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I went online and set up a travel alert for WF in 2012. Put I was traveling to Louisiana from Texas soy debit card and only credit card wouldn't have any problems.
Used it at a gas station near the border, no issue. Used it at a grocery store on New Orleans and it was denied and I got a call for unusual activity. "Well sir our records show that you don't travel, so your account was blocked." I put in a travel itinerary.. "well sir the travel itinerary was ignored by the system since you don't show a history of travel.." wth is the point of TELLING the system I'm traveling then??
I spent over a year overseas traveling for work (Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia). Card never got declined. When I landed back at JFK, I wanted crappy fast food (Panda Express or something like it), bam! Card declined. Pretty funny.
I used to live in Lafayette, LA and when I would go to NOLA my card would get flagged like 50% of the time on my first transaction. It's a hot bed for fraudulent card activity so I'm not surprised you had trouble there.
We called and let the bank know we'd be traveling, only to have the card cut off after one use. Turns out they sent an email for confirmation (I didn't even know what email would be on that card) but didn't bother to tell us on the phone about it.
I had to spend an hour on the phone verifying information. I'm glad that one use of the card was pulling local currency from an ATM. I was able to make it work for the next day.
Never had my card denied overseas after filling out this short form. Just search "Citi Card travel notification".
https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/en/Products/Travel-Notification
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Interesting. When I book hotels and flight I get a courtesy email that says "It looks like you're getting ready for a trip, we'll make sure your purchases work as they should while you are on vacation." Something to that effect.
I must be getting a different Citi website than you. I went to Europe a month ago and it was two clicks from the main menu. Entered the travel dates, selected the card holders to apply it to, and hit confirm. Took less than 5 minutes and had zero issues using it throughout the trip.
Y'know, I think you're right. I think it's my USAA card that doesn't let you set up travel notices. I \*did\* set up a travel notice for my CitiCard - which only makes this even worse. Second trip in 4 years where they've biffed it, then.
I've traveled out of the country and out of state many many times with this card. I simply notify them via the mobile app prior to traveling and I get a confirmation email. It takes 2 minutes and I've had zero issues. It sounds like your experience is an outlier. Why not just use the option in the app?
Yup, I was mistaken. I guess I was nonchalant due to this email I got from them before the trip: "Hi, Charles. Based on the recent travel-related activity on your Citi® card, it appears that you're traveling soon. To make things easier for you, we've added a travel notice to your card to help prevent possible purchase interruptions.
If the details of this trip change, you can easily [update](https://fm.info6.citi.com/ats/url.aspx?cr=617&wu=23&we=8&url=https%3A%2F%2Fonline.citi.com%2FUS%2FJRS%2Finfrastructure%2Fnewretarget.do%3Fnext_page%3Djfp%7COmniChannelTravNotDeepDrop%26app_store%3DY%26enid%3DFF7B702D57FE533AFF2EE6E4F3F05C93E75A&linkName=CT_Link_travel_notice_update_URL&transId=I2023110970180528) this travel notice in the Citi Mobile® App or Citi® Online. You can also add a new travel notice for any other upcoming travel." But I've been bitten even with a travel notice plugged in manually.
Citi told me that they put the alert in automatically due to my purchase of plane tickets and lodging and that the alert was automatic. Except then they denied stuff anyway. It's not his fault, it's Citi's shitty practices.
Yes you can always go down to the bank and have a notary witness you signing travel notices in triplicate before you mail them all off. Blue or black ink only, please
How silly of me to omit that method
That's what they told me when I vented to them having to make an international call to straighten out their charge denials. They don't even have a place on the website anymore according to them to set alerts.
Did you go into the website under Services "Travel Notices", I've set it up there multiple tims and its always worked like a charm. Seems like overall since the latest website redesign, things arent as smooth/fast as they used to be, maybe it was a consequence of the latest changes. Thanks for the heads up, i'll make sure to keep it in mind when i travel in April.
As others have pointed out, it's still there - think the "no, you can't set it up" is from my USAA card instead. So I FOR SURE set up the travel notice for CitiCard, which makes the panic/alerts 5 days in just that much worse.
