Please Read This if You Are Traveling to Toronto

[wadesgirl]

So last night I purchased our Mega Bus tickets online for a day trip to Niagara Falls. This morning I get a call from my credit card company wanting to check my card for fraud. I knew immediately what they were calling about. They checked that charge plus the last few just to make sure that I was the one charging them.

I remembered previously but didn't think about it last night but it's usually a good thing to give your credit card company a call when you are planning to travel outside of the country. I am planning on using that card for most purchases we make in Toronto and paying it off when we get home. They made sure that they put that information on my card so that there wouldn't be any declined charges when we were up there! Thought I would give everybody a heads up.

 

[pampered1224]

Extremely good advice wadesgirl. When Pat and I traveled to Chicago for a few days, we got a call from his credit card company to verify the charges we incurred there. The only problem was that they put the card on hold before they called! Would not have been so bad but this caused a declined card at the restaurant we were eating at! It took almost all the cash we had to pay that one! When we went to Las Vegas a year later, we called them before we left and got no calls at all.

 

[esavvymom]

Extremely good advice wadesgirl. When Pat and I traveled to Chicago for a few days, we got a call from his credit card company to verify the charges we incurred there. The only problem was that they put the card on hold before they called! Would not have been so bad but this caused a declined card at the restaurant we were eating at! It took almost all the cash we had to pay that one! When we went to Las Vegas a year later, we called them before we left and got no calls at all.

Something similar happened to us. Nice idea, but would be nice if they were going to do that if they set up some sort of phone communication or text message alert first, THEN deny.

 

[wadesgirl]

I've never had a problem with my card and traveling within the US and making all the online purchases I do but this one was flagged!

 

[wadesgirl]

Something similar happened to us. Nice idea, but would be nice if they were going to do that if they set up some sort of phone communication or text message alert first, THEN deny.

They asked me when I called if I wanted a text alert the next time. Call your cc company they may be able to help you out.

 

[NooraK]

Most of the time, the decline hapens before anyone human reviews the account. A lot of times in those situations though, the charge isn't actually declined, but referred, but the merchant either doesn't know the difference, or doesn't want to take the time to call for the authorization.Calling to advise of travel is a good idea, but I would recommend doing it right before you leave, so the comments are fresh. When you do that, ask for a direct numer to the authorizations area, so if you do need to speak to them, you don't have to go through 3 transfers and the automated system for your balance.

 

[Nanisu]

When we were at Disney world my dh went in to buy a tshirt and used his debit card--it was declined. We have overdraft and knew we had plenty of money, so we called the bank. Our bank saw charges in florida and ARBITRARILY froze our cards!! I asked them WTH they were doing and the clerk told me we should have told them we were traveling. My husband laughed and said "oh yeah, that's what I'd do, tell a total stranger we were going to be out of town...." They never made an attempt to contact us at all--not at home or on our cells...

 

[Amyskitchen2]

My cards have never been declined while traveling but they did freeze my card when I tried to use it at my local Wal-mart after I returned from a trip to FL. They said they noticed the activity in an unusual area. WTF it was the same billing zip code. There is no rhyme nor reason to their madness.

 

[Ginger428]

Thanks for the tip! I've done this in the past, but up till now forgot to do it for this trip!

 

[NooraK]

I somehow feel like I have to defend the actions of the banks, maybe because that's exactly where I work, the fraud department of the credit card company. There isn't a person sitting there, watching the charges coming through, deciding if they're going to be declined or approved. That decision has to be made in a split second as the authorization is done, so it's done by a computer. Sometimes, the first charge out of the area is sufficiently suspicious to warrant declining it. Once the charge is declined, it gets queued for review by a human, so that they can attempt to contact you to check on the activity. A lot of times, if you are at the point of sale and whip out your cell phone to call in, you are faster, so it makes it seem like no one contacted you. Believe me, we have hundreds of people doing just that, contacting people all day, every day, making sure the valid charges go through. And we try as much as possible to allow charges to go through as well, even while reviewing them. Another thing to remember is time zones. We have restrictions on when we can call, and we have to go by your home address. So if you live on the west coast, and are vacationing in the east, and make a charge at 10 AM, it's still 7 AM at your house.I know it can be frustrating, but please remember, the person you speak to when you call didn't make the decision on whether your charge went through or not.

 

[pampered1224]

To honest, we were upset at first but totally understood why. We did understand the why. And three other charges had gone through before the freeze. We decided that being inconvenienced once was so much better than having to figure out a real fraud problem later.