>This is what I have Chase Sapphire card. The annual fee is expensive ($80) but it also carries some insurance (like for lost days in travel, and some others). And, of course, the 3% foreign transaction fee.

Got you! You no speek proper Ahmerican! It is no foreign, it is international... the PC police will get you :)

Kidding aside, even here all card readers use this contact chip, pretty much the kind I've seen 20 years ago when it was used for public phones. In some cases when the machine couldn't read my chip, the operator would try to swipe, and it also wouldn't work - which means my card probably doesn't have a magnetic strip at all. Still, this means they may have some card readers in some places that would accept a swipe.

She may try an ATM (which may be called differently - it's bankomat around here). There may be a charge, but the exchange rate is usually better than at a tourist agency or any other exchange office.