Cathy in Boston

http://www.atlastravel.com/communique/sep08/29.htm

My husband sent me this article today. We're leaving for London in two weeks. I called American Express and asked them about it, and they said there "should be" no problem using my card in London.

Can anyone comment? Thanks!

RichardInSF

I just returned from the UK three days ago and used my Amex for most every purchase of any size with no problems.

It is true that cards without chips embedded are rejected by some machines. I experienced that with ticketing machines at King's Cross train station, in fact.
So that meant I had to wait in the ticket line but my card was accepted then. For right now, it shouldn't be a major problem and certainly not a problem at ANY hotel, store, or restaurant -- anywhere you interact with a human as part of the payment process.

Stockycub1973

You will still be able to swipe CC's at places. Just anything automatic will require "chip and pin" (Though you can still use ATM's). So you will just have to go to a ticket office or a cashier and you will be fine.

Also sign the back of your credit cards. I know some of my US friends don't and use their drivers license as proof of signature. Some shops here will get funny about that. Though it is a good idea to carry photographic id as a back up. As some shops, though very few, will ask for proof when dealing with foreign cards.

Oh and one final thing. Let the card providers know you plan to use that you will be traveling. Saves any chance that the card will be flagged up for unusual usage when in London.

graraps

Usually true but not always the case. For example, the three major lowcost supermarket chains (Aldi, Lidl, Netto) only accept chip cards.
Keep fifty quid cash on you just in case your card's rejected once or twice (it won't be a regular occurence).

pshuang

I've spent a fair amount of time in London in the last 12 months and in the last 5 years generally. Although I have not specifically tried to use my US-issued, chip-less C/C's at petrol stations in England since I've never rented a car there, I have made many purchases at different kinds of merchants without problem, with minor exceptions. So the article's tone is a little bit too alarmist, IMO.

One of the exception categories has already been mentioned, purchasing train tickets at automated kiosks. This seems consistent, I have the same problem in continental Europe countries, and also for London Underground or other metro/subway system kiosk purchases. My guess is that there has been too much fraud with stolen credit cards used to buy train tickets, so the train operators switched to restricting kiosk purchase transactions to PIN-only as soon as the technology became sufficiently widely deployed for such a restriction to be practical. The human agents at the train station have no problems processing a signature-based transaction for your chip-less card; but there won't always be an agent on duty, or the line to use the window may be very long, so keeping some cash in wallet is always a good idea. However, I have had no problems thus far with buying train tickets on the Internet and then using the kiosks at the train station that take your purchasing credit card solely for identifying you in picking up the tickets.

I've never tried buying anything at the super-low-cost supermarket chains, preferring Mark & Spencers for my self-catering; or when that's not convenient, Tescos or Sainsburys, all of which do accept chip-less cards.

Do note that you should bring a non-AMEX alternative, as my experience is that a greater percentage of merchants refuse to accept AMEX in England than is the case in the US. I usually bring an AMEX card (best points earning option for me at the moment), a Mastercard, and a Visa. Plus two different ATM cards, just in case. The total of 5 cards is probably a little overkill... but then I end up staying in Europe for 3-4 weeks and hit a half dozen countries sometimes, so I really want to be sure that when I need to spend money, I can.

As others have suggested, give your card issuers a call to let them know where and when you are traveling. That way when their anti-fraud systems trigger on your transactions overseas, you have a fighting chance that their anti-fraud department personnel will actually read the notes entered into your account and decide to let your card continue to be active, instead of disabling it and requiring that you call them to speak to them in person to confirm your card hasn't been stolen.

