PhoneTell Your Credit Card Company or Bank You’re Traveling by Phone, Not Web
In my recent article 12 Things to Know Before You Travel to Europe, I wrote about how you should tell your bank and credit card company that you’re going out of the country—which countries and what days—before you leave on an international trip. You may already do this, as I’ve written a tip on the subject before. If they don’t know, and see activity in a foreign country, they may put a block on your card(s) immediately—which would put a real damper on your trip.

So, make a quick call in advance to avoid this hassle—and don’t do it online. Using the company’s website doesn’t always work. Before a recent trip, my wife set a travel notification online with her CIBC (a Canadian bank) account and they still blocked her card. When she called the representative, she was told it’s much better to call than to register online.

 

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3 Comments On "Travel Tip of the Day: Tell Your Credit Card Company or Bank You’re Traveling by Phone, Not Web"
  1. gary|

    tried calling one time & the phone agent incredulously said “you’re going to Dithuania?” Had to explain to her that there was no such place and that I was actually going to Lithuania.

  2. Wayne Shattuck|

    Johnny, Phoning my credit card company to notify them of an upcoming trip has worked well for me the last 5 years. And not just internationally, but going on a trip within the country as well!

  3. Iver Juster|

    Left my travel details on the Citicard website for a recent trip to the UK and received an email confirmation. No problem having the card accepted there, other than in the London Underground ticketing machines……..but I couldn’t get them to accept other cards either. Wonder if others had a confirmation by email and still couldn’t use card abroad?

    Similar experience recently in HKG – so hopefully email confirmation is golden but would like to hear whether some have had trouble with it.

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