Paying for things when traveling

[JVilleGal]

I've travelled extensively since the late 60's. My first employer supplied me with an American Express Card to 'automate' my expense account. It worked great then and still does now. I got a personal card as soon as I qualified. I've carried one ever since. I've had cards stolen, lost, burned, mangled, and forged. Never had a problem with AmX fixing whatever problem there was. I either went to their offices or subscriber bank for any problems or if i needed cash. I've conducted business with them via Telex, phone, snail mail, and now email and test. I bought a Land Rover in Peru, paid rent in Crete, and paid hospital bills in Korea with it among the thousands of expenses I used it for. I've rarely had it declined, mostly because it wasn't accepted by the business.

 

Yup, it has a fee. Yup, if I don't pay it off every month the interest is high. And yup, when I'm in a jam, they are there to help and I don't need to call them anymore when I travel. I feel I'm getting what I pay for.

 

 

And sadly where I live no one accepts the Am Ex card, not even Costco anymore. It is also a card that you have is less widely a accepted even in Europe where if a merchant takes it they will tell you they should rather you use a Visa or MC.

 

Discover is another that is accepted in the US but rarely accepted in Europe.

 

 

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[GranJean]

And sadly where I live no one accepts the Am Ex card, not even Costco anymore. It is also a card that you have is less widely a accepted even in Europe where if a merchant takes it they will tell you they should rather you use a Visa or MC.

 

Discover is another that is accepted in the US but rarely accepted in Europe.

 

 

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So true. We didn't have a problem using our AmX during our last two trips to Europe. However, our use was mainly for airlines, rooms and meals.

 

My fall back card for travel is the USAA Visa (used to be Master Card). No fee, low interest and good customer service either Stateside or overseas. *But* you have to be connected to the military community: either active, former, retired, or related in some way to someone who is/was in the military.

[JohnS43]

I'm visiting Europe right now. Notified all my cardholders that I would be traveling (they ask you to specify the countries you will be visiting.) That said, I've pretty much only used two cards: a Schwab debit card for ATMs (they reimburse any fees) and a Capital One Quicksilver VISA for all transactions in foreign currency (they don't charge a foreign transaction fee and give 1.5% back on all purchases worldwide.) I have other cards that give more cash back on categories like travel, but I only use them for US Dollar purchases (like the cruise itself and onboard charges) because otherwise the foreign transaction fee could possibly be more than any potential rebate.

 

One thing too be aware of with credit cards: Most of the rest of the world has gone to chip-and-PIN verification for credit cards. When you use your US chipped card, they will almost always ask you for a signature, since we don't use that system. This can be a problem at unstaffed locations.

[caribill]

 

Discover is another that is accepted in the US but rarely accepted in Europe.

 

 

 

Discover is supposed to be accepted in Europe any place Diners Club is accepted. However, Diners Club is not accepted nearly as much as Visa and MasterCard.

 

By the way, I have found some places in Europe that will only accept Visa and others that only take MasterCard, so I am sure to travel with both.

[Lucky TGO]

We never notified the CC companies when we traveled all over the world. Never had a problem.

So in 2011 DW and son went to Italy to visit family so we decided to notifiy Amex/Visa who issued 2 of the cards they were taking.

 

When they attempted to purchase Italy Rail tickets from the RR in Milan on Amex the charge was denied. :(

They used the Visa and had no issues.

 

You just don't know what they are going to do when you travel away from your home and charge. Any little thing could trip their systems to deny a purchase or raise red flags. :rolleyes:

 

Wow it just makes you wonder what to do :eek:

Tony

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We only carry two credit cards, a Amex & VISA both providind rewards for the same use. We use the Amex for about every purchase we make, averaging 80-100 transactions each month. We do keep the VISA for when we go out of the country, knowing Amex is not accepted in many places.

 

In the past, when we have contacted the banks, Amex always tells us it's travel card and no need to contact them when traveling abroad. VISA does make a note on our account. We have never had either one declined in our travels abroad. The Amex account has been stoled a few times and never had any issue with Amex resolving it, just the hassle for us to change it where it's automatically charged.

 

If we are staying several days in one country, then we hit the ATM for some cash as usually get the best exchange rate. We do notify the bank as to not cause a problem there either. We like to have some of the local currency on hand.

