Credit Cards Don’t Leave Home Without Them

Starting off with some travel tips -  these will be things that pop into my little brain as we prepare for our upcoming trip. 

Just like Karl Malden used to say on the American Express adds, “Don’t leave home without it”. I know I dated myself there.  Credit cards are somewhat of a necessity when traveling but there can be pitfalls, yet these are easy to avoid. 

We are getting things together for a trip to Europe and I was thinking about credit cards and how we use them on our trips. 

I prefer to use a credit card that earns points for an airline or rewards system that I will use. Since we primarily fly United I carry a United Chase Visa card, American Express, and a Discover Card. Actually travel with five different cards.

I always call each credit card company and advise them of our travel plans so they can make a note in my accounts. The card customer service agent some times tells me it is not necessary to advise them of my travel due to my use patters. Once on a trip to Grand Cayman a card was denied even after I was told it was not necessary to notify them  of travel plans. I ask they still note the countries we are visiting in the unlikely event the card is lost or stolen and use is noted in a country we are not visiting a flag will be raised. 

On the back of your credit cards are phone numbers for customer service. There is usually in international number which is different from the 800 US number. This is the number you would call should your card be lost or stolen. Think about it, if you card is missing you would not have access to that number. So make a note, be that on your phone, computer, iPad, or a piece of paper, listing these important numbers. 

For foreign travel make sure your card does not charge you foreign transaction fees. Save money where one can. If you are not sure call your card company. 

For security when out and about for the day I only carry one or two cards. Leaving the others in a safe secure location. 

Remember to check your statements for suspicious charges. 

Recently I was asked about cash for foreign travel. We try to arrive in a country with a bit of local cash for incidentals where a card can not be used, i.e. tips or a snack. I have used banks, AAA, and American Express to obtain said currency. When we arrive in country an ATM is where we obtain local currency usually at a favorable rate.  If we know we will be returning to this local I will get extra cash to have for the return. We keep a stash of Pounds and Euros just for this purpose. 

My posts here are not all knowing, it is always fun to learn more. Just sharing our experiences of what works for us. 

An upcoming topic will deal with how we plan for a trip.  We have a December trip in this planning process, so will share as we go. 

More later on travel planning, safety, health tips, etc etc etc and of course when we will be posting our travels.