In France, I've never had a problem with my magnetic strip card being read at manned counters, but having run into a situation at an Amsterdam train station where the readers were all chip, I'm going to like having a chip card. Most places in France have technology that reads the magnetic strip on the back of our US credit cards, but in the event I find myself in a place that doesn't, I'm going to feel better knowing that I have a chip card. How this works seems to be mostly about the particular machine, but we've run into some issues (particularly in Amsterdam) where having the chip would have made a difference. American credit cards don't yet have the "PIN" technology that is required for use in automated machines such as train ticket kiosks, toll booths and unmanned gas stations, but as you will read on this link, some travelers have been able to use them for purchases below a certain amount or by entering "0000" as their pin (?): This year, I'm adding the Chase "chip" card because I'm just going to feel better that I have one.
On several trips, I've used a Cap One MC that doesn't charge an international transaction fee and I've received an exchange rate that pretty much matches the quote I can view on currency exchange sites.
My experience has been that some cards post a separate transaction fee (my debit card does this) and others, like American Express, build it into the exchange rate.you don't see it, but you can learn about it if you read the terms of your card on the AmEx website.
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