You can also search for threads on FT to learn more about whether your credit cards will ding you for 0%, 1%, 2%, or 3% for "foreign" transaction fees. But even in the 3% case, that will probably still get you close to the best exchange rates. Generally, don't bother with travelers' checks, currency bureaus, etc. For convenience and because it guarantees me a simple receipt for use for business travel expenses reimbursement, I mostly use credit cards that charge 3%, but I do save 3% when I purchase with cash instead, since my credit union doesn't charge me per-transaction fees to withdraw cash from major bank ATM's (I don't chooseto trust generic unbranded machines when there are plenty of major bank ATM's accessible that I can trust), gives me the published wholesale currency exchange rate for that day, charges me an additional 2% of my withdrawal amount, but then will rebate that 2% back to me because of the relationship account package that I have with the credit union.

Note that I get the sense that the English still tend to use cash a bit more for their smaller transactions than we here in the US. At least in the SF Bay Area (and I recall the same in Boston), nobody thinks it particularly odd if you were to pay for your Starbucks latte with a credit card, and certainly not the barista. But in a conversation with some UK-based co-workers of my company, they commented that a little game they play is to see what was the smallest credit card transaction amount that they've seen that month. When I said my smallest transaction in recent memory was for something like 37 cents (I used up the entire balance of a store gift card, that was the balance, and I didn't have any cash on me), they looked at me like I had grown horns on my head.

redbeard911

There have only been a few places where I could not use my chip-less US cc. I do carry more cash now than when I was in the US for that very reason.

I would add that if you swipe your card for a signature transaction, make sure you sign the way you do on the credit card. I have had to resign transactions because the cashier didn't feel the signature was close enough.

Mr MCO

As long as you are in the tourist areas (cities) or main stores, you will be ok. The issue comes on things that tourist are not commonly doing or in smaller towns where tourists are not a norm. There are stores that do not accept chipless cards within the UK. However, their London stores do acceot them. This does not includes supermarkets as tourists typically do not go grocery shopping and if so, they do not shop a lot of groceries.

This is a none issue for the average tourist. If it becomes an issue, there is always a cash point machine near to get cash from.

MoreMilesPlease

Tghere have been several threads about this. If you have a Visa, Mastercard, AMEX then you can use it anywhere they show the logo, whether it has a chip&pin or not. The merchant is required to accept them. If you run across amerchant that doesn't make sure and report them to your credit card. Every merchant still has the ability to accept a signature for the credit card purchase, many just don't want to be bothered.

skye1

Went to London 3 times this past summer, for a week or so each, and it was really hit/&/miss as far as using my "chip'less" cards. And yes, equally hit/miss for places that accept or not an AMEX. Like others, I just had to adjust to carrying around the nominal cash.

I'd also second or third what others have said about letting your bank/cc issuer know of your travels. Neglected to do that once...never again.

Disco Volante

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8120/4.3.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/125)

It is very unusual for a UK shop to accept only Visa or only Mastercard, if they accept one they will accept the other, so you don't need both. Amex took a long time to issue chip and pub cards to its UK cardholdrea' and I don't recall any problems. I was just asked to sign.

duchy

Amen-my bank has never bothered before but my last transatlantic trip they DID block my card-maybe tightening up ?

GregWTravels

I live in London now, but am still using my Canadian-based Visa card for some purchases as the banks in the UK are still unsure of my credit-worthiness. Could have something to do with being unemployed, but no mind.

As others have pointed out, the automated machines on the train and tube system don't take non-chip cards.

The other thing I will add is mobile phones. When I went to buy a T-Mobile pay as you go phone, they wouldn't accept my non-chip Visa card, saying that they can't do any transactions on cards without a chip. Not sure if you were planning on buying a mobile phone.

Other than that, I haven't had any problems using my Visa card in restaurants or shops to pay for items. In stores I have noticed that they do often ask to see picture ID and do study both the picture and my signature quite closely.

Greg

dgwright99

I disagree that "anything automatic" needs chip and pin. Train/tube still seems to be an exception and probably a violation of the merchant agreement.

Savage25

FWIW, I have had no problems using my Singapore-issued non-chip/pin Amex on the tube automated machines as well as Vodafone shops.

I haven't used my US-issued credit cards here yet, though.

Swanhunter

The machines I use - Tube, HEX, South West Trains - are all now fitted with chip and pin keypads.