I am in South Africa on business; most places don't take American Express so I pulled out my Cabela's Black Card to pay for lunch today with a customer and was told my card was rejected.

Cabela's does this EVERYTIME I leave the country - they suspend my card for suspicious activity, even if I buy my ticket to the country in question with the same f$%^ing credit card!

Word to the wise: don't leave home with just this card unless you remember to call and tell them your location.

If you call them in advance they will let you use it in RSA but not Zim because they have it on some kind of banned list. Other Visa cards no problem, just call them and let them know. PITA.
I love my Amex, but not accepted widely in RSA or Zim. You can buy anything anywhere with Amex (if accepted) and you will never get a call from them. I called Amex once to tell them I would be in Africa and he said it was unnecessary, that Amex card users were expected to use the card all around the world. Cool.

I always contact my banks that I have my cards through & give them my travel dates & where I will be going.
Everything works fine after that.
I actually appreciate them watching for suspicious charges.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:
I always contact my banks that I have my cards through & give them my travel dates & where I will be going.
Everything works fine after that.
I actually appreciate them watching for suspicious charges.

+1

The only time I felt they went overboard was when I bought a $2,500 Spotting Scope over the phone from a store in N.Y.

I gave the numbers, the guy ran it, and Bam denied. I said, "No way". The guy said no big whoop, happens every time over a certain amount if you don't live in the area. One phone call, problem solved.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:
I always contact my banks that I have my cards through & give them my travel dates & where I will be going.
Everything works fine after that.
I actually appreciate them watching for suspicious charges.

I have told them several times I travel internationally and each time they tell me they will fix the problem. I shouldn't have to tell them I am traveling outside of the country, especially when the purchases are not that large.

If I were as unhappy with mine as you are with yours I'd drop them like a hot rock.

I love American Express and use it whenever I can.

Just call them before you leave the country. also, B of A has a visa card that has no foreign transaction fee

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
I am in South Africa on business; most places don't take American Express so I pulled out my Cabela's Black Card to pay for lunch today with a customer and was told my card was rejected.

Cabela's does this EVERYTIME I leave the country - they suspend my card for suspicious activity, even if I buy my ticket to the country in question with the same f$%^ing credit card!

Word to the wise: don't leave home with just this card unless you remember to call and tell them your location.

Very sad to hear this.

Our banks would call you immediately on your cell phone and ask what is going on.

I travel a lot, and never bother tell my bank about it.

We also have a system where any charge is immediately notified to me by SMS.

I have a Cabelas card and I call them a few weeks prior to traveling to Africa. They will activate it in South Africa for the duration of your trip.
I have done that three times and had zero issues.
I don't mind that they have fraud protection and become alarmed when a charge pops up in Africa un expectedly.

I travel internationally 6-8 times per year and I call my credit card companies before I leave with the dates and countries that I'll be in.

They won't assume that just because you travel a lot that there is not fraud if your card is used internationally. On the contrary, because you travel a lot there are a lot higher odds that someone overseas will fraudulently use your card.

I also have a Cabela's Black visa. I travel with my work and am away from home for month's at a time. My card gets denied on a regular basis when I leave home for work.

This last time it was denied at a hotel in Georgia. Called Cabela's and was told that since I was more than 100 miles from my home zip code that they view the transactions as potential fraud. I was advised to call before I left home and let them know and my card would not be denied.

Yes, it's a PITA. I don't mind to much, at least they are watching for fraud.

Thanks to this thread called Cabelas and informed them of my upcoming trip to RSA and Mocambique. This info has been added to my file so should not have a problem using it while traveling. Thanks.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member
R8 Blaser

I called in advance on my Cabelas Black and was told that RSA was good to go but not ZIM. I tried it in Zim anyways but was a no go. AMEX platinum was also a no go in Zim.

quote:

Cabela's does this EVERYTIME I leave the country - they suspend my card for suspicious activity, even if I buy my ticket to the country in question with the same f$%^ing credit card!

Capitol One is much better. I am glad I switched!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
I have a Cabelas card and I call them a few weeks prior to traveling to Africa. They will activate it in South Africa for the duration of your trip.
I have done that three times and had zero issues.
I don't mind that they have fraud protection and become alarmed when a charge pops up in Africa un expectedly.

Same here. I've used my Cabelas card in SA and Namibia with zero issues. They have great service in my book.

quote:

This last time it was denied at a hotel in Georgia. Called Cabela's and was told that since I was more than 100 miles from my home zip code that they view the transactions as potential fraud.

Sounds like the Cabela's card servicer is using very poor algorithms on its fraud detection system. The "buzzer" should ring when your card is used to attempt to rent a hotel room LESS than 100 miles from home.

The dollar amount of credit card fraud is astounding. It is exceeded only by the profit level of credit card companies. Guess who's paying for both?

While we are on credit cards.

Years ago - in the 70's - I was in England, and had an American Express card, worked great without any problems.

I move back to Dubai, and they automatically transferred me to their center in Cyprus and Bahrain.

I had no end of problems, to the extent that I just cut them and cancelled them.