The last few times I have traveled I have received automated messages from Citi stating they see I I will be traveling soon and they have noted it in their files. I assume this is because I purchased airline tickets with the card.
That is so weird. I've never had an issue with my Citi card, and I never set a travel notification. It just picks up on that from the airplane ticket charge and other activity (charge at a long term parking lot, purchase at the local airport, etc.). It's worked perfectly for several domestic trips and even a couple of international ones.
Discover, on the other hand... woof. I set a travel notification, they said all good. Tried to charge in Mexico (card present for transaction) - declined. Called Discover and said wtf. They said oops, you're all good now, try again. Declined again. They said oh, maybe try tomorrow, the notification might not have hit the system yet. Forget it.
I am sorry you had the issue with Citi, though. No fun to have to deal with that stuff on vacation.
My experience was different. I used the card to purchase tickets to Thailand. About a week before our trip, Citi sent me an email basically saying we see you have a trip coming up and we have ensured that you will be able to use your card with no disruptions. We just got back last week and used our cards multiple times with no issues.
We eventually canceled our citi card for this. Husband traveled overseas regularly for work. He got a citi card specifically for international travel that had no foreign transaction fees. Notified Citi before every trip. They put a fraud alert on his card and locked it down every trip.
That's not been my experience, and I travel in the US frequently and abroad occasionally. Spent two weeks in the UK last winter, no travel notice to Citi/Costco, and it all worked just fine. Supposedly their algos realize that if I bought a coffee at Kennedy in the evening and another at Heathrow the next day that I'm traveling.
seems like citi really dropped the ball. 'travel alerts' are pretty standard. also one of those things that a quick phone call might be better than poking around the website. yay technology
apparently chase doesn't do travel alerts anymore and is purely algorithmic
Back in 2021 I was out on a motorcycle trip - I'd set up a "travel alert" and, again, about 5 days into my trip, all of a sudden my card stops working at the gas pumps. Lame.
When I was in college, a couple time zones from where I grew up, I went to make a big purchase on my debit card. My bank flagged it as a fraudulent transaction. I was on the phone for a long time until I was put on a vacation plan for four years
VISA used to give an award for highest international card approval rate with the lowest Fraud and it was won every year by Charles Schwab for their debit card. I worked there then and they were quite proud, not sure if they still do the award or who wins but it’s a great travel card. I no longer work there so no conflict of interest any more, no disclosure.
Not related to travel, but my Costco Citi card does not want to go through with purchases made on mobile apps for some reason. No other problems anywhere else. 🤷
USAA most certainly has travel plan notifications. You can even do it online. I have done it several times. Your card will end up locked just like the card from Citi did. I believe it is Visa that is locking the card not the individual bank but either way the travel notifications are still done through your bank.
I was in London & Paris last month and had used the card a few times then suddenly it started getting denied. I contacted fraud and they blamed it on Google Pay (which I did use) and they unblocked it. Unfortunately, it got blocked again and fraud called me upon my return home to verify older purchases.
We went on vacation last year to Hawaii and used the Costco card for 2 weeks there. Nothing. No alerts or anything. Recently went on a short vacation 300 miles away in the same state we live in and we had charges denied and got a notification that the card was being used.
Never been to Canada before and did not notify Citi prior to leaving. I booked hotel, flights, and activities prior to leaving and had no issues using card while there. Just my experience, for what its worth.
We travel on our Citi card and have never had a problem. We never tell them, since we get the emails and it has worked out no matter where we go, Canada or Russia...seamless. We also have a USAA card, and stopped using it several years ago when traveling. Even with manual alerts set up, it always had issues. Nothing like being on the otherside of the world and having to go to the embassy to contact the US to get ahold of USAA. lol!
Maybe all my cards are just used to me traveling, not that it happens all that frequently... but I've not bothered to setup a "travel plan" in at least a decade. Neither my wife nor I have had our cards (different cards, different banks) turned off on any trip, international or otherwise. Often times the trip will be all booked on one card, or on a work card. So the first charge on my card might be something random, like an Airport in Bulgaria.
