Vacation Checklist and Things To Do Before Leaving On Vacation Checklist

Don Wiss wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Apr 2006, RichC <rcacace@{REMOVE_TO_REPLY}swfla.*******> wrote:
>
> >I just had an instance with my master card in Florida. I was charging about
> >$1,000 for a mattress & when they went to apply the charge the sales person
> >had to call the bank & had to put me on the phone & answer a few questions
> >concerning my mothers maiden name & where I last used the card & for how
> >much the sale was.(approx). I've never had a late payment. Very strange.
>
> Maybe the clerk didn't swipe the card? I had this happen once at a Home
> Depot when I was buying $3,000 of kitchen cabinets. The credit card company
> rep said it was because the clerk keyed in the number instead of swiping.
> That's a red flag. Plus the amount was high.

I guess there are an assortment of flags. I had almost an identical
experience in Bangkok while buying cabinets and a counter for a new
kitchen in my house. Similar price to what you had. I had to call the
CC company and do the "Mother's Maiden Name" thing. It was about
midnight on the East Coast of the US, but no problem. Just wanted to
verify it was me.

Dubiously Fragrant Muffin <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu>
wrote:
>On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 07:32:38 -0700, Caveat <caveat@bogusaddy.com>
>wrote:
>>Wouldn't it be better to simply let the credit card company know in
>>advance where you will be traveling in the world and during what
>>periods?

>No it would not...

I see, so you prefer your way, which produces results like this:
"...they just cancelled my card and left me to deal with the
consequences of being in Hong Kong with no access to my money."

>...Given the amount of travelling I have done, I expect
>it to be assumed. They have even seen my passport and should have
>taken note that I get around a lot.

You obviously don't understand how the system works. Computers do the
decision making on card usage, not a person at the bank who saw your
passport at some point in time. Computers don't *assume* anything.

>Fortunately my other bank (an Australian one) has proven 100%
>reliable, and has saved me a couple of times.

I hope that doesn't mean your bank in Oz blindly accepts charges to
your account from anywhere at any time. Letting your bank know where
you will be, and when, will assure that your legitimate charges are
honored, but fraudulent charges from elsewhere will not. It's to both
your benefit and your banks to have this screening information.


Caveat

Thus spake Caveat <caveat@bogusaddy.com> :

>Dubiously Fragrant Muffin <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu>
>wrote:
>>On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 07:32:38 -0700, Caveat <caveat@bogusaddy.com>
>>wrote:
>>>Wouldn't it be better to simply let the credit card company know in
>>>advance where you will be traveling in the world and during what
>>>periods?
>
>>No it would not...
>
>I see, so you prefer your way, which produces results like this:
>"...they just cancelled my card and left me to deal with the
>consequences of being in Hong Kong with no access to my money."
>
>>...Given the amount of travelling I have done, I expect
>>it to be assumed. They have even seen my passport and should have
>>taken note that I get around a lot.
>
>You obviously don't understand how the system works. Computers do the
>decision making on card usage, not a person at the bank who saw your
>passport at some point in time. Computers don't *assume* anything.
>
>>Fortunately my other bank (an Australian one) has proven 100%
>>reliable, and has saved me a couple of times.
>
>I hope that doesn't mean your bank in Oz blindly accepts charges to
>your account from anywhere at any time. Letting your bank know where
>you will be, and when, will assure that your legitimate charges are
>honored, but fraudulent charges from elsewhere will not. It's to both
>your benefit and your banks to have this screening information.

My nephew had a $400 charge on his card in Turkey. At approximately
the same time he was having dinner in College Station. Too bad the
bank didn't flag that transaction, it would have saved them (meaning
the cardholders, as a group) the money.

>
>
>Caveat
>
>
--
dillon

I didn't climb to the top of the
food chain to become a vegetartian.

