Visa cards that don't work in Europe.

[John Talbott]

You’ve just had a great meal, you set your Visa card down, the wait-person swipes it several times and shrugs: “Désolé.” You fork over the cash and grumble about the missed frequent flyer miles. No longer!

A clever serveuse in Paris took l’addition, folded it over the card so the paper covered the front and back once, and reswiped the card et voila! “Works every time," she said or words to that effect. Un bon truc.

[DCMark]

I find with Bank of American Visa Check Cards thats its a good idea to tell BoA of your trip. Otherwise (twice for me) they tend to put a hold on your card after a few major charges overseas. They then call you at home (US) and wait for your call back to restart it.

[menton1]

You’ve just had a great meal, you set your Visa card down, the wait-person swipes it several times and shrugs: “Désolé.” You fork over the cash and grumble about the missed frequent flyer miles. No longer!

A clever serveuse in Paris took l’addition, folded it over the card so the paper covered the front and back once, and reswiped the card et voila! “Works every time," she said or words to that effect. Un bon truc.

This little scam has never happened to me in the many years of my travels to France; that person had to be quite a magician because they bring the machine right to your table. (We had a 3 page thread last fall about Credit cards, Europe, and the machines)

If that ever happens again, say "Desolé" right back to them and tell them you have only 10E in cash-- they will get it to work!!

[Louisa Chu]

Some Visa cards just do not work in France. I have a Visa from my French bank - and I had to choose - and pay extra - for the option of being able to use it worldwide - otherwise it could have just been in France - or just Europe.

[Carlsbad]

I've never had a problem using a Visa card anywhere in Europe. I do have a Visa from B of A, and they constantly refuse charges in places like San Francisco when there are a lot of them, even though I have a large monthly balance and travel quite a bit.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I've never had a problem using a Visa card anywhere in Europe. 

....though I have a large monthly balance and travel quite a bit.

Very similar experience as you on this until I got to Vienna last fall ... twice my Visa card was refused, and eventually they decided they would accept my American Express card ....

but then I also had bought AXP Traveller's Cheques in Euros for just such an emergency ...

I like the fact that the European restaurants bring the card swiping machine to one's table! Beats having it disappear from view as often happens here in the States .

[John Talbott]

To clarify; it's not that persons refuse the Visa card (that's only happened to me with small commercants and I have no problem that it's not enough of a bill to warrant the Visa/CB/etc), it's that they swipe it at the table several times and blame it on the appareil. Maybe it was magic but the serveuse certainly knew the trick to make it work.

[Felice]

We used this trick all the time in the restaurant where I worked in Paris because foreign cards often did not work for some reason, but as John said, if you cover the magnetic strip it works everytime.

[Jonathan Day]

The UK is moving to chip-and-PIN cards, as already used in France. With a bit of luck these will be compatible with the French system of cartes à puce, and it will just be a matter of feeding in your card and keying your code. Having one of these cards makes life in France far easier. Before we had a French bank account, I remember running out of petrol during a local supply crisis and begging the person behind me in the queue to accept banknotes in return for use of their card, since the pumps would only accept chip-and-PIN cards.

Incidentally, I don't think it is particularly difficult for foreigners to hold an account with a French bank, though the commercial terms are truly awful -- no interest paid, high fees for everything. But a very regular gastronomic traveller might want to open one of these in order to have easy access to Euro payments.

[JudyB]

The UK is moving to chip-and-PIN cards, as already used in France. With a bit of luck these will be compatible with the French system of cartes à puce, and it will just be a matter of feeding in your card and keying your code.

Unfortunately I don't think that will happen for another year or two, although I would be very happy to be proved wrong.

I seem to remember that when UK Chip & Pin was first being talked about it was said that the French system was different. I believe that the French are supposed to be converting to the international standard by something like 2006 or 2008 although I'm not certain of the date.

The other petrol problem we have run into is that many petrol stations in Provence seem to ONLY support pay-at-pump with Chip&Pin cards on Sundays. So far we have remembered to fill up before Sunday and not had to resort to waving cash at people with French cards, but its worth remembering about this if you don't have a suitable card.

