If you see me standing in the aisle… by Wandering Aramean. Not having a filter isn’t an excuse for this type of behavior. Pretty disgusting initial response from Alaska. I think Seth has the right idea on what other passengers can do to help in situations like this.
Reader Eric sent in this tip. Not sure whether it has been mentioned by other readers before. Most US credit cards won’t work for PIN transactions on Train/Transportation ticket machines in Europe (There are tips suggesting using cash advance pin may work though). However, CSR card works magically without entering a pin on those machines (at least several places in Spain). Citi MasterCard and BOA visa don’t work. So it is either Chase solved the problem or visa infinite did. Just want to share my experience so more readers can benefit.
I thought Esteban’s comment on the article you linked about standing in the aisle was better and more to the point than the article itself. Considering it was Mark Zuckerberg’s sister and (surprise) she’s threatened social media exposure, I’m even more interested in the he said/she said that went on there and whether it actually happened according to the more prominent person.
Will disagree that Seth has “the right idea” on this one. I don’t believe it’s worth my time and expense to be carted off the plane/to jail for someone else’s actions, but that’s likely what would happen in the scenario, especially if the flight attendants weren’t around to observe the initial offense. Very definitely easier said than done.
Wes (@guest_528293)
December 1, 2017 17:42
#528293
Doc- we’re dancing with the sjw line a little bit with such links to Seth the Wanderer. Of course the allegation made could be true, and the suggested action could therefore be noble…but to promote this kind of virtue-signalling brought about by a single, bare allegation could be perceived as the blog “getting political.” The article certainly does nothing in the furtherance of free travel or money making. Just my two cents. I think a lot of your readers appreciate your dedication to the blog topics, and your ability to resist the temptation to use your platform to advance political views. I’ll also take this as an opportunity to thank you and your team for all of your awesome and hard work!
The airline has all but confirmed that this behavior was occurring, it’s also backed up by others who were on the flight. If standing up for what is right is SJW, then I guess that’s what I am. I’ll hold relevant companies to this blog accountable for their actions.
In Czech Republic, I used many US credit cards (BofA, Chase, Barclaycard) at self-checkout grocery lanes and it always worked fine.
Also no problem at manned gas stations there. Never used an unmanned gas station there, thought.
Gaurav (@guest_528220)
December 1, 2017 15:26
#528220
CSR worked for me at Paris for the Roissybus and subway. I think I just left it inserted and did not enter a pin and the transaction just went through.
Winnie (@guest_528191)
December 1, 2017 14:39
#528191
Amex PRG worked for me at Rome train stations/
artgriego (@guest_528161)
December 1, 2017 13:55
#528161
Working without entering a PIN is a pretty half-assed solution; the whole point of a PIN is so only you can use it! Come on Chase…
boogieforward (@guest_528136)
December 1, 2017 12:58
#528136
CSR worked great in Munich for me.
Thomas McInerney (@guest_528058)
December 1, 2017 11:29
#528058
CIC and CIP both worked on trains in paris, milan, and rome.
Regarding Chase CSR – not working on ticket machines in most of the Europe. Tried in Austria, Belgium and some other places. On the other hand the Arrival+ never failed (but it has PIN).
I thought Esteban’s comment on the article you linked about standing in the aisle was better and more to the point than the article itself. Considering it was Mark Zuckerberg’s sister and (surprise) she’s threatened social media exposure, I’m even more interested in the he said/she said that went on there and whether it actually happened according to the more prominent person.
Will disagree that Seth has “the right idea” on this one. I don’t believe it’s worth my time and expense to be carted off the plane/to jail for someone else’s actions, but that’s likely what would happen in the scenario, especially if the flight attendants weren’t around to observe the initial offense. Very definitely easier said than done.
Doc- we’re dancing with the sjw line a little bit with such links to Seth the Wanderer. Of course the allegation made could be true, and the suggested action could therefore be noble…but to promote this kind of virtue-signalling brought about by a single, bare allegation could be perceived as the blog “getting political.” The article certainly does nothing in the furtherance of free travel or money making. Just my two cents. I think a lot of your readers appreciate your dedication to the blog topics, and your ability to resist the temptation to use your platform to advance political views. I’ll also take this as an opportunity to thank you and your team for all of your awesome and hard work!
The airline has all but confirmed that this behavior was occurring, it’s also backed up by others who were on the flight. If standing up for what is right is SJW, then I guess that’s what I am. I’ll hold relevant companies to this blog accountable for their actions.
^— What a garbage comment.
In Europe, US credit cards won’t work at gas pumps and self-checkout grocery lanes too. Not sure about CSR.
In Czech Republic, I used many US credit cards (BofA, Chase, Barclaycard) at self-checkout grocery lanes and it always worked fine.
Also no problem at manned gas stations there. Never used an unmanned gas station there, thought.
CSR worked for me at Paris for the Roissybus and subway. I think I just left it inserted and did not enter a pin and the transaction just went through.
Amex PRG worked for me at Rome train stations/
Working without entering a PIN is a pretty half-assed solution; the whole point of a PIN is so only you can use it! Come on Chase…
CSR worked great in Munich for me.
CIC and CIP both worked on trains in paris, milan, and rome.
And any regular ATM/Debit card should work fine also. Preferably, a no-fee one.
CSR worked in Paris train stations for me
Regarding Chase CSR – not working on ticket machines in most of the Europe. Tried in Austria, Belgium and some other places. On the other hand the Arrival+ never failed (but it has PIN).
In Germany I had to use 0000 as the pin when purchasing train tickets with my CSR. A bit odd but I guess that works too.
Nice trick, will try next time.