12 Things You Must Do to Avoid Money Disasters While Traveling Abroad

[MULTIZ321]

12 Things You Must Do to Avoid Money Disasters While Traveling Abroad
By Kyle Valenta/ Travel Tips/ Money/ Oyster/ oyster.com

"Here's a fun game to play with yourself: Book a long-overdue vacation abroad and naturally become excited. Now, think of every single thing that can go wrong. You might consider political upheaval, sudden bans on everyday electronics, unpredictable weather, squabbles among traveling partners, or exotic and previously unknown tropical diseases. Oh, and we'd be remiss not to mention the financial disasters that might await you on the other side of that red-eye flight. Lucky for you, we've experienced nearly every financial misery that can occur while traveling and are here to make sure the same doesn't happen to you. With that in mind, we've collected the top financial advice that you'll need to make your next trip a smooth one...."

Write down your bank's international customer service number.
Banco de España image courtesy of Jim Anzalone via Flickr


Most of the items on this list have been discussed in various Tug Threads. I had to chuckle at the first recommendation to tell your bank you're going abroad well before traveling. In a recent Tug thread, this was discussed and several Tuggers said their bank and credit card company couldn't care less that they were travelling. I don't think that's the policy across the board.

Richard

 

[isisdave]

And yet, it didn't mention "traveling spouses/partners should carry different credit cards, so that if someone steals a wallet, you still have a card you didn't have to cancel." Or maybe "if you have a hotel safe, leave most valuables there and only take the cash and/or card you intend to use with you." Both of these are regularly suggested here on TUG and on other travel-related sites.

 

[Talent312]

And yet, it didn't mention "traveling spouses/partners should carry different credit cards, so that if someone steals a wallet, you still have a card you didn't have to cancel.

... which did happen to us.
It was totally fortuitous that DW & I had different CC's - it wasn't planned at all.

"Write down" the international call number? Who writes anything down anymore?
... That's like "dialing" a telephone... Phones don't have dials.

Instead, print a sheet of phone #'s (family, friends, banks) and a copy of your Passport.
.

 

[isisdave]

Good point: I keep a copy of our passports and drivers licenses, as well as medical and CC info, on Google Drive. Sure hope it's secure! With big name companies, not to mention governments, getting hacked left and right, I'm never sure if this is a good idea or not. Supposedly they're encrypted there.

Put your banks' numbers in your contact list and then sign up for Viber / WhatsApp / Skype / Ooma and buy a little credit if needed. You can call 800 numbers this way, so if you need it you can just look it up on Google.