Credit Cards Question

I use a debit card for daily purchases. Same avantages for record keeping without dancing with the devil.

One caveat: In some states (and I am not sure if this is still true) you were more liable for thefts made using your card than with credit cards.

Under law, you are never responsible for more than $50 if a thief uses your credit card (or number). In my states and I believe in most states this is now true for debit cards as well, but you should check.
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No matter where one travels in this world, some currency is necessary as Walter says for small purchases and souvenirs. For most restaurants and expensive stuff, always use your credit card, because they always (most) give you the best exchange rate. If you use your credit/debit card to get cash, always get tha max you think you'll need in cash, because there's usually a flat fee from the bank and your credit card company.

What I usually do is bring some cash - and exchange about $100 into the local currency to see how my spending goes. Depending on whether I can fund the exchange with the cash I brought with me or if I think I didn't bring enough, I use my credit card to get some cash from a ATM. It's worked out fine for me, and usually end up bringing home most of my cash.

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J_B wrote:

Mr B and daughter K are about to visit Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. As I mentioned above, we are not used to carrying cash and rely on our credit cards for just about everything. Would you recommend they carry cash/traveler's checks rather than depend on being able to use credit cards?

When I visit Europe, I take very little cash with me, and access
ATM's (they're everywhere in Europe) if needed. Additionally I carry
credit cards (I only have two, as I see no necessity for more).

As Walter already mentioned, traveler's checks need to be cashed at
banks, and they're closed during lunch hours (12 - 2 pm) and on the
weekends.

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As an aside: a very interesting experiment:

Quote:

I get a heck of a lot of credit card applications in the mail. A bunch for Visa, quite a few from Mastercard and tons of them from American Express.

I almost always tear them in half and throw them away. Sometimes, if I am feeling particularly paranoid, I'll tear them into little bitty pieces.

Is that good enough? Could a determined and dexterous criminal gather all the bits, tape them together and apply for a card in my name?

Sure, he certainly can.

Quote:

Would a credit card company balk when confronted with an obviously resurrected application?

Of course not. They even send the card to a different address.

see (several pages!): The Torn-Up Credit Card Application.

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Thanks Walter, CI, and C_Jane. They'll be gone for 10 days and their tour includes most meals. I think I'll make sure they have some cash and teach Mr B how to use his credit card at an ATM (as soon as I learn how) Embarrassed

We truly never carry cash and don't have ATM cards. I know our credit cards can be used at ATM machines, but I've never done it.

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J-B, Make sure that the credit card you have has a 4-digit PIN. Also ask the credit card company which ATMs will accept the card for cash.

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Be sure they not only have a pin number, but that they know what it is, J_B. In fact, I would suggest they test the ATM usage locally before leaving home.

I admit it, I always imagine the worst

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cicerone imposter wrote:

J-B, Make sure that the credit card you have has a 4-digit PIN. Also ask the credit card company which ATMs will accept the card for cash.

Any European ATM accepts all major and most other credit cards. (And they "speak" various languages, too Laughing

)

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roger wrote:

Be sure they not only have a pin number, but that they know what it is, J_B. In fact, I would suggest they test the ATM usage locally before leaving home.

I admit it, I always imagine the worst

Good idea, roger. I guess I need to go over to the bank and get this arranged. It's a good thing they don't leave until next week.

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we don't take our ATM cards when we travel outside canada . i somehow feel that if i loose the ATM card it could be a lot of hassle .
we take a certain amount of cash and our creditcards . if we need to stock up on cash , we go to a bank and get a cash advance . the small interest charge is usually less than the ATM charge for 'out of country' use (and we have less plastic to carry ).
when mrs h's credit card was stolen in berlin, we went to the nearest police-station and within five minutes we had been connected by phone to the issuing bank ,and the credit card was blocked . all at no charge ! (thanks to the 'customer friendly' police !)
since my number was not blocked , we had no problem using it . went to a local bank in berlin the next day to exchange some money and they offered to issue a 'temporary' card for us - we thanked them but declined . hbg

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Well, with our ATM it is the very same - they are blocked within minutes without charge ... from anywhere.

In Euro-countries, there's no charge at all, in others, the charge is much smaller than with credit cards.

(The only disadvantage is that Mrs. Walter can ask me seconds after I used the ATM card why I needed some money again - when she looks online at our banc account at that moment [what happened, when I was in France a week ago :wink: ].)

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Depleted the bank account again, heh, Walter? Wink

To resolve this dilemma, the wife and I have separate bank accounts, but both in our names. We don't "watch" what the other does from day to day. It keeps much peace in the family. LOL

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I'm going to be away (Europe) for three weeks. I have a mastercard (credit) that I use instead of cash and checks. I use a visa card (debit to my bank) solely for ATM withdrawals. I'm afraid I will not get back in time to make my mastercard/credit payment on time (I always pay if off every month: no balance). I plan to use the debit card in Europe. Should I just pay off any balance and dump the credit card now before going and then renewing it or getting a new one when I return? What am I overlooking?

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JLN, I pay my credit card balance when I'm away from home by using internet cafes. Europe has internet cafes all over the place, and at reasonable cost vs bringing your own laptop.

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CI, I hope you are kidding.

I would strongly recommend that no one type anything you want to keep private (i.e. credit card numbers or passwords to your financial accounts) into a computer at an internet cafe. Anytime or Anywhere.

Computers at internet cafes are the least secure computers in the world. They are likely to have spyware, and are good targets for people who want to collect information.

A common trick of hackers and thieves is to install software (or hardware) that simply records each key you press. This is a good way to get your passwords and credit card numbers. The worst of it is that anyone can steal information from these computers (not just the cafe workers).

You should assume that anything you type on a public computer is public.

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JLNobody - might be I don't get it: but Visa (and Mastercard) get their money automatically once a month from my bank account.
Can't you do similar?

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Walter, I don't think so. My Visa (debit) card is a way of debiting my bank account; my Mastercard (credit) sends me a bill at the end of each month which I pay with a check. I don't THINK that I can treat my Mastercard as a debit card. I DO know that I cannot treat my Visa card as a credit card.

Thanks for the warning, ebrown; it confirms my paranoia.

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call the bank and prepay the existing balance before you leave. Ask them to extend the due date of your next payment because you will be out of town. If you are a good customer (which it sounds like you are) they will probably make the change. If they do charge you any fees or interest on the next cycle, call them and ask them to be credited back to your account. Most card companies will do that once every three years if you've paid on time otherwise.

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J-B is correct: I've also had late fees reversed by calling them on the phone. They make leeways for good customers; it costs credit card companies a lot of money for promotions, and would hate to lose the good ones to their competition.

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J_B, trouble is, my bank is not connected to my Mastercard (MBNA AMERICA). I will have to contact the bank to see if I can charge everything in Europe to my checking account with my Visa debit card. And then I'll just not use my Mastercard after paying off the April bill, and not use it until I return in June. I hope that works. Only my bank can say, I guess.

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