If you were planning a trip to Italy for a couple of weeks what dates would you provide to your credit card company so that they will expect transactions from there?
For the duration of the trip only?
Beginning now through the end of the trip because you will be making hotel reservation deposits with the card before the trip?
Include a period of time after the trip to allow for slow posting of transactions?
Thanks for any advice and suggestions!
ggeinec
Capitol One has a nice automated vacation phone system--one of the few times it's nice to get a machine! It's not through their main number on then back of the card though, but they'll give it to you if you call and I believe it's on the website.
I always call a week or so before my trip and never a problem.
Hi, George! I'd let them know right away you'll be buying somethings from Europe, perhaps making some larger than normal purchases, and giving them your dates of travel.
We were booking two sets of flights today, and no sooner did we get started on the second set, than our credit card company called to confirm the first set we had just purchased 10 minutes before! I was pretty impressed.
I've traveled without doing this, and wound up with a very boring night in Vegas, after the bank noticed all these Vegas charges... lol.
I would tell them the dates you will be on vacation. Hopefully from that they can figure out that there will be transportation and lodging transactions coming in.
Even if you let them know, plan a back-up. So much is done automatically, it's not unheard of for a bank to place a fraud hold on your account even though you contacted them in advance.
Include non-800 number contacts for all you debit or credit cards in your emergency numbers so you can call if a card doesn't work or is lost or stolen.
If a card declines because of a fraud alert, they won't take it off until they talk to you. Once you talk to them it usually clears the next day.
I've also learned to not make just 1 call but 2 or 3 calls to the credit card companies and banks. On more than one occasion I've made a 2nd call only to be told that they had no records of my first call and nothing had been noted on my account. I've also been told on 2nd calls that the 1st time I called I talked with an employee who "didn't know what they were doing". So I've just learned over the years to make 2 or 3 calls BEFORE I leave the USA so I don't have to deal with problems from overseas.
I always advise my credit card companies of my travel plans. One company (I forget which) gives me a confirmation number for the call, the other doesn't, so I make a written note of the agent's name, and the date and time of my call. Just in case !
In addition to calling you credit card company, you can also notify them via their web site. I find it a lot easier as you don't have to wait on hold.
George - along these lines, make sure to get your Credit Card company's US non-toll-free number, as you can't call 800's from the EU very easily. Just in case!
With regard to a contact telephone number, make sure it is a 24 hour number and not just business hours, which could be quite useless give the time differences.
Definitely!! I always send an e-mail to customer service noting the dates of my stay & if I'll be making any charges before then (as in your case with the hotel deposits).
Also, you don't have to include an extra period of time for posting...They take that into account.
In addition, one other thing I do is take copies of my CC & ATM card (front & back!) so I will have the #s available in case I lose them & need to call customer service. I keep it with a copy of my passport, hidden away in my luggage.
Always double check, I called my credit union gave them the dates, locations etc. When I landed in Florence I could not get any money from my ATM card. Of course it was the weekend so I had to wait until Monday to call. Luckily I had ordered some Euro's ahead of time, becuase several of the local restaurants would not take credit cards.
I had the same thing happen as Jesse. I had a back up card and plenty of cash until I could call, but always double check.
Like Tim, we call 3 times to make certain our CC company has flagged our account for activity from Europe, for duration of trip and reservations there, etc. One call may not be enough.
Thanks for all of the great replies. Lots of really good advice here!
Have CC from more than one institution. In October '07 we had VISA and MC but both from USAA. We had called 2 or 3 times to verify travel dates and countries, but we were cut off when we arrived in London. Fortunately, we had enough Euros to pay the cab fare to our hotel, but it took 2 phone calls to reactivate our account. Our plans for dinner and theater for that evening were ruined because of the additional time spent on the phone when the first person did not rescind the hold. It was nice to know that someone was watching our account, though.
Sometimes I read advice about not needing any foreign currency ahead of arrival, but I always bring some along because I've experienced the "non-approval" from my debit and/or credit card companies twice. And I had notified them. So, just to be safe, I carry some dollars and euros with me to Europe so I don't start my vacation off on the wrong foot.
It will vary by company. As someone else pointed out, it's best to carry at least two different credit cards and two different debit cards.
I usually use Capital One since they don't add a surcharge to foreign transactions, but they are very quick to activate the fraud alerts (even on unusual domestic activity) so I am sure to call them first. My experience is that as long as you call them before you take off you'll be OK. They will ask for the dates and what countries you will be in. Let them know all countries, including airports where you may be laying over in case you need to buy something there. I've called them from the airport lobby on my way out, but usually I call them a few days in advance. I've never had an issue with slow posts not going through.
