited by der_saeufer; Aug 3, 2017 at 5:26 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 495
Thanks
Last edited by mia; Jul 26, 2017 at 4:07 am Reason: Prune quotation.
#14
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 54
on the other hand...
I lived in Europe for many years and still occasionally travel there, usually to Belgium and Italy. I agree with all earlier posts with one addition. At train and subway stations, especially later in the evening, there are not always employees available to sell tickets at every station. In those cases, having a Chip & PIN card is really beneficial. (A Barclay Aviator is my Chip & PIN backup, with CSR being my first choice.) In my experience, sometime human attendants are absent late at night at service stations in Germany and Belgium. Unattended automated parking lots, especially late at night, can also present a challenge to those traveling with only a signature card. Again, a Chip & PIN card deals with these issues nicely.
#15
Join Date: Jan 2010
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I lived in Europe for many years and still occasionally travel there, usually to Belgium and Italy. I agree with all earlier posts with one addition. At train and subway stations, especially later in the evening, there are not always employees available to sell tickets at every station. In those cases, having a Chip & PIN card is really beneficial. (A Barclay Aviator is my Chip & PIN backup, with CSR being my first choice.) In my experience, sometime human attendants are absent late at night at service stations in Germany and Belgium. Unattended automated parking lots, especially late at night, can also present a challenge to those traveling with only a signature card. Again, a Chip & PIN card deals with these issues nicely.
I agree with this. Sure, you can get by with a chip and sig card but it is nice to have a chip and PIN as backup. I have a Barclay Ring for this (no rewards, it's in my wallet exclusively for when I need a chip and PIN card) and it's so nice to be able to skip a long line to buy tickets from a window and use a kiosk instead, or park in a self pay lot with confidence, or know that I can buy gas without having to find an attendant.