Using chip+sig cards in Europe

[MASTERNC]

I've been to Europe three times with chip cards (both signature and PIN preferring) and have rarely had any issues.  Maybe it's because most of my stops were in cities, but everyone I saw had a pen handy for signatures, and nobody ever asked for passports or IDs to compare signatures.  The only problem was a parking garage kiosk in Florence, which would not take a card without a PIN at all (though one card with PIN backup didn't work either - the bank claimed it was a bad card).

[UpperNwGuy]

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@MASTERNC wrote:

I've been to Europe three times with chip cards (both signature and PIN preferring) and have rarely had any issues.  Maybe it's because most of my stops were in cities, but everyone I saw had a pen handy for signatures, and nobody ever asked for passports or IDs to compare signatures.  The only problem was a parking garage kiosk in Florence, which would not take a card without a PIN at all (though one card with PIN backup didn't work either - the bank claimed it was a bad card).

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Was the "bad card" by any chance from Barclay?  I've read reports on other websites of their cards sometimes not working for unattended transactions.

[MASTERNC]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

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@MASTERNC wrote:

I've been to Europe three times with chip cards (both signature and PIN preferring) and have rarely had any issues.  Maybe it's because most of my stops were in cities, but everyone I saw had a pen handy for signatures, and nobody ever asked for passports or IDs to compare signatures.  The only problem was a parking garage kiosk in Florence, which would not take a card without a PIN at all (though one card with PIN backup didn't work either - the bank claimed it was a bad card).

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Was the "bad card" by any chance from Barclay?  I've read reports on other websites of their cards sometimes not working for unattended transactions.

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Indeed it was (AA Aviator).  However, I think my dad tried his card and it worked.