DebzinUS

Thanks to all for comments and advice. I did not use at any store (Target/Home Depot). It's all a bit of a mystery really. I should have my new card tomorrow.

Pulaski

That is incorrect, or at least not true most of the time.

In my admittedly limited experience the banks I have used have issued replacements same day, arriving next day or the day after that. The last time it happened to me was with a Visa afffinity card issued by a small midwest bank, and it arrived on the second day. I think the only time I needed a replacement Wells Fargo card, it arrived overnight.

Obviously going overseas it might take longer, but I would expect that most banks would send it by express courrier, and certainly Amex boasts of that level of service.

scrubbedexpat091

Our bank isn't Amex, and I can't say what other banks do, I can say from my experience, travelling without cash is risky and I would never rely on a card during travels after the last trip and the fiasco, they said they are unable to send emergency replacement cards.

But service isn't their top priority, they don't even have a 24 hour customer service line.

I just had to get another replacement card as the chip stopped working, and it took 2 1/2 weeks to arrive via regular snail mail, and all the bank cards I have ever gotten came snail mail for replacement, they have never sent one overnight.

If in Canada debit/ATM card replacement is easy as a branch can issue a temporary card while you wait 2-3 weeks for the permanent card to arrive in the mail.

But if outside Canada, I am pretty sure I'd be up the creek, so now I just carry cash.

petitefrancaise

travelling with only one card is risky - always have a back-up one. My friend's daughter was robbed whilst in south america and everything was taken......thankfully she had insurance.

I would never, ever travel with lots of cash on me. That is just asking for trouble and tbh I'd rather have my card not working than be held up because someone realised I had plenty of cash around.

scrubbedexpat091

I am not too worried about being robbed in the US, pretty unlikely... In So. Africa, i'd be more wary of cash of course... All depends where you travel, we only travel to the US so low risk in my view.

If we had another card it wouldn't be an issue, but we just have 1 card, income is too low to get approved for more then 1 card, and in fact this was the only company who even approved us, so we had to take what we could get.

I just don't trust credit card company that issues our card after the fiasco and not being able to access any money before the flight to get breakfast and eat, pay for what needed to be paid at the airport, and just a total mess, so cash is king in my view.

Beaverstate

Are you old enough to remember this?

scrubbedexpat091

I don't remember that one specifically, but I do remember their other ads that were similar. Haven't seen one in years though, not since the late 90's early 00's when I was still working at an airline, none of the hotels I've worked at accepted them.

I wonder how widely accepted they are by merchants.

Pulaski

This, is, for me, the beginning, middle, and end of the argument.
Amex? Pretty widely, only some smaller businesses don't take Amex. I can't think off hand of any chain stores, hotels, or restaurants that don't take Amex, and I only recall once in recent years being told that I couldn't use my Amex card to pay in a restaurant.

scrubbedexpat091

Sorry, I was talking about the travlers checks not their cards.

Amex cards are hard to get approved for and our income is too low for one.

I know most here have large incomes and more then one Cc but low income folks have hard time getting any credit card and usually have a small limit as well so cash is king when traveling.

Most chains up here take amex Costco is the largest who doesn't.

Some hotels won't, my last one didn't but most will. The card.

petitefrancaise

pre-paid visa card for international use.

Visa TravelMoney | Visa USA

scrubbedexpat091

Can still be hacked or compromised and then frozen by card company.

I guess I am not paranoid about being robbed. I don't feel my chances of being robbed is any higher in the US then here at home or when I lived there.

We are not talking thousands in cash here. A few hundred at most.

Pulaski

As far as I know travellers checks are still big business in the Far East and Africa.

petitefrancaise

my point was that you don't need to be well off to get a second "just in case card". The chances of both cards being compromised are pretty slim.

Steerpike

Well ... cash is the easiest of all to steal in many circumstances - pick-pockets, etc - and when it's gone, it's gone. A mix of cash and cards is best I would say.

petitefrancaise

I've only ever been robbed once -in London on the underground and my purse was taken out of my handbag. I was peed off because the purse was an expensive one....anyway, the cash (not much) got taken and the purse thrown to the floor. Somebody picked it up and saw it had a Natwest bank card in it and handed it in to Natwest. Who contacted me and I got my lovely purse back. So, the only thing I lost was the cash.

In Manchester around Christmas time, I went into a payphone (before mobile phones were the norm) and found a wallet with £200 in it, no cards,nothing to identify the owner. I waited around the phone booth a bit and then found a policewoman and handed it over to her. I was upset for the person who had lost what was obviously their christmas spending money. Fast forward some time (?6 months) and I get a phone call from the police saying no-one has claimed the wallet and so could I come and collect it. Sad that the person who lost it never thought that someone would hand it in.

I wouldn't rely on just cash ever.