I hear this a lot but have never been denied.

Thanks for all your help. I'm off on the 16th for a couple of weeks.

I did that .. and they cancelled my card after i had put a couple of transactions on it - they thought I was travelling to the Ukraine!! ... the identifier for the UK is actually GB - I'll try that next time (but still no guarantee it will work )

Gah, that's nuts. I usually tell them "England" or "Scotland", etc. Once when I referred to "The UK", I got the question, "Does that also include Canada or Australia?".

They can do this very quickly though. When I went to Germany recently, I was actually in the German bank with my card in an ATM when I realized I had better not complete the transaction because I had forgotten to notify my bank and the ATM was likely to eat my card. Fortunately I have international calling on my work cell and I was able to cancel the ATM transaction, call my bank, and get them to put a quick travel note on the card. Didn't take two minutes. If the bank itself is not open because of the time difference, you should call the fraud line instead; they can do the travel note too.

I usually call the issuers and let them know intended dates and destinations. Never had a problem. Also all my credit cards have PIN numbers assigned, but rarely am I asked to enter them. On most occasions is the old swipe and sign method. Transaction goes thru once card is swiped. The puzzled vendor mumbles something about the system not having asked for the PIN, and then handles me the receipt for signature.
What gets me is the 3% fee on foreign transaction. Some issuers dropped it. Others still keep it. I guess the rationale is “as long as people are willing to pay it, why do away with it”.

Funnily enough, I have two Chase credit cards. One is a British Airways card, the other is a United card (both obtained for frequent flier miles). The BA card doesn't have a foreign transaction fee, the United card does...!
I know that the terms are different on both but I still found it a little surprising.

I just let the credit card companies know where I'll be traveling and the dates that I'll be away. American Express always asks if I'll be making any large purchases or approximately what I think I'll be spending.

How widely accepted in the UK is the American Express? I have a gold card and a regular Visa card but would prefer to use the AE to earn points.

I would say maybe 75%. Nearly all bigger stores/places will accept it, it's smaller retailers that may not. I have used my AMEX whenever possible like you to earn points.

Thanks, can i ask if you use AMEX to book your flight? Last time i booked a flight in USD using my American Visa i got charged a foreign transaction fee Its was about $70 or so. I had never been charged that before.
When i called to find out why the bank told me that in 2007 VISA changed the rules. If the company is based outside the US (in this case British Airways) then you have to pay the fee to convert to GBP.
The only way to get around this was to get the British Airways Visa card with the annual fee

I wondering if I book with my AMEX gold card if they will charge a similar fee. I know they offer some useful travel benefits if you book the flight using the card.