As I'm searching for hotels in Rome, I notice a lot of places don't have a secure site where you can book directly online. When I e-mail regarding availability, they respond that they need a credit card (with all info) via e-mail. I'm not very comfortable with this idea due to possibility of fraud, although it is the most convenient. Has anyone done this - have you had any trouble?

Hi Angela,

Yes, I've done that, and I have had no problem.

However, I've never had to email the 3-digit number on the back, which I would definitely hestitate to do via email.

I find I feel better with faxing the info. Have you considered that? It's not as convenient, but it's not all that bad if you have a fax at home and not too expensive if you fax in the evening, etc.

A fax can be picked off just as easily as email! But, everything we send is being monitored by some agency.

If you are that concerned about it, one ploy is to use 3 emails. Send parts of the number in two packets, each set scrambled. Then in a 3rd send the key for reconstructing it.

Takes a lot of effort to put the 3 pieces together. It can be done if someone really wants it, but you make the target slightly harder. Not immune, just a bit more resistant.

Or if you are highly suspicious. Send the number in a DHS envelope. Costs a bit more, but is probably less likely to be intercepted and copied than an open wire transmission that passes through umpteen internet nodes where it could be picked off at any one of multiple sites both in the US and abroad.

Like Ceilianne,
The hotels usually do ask for a credit card number, but I have never had them ask for the confirming codes on the back. (Nor have they ever run/charged the card unitl our arrival.)

I would think that a lot more people would see a fax in an in-box, compared a hotel manager's reservation e-mails.

When you send your credit card number by email, it's <i>at least</i> as secure as it is when you hand your card to the PhD who takes your payment at the Exxon station.

Put it on the internet and it will be safe until it gets to its destination.

I've not had any problems with sending credit card information via email. I've reserved this way for quite some years now. And, yes, nowadays some hotels do request the 3 digit security code on the reverse.

Hi Angela,

I don't know why a hotel would want your CC number if you are only asking for availability.

Are you going through a booking agency?

I would think email is at least no less secure than fax.

I work at home 2 days a week and have a fax machine. I get other people's faxes every week. I've even received people's medical reports and school disciplinary records.

Plus with a fax there's a piece of paper just sitting around in the hotel somewhere for anyone who wanders by to pick up. Hotels don't usually print out email requests they receive, so someone has to have access to the computer to get to your credit card info.

Splitting your credit card number into 2 separate emails makes the very unlikely theft of your cc # over the internet even more unlikely.

Your cc # is going to end up in the hotel's data base whether you use email, fax, or semaphore.

I've already checked availability &amp; once I decide between a few hotels, am ready to book - hence their need for the ccd by e-mail. It's good to know other people have made reservations this way &amp; that it should be OK.. Thanks for the tips!

Hi Angela, We've done this several times. I was a little leery at first, but then I remembered that the credit cards I have had experience with, hold you liable only for the first 50.00 of a fraudulent charge, and that is usually not charged if you notify them right away. I used to save one of my credit cards for just this purpose, so that a fraudulent charge would be easy to spot. When you stop to think about how many people have access to your number just by your shopping with it, you might be more at ease. I have had experience with a fraudulent charge unrelated to travel, and I must say, the credit card company handled it very well for me. Have a fun time in Rome! ps. If you send your number via email, then remember not to open your email at work. Many companies have policies that anything accessed with their computers is open season viewing.

E-mail is approximately as secure as a postcard. If you don't mind sending credit-card information on a postcard, then there's no reason to hesitate to send it via e-mail. If the idea of putting such information on a postcard makes you uneasy, then don't e-mail it.

E-mail is generally somewhat less secure than fax or telephone, and fax and telephone aren't terribly secure.

The reality is that anything that isn't encrypted is going to be intercepted and may be misused. Internet e-commerce sites with encryption are quite secure if the backend is secured (it probably will be for large companies, it probably won't be for small businesses).

<i>Encrypted</i> e-mail is the most secure of all, but it requires that both sender and receiver be equipped to handle encrypted e-mail, which is very unlikely in a situation like this.

I can envision the scene when the Paris hotel receives your public key

Yeah, I know. To send your CC encrypted, you have to have THEIR key. But that's not as funny...