Credit card problems in Vancouver?

[elvisdiddy808]

I heard that I may have problems in Vancouver with my U.S. credit cards. Has to do with the way they swipe them, the magnetic strip, or some microchip within the credit card themselves. Anyone know what I am talking about or have had this problem?

 

[Freesia123]

All Canadian credit cards have a chip in them and a pin. You shouldn't have a problem without one though. They can manually type in your number and if all else fails can call visa directly and ask for approval. I think the more likely problem is your card being refused because it's normally not used out of the us. Call your company and tell them you're travelling so it doesn't get suspended for suspected fraud.

 

[jburge12000]

I use a Chase Disney card for our cruises and I have always called before to let them know what country we would be cruising to. I received a notice in the mail last month saying that it was no longer required to notify them of travel outside the US. Specifically mentioned Mexico and Canada but nothing about needing to do anything special to get them to work.

We will be on a Alaska cruise this summer, hoping no issues come up with the credit card.

 

[sambycat]

just got off the wonder today, in vancouver now. we haven’t had issues anywhere.

 

[huskydogg]

I'm, in Canada and have to types of credit cards. A few with chips and one without. The way the machines work, at least in my experience is that if the card has a chip, you must use the chip and enter a PIN (the machine identifies the card type). If the card doesn't have a chip, then you swipe the good old fashioned way. You should be fine.

 

[nicolecook]

Just flew home from Vancouver. My credit card (it doesn't have a chip) worked just fine everywhere. I called my credit card company to let them know of my travel plans so they knew my card wasn't stolen.

 

[nicolecook]

We had no issues.

 

[Nannabelle]

You really should not have any trouble in Canada. It's Europe where American tourists are having issues with our magnetic strip CC vs the embedded Chip & Pin cards that are the norm in Europe.

 

[Made Up Name]

I heard that I may have problems in Vancouver with my U.S. credit cards. Has to do with the way they swipe them, the magnetic strip, or some microchip within the credit card themselves. Anyone know what I am talking about or have had this problem?

I had problems in Canada last year with my US cards. It has nothing to do with traveling outside the country. It has to do with the difference in the card readers in Canada vs. the US. I think Canadian cards have a chip and be tapped instead of scanned. They kept on asking me to tap my card. My new cards have the chips.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Tap-to-pay or PayPass (RF ID) and microchips (need to enter PIN) are very common on most MasterCard and Visa cards in Canada. If your Visa or Mastercard does not have these features, just swip your magnetic strip like you would at home.

American Express is relatively common in Canada too, but most of those cards (including the one I use) only has a magnetic strip.

Of course, all this assumes that your card provider doesn't lock up your account because of unusual / unexpected spending habits. (A phone call 3-5 days before departure should reduce surprise account holds, but despite calling ahead, I've had more American Express account lock-ups than I can count.)