Credit Cards in Europe

[Hawaiidan]

On 4/6/2019 at 1:19 PM, CruiseGal999 said:

In the USA  we cal them  DEBIT cards,   that are not  credit cards per se   They draw on your savings or checking account.  The bank extends no credit or  charge ability over an above what you have in the bank to draw on. 

 

Not necessarily.  You CAN get a Visa card and give the bank $500 and they put it on the Visa card.  It has nothing to do with your checking or savings account.  It is a 'pre-paid' credit card.  FYI

Ok.... but  say I put $500 on my visa card,  several days prior to  departing the cruise...While you intend the $500 for the cruise expenses, what happens when  regular auto payments you have set up on that card come in while your on the cruise ?      Also,  what happens when you exhaust the $500... does the card, since it is a credit card, keep on going with interest bearing charges?       If it is a credit card  how can they possibly reserve  the money you put in solely for your cruise?   

  Personally,  I would not feel comfortable with giving my bank, heck any bank, extra money before it was absolutely needed to pay some debt.     

 

I manage my travels  by having 1 dedicated credit card  1 debit card, both  tied to a dedicated checking account separate  from my personal accounts.    I make monthly deposits into this account which I budget from domestic income I receive.

[CruiseGal999]

14 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Ok.... but  say I put $500 on my visa card,  several days prior to  departing the cruise...While you intend the $500 for the cruise expenses, what happens when  regular auto payments you have set up on that card come in while your on the cruise ?      Also,  what happens when you exhaust the $500... does the card, since it is a credit card, keep on going with interest bearing charges?       If it is a credit card  how can they possibly reserve  the money you put in solely for your cruise?   

  Personally,  I would not feel comfortable with giving my bank, heck any bank, extra money before it was absolutely needed to pay some debt.     

 

I manage my travels  by having 1 dedicated credit card  1 debit card, both  tied to a dedicated checking account separate  from my personal accounts.    I make monthly deposits into this account which I budget from domestic income I receive.

 You're unnecessarily confusing the issue.  A 'Pre-Paid Credit Card' is NOT your usual, everyday Visa card that you have your auto bill payments dedicated to.   It is a BRAND NEW Visa card that ONLY has the, for example, $500 you put on it.  And NO, as far as I'm aware, it does not continue once the $500 is gone.  You no longer can use that card until you put more CASH on that card.  

[Fouremco]

47 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Ok.... but  say I put $500 on my visa card,  several days prior to  departing the cruise...While you intend the $500 for the cruise expenses, what happens when  regular auto payments you have set up on that card come in while your on the cruise ? 

Prepaid cards have certain advantages in limited areas, and would not normally be used like a primary credit card. It would be foolish to place any regular payments on a prepaid card, so that $500 that you have loaded on the card would be used solely for the purposes of the cruise.

 

31 minutes ago, CruiseGal999 said:

Also,  what happens when you exhaust the $500... does the card, since it is a credit card, keep on going with interest bearing charges?

Once you exhaust the $500, it becomes a piece of plastic with no financial attributes. Just like your billfold once you remove your last dollar, it has no intrinsic financial value. Of course, in both cases you can put some more money in and you have purchasing power once again. 

 

47 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

If it is a credit card  how can they possibly reserve  the money you put in solely for your cruise? 

They can't anymore than they can reserve the cash you put in your billfold solely for the cruise. In both cases, the money is yours, to spend as you see fit. The card and the billfold serve solely as containers, to be emptied and refilled when you choose to.

 

47 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Personally,  I would not feel comfortable with giving my bank, heck any bank, extra money before it was absolutely needed to pay some debt. 

You aren't giving your bank any money, you are simply exchanging your funds in one format for the identical funds in a different, plastic format.

 

47 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

I manage my travels  by having 1 dedicated credit card  1 debit card, both  tied to a dedicated checking account separate  from my personal accounts.    I make monthly deposits into this account which I budget from domestic income I receive.

That's one approach, and by all means stick to it if it makes you happy. I've chosen to include the Stack MasterCard because it provides the least expensive means for me to make ATM withdrawals in foreign currency.

 

31 minutes ago, CruiseGal999 said:

 You're unnecessarily confusing the issue.

