Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For purchases, Visa and MasterCard are more commonly accepted than American Express.
Just like at home, credit or debit cards work easily at larger hotels, restaurants, and shops.
I typically use my debit card to withdraw cash to pay for most purchases. I use my credit
card only in a few specific situations: to book hotel reservations by phone, to cover major
expenses (such as car rentals, plane tickets, and long hotel stays), and to pay for things near
the end of my trip (to avoid another visit to the ATM). While you could use a debit card to
make most large purchases, using a credit card offers a greater degree of fraud protection
(because debit cards draw funds directly from your account).
Ask Your Credit- or Debit-Card Company:
Before your trip, contact the company
that issued your debit or credit cards.
• Confirm that your
card will work overseas,
and alert them that you'll be using it in
Europe; otherwise, they may deny transactions if they perceive unusual spending patterns.
• Ask for the specifics on transaction
fees.
When you use your credit or debit
card—either for purchases or ATM withdrawals—you'll typically be charged additional
“international transaction” fees of up to 3 percent (1 percent is normal) plus $5 per trans-
action. If your card's fees seem high, consider getting a different card just for your trip:
Capital One (
www.capitalone.com
) and most credit unions have low-to-no international
fees.
• If you plan to withdraw cash from ATMs, confirm your daily
withdrawal limit,
and
if necessary, ask your bank to adjust it. Some travelers prefer a high limit that allows them
to take out more cash at each ATM stop (saving on bank fees), while others prefer to set a
lower limit in case their card is stolen. Note that foreign banks also set withdrawal limits
for their ATMs (
£
300 is usually the maximum).
• Get your bank's emergency
phone number
in the US (but not its 800 number, which
isn't accessible from overseas) to call collect if you have a problem.
• Ask for your credit card's
PIN
in case you need to make an emergency cash with-
drawal or encounter Europe's “chip-and-PIN” system; the bank won't tell you your PIN
over the phone, so allow time for it to be mailed to you.
Chip and PIN:
Europeans are increasingly using chip-and-PIN cards, which are
embedded with an electronic security chip (in addition to the magnetic stripe found on
American-style cards). To make a purchase with a chip-and-PIN card, the cardholder in-
serts the card into a slot in the payment machine, then enters a PIN (like using a debit card
in the US) while the card stays in the slot. The chip inside the card authorizes the trans-
action; the cardholder doesn't sign a receipt. Your American-style card might not work at
payment machines using this system, such as those at train and subway stations, toll roads,
parking garages, luggage lockers, bike-rental kiosks, and self-serve gas pumps.
