Richard wrote:
In France, 10 or more
years ago my cards wouldn't work in French Railways' ticket
machines, because they were not chip and PIN. (They would not even
accept the card as identification for a booking already paid for on
the net.) Now (well, 2005), they don't work on the Paris Metro even
though they are chip and PIN.

2005 isn't "now", and in my *recent* experience UK cards do now work on
the Paris Métro.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:51:38 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:
2005 isn't "now", and in my *recent* experience UK cards do now work on
the Paris Métro.

That's put me in my place, though it may still happening on SNCF. In
December last year, the TER ticket machines at Basel SNCF had a notice
that they only accepted cards issued in France (and no notes either).
I don't know if this is common to all TER equipment or a peculiarity
of its location, ironic given that it's in Switzerland. I hope that
the main line ticket machines, more likely to be used by foreign
travellers, perhaps, wouldn't have that restriction.

Richard.

On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:51:35 +0100, Richard
wrote:

My debit card worked there, but it seems that not all UK cardholders
are as lucky - the Visa debit holders perhaps?

Visa debit cards are processed abroad as Visa credit cards, so would
only be acceptable at Schiphol and not elsewhere.

BIG WARNING: The ticket machines at Schiphol are of two main types.
The ones found in the baggage hall are older and have a manual credit
card slot, the ones on the station are newer and have an automatic
one. The ones in the baggage hall seem to decline about 50% of my
attempted transactions, whereas the ones in the station seem to
succeed with all of them.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

What's the difference between manual and automatic in this case?

"Neil Williams" wrote in message
... .

BIG WARNING: The ticket machines at Schiphol are of two main types.
The ones found in the baggage hall are older and have a manual credit
card slot, the ones on the station are newer and have an automatic
one. The ones in the baggage hall seem to decline about 50% of my
attempted transactions, whereas the ones in the station seem to
succeed with all of them.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 17:36:07 GMT, wrote:

What's the difference between manual and automatic in this case?

At the manual ones you have to push in and remove your card entirely
by hand, while the automatic ones behave more like a bank cash point
whereby you just insert the end of the card and the machine pulls it
in and spits it out.

I don't know if it's the readers that are the problem or a
communication issue, but unless you're stood there for ages waiting
for luggage and therefore have nothing better to do than try several
cards it's far easier just to wait and use a machine on the concourse.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Neil Williams wrote:

BIG WARNING: The ticket machines at Schiphol are of two main types.
The ones found in the baggage hall are older and have a manual credit
card slot, the ones on the station are newer and have an automatic
one. The ones in the baggage hall seem to decline about 50% of my
attempted transactions, whereas the ones in the station seem to
succeed with all of them.

The machine I used in 2005 was in the station (directly above the
platform, as I recall). I don't remember if the slot was manual or
automatic, but it didn't work with my U.S.-based Visa credit card or
Cirrus/Star ATM card.
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY, USA