Use of Credit cards in South America ; Chile, Argentina and Brazil

LindaR

We are going on the Essence of South America tour in February 2014. Have recently read about American travelers having difficulty in foreign countries using credit cards that have a strip, as do most US cards and not a chip, as do European credit cards.

We hope to use our credit cards vs cash, as much as possible and would appreciate knowing the experience of previous US travelers.

mmrhoden

We know from experience that you can get a USAA MasterCard with chip and PIN on request without a problem within two weeks.

Val

Last year before going to Italy I got a "chip & pin" AT&T Universal MasterCard. However, when we asked Capital One they said if a business advertises that they accept a credit card they have to take it. Capital One will be coming out with one but they weren't sure when. We had no problem in Italy.

Val

When are you going to South America? We are booked for the February 11th tour. Val & Jack

LindaR

Val wrote:

When are you going to South America? We are booked for the February 11th tour. Val & Jack

We are booked on the February 9th tour. Looks like we will be just days apart. This will be our 8th Tauck trip. We are from Pasadena Ca Linda

Dubie

Hi--We also will be on the Feb. 9 tour. Coming in on the 7th. From Rockville, MD.

jfg

We were on December 2013 tour and had no trouble with credit cards. In Argentina, you get a much better exchange rate if you pay in cash using USA dollars.