Dillon Pyron <dmpyronINVALID@austin.*******> wrote:

>My nephew had a $400 charge on his card in Turkey. At approximately
>the same time he was having dinner in College Station. Too bad the
>bank didn't flag that transaction, it would have saved them (meaning
>the cardholders, as a group) the money.

That's an excellent example of what routinely happens if the credit
card banks can't screen charges, and an accurate point about who pays
for such fraudulent charges. The cardholder may feel that he is
covered by the $50 liability limit (with US banks) but all losses are
ultimately charged back to the cardholders as a group in the form of
higher interest rates, more penalty charges, etc., etc. And banks thus
burned will be quicker to refuse questionable charges, put holds on
legit charges that look suspicious, and even cancel accounts.

Caveat

This happened to me once too... I was going to Florida to visit my aunt
and uncle (from Canada), the Thursday I used it around where I lived,
then the next time I used it was in Baltimore, just under a day later,
then in North Carolina at a gas station/rest stop, and when I got to
florida, and was buying some necessities at a drug store, that's when
the block showed up. I called the company, they told me that since I
managed to use it in a few different cities in a short time (two-three
days), they thought maybe my card had been stolen. I was on the
Greyhound, and used it a few times to save my cash, but there was no
apparent obvious pattern of where I was going, so as a safety, I had to
call them and discuss the situation.

I doubt my card company would block me if I travelled now. I frequently
use my card to make online purchases in various US cities. If I went to
the same sort of stores in person to buy stuff, it would fit with my
profile. I don't intend to use it much on my next vacation except when
necessary if I run low on cash (as temporary relief until I can get to
a bank), and to rent my car.

Sapphyre

I wrote my own list for my upcoming travel... including GPS,
flashlight, cell phone (although not likely useful for most of my
travel), walkie-talkies (going to a busy place with a friend is a *****
when you're afraid to get separated), maps, travel pillow and
discman/mp3 player.

When I used to travel more frequently, and lived alone... My dad would
take care of the cats, he'd get my mail, open anything that wasn't
personal, deposit cheques, pay bills, and towards the end of my trip,
he'd use debit to pay for some food so I wouldn't show up at home late
at night, with everything closed, and starve. Usually I ended up with a
bunch of non-expiry type of foods, but since I didn't have a car, I
much appreciated the 20 kg of kitty litter, cat chow, and other things
he'd do for me while I was away. In case anyone's wondering... I gave
my dad power of attorney so he and I both had an ATM card to my bank
account. We also had a system that he could transfer money to my VISA
(either from my account or a loan), so I wouldn't get into a sticky
situation... so my bacon's been saved a few times.

Aside from that help... my landlord knew I was away, so he wouldn't
attempt to cash my rent until I called to confirm my pay had been
deposited into my account. We were punctual, but I wouldn't want to
have a cheque bounce while I was away. I was not one for direct deposit
back then... My longest time away was 11 weeks, so having a lot of help
making sure bills were paid was very handy. Not something I'd have been
able to do if I hadn't trusted someone to look at my mail.

The neighbours never knew if I was around or not, they never saw much
of me anyway... I'd come home and they'd say "long time no see" as if
I'd just been keeping to myself for a while. I didn't see the need to
tell them I was spending much time away from home. when I got to trust
one of my neighbours who had me "house sit" frequently, he kept an eye
on my place from the outside, just in case I had a break in. My dad has
always been the only person with keys.

Sapphyre

Chrissy Cruiser wrote:
> On 13 Apr 2006 07:06:16 -0700, Tchiowa wrote:
>
> > What kind of credit card company do you have that blocks you when you
> > use it overseas????? I travel with 3 credit cards and spend anywhere
> > from 60-95% of my time each year outside the US. I don't have problems
> > like that.
>
> AMEX. MC and Visa. Everyone of them has done this.