[pris993]

I always call our banks and report travel plans.

 

I usually travel with one card with a high limit, dh has a couple of cards with much lower limits which he takes. So I generally use my card only.

 

On our last Princess cruise, I had used my high limit card to cover on board charges ... I pay off the card monthly, so had no concern about the charges being covered. When we were about to get off the ship, I was paged to report to customer service. There I was advised my credit card company had not authorized all charges. While this did not make sense to me, knowing I have a high limit, I had to go get my dh card to cover the balance.

 

When I got home I called the bank to ask why the charges were denied. Bank's response was they never denied any charges. Apparently in the processing on Princess, someone there made a mistake. To avoid this problem in the future, I opened up another credit card for emergencies for myself. So I will travel with two cards.

 

I was lucky we were at our home port did not have flights to catch etc., because due to Princess mistake we were delayed getting off the ship for about an hour... with me needing to go back and forth to customer's service... to get a second card. Do not want that to happen again, now I am covered with two cards if need be.

[cruiselover57]

Both my husband and I have two credit cards through our bank. One old and a brand new one. We have been with the same bank for many years. One card is used for emergencies and the second is used every day as we get rewards by using it. We hardly use cash and we pay both cards off every month.

 

I just returned from a week at a conference just two states away (only a 4 hour drive) for a week. The hotel charged my every day card upon arrival. Two days later, I went to buy something from one of the vendors and both cards were denied - frozen. No call or email from the bank. Because the card is in my name, I had to call and talk to the bank. Learned a lot about the bank and their rules. Apparently we are suppose to let them know where and when we will be out of 'zone' but no one seems to know what that 'zone' is.

 

Today we went into the bank to try and find out more. As responsible adults, who pay off their cards every month, have an alert to receive and email if our card has a charge made over $5, and are semiretired, we are expected to call them or fill out a form 24 hours in advance every time we go over state lines - a mer 45 minutes away. We asked what happens if we, as retired folks, decide to go for a drive, end up visiting friends on the spur of the moment, take them out to dinner. . .pick up the tab and our card is denied. How embarrassing that we would have to call the bank to get our card unfrozen! They said, that's how they now operate.

 

Needless to say, we are now looking for new ways to have credit so we can travel but not have to tell the banking world what and where we are going. We have closed the new accounts and now hold just the one card.

 

So, my questions. I know we can't share exact companies here, but maybe you can help us out anyway. We are all travelers here and someone must have come up with the best way to carry credit without having to tell them every time you cross state lines.

 

1. Do you carry a couple of credit cards?

2. With banks or another company?

3. Prepaid credit cards?

4. Cash?

5. Other forms?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

1. We usually carry a few credit cards with us.

2. I believe they are all with banks.

3. Do not use prepaid credit cards.

4. We only use cash if the place doesn't accept credit cards or they have a minimum.

5. We will get an ATM card only if we're going out of the country. Lately though, it appears our credit card does not get charged any more foreign transaction fees (FTFs) which is a good thing because those can certainly add up.

 

We've never had a problem using our credit card out of our state. If we're traveling out of the country, we will let the companies know about a month prior and for how long we will be gone (no problem whatsoever).

 

CC companies will at times freeze the card whenever a large purchase is made (that can be irritating at times) because they're doing it for our protection against fraud but I had already charged about $200 and then tried to make a small purchase of less than $10 and didn't want to take the time to call the company right then and there so I just used a different card and then got it all straightened out when I got home to let them know the charges were legit. They're just doing their jobs but I know how frustrating that can be.

 

Maybe it's time to look into a different card. We like the ones we can earn cruise points.

 

Hope that helps!

[karena1]

I do 2 things:

 

I go online to my "vacation" section on my credit card and note what states, countries, etc I will be in.

 

Then a couple days later I call the CC company just to make sure they are showing the information. I also let them know if I will "for sure" be making any large purchases in specific places. For example-I always pick up Cigs for my BIL when we go to STT and we always buy a bunch of Cruzan Rum in STT. So I let my CC company know I will be making large purchases on that island

 

I also carry a spare card in case we need it. I call and let them know we will be gone also

 

But I can say, my card would never zap me for something simple like you are talking about. I have forgotten to call when we cruise or go to Wis and such and I guess b/c they can tell where we go from our history, they have never frozen anything when that happens.

