Using US Credit Card for purchases in Australia

We are from the US and will be cruising from Sydney on Voyager OTS in November. We will be spending a week in Adelaide, South Australia, prior to the cruise. I've heard from friends who have traveled to Australia that if I plan to use a credit card, it needs to have chip and PIN technology. I had hoped to put a large portion of my purchases on a credit card, but the card I have only has chip and signature technology, not PIN.

This credit card company has informed me if the merchant requires a PIN, they can instead manually type in my credit card number for the transaction to take place. Can anyone verify that I will be able to use my US based non-pin credit card by having the merchant manually type in the credit card number?

I do know that my US based card will work fine on the ship, I'm just concerned about purchases while in Adelaide and Sydney.

Thanks in advance!

A search would find several threads on this topic, such as this one:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2284770&highlight=credit+cards

Your chip and signature card will be fine. It was for us for almost a month in Australia last year.

A search would find several threads on this topic, such as this one:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2284770&highlight=credit+cards

 

Your chip and signature card will be fine. It was for us for almost a month in Australia last year.

Thanks, CruiserBruce.

In the U.K. We have had chip and pin technology for years, as does the rest of Europe. The US seems to be very backward in using it.

However, the real point I was going to make is you would be better to have a CC that makes no charge for foreign transactions, it could save you a considerable amount of money.

In Aus we have chip and pin cards only, there is an exemption for signature for overseas cards, your biggest problem may be that the person serving isn't aware of this.

But the EFTPOS machine should tell them.

The machine will ask for a signature, and then prints the document for you to sign.

This even happens when an Oz card has some sort of chip problem.

Just check that the card you have, the brand, is recognised in Oz. The big ones like visa and MasterCard are fine. Amex is not always liked, Diners Club has much less acceptance.

Remember to tell your provider where and when you are travelling so purchases don't flag fraud warnings.

In the U.K. We have had chip and pin technology for years, as does the rest of Europe.

Not sure what this has to do with the OP's question, which is about Australia.

However, Europe is the same as Australia in that US chip and signature cards are widely accepted, with the exception of "unstaffed machines" like at train stations. This is because MasterCard and Visa have directed their merchants to accept chip and signature cards.

We moved back to Australia from the US last year and still use our US credit cards. Depending on the store, there is usually a limit where the card will automatically approve but in most cases, there is a message... approved with signature.

You can put your card into the card reader, usually they are pushed in at the bottom or swiped. If you have a Visa or Mastercard, you will be ok. Not sure about other cards.

I've only had one instance in over a year where my card wasn't accepted and that was due to the employee not understanding the 'no more signature' rules.

Do US cards have PayWave? Just curious.

We are from the US and will be cruising from Sydney on Voyager OTS in November. We will be spending a week in Adelaide, South Australia, prior to the cruise. I've heard from friends who have traveled to Australia that if I plan to use a credit card, it needs to have chip and PIN technology. I had hoped to put a large portion of my purchases on a credit card, but the card I have only has chip and signature technology, not PIN.

 

This credit card company has informed me if the merchant requires a PIN, they can instead manually type in my credit card number for the transaction to take place. Can anyone verify that I will be able to use my US based non-pin credit card by having the merchant manually type in the credit card number?

 

I do know that my US based card will work fine on the ship, I'm just concerned about purchases while in Adelaide and Sydney.

Thanks in advance!

i work for coles we can not type in numbers of credit cards any more but i am sure that you will have no probs doing the chip and signature as i get some through still that are chip and sign or swipe and sign i think you will be fine if you have pay pass on your card even better if not doesnt matter wont be able to get any money out with out pin and you can not do cash out on credit cares in supermarkets , i hope that helps . if you got paypass that will work too

Do US cards have PayWave? Just curious.

Not that I have seen or experienced.

In the U.K. We have had chip and pin technology for years, as does the rest of Europe. The US seems to be very backward in using it.

 

However, the real point I was going to make is you would be better to have a CC that makes no charge for foreign transactions, it could save you a considerable amount of money.

The machine will ask for a signature, and then prints the document for you to sign.

 

This even happens when an Oz card has some sort of chip problem.

 

Just check that the card you have, the brand, is recognised in Oz. The big ones like visa and MasterCard are fine. Amex is not always liked, Diners Club has much less acceptance.

 

Remember to tell your provider where and when you are travelling so purchases don't flag fraud warnings.

Thank you everyone for your responses. My card is a VISA card and it does not charge any international fees. This is why I was hoping I would be able to use it with the chip and signature technology. And I did share with the credit card company where I would be traveling to, so there should be no issue there.

you wont have any trouble using your visa card in Australia

Not that I have seen or experienced.

Same reason to not having chips. Paywave needs newer terminals, and there isn't the point or cost to upgrade without everyone doing it.

Some US credit cards do have chips that will work in the Aussie machines. Ours do ... but if we use our pin number, it's processed as a cash advance and interest kicks in right away.

Some US credit cards do have chips that will work in the Aussie machines. Ours do ... but if we use our pin number, it's processed as a cash advance and interest kicks in right away.

Most Americans have "chip and signature" cards now. But not "PIN and chip" cards.

Most Americans have "chip and signature" cards now. But not "PIN and chip" cards.

Yes, that is what ours is (still using US credit cards) and I use it as such but we received a pin number with our new chip cards and should we use the pin, it will be treated as a cash advance.

Yes, that is what ours is (still using US credit cards) and I use it as such but we received a pin number with our new chip cards and should we use the pin, it will be treated as a cash advance.

That may cause a problem then. As if it has a PIN the machines will insist on using it, in my understanding.

Spent 2 weeks + in Oz last year (FNQ and Sydney) and used a US bank-issued VISA Pin and Signature credit cards (no Forex fees) most places we went.

Used my Visa debit card for ATMs (again no fees), the only thing I did was change my PIN to 4 digits from my bank's original 6 - from my days in Europe and travelling on business WW ATMs my experience is that they normally expect 4 digit PINs.

Yes, that is what ours is (still using US credit cards) and I use it as such but we received a pin number with our new chip cards and should we use the pin, it will be treated as a cash advance.

i would check with your bank

i take it you would be pressing credit but going by what you and others say the banks over there process it as cash that right ???

you might get away with just pressing ok and signing but i could be wrong too ??

Spent 2 weeks + in Oz last year (FNQ and Sydney) and used a US bank-issued VISA Pin and Signature credit cards (no Forex fees) most places we went.

 

Used my Visa debit card for ATMs (again no fees), the only thing I did was change my PIN to 4 digits from my bank's original 6 - from my days in Europe and travelling on business WW ATMs my experience is that they normally expect 4 digit PINs.

we have 6 digit pins in Australia too

That may cause a problem then. As if it has a PIN the machines will insist on using it, in my understanding.

We've had the new card for about 6 months and it still works fine. The machines just print out a receipt to sign if I press Enter without adding a pin.