Regarding notification of the credit card companies to avoid being cut off:
my card was frozen twice while traveling until I could call in to assure them that it wasn't stolen, once because I was on a cross country driving trip and they noted that the charges were clearly going across the country. Duh! It's called traveling. But now I call them with the dates of departure and return as well as a general idea of what countries I'll be in.

Once, by the way, they froze my account because in one day I had five or six major charges: in London, in New York, in California, and in Turkey all within a 24 hours period which set up signal flags. I was actually sitting at home, but I was making major deposits on hotels and travel arrangements for a big trip -- the California charge was for the payment on a European apartment.

Karen--keep in mind that just because something has not happened to you in the past does not mean it hasn't happened to others or that it will not happen to you in the future.

I've never had an auto accident, therefore auto insurance is useless.

I see your point, Rufus. As I mentioned I haven't bothered calling either even though I've run into problems before. I guess I'm too lazy to do so -- and frequently it's possible to call the company collect anyway, but, of course, it's even more of a nuisance to have to do so while traveling.

I'm much more afraid of theft or loss of a card though.

Actually, while reading through some of these responses, another question came to mind: Do you think that the preventive measures from the credit card companies work?

It just seems to me that they tend to call you when you're making legitimate charges, but the thieves act far too fast for them. By the time they realize something is up, it's too late.

Would this be an accurate impression?

Just fyi: You are not always assured of having use of your card in Europe even if you have contacted the credit card company to tell them when and where you are going.

A year ago, when we were at Mont St Michel, we tried to purchase a book at the gift shop in the abbey only to be rejected. The salesperson insinuated that perhaps we were over our limit which we knew was not the case. Indeed, both our primary and "back-up" cards were rejected. Since we had just used one of them to pay admission, we were more than just a little puzzled. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill, I was so concerned that I made an impulse purchase just to see if it would work. Lucky for me, I chose something I really liked because the charge did go through. Several days later, in Paris, the same thing happened at our hotel.

When we got home and called the company to ask why, they had no real reason other than large charges in a foreign location--even though they acknowledged that our file did note that we had called to tell them of our trip! Quite frustrating. I know we'll call before going to Ireland later this year. But perhaps I'll be more emphatic about the where and when.

Along with copies of our passports, I keep the telephone numbers handy in case I have to call a credit card company to cancel a card.

I've learned a lot of great tips from this board from some very seasoned travelers.

Thank you Budman and AnneO

I've learned a lot on this post and I think I'm changing my VISA/ATM card to an ATM card only. There's an awful lot of fraud that's going on out there.

I understand what you're saying AnneO but banks are also notorious for telling us one thing one day and another three months down the line.

In the DC area scammers are using a device that is being inserted into ATM machines to retrieve your magnetic strip and a small camera has been mounted where it can photograph you entering your pin numbers.

It matters not where you live or are visiting - you can get scammed.

When I travel, I write down, and keep separate, the account number and emergency tel no. of each card I am carrying in case the cards are stolen or lost. But I change one number, in a systematic way, so if anyone finds the paper, they won't be able to use it.