Travelling abroad, is it really necessary to call CC companies?

[Zar]

Hello!

I am travelling abroad soon. I wanted to know if you always call your credit card companies to let them know you are travelling and that you will be using your credit cards. Have you ever had any bad experiences due to not letting them know about your trips outside the country?

Thank you!

Zar

[Anonymous]

It takes a couple of minutes to call them and let them know, so just call them.

[Zar]

Right! I did it already but I just wanted to know about others' experiences.

Thank you!

Zar

[haulingthescoreup]

I've read some pretty impressive stories here about what happened to those who didn't!

Sorry, no personal experience; I barely cross state lines. But I called AmEx when DD#2 went to Minnesota with the AU Gold Card, and again when we all went to New Orleans, and they questioned closely each time as to how much we expected to charge. I asked what would happen if we went over, and they said it would probably be a good idea to give them a contact number.

So if this is what happens when we go one time zone away, I think we'll definitely call DD#2's cards when she goes to Ireland in a couple of weeks!

[Zar]

Hauling! That is exactly what AmEx asked me yesterday when I called and I told them I'd be abroad for some days using the Blue card: when, for how long and how much I was planning to charge on it.

Zar

[Anonymous]

Seems to be random for me. I:ve used my cards all over the world, and never had a problem. But I started regularly charging 1.99 on the internet (itunes) and they froze my account for unusual activity.

Can:t hurt, but if you look on the consumerist website there are a couple of letters from people who did tell them and had their accts frozen anyway.

[Zar]

Oh! I read somewhere it's better to call again to confirm they really took note of the use abroad...

Zar

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Seems to be random for me. I:ve used my cards all over the world, and never had a problem. But I started regularly charging 1.99 on the internet (itunes) and they froze my account for unusual activity.

Can:t hurt, but if you look on the consumerist website there are a couple of letters from people who did tell them and had their accts frozen anyway.

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Is that the site with the story about the couple who went to London, notifying BofA in advance, and his were frozen and hers weren't? Hilarious phone conversation with the BofA CSR, when the traveler asked the rep to read the notice that he would be using the card in England, and the rep was still confused.

I think MV posted it on Credit in the News, something about angry swans. (The traveler was standing on a table outside a pub, being swarmed by swans while trying to talk to BofA on his cell phone.)

[llecs]

This is quasi-similar, but DW and I went on our honeymoon and one of the stops was in Tunis, Tunisia. We got suckered into buying a rug from a rug merchant (the salesmen there would be millionaires over here if they just applied 10% of their skills here). Anyway, we vowed not to use any CCs on the trip (probably because we didn't have any). We paid with currency, but didn't have a chance to exchange while there.

So, I whipped out by BofA VISA debit card to by this rug. We purposely kept only $300 on the chking acct. And the purchase topped $200. I clearly and vividly remember handing the card to the salesman. He then took the card and I watched him handoff the card to another. Then, like it was synchronized, he handed it to someone else who I followed as he exited the building with the card. The first salesman stopped me at the door and I resigned myself to the card's fate.

Well, that was the only time we used the card, but when I got home, I noticed our checking was overdrawn by about $100. We were closing that acct anyway because of account consolidation from marrying, but the bank said they cancelled the card because of multiple attempts to use it and suspected fraud. Turns out 3 other purchases were made after ours and over a dozen attempts to use it after the balance exceeded $0.

I guess the point is this: carry multiple cards, keep them separated, and have plenty of cash in hand just in case. Had we relied on that one card, and if it were a CC, we'd be in big trouble.

[Anonymous]

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llecs wrote:

if it were a CC, we'd be in big trouble.

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If it were a CC, and you reported it stolen, you would have been out $0 instead of $300.