So very true! 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Fouremco

[rmats]

My only experiences with needing a chip + PIN card was at the CPH aiport for a train ticket and at s McDonald's self-service kiosk in Galloway, Ireland.  I have a Barclays Arrival card I carry for such purposes.  At the time I applied for it, it was the only chip + PIN card that had no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee.  There's really no reason not to get one or something comparable.

Edited April 7, 2019 by rmats

[CruiseGal999]

If it is a credit card  how can they possibly reserve  the money you put in solely for your cruise? 

Oh, for crying out loud ... you can't be serious.  ANY pre-paid credit card anyone creates, is NOT only for the cruise you want to take or for a hotel you are going to stay at, etc.  It is a CREDIT CARD that you have put cash on in exchange for a piece of plastic which makes it safer to carry that amount of cash around.  You can then spend it on ANYTHING you'd like ... meals, hotel, cruise, air fare, souvenirs, you name it ... buy it.

 

 

I manage my travels  by having 1 dedicated credit card  1 debit card, both  tied to a dedicated checking account separate  from my personal accounts.    I make monthly deposits into this account which I budget from domestic income I receive.

 

This is wonderful for you.  There are some people who do not carry credit cards as a norm and this ability of BUYING a pre-paid credit card is a solution for them.  Some people, mon dieu, live on CASH ... actual green dollars, cash only.  Again, this application is wonderful for them.  They take that cash and apply it to this pre-paid credit card and they're on their way with a safer method of carrying this 'cash'.  

[Hawaiidan]

On 4/7/2019 at 2:43 PM, CruiseGal999 said:

If it is a credit card  how can they possibly reserve  the money you put in solely for your cruise? 

Oh, for crying out loud ... you can't be serious.  ANY pre-paid credit card anyone creates, is NOT only for the cruise you want to take or for a hotel you are going to stay at, etc.  It is a CREDIT CARD that you have put cash on in exchange for a piece of plastic which makes it safer to carry that amount of cash around.  You can then spend it on ANYTHING you'd like ... meals, hotel, cruise, air fare, souvenirs, you name it ... buy it.

 

 

I manage my travels  by having 1 dedicated credit card  1 debit card, both  tied to a dedicated checking account separate  from my personal accounts.    I make monthly deposits into this account which I budget from domestic income I receive.

 

This is wonderful for you.  There are some people who do not carry credit cards as a norm and this ability of BUYING a pre-paid credit card is a solution for them.  Some people, mon dieu, live on CASH ... actual green dollars, cash only.  Again, this application is wonderful for them.  They take that cash and apply it to this pre-paid credit card and they're on their way with a safer method of carrying this 'cash'.  

 

I understand,  I live on cash too, but I use  a credit card instead of handling wads of currency and  writing checks    I take the same cash you do but pay it not  CC  card  and in doing so earn valuable additional benefits  such as  cash back, free airline tickets  and hotel rooms. that  spending pure cash would never accrue. Seldom Do I carry more than a  small, amount of real currency.

 Whats so confusing about that... many do it because the profit way more than what they spend.

   Your call  as to how you want to spend.    I still do not see how these  prepaid stack or such cards are any different than a debit....  But thats me..             Bon vie  

[JennysUncle]

FYI, one of the few institutions in the US that issues a true chip-and-pin Visa card is Andrews Federal Credit in Maryland  https://www.andrewsfcu.org/     

 

We have had no trouble in Europe using our regular chip-and-signature cards, except at unattended machines - like in train stations or at gas stations.  Visa and Mastercard both 'require' any attended business to honor all cards and accept a signature, but there is the occasional tale of a merchant who refuses.  Mostly now the terminal automatically spits out a signature copy of the receipt.

 

Actually, the chip is capable of encoding a series of 16 different validation methods, e.g. signature, or pin, or none needed.  The bank sets its hierarchy:  US banks almost all put signature first; european banks almost all put pin first.  But when the machine reads your card, it negotiates with the bank servicing the machine.  So, for example, NJ Transit machines will accept a charge even without being able to get a signature, and we have had success sometimes in europe.  (We always try our regular card first because of better cash back.)