Fast forward to a few years later, when I moved to Texas.

I got an AMEX card, and it worked great, without5 any problems at all. In fact, anytime I had any question they went the extra mile to help.

Went back to Dubai, and guess what?

They automatically transferred me to that pit of incompetent in Cyprus and Bahrain.

Sure enough, my troubles started - mainly accusing me of not paying my bills on time.

Which made no sense, as I had a standing order with my bank who pay it directly!.

I cut it up, and sent them a letter telling them where they can stick it!

I have some accounts that offer a choice of either Visa, MasterCard or AMEX.

I have always refused AMEX.

And I have no problems.

Just about all credit cards work only once if at all in a foreign country unless one calls to contact them.

I am leaving on a flight at 6PM today, still on my list of things to do is to call all CC companies.

i call both Amex and MC before i leave the country and give them a country/city itenarary. never a problem. if you don't bother to call, don't complain about security.

I used Cabelas the past couple of times to RSA and several times to other international destinations. Called them and my bank in advance and had no problems.

It's very irritating to me that credit card issuers justify this kind of aggravation as being for "our protection." Our downside loss is limited (to $50, last time I checked) if we timely report fraudulent use of a card. They're covering their own butts by declining cards when they suspect fraudulent activity. But they play it up like they're protecting us.

In any event, I agree that as long as you notify a credit card issuer that you plan to be out of the country during a certain time period, your cards should work just fine. I have a Cabela's Visa but have never used it overseas. I use an American Express card or my primary Chase Visa card (if I use any card at all) and notify them before I leave that I may be charging transactions while in Africa. I've never had an issue.

Having said that, I avoid using a credit card in Africa if I can. Cash is the only way to settle your bar tab in the Harare airport, in my opinion. If you use your credit card overseas, you better watch your statement carefully and immediately report any unauthorized or suspect activity on it. . . .

Saeed, funny you mention this, as I hav a AMEX from the USA and one from MEXICO....

Guess which one I never have any problems from, and which one I constantly have problems from..

It got so bad that I gave up my black amex from mexico, and traded it for a green one just so I wouldnt loose the hundreds of thousands of points that I had.

Now I only use my US AMEX and never have problems.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i call both Amex and MC before i leave the country and give them a country/city itenarary. never a problem. if you don't bother to call, don't complain about security.

I have told them time and again I travel frequently. They called my mobile, but it came through as "Unidentified." Left a message, but my iPhone doesn't show messages when I am overseas.

Simply shutting down your card because you charged something is not fraud protection. As for being "thankful" you are only liable for the first $50 if you report it in a timely manner. So this isn't saving me, it is saving them.

AMEX doesn't do it ever.

Cabelas apologized, set up to send me text messages next time, and gave me 2000 points.

I have both an AMEX and a Cabelas Visa card. I routinely notify them when traveling to Africa and haven't had any problems using them while there.

Last May my cousin and I hunted in Botswana. He only brought his Amex and every place he tried to use it he was advised that they didn't accept Amex cards. We used my Cabela's visa card with no problems.

Moral of the story - notify your cc company of your travel plans ahead of time and make sure you take more than one brand of cc with you.

i leave my Amex at home as i have found a lot of places overseas won't accept it. i have never found a place that won't take MC if they take cards at all.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i call both Amex and MC before i leave the country and give them a country/city itenarary. never a problem. if you don't bother to call, don't complain about security.

I have told them time and again I travel frequently. They called my mobile, but it came through as "Unidentified." Left a message, but my iPhone doesn't show messages when I am overseas.

Simply shutting down your card because you charged something is not fraud protection. As for being "thankful" you are only liable for the first $50 if you report it in a timely manner. So this isn't saving me, it is saving them.

AMEX doesn't do it ever.

Cabelas apologized, set up to send me text messages next time, and gave me 2000 points.

AZ -

I have traveled all over the USA using my Cabelas card. It has been turned off a few time while i am traveling, due to fraud protection. A call will usually reactivate the card. All they ask is that you let them know where you are going and the dates of your projected travel.

Now here is a story for you. 2 year ago i traveled from New Mexico to South Dakota to visit family and friends an do a little hunting. Went up one way to avoid the snow storms and came back another way to again drive around the snow storms. Up i swing east into Kansas and up the back country roads and back i went to Billings and came down the interstate. While making this journey, some one lifted my credit card and were having a blast in Washington state buying the store so to say. Ever since my account has been monitored closer. And you know what my card number has been lifted 4 times in one year. so i like the close attention i get. It is a pain when you forget to call to let them know where you are headed, sometimes yes. However with all the fraudulent activity going on they are being watchful.

As far as Africa go i have been able to use my Cabelas card in the UK, Netherlands, Tanzania, South Africa, with out issue. The State Department was the ones who denied using the card in Zimbabwe, i was aware of this prior to travel and made other arrangement to pay potential bills. However the airline was able to use my card to pull up my flight info and away we went. Other credit cards also did not work in Zimbabwe like Wells Fargo and Bank of America.