Safety Sunday

Credit card safety tips
 Before you leave home follow these simple steps to ensure smooth sailing:

1. Notify your credit card (and debit card) companies about your travel plans. They will need to know the dates and countries. This will help them spot any suspicious activity.

2. Ask if your credit card has any fees for foreign transactions both as a credit card or for ATM withdrawals. Typically with a credit card there is a percentage fee. I have one card that charges 2% and one that is free. Guess which one I used as my primary card? For ATM fees it is typically a flat dollar amount like $2.00 and/or a percentage fee on top of that.

3. Ask about any rewards you get. My Capital One card gives pretty decent rewards and has no fees. I can typically end up paying for my hotel or at least my rental car with my rewards points. So pick the card that will save you the most money.

4. Clean out your wallet. I always take out any credit cards I wont need on my trip like my Macy's or Home Depot cards. Make sure to store them in a safe place though.

5. Scan the front and back of the credit cards you are taking along with your passport and ID. Email it to yourself on any web based email system, then you can have easy access to the information if you need it.
*** Also, make sure you have a good password for your email account, nothing to easy. ***

While you are on vacation, you should have no problems. But here are my last two tips…

6. Always process transactions in local currency. It may sound convenient have them process it is US dollars, but there will more than likely be a fee for it.

7. Keep really good record of your receipts. If you don't get a receipt for something you use your card for, ask for one. If they can't provide one, make note of the dollar amount, store name and address of the store, I've also asked for a business card and wrote the amount on the back.

Be safe, have fun!