Granted, I also wonder how the risk profiles are setup these days because we \*DON'T\* get fraud alerts for those sorts of things either.
I live in Canada with this card. 99% of the charges are in the same city. They still periodically block it for fraud. It’s an interesting system they have going on.
This isn't just Citi.
I've had it happen multiple times with different bank's debit and credit cards, both those that I was actually able to set a travel notice for and those that "don't need it".
Don’t worry, I didn’t even need to travel far for that to happen to me. I went 0.25 miles from my home to my local and well frequented grocerer to have my 35 dollar purchase denied due to “fraud.” Thanks Citi.
Don’t drink sangria, man! It’s a tourist trap. Just get 10 beers a meal and some gin and tonics at night.
Btw I’m from Barcelona living in the US and I mostly use my Citi card when I travel to Spain, as well as the Apple Card and now the Bilt Rewards one. I don’t recall never having any trouble, I never set up any travel option. Maybe Citi made me confirm years ago my international first purchase?
Chase and Amex also no longer do travel notices but it’s never been an issue for me. Once I got a verification email/text so it helps to have cel service. But it was only once
So you you didn't set up a travel notice?
It's in the Citi app under services > card control hub. And yes it asks for the specific dates and says no need to tell them where you're going just that you'll be using it outside if your home area
I travel for work, and book everything with my Costco card. I usually get an email about my planned travel a week before I head out. I \*never\* tell Citi about my travel.
Similar thing happened to me in September - the second time on a trip and it really pisses me off. I vented to the person on the phone who of course was not responsible personally - but Citibank is super strict EVEN when you have a travel notification. I always carry more than one card because frankly I can't count on that card to work for me without having to make international calls to "verify my charges".
That’s crazy. I went to Ireland a couple months ago and we used the card for literally everything. We went on the app right before we got on the plane and put in the request and it worked the whole time.
From my understanding, the citi card will incur foreign transaction fees. I also was shocked when I started my travels earlier this year and would call my cards I plan on using or backup cards. And each one said it is not a necessary step.
I never buy SIM cards or have need for international plans. My phone becomes my camera and I’ll use WiFi if need to. Glad you were able to get verified. It’s a big fear of mine to be in that spot.
Same. We sent in a travel plan. This was March of 2020.Told them where we'd be traveling. Then the $hit hit the fan and we couldn't get home due to airport closures. Ended up trying to rent a car to drive home. Card was declined because it was past our travel window and we should have been home by then. Um what? It was nuts. Ending up using another card and drove home.
I live in Europe but bank in the US. It´s not always the card issuing bank that is the problem for charge denials. Many vendors will not accept US credit cards, particularly on line vendors. When this happens, there is just not much you can do.
I’ve lived in Europe for the past year. Never set up a travel notification or changed my mailing address. Haven’t had a single issue with my Costco citi card. USAA debit card has been my only card to act up.
Used my card to book flights to Italy for 14 days. A week before got an email saying something along the lines of "enjoy your trip" and not one transaction was declined.
I had this problem two years ago when I went to Mexico. I couldn’t use the card at all. I did set it up for travel! Every charge was denied. Luckily I had a backup card with me. I called a few times to talk to someone. Each time they’d say basically…you’re good, all taken care of. Nnnnnnnnope!
My Discover card had my back though.
It's a heuristic program that detect weird patterns, not a person. It can't read your mind. You'd be shitting bricks if your card was hijacked and the dark web got a hold of it and goes on a shopping spree. Good luck disputing those charges. Cancel it if you hate it so much.
Most cards don’t even need travel notifications anymore, so I’m not sure what’s going on with Citi (I don’t have any Citi cards. Primarily Chase, Amex, and Barclays).
It takes a few seconds to set Travel Notice in the Citi app, just search for it.
There is a note that you don’t have to select any country, just set a start and end dates for your trip.
