“The other night, I got an email I’d never received before. Because I paid for a plane ticket with my American Express Gold Charge Card, AMEX took it upon themselves to let me know that they do NOT need to be notified when I travel.”
Should You Alert Credit Card Companies About Your Upcoming Trips?
The short answer which would seem to be completely logical is yes — you should alert credit card companies about your upcoming trips — as “years ago, I always forgot to let my credit card company know I’d be traveling, and sure enough, a few times that mistake created quite a hassle”, according to this article written by Shelli Stein for Travel With Grant…
…but interestingly, I had the opposite experience: for years I never alerted credit card companies of my travel plans in the near future; and I find recalling any consequences as a result of neglecting to do so to be extremely difficult to impossible.
However, I voluntarily started to alert credit card companies in recent years — just so that I can have peace of mind with the assurance that they are on alert in case any questionable activity appears on any of my accounts — and I have found the process to take only a few minutes, which is usually handled by a pleasant customer service representative.
Even Better Chance of Your Sensitive Information Being Compromised
I must once again refer to the recent widespread scandal which revealed that Equifax — which is a consumer credit reporting agency based in Atlanta — may have compromised the sensitive financial and personal information of as many as approximately 148 million people due to a careless breach of security which occurred last year…
…and you can now find out whether or not you were affected by that breach of security by clicking here.
By the way, have you heard anything about Equifax lately in the news? The scandal seems to have dropped off the face of the earth — but you can access updates as of March of 2018 for further details as to the latest information pertaining to this scandal.
Summary
The unfortunate conclusion from Bonnie Smyre — who is a specialist pertaining to Internet security with RAXIS — is that “We are a long way from truly secure credit cards.”
If your sensitive information has indeed been compromised, taking the proactive step of alerting the companies which issued your credit cards to future travel plans is a good idea. Investing that few minutes of your time to do so may also help protect you from scams — such as this one involving chips on credit cards — and other activities committed by nefarious individuals…
…and I give information on what you can do to protect yourself from identity theft and credit card fraud in general is also available; as well as advice on what to do if your sensitive data is breached — such as with someone who steals frequent guest loyalty program points from your account, as has happened to me when my Starwood Preferred Guest account was compromised.
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
