Credit Cards & Vacation Warning

[Longhair]

If you ever go on vacation and plan to use your credit card to make some big money purchases (car rental, hotel, food) make sure you let your credit card company know in advance that there will some "unusual activity" or else you will find it blocked at the least appropriate time

[Stinsok]

Also, you will need to check your statements for double/re-charges from fly by night outfits like jet ski/scooter rentals, para-sail rides, etc. I have known people to get a charge waaaaay after the time they actually patronized the type of places.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by Longhair

If you ever go on vacation and plan to use your credit card to make some big money purchases (car rental, hotel, food) make sure you let your credit card company know in advance that there will some "unusual activity" or else you will find it blocked at the least appropriate time

Good advice, but I don't agree with the scowl smilie.

I for one am very glad my CC security team is so proactive and protective of my card.

I get confirmation calls even when I buy a large ticket or "unusual" item in my own area.

More than once over the past year, I have received a phone call from my CC security team questioning me about recent activity on my card that was potentially fraudulent.

I'd rather they err on the side of caution than me having to pay for theft.

[iamlowsound]

How about when you notify them and they still block your card? Happened to me Mexico.

lowsound

[Big_Daddy]

I love that my bank does this. My girlfriend had her pin stolen (she's with the same bank), and it was used a few hours later in Toronto (about three provinces away), and they flagged it, froze it, and then contacted her about it.

But yes, any time I'm out of the area (by area, I mean the province), I normally let my bank know.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Longhair

If you ever go on vacation and plan to use your credit card to make some big money purchases (car rental, hotel, food) make sure you let your credit card company know in advance that there will some "unusual activity" or else you will find it blocked at the least appropriate time

I didnt have a problem using it for car rental or hotel charges while I vacationed in Maui. Maybe they didnt feel the activity was unusual because I first used it to check my luggage at the airport...?

[aborgman]

Last year I went to Mexico and used my credit card at:

Detroit Airport
Charlotte Airport
Cozumel Airport
Mega (grocery store) in Cozumel
Several restaurants in Cozumel
A few stores in Playa Del Carmen
Cozumel airport (on the way out)
Charlotte airport to buy coffee...

...and then it got blocked when I tried to buy a second coffee at the Charlotte airport due to "unusual activity".

So hundreds of dollars in Mexico aren't unusual, but $2 at the airport after spending hundreds in Mexico apparently is...

[Actium]

My bank is annoying me. My card # got taken and was used on amazon. I haven't used amazon in ages personally but still had an account.

Within a couple hours amazon emails me saying my card got used on a different acct.

I go to a local bank branch, freeze my acct, order a new card and fix everything.

Next day they call me to let me know of the suspicious activity that I've already resolved in the first place.

[Longhair]

When you only have a single credit card and it gets declined because of suspicious activities and don't have access to a phone to make an international phone call to clear things up, it becomes a major problem.

[bmc]

If any of you are interested in why the card industry is so vigilant about card security, check out this website. It's a vendor of stolen credit cards.

GoldenDump - Card dumps

I honestly can't believe such a site is permitted to exist.

[Longhair]

If the credit card industry was so vigilant about card security, they would require a picture ID with every purchase.

I don't know how many times I swiped my card, signed on the thing I swiped into and went to hand it to the cashier only to be given the reciept instead.

In Europe, there is a PIN required on top of the picture ID.

[()smoke()]

one of my credit card banks once put a hold on my card when i was in las vegas trying to pay my hotel bill...when i called after i returned home, they cheerfully said that they noticed it was very unusual charge and outside of my area so they denied it for me...

...i found this odd considering this was approximately 3 months into a 9-month period where i flew to vegas for 4-6 days every single week for work, and i used this particular credit card for every expense up until that point...

[iamlowsound]

I guess I shouldn't complain too much, my fiancée just had hers flagged and it was a fraudulent charge. They caught it, called her and had it cleared up with a few hours of the charge happening.

lowsound

[Relic]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

I guess I shouldn't complain too much, my fiancée just had hers flagged and it was a fraudulent charge. They caught it, called her and had it cleared up with a few hours of the charge happening.

lowsound

Yeah. The thing to remember also - is that it's THEIR money, they can do as they please with it. Sure they make their profit on your paying them back but they are still investing in you by honoring a purchase. If they get spooked by something, it's totally within their rights to put a hold on it.
But, yes at times it does certainly seem totally erratic in the way they view what is "strange activity" on your card.

[Quickie]

Even though I think they are over zealous at times (credit card companies) I'd rather suffer an embarrassment then days or weeks of ironing out fraudulent charges.