First trip outside the USA! - Bonaire!

[frogoutofwater]

There are many factors for why you have not run into issues with your credit card. However, there are many, many people out there that do have problems. Financial institutions HIGHLY encourage you to contact them prior to travel in order to avoid any inconvenience.

While card companies use sophisticated algorithms in order to determine suspicious vs. normal transactions, it is not a perfect science. For example, buying a plane ticket on the card you will be using overseas will not prevent transactions from being declined. The easiest, smartest, and safest bet is to call your card company prior to travel. They will notate your account and you will likely not have any issues.

Regardless, it is a wise bet to bring at least two cards with you on your trip, just to be safe.

When you call the financial institution to tell them of your travel plan, it's also a good idea to tell them when you're leaving the destination. That way, if someone rips off your credit card details and tries to use your card after you've gone, there's a better chance that the transactions will be flagged and stopped.

I don't tell the credit card companies about all my trips, but I do give them advance warning when: a) I expect to charge a lot to the card (e.g. a business trip to NZ a few years ago where I charged about $20,000 worth of plane tickets, hotel costs etc); or b) I'm travelling somewhere with a bit of a dodgy reputation for financial fraud.

 

[djac5700]

I don't tell the credit card companies about all my trips, but I do give them advance warning when: a) I expect to charge a lot to the card (e.g. a business trip to NZ a few years ago where I charged about $20,000 worth of plane tickets, hotel costs etc); or b) I'm travelling somewhere with a bit of a dodgy reputation for financial fraud.

You'd be surprised as to how many countries actually have a "dodgy" reputation for fraud...

 

[frogoutofwater]

You'd be surprised as to how many countries actually have a "dodgy" reputation for fraud...

No I wouldn't (like I said, I travel a lot). I include on my list of dodgy countries anywhere I've had a problem (e.g. the UK - where a shop clerk, waiter or hotel employee copied my details and then charged $4000 worth of airline tickets to my card), anyone I know personally has had a problem (e.g. Spain and Turkey - several reports each) and anywhere where a government travel report for the destination mentions a serious problem with credit card fraud (because these are likely to be on the credit card company's list, too).

 

[djac5700]

Yeah, except the government advisories aren't very complete and often are very outdated for card fraud.

Spain and Turkey - definitely big problems. Biggest ones - Russia and Japan by far. Italy's pretty bad too. I could go on and on, but the list would be several pages...