I'm getting conflicting info about US credit cards and European

>>1065455
If you have a pin and can withdraw money from ATMs in the US it will work everywhere in europe the same way. insert the card, enter your pin, done.
If you have a newer card it will have paypass where you can pay up to 40€ by just putting your card on the reader without entering a pin (great to quickly buy tickets or other small stuff.)

Some older machines in restaurants will print the signature receipt.

American here traveling through the UK right now. I have had no problems using my credit cards with a chip at all (I have chase and as well as a west coast credit union). I do have some cards without a smart chip, and although most cashier's are confused by the old act of swiping, since America is lagging in this technology, it has worked in every single instance I have used it.
Hope that helps some.

>>1065455
Make sure you have a longer PIN, not just the 4 digit kind in the US.

The swiping still works, of course, as does imprinting and reading the numbers manually into a machine. So, though an unmanned ATM or train station machine could conceivably have an issue, you can still go into your bank (Citi), and get money. Having 2 cards is great of course, gives you a backup when one is having an issue. And, in my experience, issues do happen and they're unavoidable, from temporary zip code alerts even if you told them about your trip, to whatever else. Shit happens.

>>1065455
As long as you really have a PIN, it will work at the train ticket kiosk in NL.

Don't be surprised by the extra 50 cents they charge for the use of credit cards at those kiosks. It's only the ~superior~ Maestro cards (and coins) that you can buy the tickets with for the normal price.
Also if you just buy the paper ticket you will be charged 1 EUR extra per ticket, so better get some anonymous OV chip card or Amsterdam Travel Card or whatever.

In touristy places you can pay with your credit card in the Netherlands, do note that a few shops only accept Maestro. (Even within Europe that's weird.)

>>1065530
Cool. The only problem I see with getting the OV chipcart is the minimum balance you have to have at all times, and that it seems to be a pain in the dick to get that money back.

I just came back from a backpacking eurotrip. In the 4 months I was there, there were about a handful of instances where they asked for my pin, which I obv. don't have on my chip + sig card. I think I just resorted to cash on those times but if not I would have sucked it up (the fee) and used my debit card.