Go slap your bank around. Then change banks. I have made charges on my
MC and Visa on 3 different continents within a few days without
problems. In one situation I used it in Frankfurt, Germany on a
Tuesday, New York and Houston on a Wednesday, Houston and San Francisco
on Friday and Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday. I use my bank ATM all over
the world. And I'm not unique in doing that. If your bank is giving you
problems, change banks.

In ***********.asia Dave Smith <adavid.smith@sympatico.ca> wrote:

> Sometimes abnormally large and unusual purchases put up flags.

Happened to me once. They never gave me trouble for using the cards all over the world,
but when I bought a computer on it they suddenly closed it and decided to call me at
home in the US, despite the fact that a) I bought it in Finland and b) they knew that
I spent most of my time in Finland.

Maybe they have learned to use email already, that was a while ago in 1998 or thereabouts.

--
Vera Izrailit

"Caveat" <caveat@bogusaddy.com> wrote in message
news:3fcv325pm3sb0buocei0frkhk0qb9ms5oo@********...
> Dubiously Fragrant Muffin <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu>
> wrote:
> >On 13 Apr 2006 07:06:16 -0700, "Tchiowa" <tchiowa2@************> wrote:
> >>Ade wrote:
> >>> I'd certainly vouch for informing bank/credit card company - having
> >>> been stuck in the US with little cash, credit card not working (for
the
> >>> simple fact that it was being used abroad so CC company put a block on
> >>> it), 7 hour time difference making it very difficult to call the bank
> >>> at home to resolve. Bank recommended that we inform them in future,
> >>> have done this and no problems since then.
>
> >>What kind of credit card company do you have that blocks you when you
> >>use it overseas?????
>
> >Lloyds TSB did that to me. They had all my contact details, and could
> >have simply called me on my (UK) mobile phone or sent me an email, but
> >instead they just cancelled my card and left me to deal with the
> >consequences of being in Hong Kong with no access to my money.
>
> Wouldn't it be better to simply let the credit card company know in
> advance where you will be traveling in the world and during what
> periods? That's what we do here, and have never had a problem.

It hasn't always helped me. I've notified them and still been shut down.
At the bank, I was advised that I needed to call my card company and/or my
bank. The problem with that was that there was no phone service.

Fortunately for me, I had enough cash/TC's to take care of myself for the
remainder of my trip, but I had to put my dives on my credit card. I'd been
trying to avoid that because the government of that country required a 12%
tax be included. Don't ask me to explain this because I can not. In any
event, if you paid cash there was no tax. What I'd been trying to do was
get a cash advance (which didn't incur the 12% tax for some reason) so that
I could pay cash for the dives and not incur the additional tax.

In the end, I really appreciated the people at the dive shop. They knew my
card had as much as been refused at the bank, but still allowed me to pay
with the same card the day before I headed home. I left all of my contact
info with the dive shop and as soon as I hit Houston, I called my credit
card company to make sure that they processed the payment. Then I emailed
the dive shop to tell them that I'd done that and that all should be in
order. I never heard back and the charges went through with no problem.

While I was talking to the credit card company, I express my dismay that I
had forewarned them that I would be travelling and where. They told me that
it makes little difference because the advise from me would not
automatically show up for the transaction. That left me wondering what is
the point in calling in advance.

"chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada> wrote:
>"Caveat" <caveat@bogusaddy.com> wrote in message
>> >Lloyds TSB did that to me. They had all my contact details, and could
>> >have simply called me on my (UK) mobile phone or sent me an email, but
>> >instead they just cancelled my card and left me to deal with the
>> >consequences of being in Hong Kong with no access to my money.

>> Wouldn't it be better to simply let the credit card company know in
>> advance where you will be traveling in the world and during what
>> periods? That's what we do here, and have never had a problem.

>It hasn't always helped me. I've notified them and still been shut down.
>At the bank, I was advised that I needed to call my card company and/or my
>bank. The problem with that was that there was no phone service.

