zip code at gas pumps

I think we put a 0 in place of the letters.

Enter the three numbers then 00.

We can loan our Canadian brothers and sisters some zip codes.

If prompted for your ZIP code, just enter the three digits of your postal code plus two zeros. So for example, if your postal code is A2B 3C4, the 5 digit number you should enter is 23400.

I thought it was 00 followed by the digits from the postal code. Many place just won't accept a CDN credit card at the pump.

This is one of the most irritating aspects of snowbirding. When DW and I are south we often go out for day long motorcycle rides. This might involve a fill to start the day then one or two as we put on miles.

That means standing in line 6 times every day we ride. What a PITA.

In Canada we have chip cards - enter PIN and you're done. Or tap and you're done. Or pump gas then go inside to pay you're done.

It's also a pain for USA drivers in Canada. While RVing in Alberta this summer, I hit a lot of Canadian fuel pumps that refused my USA credit cards at the pump and had to go inside to pay for my fuel. Such is life when traveling in a FOREIGN country (both yours and mine).

As mentioned use the numbers in your Canadian postal code followed by zeros.

i.e. for A5B 4C3, use 54300

It works about 80% of the time. Apparently it has something to do when their system resets are done.

Rover_Bill wrote:
It's also a pain for USA drivers in Canada. While RVing in Alberta this summer, I hit a lot of Canadian fuel pumps that refused my USA credit cards at the pump and had to go inside to pay for my fuel. Such is life when traveling in a FOREIGN country (both yours and mine).

Same here. A real pain when it's late at night and the pumps are open by the mini-store is closed too.

Rover_Bill wrote:
It's also a pain for USA drivers in Canada. While RVing in Alberta this summer, I hit a lot of Canadian fuel pumps that refused my USA credit cards at the pump and had to go inside to pay for my fuel. Such is life when traveling in a FOREIGN country (both yours and mine).

I'm wondering if the problem relates to "chipped" cards with the Canadian stations requiring a chipped card and a PIN number. Maybe when chipped cards become universal for US folks their cards will work at the Canadian pumps.

The work around (numbers from our postal code plus 2 zeroes) works almost 100% of the time for us in the US.

almcc wrote:
I'm wondering if the problem relates to "chipped" cards with the Canadian stations requiring a chipped card and a PIN number. Maybe when chipped cards become universal for US folks their cards will work at the Canadian pumps.

My credit cards did have the new security chips, but most of the pumps I visited in Canada were not yet equipped to read the chip. Most pumps in the USA (that I use) don't read the chip yet.