Traveling and Credit Cards
Hi Rudy,
Thanks for your show. I wanted to let you know about a problem which my sister had while traveling in Kenya. She was in Africa for one year doing research and when she went to a bank to get some cash off her Visa card, the card company computer noted that the transaction was "different" and put a hold on her card because the transaction came from another country. To make matters worse, most long distance companies had pulled out of Kenya making international calling almost impossible. I spent hours on the phone with her credit card company trying to explain that they had left my sister in Africa without any access to money. They insisted that they needed to speak to her in person--almost impossible under the circumstances. To make matters worse, I couldn't get a hold of her to tell her what was going on. They finally released her credit card but the morals of the story are:
- Tell the credit card companies that you are going somewhere especially if you are going to be gone for a long period of time.
- Before you leave the USA, put someone else's name whom you trust on your card so that they can make decisions for you if something like this does arise. All of this would have been much easier if my name had also been on the card.
Sincerely,
Kate
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