Warn your bank you're traveling
Call ahead to notify your credit card issuer of you travel plans
Call your card's issuing bank before you travel to let it know that you're taking a trip.
If you do not notify the credit card issuing company of intended foreign travel in advance,you may find your card frozen when you try to use it abroad.
You need to talk to the fraud department and let them know the dates of your trip and the countries you will be visiting. (A few card issuers are now putting a "travel notification" feature on their websites so you can do this in 90 seconds online rather than after five minutes of selecting options in phone call center limbo before you finally get to a live person who can jot down your travel dates and places.)
Why is this?
Most banks have a computerized watchdog that monitors your card's use, looking for radical changes in the frequency or location of charges. When it finds suspicious charges, it freezes the account.
Ideally, this system alerts them if someone steals your card and goes on a shopping spree, but it has the unfortunate side effect of leaving travelers in the lurch, because on a typical vacation you're (a) charging more than usual and (b) charging it from strange places.
(For what to do in case of real theft, see the "Losing Things" section.)
- Findabetterbank.com - Site to find credit unions and other local banks. These often have low or no foreign transaction fees on their credit cards and ATM fee–refund policies.
- Capitalone.com - Offers cards with no foreign transaction fee, and chip-and-signature enabled (making it easier to use in Europe).
- Bankofamerica.com - Offers cards with no foreign transaction fee, and chip-and-signature enabled (making it easier to use in Europe).
- Madfientist.cardratings.com - Good simple search engine to find travel-worthy cards, from no foreign fees to the ones with the best points.
- Ally.com - Online-only bank (and the one I use), with ATM feee refunds and no foreign transaction fees. Sadly, no credit cards (yet)—though you can use your MasterCard-branded bank card as a debit card.
- Usaa.com - Online-only bank open to current and former U.S. military personnel and their families; ATM fee refunds, and credit cards with only 1% foreign transaction fees.
- Schwab.com - This famous brokerage firm also offers online-only checking and savings accounts with ATM fee refunds.
- Asmarterchoice.org - Credit union–finding site. Credit unions often have low or no foreign trasnaction fees on their credit cards, ATM fee–refund policies, very few fees, and interest-bearing checking accounts. In other words: What a bank should be.
- Findabetterbank.com - Site to find credit unions and other local banks. These often have low or no foreign transaction fees on their credit cards and ATM fee–refund policies.
- Ncua.gov - All about credit unions.
- Credituniondb.com - Bare-bones credit union-finding database.