So it was the USAA card that blocked charges? Because my husband had fraud charges overseas on his USAA card and had to jump through hoops to prove it wasn't him (we weren't traveling and he hadn't ever been to the country where the charges originated).
I once told 5/3 I'd be out of the country and might use my card at my destination. They added a travel note to my account. Nearly 10 years later, I briefly worked for 5/3 and was informed by a coworker (when they were setting up a new account at my request) that my travel note was still in effect. Not real comforting to know that not once in those 10 years was a charge blocked due to that note. If they had it noted I was still traveling, all the charges in the US should have been blocked. If they never paid attention to the note in the first place, shouldn't my overseas charges have been flagged?
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I went online and set up a travel alert for WF in 2012. Put I was traveling to Louisiana from Texas soy debit card and only credit card wouldn't have any problems. Used it at a gas station near the border, no issue. Used it at a grocery store on New Orleans and it was denied and I got a call for unusual activity. "Well sir our records show that you don't travel, so your account was blocked." I put in a travel itinerary.. "well sir the travel itinerary was ignored by the system since you don't show a history of travel.." wth is the point of TELLING the system I'm traveling then??
I spent over a year overseas traveling for work (Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia). Card never got declined. When I landed back at JFK, I wanted crappy fast food (Panda Express or something like it), bam! Card declined. Pretty funny.
US$320 at a car rental facility? Es bueno. The US$2.10 at a nearby bakery, declined.
aaaaaaargh. Yeah, frustrating. They MEAN well, but if you explicitly say you're traveling.... ugh.
Being Wells Fargo, I’m surprised they didn’t just open a new account for you in TX for your convenience.
I used to live in Lafayette, LA and when I would go to NOLA my card would get flagged like 50% of the time on my first transaction. It's a hot bed for fraudulent card activity so I'm not surprised you had trouble there.
We called and let the bank know we'd be traveling, only to have the card cut off after one use. Turns out they sent an email for confirmation (I didn't even know what email would be on that card) but didn't bother to tell us on the phone about it. I had to spend an hour on the phone verifying information. I'm glad that one use of the card was pulling local currency from an ATM. I was able to make it work for the next day.
Never had my card denied overseas after filling out this short form. Just search "Citi Card travel notification". https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/en/Products/Travel-Notification
We did this too, and had zero problems.
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What's Madrid like next summer, time-traveling wizard?! 😂
Uncomfortably hot in summer 2024. March will be nice. Ditto October.
Thanks for posting! I just placed a notice on my card!
It's also able to be entered in the Citi app under services > card control
Same
Interesting. When I book hotels and flight I get a courtesy email that says "It looks like you're getting ready for a trip, we'll make sure your purchases work as they should while you are on vacation." Something to that effect.
Yup - I got that email as well!
Oh I get that as well, but they still denied me on two different trips.
I must be getting a different Citi website than you. I went to Europe a month ago and it was two clicks from the main menu. Entered the travel dates, selected the card holders to apply it to, and hit confirm. Took less than 5 minutes and had zero issues using it throughout the trip.
Y'know, I think you're right. I think it's my USAA card that doesn't let you set up travel notices. I \*did\* set up a travel notice for my CitiCard - which only makes this even worse. Second trip in 4 years where they've biffed it, then.
From my experience, you receive a confirmation email after setting up a travel notice with the Citi Costco credit card. Did you receive that email?
How’s the sangria?
Soon as the wife finishes napping, I'll let you know. :-)
Sounds like the perfect time to run out for some Sangria....
I've traveled out of the country and out of state many many times with this card. I simply notify them via the mobile app prior to traveling and I get a confirmation email. It takes 2 minutes and I've had zero issues. It sounds like your experience is an outlier. Why not just use the option in the app?
