On a recent trip to Spain & Portugal I was able to use one ATM card in three cities and then they would not work. One card never did work! My husband's one card continued to work. The only thing I know is that I had a new travel purse with several very strong magnets! But the ATM cards were in my money holster under my right arm most of the time. That is also the side which I carried my purse. It is a mystery to me, but I plan to remove the magnets from the purse before I take it on a trip again. The conrfusing part is that my credit card which was stored with my ATM cards continued to work!
My new travel purse may have inactivated my ATM cards
Recent Activity
View all Travel Tips & Trip Ideas activity »
- 1
Goin' solo...nothing like it! (A trip report collection)
- 2 LADIES: FAVORITE UNDER SEAT PERSONAL BAG AND WHAT TO PACK IN IT?
- 3 Italy, Greece and turkey holiday
- 4 Scottevest jacket product quality issues
- 5 Sardinia, Italy
- 6 Vacation Destination
- 7
Packing list - 6 months with carry-on only
- 8 traveling with fifteen year old grandson
- 9
I TRAVEL THE WORLD ALONE
- 10 train tickets for italy
- 11 iPad use on long flights
- 12 Shoe Trouble
- 13 Good article on shoes for travel
- 14 Rose Bowl Parade
- 15 Single Senior Citizen travel
- 16
BEWARE of Grand Circle Travel SCAMS!!!
- 17 Buying SNCF tickets
- 18 5 week opportunity to travel - any tips where?
- 19 Changes in Travel Insurance: deductible
- 20 How to avoid delays at US border?
- 21 meditation - yoga - retreates.
- 22 Home Exchanges
- 23 Comparison of Budget Booking Sites
- 24 Where to go in August?
- 25 Organic Farming vacations - WWOOF USA
Hmmmm - that is weird. Did you try your ATM cards again when you got home?
That's my question too. Did they work after your trip, when you got home? Might be something entirely different if they do/did.
I've had a credit card 'demagnetized' at home and an oyster card screwed up in London.
The cc was due to a bracelet I wore a lot that had a magnetic clasp. I wore the bracelet on my left wrist and carried my handbag holding the cc case over my left shoulder so my hand was just about always next to the handbag. My credit Union had to re-issue the cc.
Not quite sure what caused the Oyster card mess up - it was suspected that the magnetic closure on my tote did the deed. It had to be replaced too.
But as the others said-- did it work afterwards/elsewhere?
No, I tested the cards at my bank when I got home and a teller tested them and the cards were no good! So, I'm getting new ones. And I really like the bright pink/purple purse, so I'm going to try to get those magnets out & maybe use velcro instead.
I've had hotel keys go bad because I let them get too close to my Blackberry. Could that be what happened?
In answer to the last response, no, I was not carrying a Blackberry or cell phone.
I had a BART ticket de-magnitized once. They mailed me a replacement. I am very careful not to buy any more purses with magnetic snaps.