Copies of credit cards?

That's a good idea, but what if you lose your credit card at 11am and it's 2 in the morning for your parents?

I carried a copy of all my papers: credit cards, atm card, passport, DL, insurance card even, safely folded up in my money belt. Even if I was an idiot and misplaced a card, I'd have the copy securely with me at any point in time.

Make sure you have the international number to call your card company as well--the toll free 1-800 number will not work.

If you needed to call and cancel your cards because they are lost or stolen, you wouldn't necessarily have to have the card numbers to do so. There are lots of ways that the credit card company can associate you with your account -- confirming address, birthdate, ssn, password, etc. As long as you have the phone number that will work to call from outside the country, you shouldn't really need to have a copy of the credit card account number.

Good points..thanks!

What do most of you do, bring copies, or just numbers?

I made copies (front and back) of my credit card, CA driver's license and ATM, but blacked out all the CC numbers but the last 5. I wrote the international phone number next to the copies of the cards. One piece of paper - easy to fold for the money belt. I also gave our daughter copies of our cards.

I scanned the front and back of the credit cards and emailed them to myself. I then just deleted the email when I got home. I also keep a copy in my suitcase.

I know some people are very against the whole emailing thing, but it is extremely handy to run into a cyber cafe when/if you need it. Also I talked to an IT professional and he said the security risk was really minimal.

Internet security is not well understood even by some "professionals." The SENDING of email from point A to B is very secure. It is what happens to your email after it is reassembled at point B. IF you access your email from an internet cafe, public computer, etc., then there is NO security. Any number of skyware programs, snoops, etc., can quick capture your login, password, and your email with cc numbers is wide open. Leaving that information in luggage also compromises security.

BUT we do the same by encoding all of our numbers with a randomize alpha substitution code and put it in an email account that is only used for that purpose. If that address is compromised, then the information is useless. We also make several 3x5 cards with the same encoded info and hide these cards through out our luggage. Again, if a card is discover, nothing lost. This is what my cc number would look like -- 4MBB ADAE -- etc. For all practical purposes, these codes are unbreakable.

All you need is the phone number and Rick lists them in his guide books. You don't need to have the CC number, you can verify in other ways.

I keep a copy of front and back of credit and ATM cards, plus copy of my passport, hidden in my travel bag. Some cards do not have the number to call from outside the U.S. on them, so I write that on the copies. (They are usually collect calls, not toll free.) I also call them all to let them know in which countries I'll be using the cards. Leaving a copy at home with family is also a good idea.

I have done what was mentioned in an earlier post; I scanned my passport, credit cards, etc. and e-mailed the files to myself. Should these things get lost or stolen, I can access the internet at a hotel or cyber cafe and retreive this info.

I copy everything I carry and put it in my wifes moneybelt and then do the same with what she carries.It is a very small piece of paper.

We did what Jack suggests until it suddenly occured to me that losing one moneybelt meant that every card would need to be cancelled.

From now on, we're using Frank's encryption method.

Another vote for bringing the (non-800) phone numbers. They can look you up other ways, and the account numbers will be meaningless once the cards are cancelled.

ABSOLUTELY copy the back and front of your credit and ATM cards. And make sure you also contact your bank to get the international number you need to call in case it is stolen. My husband got pickpocketed in Prague (he was too proud to wear a money belt, that's changed since then), and his wallet had his Visa check card in it. He didn't copy his cards beforehand, so I had to run to an internet cafe, find the international number for his bank, buy a phone card, find a payphone, all in order to put a hold on his account. Trust me, he copies his credit cards now.

Keep your credit cards and your ATM cards in your money belt. In many highly touristed places, there are many professional pickpockets. By professional, I mean that this is how they make their living, doing it daily for years, and they're much better at it then we are at spotting or stopping them. The best you can do is prepare yourself to keep your losses at a minimum in case you are pickpocketed.

We just memorized our card numbers and wrote down the phone numbers we needed.

In general, you need to know the card number and the phone number (not an 800 number, they don't work calling internationally) to call if your card is lost or stolen.

I add them to the list of contacts I take with me on a 3x5 card. We generally bring four cards, one debit and one credit each for my wife and I, so the four card numbers with a contact phone doesn't add anything to our load.

I don't bring photocopies of the card. In the hands of the wrong person, a photo copy of the card can be as bad as losing the card. Any purchase needs at least the card number and expiratiion date. Many purchases need more but the people who take your cards also know where they can convert them into goods, services or cash most easily.

I do bring photocopies of my passport and other hard to replace ID's (like my PADI dive card) because they can't be used and will help a ton if your originals are lost or stolen.

The reason I bring account numbers is there are so many mergers, it's not unlikely the service person you talk to is managing cards that began life with 40 different banks or department stores.

Once upon a time, you called your bank about your card but times are getting more interesting.

I'm sure a good service person can still find your card number.

There's a chance you are carrying several different cards, with different bank or store names on them, that are being managed by one mega-bank now. I wouldn't want them to cancel the wrong card because they looked it up under my name and address.

I have a program on my ipaq that keeps all the info on cards and it's got a security code.

I have the account number, exp, their tx us and otherwise.

I keep a scanned copy of the contents of my wallet front and back of cards in my safe at home.

Wait till your wallet is stolen and you think you have listed everything only to find out you haven't.