[menton1]

We used this trick all the time in the restaurant where I worked in Paris because foreign cards often did not work for some reason, but as John said, if you cover the magnetic strip it works everytime.

I don't understand this, because if you have an American credit card, they don't have the smart chip and the magnetic strip is the only part with the information on it; do they pundh the numbers in manually on the keypad?

I've never had a problem using credit cards in Europe either, except that in France they loathe the Amex card, probably for the hefty commission they charge the merchants. In Italy it is much easier to use an Amex.

Also, the gas stations in France only accept credit cards at the pump that have the smart chip; so if you have an American card, you can't go to an automated gas station, you need one with an attendant. (Sundays can be quite difficult!)

[balmagowry]

To clarify; it's not that persons refuse the Visa card (that's only happened to me with small commercants and I have no problem that it's not enough of a bill to warrant the Visa/CB/etc), it's that they swipe it at the table several times and blame it on the appareil.  Maybe it was magic but the serveuse certainly knew the trick to make it work.

Far as I know there's nothing peculiarly French about this. It happens to me all the time right here on Long Island - the magnetic stripe gets a little worn and/or dirty from long use and much extraction/insertion in wallet. Countless times (especially with my poor long-suffering Discover card) I've seen a savvy clerk or store manager either A) gently clean off the stripe with a pencil eraser, or B) fold a plastic bag over it to run it through the machine.

As you say - works every time.

Edited April 28, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[John Talbott]

The subject of bank accounts is probably one that deserves a whole thread because I agree with Jonathan Day that having one is essential and relatively easy, especially if paying for EDF/GDF, Telecom, condo fees, etc. My experience is that things were quite strict 30 years ago, then got relatively lax to open accounts at some banks (ie BNP and Credit Lyonnais) but not others (eg Soc Gen, Credit Agricole and Barclay's) but now is stricter again (they want you to earn money here) and as Jonathan says the charges at some banks are bad (eg Citibank changes 13E if your balance falls below 10,000E I think). At CL I used to keep the majority of my money in an interest-earning acct but it earned about 1/2 what it would have in the US. There is also an upping of the cost of bank cards; I now have only a CL Indigo that costs very little but permits withdrawals from ATM's only (ie no charging).

[picaman]

Also, the gas stations in France only accept credit cards at the pump that have the smart chip; so if you have an American card, you can't go to an automated gas station, you need one with an attendant. (Sundays can be quite difficult!)

Does anyone know if American cards with smart chips work at French gas stations? I have an Amex Blue that has a smart chip. Or is this chip "differently smart?"

I too love the portable wireless card processor doo-lolley, and wish that more American restaurants had them.

Jamie

[Bux]

The subject of bank accounts is probably one that deserves a whole thread because I agree with Jonathan Day that having one is essential and relatively easy, especially if paying for EDF/GDF, Telecom, condo fees, etc. My experience is that things were quite strict 30 years ago, then got relatively lax to open accounts at some banks (ie BNP and Credit Lyonnais) but not others (eg Soc Gen, Credit Agricole and Barclay's) but now is stricter again (they want you to earn money here) and as Jonathan says the charges at some banks are bad (eg Citibank changes 13E if your balance falls below 10,000E I think). At CL I used to keep the majority of my money in an interest-earning acct but it earned about 1/2 what it would have in the US. There is also an upping of the cost of bank cards; I now have only a CL Indigo that costs very little but permits withdrawals from ATM's only (ie no charging).

We thought it would be advantageous to have a French bank account, especially when we thought we might have some small income originating in Francs. (It was some time ago.) Ultimately, as a tourists, or visitors, there really didn't appear to be much of reason to have the account unless one were paying taxes or other regular bills such as telephone or utilties. Iif one didn't have a residence in France and would be stocking the account with funds from the US, it didn't seem to make sense. For someone with a residence however, I think it would be almost essential.

[Bux]

The French smart chip cards allow access to one's bank account. I doubt the AmEx Blue cards can be accessed in the same way. The processor would have to have an arrangement with AmEx while the bank cards require an arrangement with the French equivalent of MC or Visa (Carte Bleu?).