Hi All,
I am traveling to DK & Sweden for work in a couple of days and when I called to alert Chase about my travels, they said a) they can't put a travel alert on my card and b) it won't work for payments or at ATMs. I don't use credit cards so my debit card is my only option. But they said this is due to high fraud in DK. Seems bizarre but true.
I called Amex and they don't do traveler's cheques anymore.
I don't really want to travel with so much cash.
Any alternatives? Thoughts?
Thank you!
If you have credit cards (that you don't use), plan on using credit cards for most purchases. Denmark and Sweden are advanced countries where credit cards are the common form of payment.
Our Copenhagen visit was 1.5 years ago and my credit union debit/ATM card was authorized and worked at CPH without problem. If you need Danish DKK cash, the fall back is to pay the premium and exchange a small amount of USD into DKK at a FX kiosk. Then minimize your use of DKK cash by charging.
Will Chase allow use of your debit/ATM card in Sweden. You will need Swedish SEK as the Swedish crowns and Danish crowns are not the same.
Of course an alternative is to find a financial institution whose ATM cards work in Denmark.
This is pretty surprising. When I recently asked Chase to add a travel alert on my debit card for visiting Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, they told me that those two countries had high fraud issues, but that they could still handle any charges with alerts and approvals by text or email. (I never actually needed to use the card.) I think those countries are more extreme examples than Denmark could be.
Do you work for yourself? What about a company card? How long is the trip? If hotels and major transportation are pre-paid, you wouldn't need to bring an extreme amount of cash.
Thank you for the tips. I know, I was very surprised, too. I will be trying the various suggestions you all had.
Thank you!
There must be something unique about the type of account you have with Chase, or the person you worked with was confused over which country you were going to. I have used my Chase debit card multiple times in Denmark. Worked every time. I used the online banking travel notification form and so far have had zero issued with the card working. But I only do ATM withdrawals with my debit card, no purchases.
I was in Denmark last July and used my Visa debit card from a small town home bank without any problem I told my bank where I would be traveling.
...won't work for payments or at ATMs......
I would call and see if you get the same answer from another person. Sometimes they misunderstand the question or simply give the wrong answer. Second, using an debit card for POS in Europe is not the best idea. See if you can get the card to work at ATMs and just use cash. Nobody does travelers check - talk about avoiding fraud. If a credit card is completely out then the only other option would be a pre-load card. We general advise against pre-loaded cards because of the fees associated with these cards but if you have no other option then it might be worth it. A couple of years ago I looked at the card offer by Wal-mart. It seemed to have the lowest fee structure. But read the fine print carefully so that you understand all of the fees.
You might want to review this discussion:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/cxi-currency-exchange-debit-cards
I, too, suspect the phone rep gave an incorrect answer and second the suggestion to call again.
I, too, think you should call back and speak with a different rep. 1) I suspect they are thinking about a country other than Denmark and 2) the part about them not being able to place an alert on your card is weird
Unless you have a special account that is only allowed to be used in the US, both those things sound wrong to me.
Adding: Yes, American Express still does Travellers Cheques.
You'll probably need to exchange them at a bank rather than using them at retail establishments, but they do still exist.
Ask for a manager. Geography not a strong point of US high school academics. I've heard of that same statement made by card service reps for several other countries. Keep a record of who you talked to and when for future complaints.
If you are signed up for Chase's online banking site, you can make the travel notification via the website instead of making a phone call. It's a lot easier and takes less time
Not sure if you got this resolved..but I always travel with my PayPal debit card ( not a line of credit) with Mastercard logo...it works everytime...I like this because I can transfer funds as needed from my bank account on to the card, and only keep what I need for the trip available..transfers take 3-5 banking days.