 

But they will immediately text and call me if anything unusual happens, which is why I try to call and let them know when we are going to be gone.

[johnatsis]

like they say American Express Card - Don't Leave Home Without It... I have been using one since 1968 and never had a problem... Only a few merchants don't take it and AMEX customer service is great

[Colo Cruiser]

like they say American Express Card - Don't Leave Home Without It... I have been using one since 1968 and never had a problem... Only a few merchants don't take it and AMEX customer service is great

 

 

Traveling all over Europe I only found a few that would take it. :(

[JVilleGal]

Traveling all over Europe I only found a few that would take it. :(

 

 

Ditto

 

 

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[alwalaska]

Not unusual for credit card companies to freeze cards when they spot something unusual. Can be either outside of your normal area or even a different pattern of use. Especially if the change is something that might indicate fraud.

 

For example I had a card get frozen because I purchase gas at a Walmart and coffee at Starbucks when I was out of state. My cards will send me both an email and a text if something triggers their possible fraud alert. I just have to acknowledge that the charges are valid and the card becomes active again.

 

I always notify the card companies if I am traveling out of the country.

 

What is unusual is that the OP did not get an immediate call, text, or email. When our cards were locked because of where we used them, we were notified within a few minutes and unlocking it was a piece of cake.

 

As to the OPs question, I carry several credit cards where I get different bonus points for different things. Although this is just a personal choice and not a recommendation, I would never ONLY carry AmEx or Discover. Too many places that don't take them. I am constantly running into places that don't take AmEx. Also, I would carry at least two cards which come from two different banks. That way if one bank is hard to deal with or reach while you are on vacation, you have a fall back.

 

Additionally, double check foreign transaction fees. We pretty much use our Capital One when out of the country because they were the first to offer no Foreign transaction fees. I typically set up a vacation notice with them before we leave if I remember. :rolleyes:

[Thrak]

I used to use my Discover card when traveling as I got money back and there was no foreign transaction fee. Now I use an airline card instead (but have the Discover as a backup) and it has just finally gone to no foreign transaction fee. My wife actually has a Master Card I don't carry (OK, I have one in a drawer somewhere) that I don't use. We are covered with 3 different cards and there is always the ATM card for a major thing but I don't like to ever use that abroad as I don't like things linked to my checking account. (Credit cards have dispute resolutions attached but ATM cards are just "you lose" if the number is stolen.)

 

Of course I do always have a couple of good old $100 bills stuck away in my wallet "just in case". :D

[JVilleGal]

I used to use my Discover card when traveling as I got money back and there was no foreign transaction fee. Now I use an airline card instead (but have the Discover as a backup) and it has just finally gone to no foreign transaction fee. My wife actually has a Master Card I don't carry (OK, I have one in a drawer somewhere) that I don't use. We are covered with 3 different cards and there is always the ATM card for a major thing but I don't like to ever use that abroad as I don't like things linked to my checking account. (Credit cards have dispute resolutions attached but ATM cards are just "you lose" if the number is stolen.)

 

Of course I do always have a couple of good old $100 bills stuck away in my wallet "just in case". :D

 

Interesting comment, have been traveling to Europe for many years and have never (did I say NEVER ) seen a Discover card accepted!

 

That's just my experience of course, YMMD

 

 

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[Thrak]

Interesting comment, have been traveling to Europe for many years and have never (did I say NEVER ) seen a Discover card accepted!

 

That's just my experience of course, YMMD

 

 

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We used it in Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Columbia, and Aruba. Haven't made it to Europe yet. Give us time - we only have 7 cruises done so far. :)

 

However, I no longer use the Discover for travel as I now use a Visa with airline miles. Neither the Discover or the Visa have foreign transaction fees attached. We will be using the Visa when we do the South Pacific next year.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Thrak

[JVilleGal]

We used it in Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Columbia, and Aruba. Haven't made it to Europe yet. Give us time - we only have 7 cruises done so far. :)

 

However, I no longer use the Discover for travel as I now use a Visa with airline miles. Neither the Discover or the Visa have foreign transaction fees attached. We will be using the Visa when we do the South Pacific next year.

