[kevindong]

I've only been to Switzerland once and that was during a <2 hour layover in the Zurich airport. As an American used to frequently decrepit American airports/infrastructure, I was seriously shocked at how nice the entire airport was. The aesthetic of the airport was just quintessentially Swiss (aka beautifully minimalistic).

When I pay for something with an American credit card in Europe, the machine prints out a receipt for me to sign. I was buying a snack at a store in the Zurich airport and the clerk actually compared the signature on the back of my card to the signature that I scrawled on the receipt. That was the one and only time I've ever had someone do that.

I generally don't put any effort into those signatures so my signature looked nothing like what was on the back of my card so the clerk actually asked me to try again.

[ghaff]

So they have an archaic system that requires comparing a signature? I'm pretty sure I couldn't match my credit card unless I were trying to do it while looking at the card signature. I hardly consider that a benefit.

And I've been through Zurich. I don't consider it anything special better or worse than going through most major European or American airports. [Oh. I take that back. I had my luggage lost on the way there by SwissAir and it was a nightmare finding who to talk to.]

[wenc]

It's not the Swiss; it's US credit cards.

Most Europeans either use a PIN or contactless (for smaller purchases). US credit cards however have no PIN, and contactless cards aren't yet common in the US, so terminals default to chip/magnetic-strip + signature. When a signature is required, one is supposed to check it against the signature on the card (I suspect we don't do it here in the US because everybody signs and it's too much of a hassle to do it for each transaction).

I've had my signature checked against the back of my card in many places around the world -- so it's not just Switzerland.

Most people abroad usually have this look of surprise when their terminal instructs them to obtain a signature. They usually have a face that says, "Oh! Americans".

p.s. this is changing with mobile contactless. I started using Apple Pay in Europe (before COVID that is). Most contactless terminals recognize my phone as simply another contactless card. (NFC)

[hirsin]

They did that because they were unfamiliar with a system that requires such a check. Every time I've been to Europe and used an American card it's been explained to me that because American cards are so far behind the times they need to specially handle my card instead of using Chip and PIN

[graeme]

You perhaps didn’t go through the terminal for international transiting connections (terminal E?)

It is fantastic. Just about the best airport experience I’ve had. Easy to get from one point to another, nice lounges if you have access, and outdoor viewing decks.

The rest of the airport is just so so. And it’s confusing to get from one terminal to the next.

But terminal E is a marvel. Airports actually have internationally established minimum connection times for flights, based on how long transit is expected to be. Zurich’s is among the lowest.

The other comment covered the credit card issue so I won’t address that part.

[raverbashing]

No the archaic part of the system is actually the American Credit Cards

And to add about Zurich airport, it is indeed very nice but the price of things isn't.

[082349872349872]

We still have this antiquated notion that the more expensive good or service is better, because one gets what one pays for.

(A german doctor once told me a salient difference he noted between germany and switzerland is that if you run into an acquaintance in Aldi in germany, they don't immediately offer an excuse for why they happen to be shopping there that day.)