OK, I guess it can get quite complicated depending upon the anti-fraud
measures that the particular bank/credit card brand/ processing
subcontractors have in place. Plus it changes with some regularity, I
suspect. And there are probably charges from certain countries or to
of accounts that get more scrutiny.

FWIW, I just went through the notification process for an upcoming
trip to New Zealand and beyond. Our "bank" is a local credit union, so
that might make things easier than dealing with something like
Citibank. But I just dropped in, talked to one of the account
representatives, told him our destinations and dates, and he put it in
the computer. That was all it took to cover our Visa card and our ATM
debit cards for this trip, I thought, and has worked fine in the past.

Because of this thread, however, I lingered and asked him to explain
what actually happens with that information he entered, and how that
worked with the larger screening that other associated entities do
when charges actually are made. It turns out that it is very
complicated. Two different outside companies process credit card
versus debit card charges, and each has its own system and screening
mechanisms. (And any other bank may use different processing companies
with very different rules and procedures. So YMMV.)

Before the above processors handle the transaction, however , the
charges first pass through the VISA system. But despite the fact that
both the credit card and debit card carry a VISA logo, each goes
through a different path, with different screening parameters,
including past charge patterns. If fraud is suspected, a hold is put
on that card and it cannot be used until the hold is released.

In all of the above cases, the initial screening is done by computer
models that have lots of flags that check numerous factors -- any of
which could refuse the charge without human intervention. These
include flagged bogus businesses, charges that go over your card
limits, daily activity limits, or bank balances (in the case of debit
cards), and much more that they are apparently unwilling to disclose.

If the attempted charge gets through the initial go-no go screens, it
is screened for suspicious activity. If something triggers a flag
there, an "alert" is instantly sent to the issuing bank. There, the
alert is addressed by a person at a terminal (at least in our case)
who checks the computer record to see if that cardholder told them
about being in that country at that time. That is the point at which
the charge is either approved, based on the information they have, or
needs to be further verified with the holder of the card as being a
legit charge.

This is where it can get dicey because the verifier may be backlogged,
off duty, in the potty room, or the account holder may be out of phone
contact, the line may be busy, it might be in a different time zone,
or the charger has long since left the business when the charge was
attempted, or whatever. That's why they say it is best to give them
the information in advance of any trip so that a charge can be
instantly cleared at that alert level.

Thus having heard the complicated story above, and given the local
bank the trip dates and destinations, I went back home and proceeded
to reserve three different rental cars for the places we would be
going. Turns out that debit cards are not acceptable by some rental
companies for the deposit or bond, so the VISA credit card number was
asked for. Potential problem: a hold would be attempted by a business
in a country where I was not scheduled to be for another month.

Sooo, I called the VISA phone number on the back of the card and they
said, yes, I needed to notify them in advance of such a large hold on
the account or it might not be approved. So I did, they put a note in
their computer about the anticipated charge, all went well.

At least so far...


Caveat






>Fortunately for me, I had enough cash/TC's to take care of myself for the
>remainder of my trip, but I had to put my dives on my credit card. I'd been
>trying to avoid that because the government of that country required a 12%
>tax be included. Don't ask me to explain this because I can not. In any
>event, if you paid cash there was no tax. What I'd been trying to do was
>get a cash advance (which didn't incur the 12% tax for some reason) so that
>I could pay cash for the dives and not incur the additional tax.
>
>In the end, I really appreciated the people at the dive shop. They knew my
>card had as much as been refused at the bank, but still allowed me to pay
>with the same card the day before I headed home. I left all of my contact
>info with the dive shop and as soon as I hit Houston, I called my credit
>card company to make sure that they processed the payment. Then I emailed
>the dive shop to tell them that I'd done that and that all should be in
>order. I never heard back and the charges went through with no problem.
>
>While I was talking to the credit card company, I express my dismay that I
>had forewarned them that I would be travelling and where. They told me that
>it makes little difference because the advise from me would not
>automatically show up for the transaction. That left me wondering what is
>the point in calling in advance.
>