Credit Card Travel Tips
Use these credit card travel tips to get a good deal and avoid unnecessary hassle when you travel.
Credit Card Travel Tips #1:
Only take One or Two
If you have several cards, leave most of them at home. That also goes for anything else that may live in your wallet/purse that’s not going to be required on holiday. I can’t believe I had my Australian driver’s licence in my purse the day it was stolen at the fair. It was so unnecessary!
Learn from my mistakes and don’t take needless risks. Only take a card you intend to use and one for emergencies (keep this one in your money belt, or with a trusted travel companion—you can swap so if either of you have a mishap, the other has your back.)
Credit Card Travel Tips #2: Register with a Card Protection Service
If your bank or insurance agent has this facility, you can ring and register important documents and credit cards. I have this through my bank, which keeps the details of my passport and credit cards, so that if something happens when I’m abroad, I only have to make one phone call and they contact all the relevant organizations for me.
Credit Card Travel Tips #3: Buy your Plane Ticket with your Card
Apparently, if you purchase your flights with a credit card, you are afforded greater protection if the unfortunate happens and your airline goes out of business before you travel. Some travel insurances exclude this circumstance from their policy, so it’s good to have this as an extra protection factor. However, you also need to balance this against the fact that you can often pay up to 3% more in credit card fees charges than if you pay cash for your ticket.
This also applies to any large purchases you make while away, as many credit card providers have automatic protection against damage etc for purchases. Check with your provider to see what they offer.
Credit Card Travel Tips #4: Can you get Frequent Flyer Points?
Many cards are associated with frequent flyer programs. If you already have a credit card or two, see which airline programs they might be affiliated with. Sometimes if you buy with your card, you can get bonus frequent flyer points, which may help you get back to India sooner (you’ll be going back, trust me!) Some programs even allow you to convert their credit card points to frequent flyer points, so depending how many points you already have, you could upgrade or even fly free!
Credit Card Travel Tips #5: Find a card with no overseas transaction fees
My mum told me about a very cool bank account, which has absolutely no transaction fees or currency conversion fees, no matter where I travel in the world. That means I can go to any ATM, even ones not affiliated with my bank and withdraw money in local currency without paying a percentage (which adds up quickly when you’re traveling!) each time. It’s also a Visa debit, so it works like a credit card but has my own money in it. If you can get hold of an account like this, it works a treat.
Credit Card Travel Tips #6: Beware Identity Theft and Fraud
Luckily, I’ve never experienced this, but I’ve been told there are a couple of ways this can occur. Either by taking an extra imprint of your card through the old paper credit card slip, or now by ‘skimming’ your card through a reader which detects the PIN. The best idea is, especially in restaurants etc, to not let the card out of your sight—be wherever the transaction is being processed, so you can keep an eye on things.
Credit Card Travel Tips #7: There may not be ATMs where you’re going
This is a tricky one, because when you’re traveling, it’s not always easy to know what’s going to be available in the next town or city. For India, in the last ten years or so, ATM availability has increased markedly. But to play it safe, I always take out cash from an ATM in the airport. If I don’t find an ATM at the airport, I will change money via a currency booth, just so I know I can get by until I do find an ATM. Luckily, I haven’t had the same problem that I had when I went to Kathmandu a few years ago. There may be more now, but then there were only three ATMs in the whole city, and they would often run out of cash, which is a problem because you can’t use EFTPOS in many places—cash is King.
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