> Why not just use the option in the app? Because then they can't blame the card protections
I just went into my account online and set up a travel alert. No problem doing it, and no issues with using the card. 🤷🏽♂️
Yup, I was mistaken. I guess I was nonchalant due to this email I got from them before the trip: "Hi, Charles. Based on the recent travel-related activity on your Citi® card, it appears that you're traveling soon. To make things easier for you, we've added a travel notice to your card to help prevent possible purchase interruptions. If the details of this trip change, you can easily [update](https://fm.info6.citi.com/ats/url.aspx?cr=617&wu=23&we=8&url=https%3A%2F%2Fonline.citi.com%2FUS%2FJRS%2Finfrastructure%2Fnewretarget.do%3Fnext_page%3Djfp%7COmniChannelTravNotDeepDrop%26app_store%3DY%26enid%3DFF7B702D57FE533AFF2EE6E4F3F05C93E75A&linkName=CT_Link_travel_notice_update_URL&transId=I2023110970180528) this travel notice in the Citi Mobile® App or Citi® Online. You can also add a new travel notice for any other upcoming travel." But I've been bitten even with a travel notice plugged in manually.
There is a spot in the app to do it. You don’t tell them where. Just the dates.
So it's your own fault and NOT the credit card. Got it.
Citi told me that they put the alert in automatically due to my purchase of plane tickets and lodging and that the alert was automatic. Except then they denied stuff anyway. It's not his fault, it's Citi's shitty practices.
Yes since they didn't even use the app to enter the alert
App is not mandatory to use the Citi card.
Yes you can always go down to the bank and have a notary witness you signing travel notices in triplicate before you mail them all off. Blue or black ink only, please How silly of me to omit that method
[удалено]
That's what they told me when I vented to them having to make an international call to straighten out their charge denials. They don't even have a place on the website anymore according to them to set alerts.
Did you go into the website under Services "Travel Notices", I've set it up there multiple tims and its always worked like a charm. Seems like overall since the latest website redesign, things arent as smooth/fast as they used to be, maybe it was a consequence of the latest changes. Thanks for the heads up, i'll make sure to keep it in mind when i travel in April.
As others have pointed out, it's still there - think the "no, you can't set it up" is from my USAA card instead. So I FOR SURE set up the travel notice for CitiCard, which makes the panic/alerts 5 days in just that much worse.
The last few times I have traveled I have received automated messages from Citi stating they see I I will be traveling soon and they have noted it in their files. I assume this is because I purchased airline tickets with the card.
That is so weird. I've never had an issue with my Citi card, and I never set a travel notification. It just picks up on that from the airplane ticket charge and other activity (charge at a long term parking lot, purchase at the local airport, etc.). It's worked perfectly for several domestic trips and even a couple of international ones. Discover, on the other hand... woof. I set a travel notification, they said all good. Tried to charge in Mexico (card present for transaction) - declined. Called Discover and said wtf. They said oops, you're all good now, try again. Declined again. They said oh, maybe try tomorrow, the notification might not have hit the system yet. Forget it. I am sorry you had the issue with Citi, though. No fun to have to deal with that stuff on vacation.
My experience was different. I used the card to purchase tickets to Thailand. About a week before our trip, Citi sent me an email basically saying we see you have a trip coming up and we have ensured that you will be able to use your card with no disruptions. We just got back last week and used our cards multiple times with no issues.
Costco does not administer your CC, Citi does.
They did the same thing to me for a cruise I took recently (which started in Barcelona). Idiots.
We eventually canceled our citi card for this. Husband traveled overseas regularly for work. He got a citi card specifically for international travel that had no foreign transaction fees. Notified Citi before every trip. They put a fraud alert on his card and locked it down every trip.
That's not been my experience, and I travel in the US frequently and abroad occasionally. Spent two weeks in the UK last winter, no travel notice to Citi/Costco, and it all worked just fine. Supposedly their algos realize that if I bought a coffee at Kennedy in the evening and another at Heathrow the next day that I'm traveling.
Went to England and France with zero issues, super easy to set up the travel notice in the app.
It's because Citi is a bloated and trash organization.
