Yes you call them and tell them your itinerary..

A few years ago I did a trip that I'm sure raised redflags all over... I went NYC>Mexico>Costa Rica>The place that shall not be mentioned>Peru>NYC

I called my bank and said that charges from the above countries should not be cause to deny my card.....

I travel with one physical card, I have the card info of back up cards written on some paperwork I carry..

Having worked in the sandbox for many years....have back up

I learned to let my credit union know ahead of time if I was going on a trip. Otherwise I got tons of calls from them to verify charges.

One more reason to never let a card out of your sight. At restaurants I won't use it. As much as I despise carrying cash, I don't trust people so it makes sense.

Afaik it's nobody's business (especially a bank) what I do or where I go. On trips, same issue - carry cash. Banks already know too much about us and control too much of our lives IMHO. The less they know about my travels, etc. the better off I am.

Better to use a credit card so that for any fraud, it's just a charge on a statement to be reversed, rather than actual dollars out of your account until the issue is cleared up.

PoP, congrats, you're the most paranoid person on this board.

Life is much more enjoyable if you just live it, as opposed to being wound up by everything.

^so true!

While cc will take charges off, until we go to chip and pin, a cc can be duplicated in about 10 seconds for less than $300. The security guys at work took my card, swiped it through a scanner they bought on eBay, then swiped a hotel key, and handed it to me. I later used it to buy gas. Scary stuff. I'd hate to be the last bank in the US to go with chip and pin or jump right to digital wallet. It will be ugly.

Actually do a little homework - there are lots of instances of restaurant employees swiping card numbers. Very easy to happen when they're out if your sight. Some restaurants (smart ones) have started using portable swipe units that can be done at the table right there so the card never leaves your sight and there's no opportunity for this to happen.

I don't like credit cards and only have one now which I pretty much never use. I much prefer my debit card since it's real money and it tends to deter stupid / impulse purchases when thought of that way.

I never hand over my debit card in a restaurant to anyone that will walk out of my line of sight.

The other day my wife and I were out to breakfast and when the waitress handed me the bill she said "please don't go to the register to pay, I'll be back..."
I just kind of laughed to myself and went up to the register to pay.

I don't know if it is the law or just restaurant policy but while vacationing in Canada last fall, when we used the CC in restaurants we were required to go to the register to swipe and sign for the charges. They absolutely would not take your card to the register and I thought it was a great policy.
'

I understand it happens, but I don't live for the 1% (or 1/10th of 1%). I live for the rest of the time. I hand over my cc 5 times a week. Never an issue.

And I treat the credit card like a debit in that I pay the balance in full each month and don't overspend. But why not take an interest free loan with points and other benefits?

Or look over your shoulder with Google Glass while you're typing in a pin.

Yep, some serious ignorance on display here. I have a VISA debit card and a MC debit card, they work exactly like CCs and both have been hacked more times than I can count. I've never been one cent out of pocket, ("fight to get $$ back").

The minute that either I or my bank detects fraud, the card is cancelled and I get a new one. Fraudulent charges are restored immediately to my bank account. The whole thing usually occurs before I even knew it happened and I get a phone call from the fraud dept. The cards have EXACTLY to same protections on them as any other VISA or MC card when it comes to fraud.

The buying gas in other states thing always triggers an alert but I simply have to respond that it's legit when they call and ask. Happens every road trip. I could let them know in advance but I never think of it. THe guy with the plane should be able to call the fraud dept. and tell them that all is cool, they then unblock the card while you're on the phone and the avgas flows.

One of my cards is BofA and one is Paypal, FWIW.

Other than a Denny's on a road trip, I can't remember when I've been in a restaurant that had a "register". Maybe Perkins in HS in the '70s? :confused:

I hand my card to waiters about 20 times a week and they disappear with it and bring back the bill to sign. I use it for gas constantly, (this is where card info is stolen in Los Angeles, on the swiper), use it online and over the phone to pay for whatever, never give it a second thought.

It rarely gets hacked and when it does, it costs me zero. Total cost to me from hacked CCs over 25 years=$0. When it gets hacked, it's a gas station in the Armenian part of town, 100% of the time. I eat out nearly every meal of my life, (or take food home to-go), and never had a server at a restaurant hack my card.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/

These are becoming a lot more widespread, hard to detect and inexpensive for ne'er-do-wells

Agree, cash is king. It is so much easier, safer, and faster to do transactions this way, especially on small daily purchases. No ATM card either. I only carry credit cards for special occasions. On trips, especially foreign travel, I used to carry American Express checks. Great experiences with that MO. But, they seemed to have disappeared.

Watch this video - it's only a couple of minutes, and the ending may surprise & shock you. It is probably not what you might think, but something to behold for the modern times we live in.

Amazing mind reader reveals his 'gift' - YouTube

I use a card for absolutely everything and life is going great. I don't have much money to steal but I know plenty of rich folks who carry no cash, ever, except maybe a couple dollars in the console of their car for meters but those even take cards now.

Losing any $$ through cc fraud is a non-issue. My cc #s are out there on the web all over the place, auto bill-pay, amazon, you name it. If cards were not safe, the companies could not make trillions of dollars on everyone using them for everything. Guarantying your $$ is a big part of that equation.

What exactly are you guys who eat @ Denny's afraid of? :confused:

+1

+1...I'm not as paranoid as some of you folks :D. BTW....it isn't your bank or CU that's detecting this stuff...it's the CC/Debit card "service providers", and I've had my Debit card cancelled immediately due to fraudulent charges out-of-state too...just not a big deal "to me". I've also never heard of anyone ACTUALLY losing $ in recent years (wasn't always the case when Debits first appeared). CC/Debits are a BIG bu$ine$$....protecting the consumer comes with both these days as part of the "deal"...YMMV.

That is not true. It is the bank detecting use and profile. My issue is not as much the charge, that gets reversed or handled. It is about the personal information made available. Why do you think the Target breach and now the Home Depot breach are such a big deal? It's not about the transaction, it's about the information.

I'm not paranoid, I just prefer cash, as I hate getting a big CC bill in the mail every month.

I haven't used a CC at a restaurant in years.