Have credit card, will travel

AAP reports that the use of free standing ATM’s overseas can be a nightmare.

Picture the secne:

An irate Australian woman paces up and down on the footpath near a Bangkok ATM.

Her friends have strolled to a nearby shopping mall but she’s stuck where she is.

With only five days in Thailand, she’s wasting one entire morning as she waits impatiently for the men who open and restock the cash-dispensing machine.

She’s been told at a shop with a clear view of the free-standing ATM that the bank crew usually arrives just before lunch.

The problem: she wanted cash but the machine ate her card.

Her piece of plastic is removed from inside the ATM but the cash delivery men refuse to return it to her unless she produces photographic identification.

Fortunately, she has a photocopy of her passport’s information pages with her.

The moral of this tale?

Don’t use a free-standing ATM.

Head instead for one at a bank – and use it during banking hours. If your card is wrongfully retained you’re able to retrieve it from the staff.

Free-standing machines often have a telephone number to call but, as a friend found out, the operators may not speak English.

Even if they do, getting your card back will be time-consuming.

As more and more travellers use ATMs overseas to access cash conveniently, it’s worth bearing in mind possible pitfalls.

It makes sense to carry more than one brand of credit card.

If a business doesn’t accept your number-one card, use the back-up card.

Increasingly popular are pre-paid Mastercard and Visa cards. These “debit cards” are used just like the credit cards they resemble in shops, hotels, restaurants or elsewhere and are honoured wherever that type of card is accepted – until the credit balance runs out.

Most importantly, they can be used at ATMs to access cash paid into the card account. What’s more, these cards can be topped up by a friend or relation back home.

One more potential pitfall: I successfully accessed cash in Kuala Lumpur using a Mastercard – but then, to my embarrassment, it was suddenly cancelled.

Whenever I tried to use it, a message printed saying I should contact the issuing bank.

The looks on the faces of hotel and restaurant staff said one thing: I had to be over my credit limit (which I knew I wasn’t).

The issuing bank, it turned out, had cancelled the card because I unwittingly accessed cash at an ATM notorious for use by crooks with stolen cards.

A bank employee left a voicemail message telling me to get in touch urgently.

But she left it on my home phone – even though card use indicated I was out of Australia.

Fortunately, I had another card with me and alternative access to cash.

After I returned home and heard the voicemail message, I called the bank which immediately reactivated the card.

Another traveller had a card cancelled after making a string of purchases – including a steeply-priced backpack – in the space of a few hours.

Cards are routinely cancelled if computer programs determine use is unusual.  A call to the issuer, confirming the purchases, reactivates the card.

Some banks issuing Mastercard and Visa cards advise telling them if the card will be used overseas.

Others disagree, maintaining this is a nuisance for travellers.

On this topic, an American Express spokesman says: “There’s no need to inform American Express prior to travelling overseas.”

However, he adds, the company “recommends travellers take a mix of money options – a small amount of local cash for taxis or a coffee after you arrive, a credit card for major purchases and the balance of your funds in travellers’ cheques as a safe and secure source of funds”.

Some other frequent travellers disagree, opting instead for a mix of credit cards and cash (topped up at ATMs). Keep a spare credit card, giving access to cash, in a separate place. Having everything in one wallet becomes a crisis if your wallet is stolen.

Take with you a list of credit card and passport numbers (and leave a copy at home) as well as numbers to call for emergency replacement. (Numbers are sometimes hard to find in a hurry on an issuer’s website. One website unhelpfully gives a 1800 number to telephone in an emergency – and it can’t be called from overseas.)

Check before you travel that your card isn’t about to expire. If it is, arrange to have a replacement issued early.

Also, check your credit limit is adequate – and, if not, discuss having it increased. And remember that credit card companies add fees when converting from foreign currency – but, in most cases, these amount to a couple of dollars or less.

An increasing drift to the use of a PIN for credit card purchases is happening, particularly in Europe. But card issuers say the option of a signing instead will remain. So, if you don’t have a PIN you shouldn’t face problems. However, if you have time it is sensible to obtain a PIN before travelling. (PIN transactions work just like EFTPOS use.)

Which credit card? Mastercard and Visa are most commonly accepted, with American Express next and Diners Club less so. Where merchants apply surcharges (anywhere between 1-5 per cent) for using cards, these tend to be highest with American Express.

As higher fuel surcharges push up ticket prices, travellers are increasingly using reward points – linked to their credit cards – to help them absorb higher costs.

Emily Hoskins, manager for reward partnerships at American Express, says the number of points used to pay for travel in April and May was almost 80 per cent higher than in January at Travelscene American Express outlets.

Using credit cards while travelling overseas is usually trouble-free.

But the mantra heard repeatedly from travel experts is “don’t rely on just one card”.  

A Report by The Mole from AAP