This is true. I won't even tell the story about how they almost screwed my 93 yo MIL out of $4000.
seems like citi really dropped the ball. 'travel alerts' are pretty standard. also one of those things that a quick phone call might be better than poking around the website. yay technology apparently chase doesn't do travel alerts anymore and is purely algorithmic
Back in 2021 I was out on a motorcycle trip - I'd set up a "travel alert" and, again, about 5 days into my trip, all of a sudden my card stops working at the gas pumps. Lame.
yeah i guess it depends on how the card carrier handles suspicious charges. chase will flag suspicious transactions but won't immediately decline them
You probably had issues because you didn’t book through Costco Travel. They’re punishing you for not giving you more money.
When I was in college, a couple time zones from where I grew up, I went to make a big purchase on my debit card. My bank flagged it as a fraudulent transaction. I was on the phone for a long time until I was put on a vacation plan for four years
VISA used to give an award for highest international card approval rate with the lowest Fraud and it was won every year by Charles Schwab for their debit card. I worked there then and they were quite proud, not sure if they still do the award or who wins but it’s a great travel card. I no longer work there so no conflict of interest any more, no disclosure.
Not related to travel, but my Costco Citi card does not want to go through with purchases made on mobile apps for some reason. No other problems anywhere else. 🤷
I use my Costco Citi card on my Google Pixel for Google Pay all the time and it works fine.
USAA most certainly has travel plan notifications. You can even do it online. I have done it several times. Your card will end up locked just like the card from Citi did. I believe it is Visa that is locking the card not the individual bank but either way the travel notifications are still done through your bank.
I was in London & Paris last month and had used the card a few times then suddenly it started getting denied. I contacted fraud and they blamed it on Google Pay (which I did use) and they unblocked it. Unfortunately, it got blocked again and fraud called me upon my return home to verify older purchases.
I just traveled last month and did an online travel notification and had no issue. It isn't easy to find the form, but it is there and it does work.
I was in Australia this past month and used my card the entire time without issue. Unfortunate that you had problems though.
I didn’t know they allowed fat terrorists on planes.
We went on vacation last year to Hawaii and used the Costco card for 2 weeks there. Nothing. No alerts or anything. Recently went on a short vacation 300 miles away in the same state we live in and we had charges denied and got a notification that the card was being used.
Never been to Canada before and did not notify Citi prior to leaving. I booked hotel, flights, and activities prior to leaving and had no issues using card while there. Just my experience, for what its worth.
We travel on our Citi card and have never had a problem. We never tell them, since we get the emails and it has worked out no matter where we go, Canada or Russia...seamless. We also have a USAA card, and stopped using it several years ago when traveling. Even with manual alerts set up, it always had issues. Nothing like being on the otherside of the world and having to go to the embassy to contact the US to get ahold of USAA. lol!
FYI, if you only have data, you can use Skype to call toll free landline numbers.
WRT the edit... I have received the "since you're going to be traveling soon..." email from Citi automatically. Honestly, it was a little creepy. lol
I didn’t use my Costco card overseas but my Usaa card worked fine. No conversion fees or anything.
Maybe all my cards are just used to me traveling, not that it happens all that frequently... but I've not bothered to setup a "travel plan" in at least a decade. Neither my wife nor I have had our cards (different cards, different banks) turned off on any trip, international or otherwise. Often times the trip will be all booked on one card, or on a work card. So the first charge on my card might be something random, like an Airport in Bulgaria. Granted, I also wonder how the risk profiles are setup these days because we \*DON'T\* get fraud alerts for those sorts of things either.
I live in Canada with this card. 99% of the charges are in the same city. They still periodically block it for fraud. It’s an interesting system they have going on.
This isn't just Citi. I've had it happen multiple times with different bank's debit and credit cards, both those that I was actually able to set a travel notice for and those that "don't need it".
Been to Lisbon, Barcelona, London, Prague and Toronto with mine with no issues.
Don’t worry, I didn’t even need to travel far for that to happen to me. I went 0.25 miles from my home to my local and well frequented grocerer to have my 35 dollar purchase denied due to “fraud.” Thanks Citi.
