hellokittie

Thanks.

greg

Necessary? May be. It depends on banks.
I use several banks. One does not care but others claim to put fraud alerts so that oversea usages will not trigger transaction holds.

However, there are postings in this forum demonstrating that the bank assurances may be meaningless -- they block your oversea transactions anyway.

so... carry info on how to get in touch with your bank from ABROAD. They can be different telephone numbers than what is printed on your card.

Travelnut

it's wise to do so, or they are likely to block your card when the first foreign transaction comes in. Also, some credit unions block ALL usage for Italy and certain other countries.

cigalechanta

A definate yes. If they see alot of action on them and you don't, they will put a stop on them.

azzure

Yes. It's easy to do and will prevent your card possibly becoming blocked while you're traveling. In fact, I notified my CC companies once about a week before traveling, then called back a few days before I left on my trip to confirm that they had made a record of my previous call.

bettyk

I have done this the last few years and have not had any problems. I usually call the week before I leave, but I always take the phone numbers in case I have to contact them while I'm away.

cfntmpn

I travel all of the country, all over mexico and europe. I always use Amcn Express and have never let them know in advance where I'm going. I've been traveling since 1990, never had a "stop" put on my charges.

happytoes

Yes. Some banks might put a hold on funds if they see foreign transactions, some won't. However, it's safe to do so. Plus, when we did they gave us a collect # to call in case we needed anything. Also our bank has affiliates in Europe where we could use the ATMs there without any fees. This is so convient!

kismetchimera

You should call the credit cards companies at least 3 days before your departure's date.
It is in your best interest to tell them when you will be in certain countries and the date of your arrival in the US.

Weadles

Absolutely do it. We got back a few weeks ago from Turkey, Greece, and France. I had notified our credit card companies of our travel dates, but forgot to tell Citibank, which promptly put a hold on our debit cards. It was a complete hassle trying to get through to a customer rep from Turkey and Greece. And it took several days before the debit cards were useable again.

Michael

I did it with our credit card but not our ATM card, the latter from BofA which has given grief to others, and we had no problems with either one. It is safer to give them a rough itinerary.

logos999

>Citibank
I had the same problem last December in China. When I arrived at the hotel at 11pm, the car was blocked. Fortunately I had another card. A call to Citibank and a complaint a few minutes later, and the card worked again. The reason for the block. "You made a reservation for the hotel today, since the amount was only one dollar (All they did, was to check, if my card worked!!), the computer automatically blocked the card because we suspect fraud when you use the card for such a small amount". Crazy people at this bank!! I told them not to do this again, and so far no problem.

logos999

The good thing about Citibank: They themselves tried to reach me on the phone and on my mobile phone after they blocked the card. They didn't reach me in China, but at least they tried.

nancy1652

We did this with our cards and my Capitol One Visa and Wells Fargo ATM worked fine, but my partner's Washington Mutual ATM card was blocked, even though he had called them before we left. He talked to them two times while we were in Paris, and they promised to unblock the card, but they never did. Go figure. So just be sure and take more than one card.

Robert2533

Banks, and credit card companies, are only doing their job, which is okay with me. Banks and CC companies authorize payments based on your history of usage, this includes Amex. Having traveled to Europe on business (mainly Spain and France) for several years, I have not encountered having a hold placed on my cards, or having a transaction denied, but I know of others who have had this experience.

So, it would seem is prudent and in your best interest, if you are not a frequent traveler abroad, to notify your credit card company, and bank, to let them know you'll be using the ATM or Credit Card in a particular company. It’s much better than having your accounts frozen when trying to pay for lunch or withdrawal some cash for the local ATM machine,

StCirq

Yes. These days they tend to jump on your account and freeze it if you don't - major PITA when you're traveling and counting on using it.

dutyfree

I go to Europe almost everyweek for work and always let them know what countries I am going to on a regular basis. Yet-I still get calls on my answering machine that state"you had abreakfast in Paris this morning but bought a hose at the Ace Hardware in Chicago this afternoon"-is there a problem?

Ian

Check with the bank & increase your daily/weekly withdrawl limits if you plan to use your debit card a lot. We max'd the weekly in 4 days in Hungary. Everybody wanted cash vs credit along the way. A call to the bank in Canada solved it but it could have been a problem.

Ian

Dukey

One word of caution: notifying your CC issuer while helpful in peventing delays/denials is no guarantee.

I would take the phone number of the isuer with me in case you are denied and have to call them (to ask them why).

Another example of something which has happened to us: we used one of our two CC's literally all across Europe on a long trip a couple of years ago without incident. In our last hotel the CC was denied for an unknown reason.

I was tired and rather than taking the time to call the CC issuer I simply handed the clerk another CC which went through.

When we got back home I called the denied CC issuer and asked them why this had happened (and after spending thousands of dollars during the bulk of the trip).

The reason: the hotel clerk had mistyped the expiration date!

Moral: if a denial comes ask the clerk to input the information one more time.

annhig

hi, hellokittie,

Assuming are are from the US, it would appear so.

if from UK, not yet. just did a trip to South africa, didn't tell bank or C/C companies a thing. we had no problems at all.

regards, ann