Credit Card woes in Europe.

This is why I carry a back-up plan - Cash in a body safe.

My backup is my wife carrying a seperate card and each carrying a debit from different accounts. If one of our debits is lost or stolen, we're both signers on the two accounts so we can call and transfer money to the other. If my credit card is frozen or lost/stolen, we can use my wife's card.

I call on each card to let them know we are traveling. I also order new cards (so they're new, flat and fully magnetized) for the trip.

To date we haven't had a problem but it's better to have a backup and not need it than vice versa.

I always carry multiple cards. One is a debit card, the others are credit cards. Many times I've had a card not work at a particular cash machine, only to find that a different card works fine.

It pays to have backups to your backups.

And be sure to write down the contact info for each card, and store this in a location separate from the cards. If there's a problem, or if you lose the card, you will be able to contact the card company for help.

I returned a few weeks ago from Europe. My account was frozen more than once, despite having already notified my credit union beforehand that I would be traveling. Like Greg wrote, each employee said "oh, no problem." Hmm.

New process (and check if your bank is participating) - every transaction is being tracked and logged by a separate "fraud protection" company, and a suspicious transaction triggers a call to your home phone for an individual authorization. Obviously, it's impossible to access your home phone like that when you're traveling overseas!

It was ridiculous. Prior to leaving, I had already spoken to three other bank employees who didn't properly understand this system, and I ended up in a three-way conference call at midnight at a payphone by the Seine when my account had been frozen again. Luckily I had some cash and minutes left on my phone card, but for God's sake! (I use VISA, by the way)

I, too, carry multiple cards. Two credit and one debit. My Visa and Debit Mastercard are with a credit union that actually cares about customer service, and my Mastercard is with a big national bank that doesn't care. Luckily, I haven't had any trouble with my Visa and have only had to notify them once each yea rbefore traveling. Anyway, I keep my Visa and debit cards in my wallet in my purse, and my Mastercard in my moneybelt or hotel safe. I also keep photocopies of my cards, etc. in my luggage and I leave a copy at home so I can call home to get contact info if all is lost.

One thing I did learn while notifying my banks that I would be traveling overseas was that if I wanted to use a credit card to get cash out of an ATM (in case of emergency) I would need to get a pin number for each, which took several days for the banks to mail to me. Another thing for your list of things to talk to your bank about before leaving.