Have credit card, will travel

[oz_mark]

Have credit card, will travel - Tips - Travel - theage.com.au

An irate Australian woman paces up and down on the footpath near a Bangkok ATM.

Her friends have strolled to a nearby shopping mall but she's stuck where she is.

With only five days in Thailand, she's wasting one entire morning as she waits impatiently for the men who open and restock the cash-dispensing machine. She's been told at a shop with a clear view of the free-standing ATM that the bank crew usually arrives just before lunch.

The problem: she wanted cash but the machine ate her card.

Her piece of plastic is removed from inside the ATM but the cash delivery men refuse to return it to her unless she produces photographic identification. Fortunately, she has a photocopy of her passport's information pages with her.

The moral of this tale? Don't use a free-standing ATM. Head instead for one at a bank - and use it during banking hours. If your card is wrongfully retained you're able to retrieve it from the staff.

 

[JohnK]

What about weekends when most banks in Thailand do not open? Don't trust that a delivery man will always hand your card back regardless of whether you can verify your identity or not. I have heard enough stories of people losing their card in the ATM, and bank staff cut the card to pieces, and then trying to get a replacement card urgently.

I rely on having cash in A$ and the cards are there only for backup/emergency when I have run out of baht and the exchanges are closed for the night.

 

[thegurio]

Admittedly not in Thailand but in Florence a reputable bank ATM ate my card even though it was fine in all the other ones that we had used for the previous 3 weeks. Long story short was that we went in and after telling them everything including the colour of my underpants they werent happy giving my card back to me. Having said that in a country where you dont speak the language it is kinda worrying what will happen to your card.

 

[Mal]

Huh? What a stupid, stupid woman. One source of funds overseas?

International travel is about multiple credit cards or sources of funds if one or more get stolen, denied or you forget your wallet.

 

[Evan]

I have had cards eaten... for no apparent reason, thankfully i have always taken atleast 2 different providers of credit + seperate savings account.

I guess she wont do it again.

E

 

[NM]

In Switzerland I inserted my Comm Bank mastercard into an ATM and a few seconds later the ATM rebooted itself. That was the last I ever saw of that card. It was 10pm on a Saturday evening and I was leaving the city the following morning. All I could do was call Comm Bank back in Australia and have the card cancelled and a new card issued upon my return to Australia.

Of course I had multiple sources of both ATM cash withdrawals and credit processing, so the loss of one card was not going to affect my ability to continue my trip.

 

[Maca44]

In 2005 I was at the Hong Kong 7's rugby, and at 1.30am whilst socially excited (not intoxicated) tried several times to obtain a cash advance with my AMEX card before the machine took it. Then realised the next morning when not socially excited that I was trying to get funds using a six digit PIN whereas Amex is a 4 digit pin. Didn't get the card back, but Amex in HKG were great and gave me a cash advance of $500 with appropriate ID.

 

[albatross710]

As well as multipe sources of funds...also worth having them in multiple places...ie one card in the wallet, cash in the trouser pocket and perhaps a backup card in the hotel room safe.

If something does get stolen you don't lose the lot.

 

[pauly7]

As well as multipe sources of funds...also worth having them in multiple places...ie one card in the wallet, cash in the trouser pocket and perhaps a backup card in the hotel room safe.

If something does get stolen you don't lose the lot.

Thats how I operate, multiple cards in multiple places plus phone numbers (int access ones) of all my banks. Amex are especially good with trouble overseas.