 

Don't plan on being able to use Discover in Europe. They also hate Am Ex and while taken in some larger establishments it is not welcome in many many places.

I found Discover to be hit or miss in Canada and Discover is my preferred card.

[RRFan]

Following.

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

Following.

 

 

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The last post is from July 2016 and there is nothing to follow. Discover is rarely excepted over seas if that's your question.

 

 

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[notentirelynormal]

delete

Edited March 25, 2017 by notentirelynormal

[notentirelynormal]

Not unusual for credit card companies to freeze cards when they spot something unusual. Can be either outside of your normal area or even a different pattern of use. Especially if the change is something that might indicate fraud.

 

For example I had a card get frozen because I purchase gas at a Walmart and coffee at Starbucks when I was out of state. My cards will send me both an email and a text if something triggers their possible fraud alert. I just have to acknowledge that the charges are valid and the card becomes active again.

 

I always notify the card companies if I am traveling out of the country.

None of my credit cards need any notice when traveling anywhere in the USA.

 

They do require notice when the card will be used for travel outside of the USA.

I have noticed this trend in the past few years as well. I think what contributes to this is your history of travel.

Three days later, I did a BVE in San Pedro and used the card to pay for parking for five hours--the first time I'd used the card in weeks. I got home and a few minutes later, got a call from the Fraud Department asking if I'd just charged over $250 at Von's (a supermarket.) I told them I hadn't and out of curiosity, asked which Von's. San Pedro. Wow! The parking fee collector stole my credit card! I now pay cash and will never use a credit card to park there again.

I have heard that some issue from someone else. I hope you reported it to San Pedro port.

A few years back, like you, we learned about notifying the banks prior to travel. What doesn't seem mentioned here is that we also had to notify them if we travelled outside of our state.

 

We just automatically go online to our banks prior to a trip now and do that. Less

Any card of mine that made me tell them when I was going out of state would be cancelled. Immediately. The credit card people do NOT run my life.

I had my Chase card dinged. They contacted me when there were three small online purchases I a row. Apparently that's what thrives will do, try a couple 1-5 dollar charges and if they go through go for something larger. I got text and email. Said nope not me and got issued a new card. Glad fraud worked.

 

For travel I always notify the company and take my bank card for cash.

I have multiple cards with no foreign transaction fees (fabulous) and recently got a new one-another chase- that gave me major bonus points for paying my cruise on it. They'll "pay" for my next flight [emoji4]

I once had my card frozen because I made a charge at AT&T, Best Buy, See’s Chocolates and ToysRUs all within 1 hour. That made sense to me.

By the way, I have found some places in Europe that will only accept Visa and others that only take MasterCard, so I am sure to travel with both.

Man, that was a lesson for me. DH and I went out to dinner in Paris. Luckily I had just got some cash from the hotel. We went to dinner. I just assumed if they took MasterCard they would take Visa. Nope.

CC companies will at times freeze the card whenever a large purchase is made (that can be irritating at times) because they're doing it for our protection against fraud but I had already charged about $200 and then tried to make a small purchase of less than $10 and didn't want to take the time to call the company right then and there so I just used a different card and then got it all straightened out when I got home to let them know the charges were legit. They're just doing their jobs but I know how frustrating that can be.

We clearly have a different opinion on a large purchase. I spend more then that at Costco when I go food shopping. A large purchase for me would be well over $1000 and I would be pissed if they put a hold on my card.

like they say American Express Card - Don't Leave Home Without It... I have been using one since 1968 and never had a problem... Only a few merchants don't take it and AMEX customer service is great

Princess Chase always rejects my card when I shop in a particular store. They say because it is not my normal place to shop. I tell them because every single time I’ve shopped there I have been denied. The only thing I can think of is that the store is for restaurant owners only. The owner gave me a card to shop there.

I have a Chevron card. Guess what I use it for? Gasoline. Especially when travelling. Additionally my DS has a card and lives in Washington. DD has a card and she and I live in California. They put a hold on m account because I drove from LA to Seattle and back. I called them. They said I travelled out of state. I asked if they were ignorant. A gasoline card is used for putting gas in your car when you are travelling. That is probably the stupidest comment I ever heard. I told them, put a note on my card to never ever put a hold on my account that I would be responsible for illegal use. It only has a limit of $1200 anyway.