Recent experience in France (September 4-17):

TravelEx Chip & PIN card:
- Worked in old-style Metro/RER kiosks in Paris (The ones with the "roller" and no touchscreen)
- Worked in new-style Metro/RER and train kiosks in Paris and other cities
- Did not work in toll booths. Something about card not compatible if I recall correctly.
- Did not work in any automated parking kiosks
- I didn't try in shops, hotels or restaurants, because my normal credit card has a better exchange rate

Chase British Airways Visa (no chip):
- Worked in new-style Metro/RER and train kiosks in Paris and other cities
- Did not work in toll booths. My friend's 5th/3rd Bank Mastercard did, though.
- Worked in one automated parking kiosk, not others
- Worked in all stores, hotels and restaurants

Incidentally, my American Express Corporate and Platinum cards were taken at most hotels and restaurants (not the mom & pop places).

I finally had a chance to use the card (JPM Select) here in Australia. No Automated ticket machines, but a couple of POS transactions. One had EMV slot taped over and required a swipe. Pressed credit and it automatically went to signature. On the second, I was able to use the chip. The machine made the decision on its own (No Check, Savings, Credit option) to process as a credit card via signature. I'll try to use it in a ticket machine to see what happens, but unsure when that will be.

In what cases? The only problems I've ever had have been at rail ticket kiosks and petrol pumps, and both were easily overcome in seconds by escalating to a person.

In countries where most/all of the cards issued in that country are chipped cards, some badly-informed merchants or store clerks just flat-out refuse to accept non-chipped cards. I have only ever had it happen to me once (at a Tesco), but I have had to explain the process of swiping a card any number of times in France. I've also read elsewhere that Nederlanse Spoorwegen (Dutch railway) rejects non-chipped cards as a matter of policy, but then again most of their stations don't accept any MasterCard or Visa cards, so it could just have been that.

As I posted earlier, in June I was told by a ticket agent at the train ticket window in Schipol Airport that she could not accept a credit card without a chip. Now, I admit, this is the first time a person has told me this in Europe, but she was adament. Even after I asked about swipe and sign. Had to pay cash for the tickets. If this had been a cafe and a waiter who just did not know how to do it, I would have waived it off. But, this is a person who must get offered American style credit cards many times each day. It causes me to be concerned that it is going to start becoming harder to use swipe and sign cards in Europe.

Please report it to your card issuer - they are supposed to accept both.

Not true. I found that simply using the PIN for my U.S.-issued Capital One Visa worked just fine. (Every U.S.-based credit card I've ever used has had a PIN, supposedly to be used for cash advances, but the charges I made in Europe were processed as charges, not as cash advances.)

After several days of asking hotels to have my card processed with a signature, I tried using the PIN at the urging of a ticket agent in Copenhagen, and lo and behold, it worked. From then on, I used the PIN in two other countries with no problems.

It sounds like you ran into one rogue or under-trained agent. That's ridiculous.

Refusing the unchipped card at AMS or anywhere else specifically violates the agreement you signed on for. The phrase "worldwide acceptance" carries legal weight.

A merchant in Europe is probably just going to laugh if they receive a complaint from a bank in the US.

Chase says they are phasing in chip and signature for the British Airways car. Has anyone had any experience with it yet? I'm particularly interested to know if chip and pin terminals accept it using the ATM pin.

I have one. However I won't be outside the US again until December.

Quoting Lionel Hutz: "There's the truth (nods up and down with a smile) and there's the TRUTH (stern face swinging head as a no-no)"

In the eyes of VISA, the rail operator in the Netherlands lets VISA earn millions from transaction fees from 99% of the chipped card Europeans who use already a chip card. They could care less about the 1% anomaly of stone-age Flintstones Americans who still uses ancient fifty year old mag-stripe technology.

Pretty much all you'll get if you complain to VISA is a standard form letter that states "we'll take action" or "it's the US banks fault for not issuing them" or whatever, but in reality they'll do nothing.

Or you can file a class action lawsuit against VISA, MC, AMEX and every US financial institution out there for not issuing chipped cards on a per request basis. It's getting to be problematic year after year and things are running too slow. Anyone who wants a chipped card (i.e.: those who travel alot) should be able to put in a request to upgrade their existing cards to one that has a chip instead of applying for a totally new one.

It is Visa / Mastercard etc. that require their merchants to accept both in their contracts, not your issuing bank in the US, I believe. They certainly look into stores that charge fees for using a credit card (also not allowed in their contracts) so why would this be different - both are deviations from the contract.

My guess is that a Chase British Air Chip and Sign Visa will behave much like the Chase/JPM Select Visa Chip and Sign. I think it's a mixed bag as far as what happens with an ATM PIN. See my post #295 for a few examples.

I think I won't renew my JP Morgan Chase VISA card (and pay the annual fee) unless they've rolled out Chip-and-PIN by then.