Credit cards in Turkey
 

I just got off the phone with the bank that issued my credit card--I was told that I couldn't use it in Turkey, except for pre-approved emergency situations, because of the rampant fraud that goes on there with credit cards. Has anyone else experienced this restriction? Thank you.

I used my Chase Visa in Turkey last year and it worked.

How could an emergency situation be "pre-approved?" That's a bit contradictory.

I had no trouble either.
Your bank should have other mechanisms for dealing with fraud other than banning the card's use in certain countries. I'd go to another bank.

I used my Visa and Amex a couple of times last August. No probs. Bought gas, paid a hotel room.

My husband, cousin Muffy, mother and I all used our credit cards in Istanbul and Buyukada without any problems.

Thingorjus

Someone else that's never had a problem...Amex and Visa happily accepted.

I sort of recall someone mentioning some problem with their CC in Turkey, also (on here). It really is your bank, though, so it doesn't matter what other card issuers are doing, if yours is blocking it.

I imagine a pre-approved emergency would be you have an emergency and then immediately have to call that number on the back of the card and they will unblock it for that purchase. It's similar to what happens if they do block it and you call them up on the spot (or the store does) and you talk to them. I've had that happen when they block my card for some stupid reason.

We had no problems with our credit cards in Turkey last July. I'd call back your bank and ask to speak to a supervisor. You may have been given the wrong information.

Someone told me this today so I called my bank . . . they said they had heard of no alerts on Turkey.

They also told me that even if there were an alert, that they would flag my account and have it approved to go through, no matter what.

Yes, call your bank or change banks . . . that's the whole point of ATMs . . . to get your money when you want/need it.

Sandy (in Denton)

Been to Turkey several times and have never had any problems. I always call the CC companies and tell them my travel dates/places so that they can make notations on my account.

Prior to departing on our trip in May 2008, my wife called our Citibank MasterCard services department to let them know that our credit card charges would be higher than normal due to the vacation expenses. She was offered no resistance and we encountered no issues using our credit card all over Turkey.

Ditto that.

Wife and I were in Istanbul for over a week in May.

We used our HSBC Mastercard CC and a HSBC Visa debit card quite frequently and we did not face any problems.

As far as we could tell Mastercard,Visa,Amex... were widely accepted, atleast in Istanbul.

Cheers