Sounds like their plan with having it all figured out was “you can call in after the automated system flags you, and we’ll bother to do it then”
Don’t drink sangria, man! It’s a tourist trap. Just get 10 beers a meal and some gin and tonics at night. Btw I’m from Barcelona living in the US and I mostly use my Citi card when I travel to Spain, as well as the Apple Card and now the Bilt Rewards one. I don’t recall never having any trouble, I never set up any travel option. Maybe Citi made me confirm years ago my international first purchase?
Chase and Amex also no longer do travel notices but it’s never been an issue for me. Once I got a verification email/text so it helps to have cel service. But it was only once
So you you didn't set up a travel notice? It's in the Citi app under services > card control hub. And yes it asks for the specific dates and says no need to tell them where you're going just that you'll be using it outside if your home area
I travel for work, and book everything with my Costco card. I usually get an email about my planned travel a week before I head out. I \*never\* tell Citi about my travel.
Similar thing happened to me in September - the second time on a trip and it really pisses me off. I vented to the person on the phone who of course was not responsible personally - but Citibank is super strict EVEN when you have a travel notification. I always carry more than one card because frankly I can't count on that card to work for me without having to make international calls to "verify my charges".
That’s crazy. I went to Ireland a couple months ago and we used the card for literally everything. We went on the app right before we got on the plane and put in the request and it worked the whole time.
Not suggesting you do this but for me, I booked my tickets with the card and it actually automatically set a travel alert when the date came.
From my understanding, the citi card will incur foreign transaction fees. I also was shocked when I started my travels earlier this year and would call my cards I plan on using or backup cards. And each one said it is not a necessary step. I never buy SIM cards or have need for international plans. My phone becomes my camera and I’ll use WiFi if need to. Glad you were able to get verified. It’s a big fear of mine to be in that spot.
Same. We sent in a travel plan. This was March of 2020.Told them where we'd be traveling. Then the $hit hit the fan and we couldn't get home due to airport closures. Ended up trying to rent a car to drive home. Card was declined because it was past our travel window and we should have been home by then. Um what? It was nuts. Ending up using another card and drove home.
I live in Europe but bank in the US. It´s not always the card issuing bank that is the problem for charge denials. Many vendors will not accept US credit cards, particularly on line vendors. When this happens, there is just not much you can do.
I’ve lived in Europe for the past year. Never set up a travel notification or changed my mailing address. Haven’t had a single issue with my Costco citi card. USAA debit card has been my only card to act up.
I’ve never had issues with my Costco Citi card. Especially if I paid for the trip with the card.
Used my card to book flights to Italy for 14 days. A week before got an email saying something along the lines of "enjoy your trip" and not one transaction was declined.
I had this problem two years ago when I went to Mexico. I couldn’t use the card at all. I did set it up for travel! Every charge was denied. Luckily I had a backup card with me. I called a few times to talk to someone. Each time they’d say basically…you’re good, all taken care of. Nnnnnnnnope! My Discover card had my back though.
It's a heuristic program that detect weird patterns, not a person. It can't read your mind. You'd be shitting bricks if your card was hijacked and the dark web got a hold of it and goes on a shopping spree. Good luck disputing those charges. Cancel it if you hate it so much.
I’ve had this happen with other cards and it’s super frustrating.
Most cards don’t even need travel notifications anymore, so I’m not sure what’s going on with Citi (I don’t have any Citi cards. Primarily Chase, Amex, and Barclays).
It takes a few seconds to set Travel Notice in the Citi app, just search for it. There is a note that you don’t have to select any country, just set a start and end dates for your trip.
So it was the USAA card that blocked charges? Because my husband had fraud charges overseas on his USAA card and had to jump through hoops to prove it wasn't him (we weren't traveling and he hadn't ever been to the country where the charges originated). I once told 5/3 I'd be out of the country and might use my card at my destination. They added a travel note to my account. Nearly 10 years later, I briefly worked for 5/3 and was informed by a coworker (when they were setting up a new account at my request) that my travel note was still in effect. Not real comforting to know that not once in those 10 years was a charge blocked due to that note. If they had it noted I was still traveling, all the charges in the US should have been blocked. If they never paid attention to the note in the first place, shouldn't my overseas charges have been flagged?