Threat level for Moms? off the charts!!.... Caroline called last night from Dulles Airport had just gone through security and was at the Air France terminal..said that alot of her friends had informed their banks they would be out of the country. She asked us to call the bank in the morning..no problem. We wished her well, she sounded great, happy and already having a good time. Had to arrive at airport early because she took a shuttle in from Sharons but a couple of friends planes had just landed so she had people to go eat and hang out with. The singers were flying out in 4 groups. Carolines group was flying out the latest. 10:30 pm to Paris. They were going to have a layover there so a shuttle was taking them into the city for a few hours. All sounds good right. So I went to bed knowing my daughter was either in the air or later walking the streets of one of her favorite cities.
8:25 AM phone rings..Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, its Andrea saying that fraud protection has turned off Carolines debit card!!! She apparently used it in Paris when she landed, that was probably around 3or 4am Our time, probably got some cash and then set off the alarms. I mean I had barely accomplished anything and they had already turned off her bank card!! Andrea at the bank said I had to call some national fraud number and hope that they would accept my story as I am not the card holder but I do have my name on her account. After a couple of tries, I didn't have the right numbers for the first operator. I got someone who just wanted to know where she would be and how long she would be gone and they would turn her card back to active. I feel that I can react to stress ok but
my stress level went from zero to 85 in .02 seconds this morning. Who needs coffee when you can get that kind of jolt from your bank!!
Moral of the story...DO NOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY without telling your bank! This is of course all very new. I used my debit card the last two times I went to Europe, as this is now the preferred way to get cash..your bank gives you what you want in the local currency or the Euro,
and converts and gives you the best rate for the dollar. I never had to tell my bank I was going!
Caroline is a pretty seasoned traveler..a gift we gave our children that we thought was pretty important, and I know if she had run into trouble she would have found a way to contact us to get it all straightened out...but as a Mom the thought of her getting a message from her ATM
that she was denied access to cash while in a foreign country on her own freaked me out!
So hopefully that is the only glitch in the travels of my diva daughter and I can now calm down to my not nearly as exciting life. Happy Trails.
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It's not just your bank you should inform. We had that happen with an American Express card while in Mexico. It is AMAZING how fast they will shut down access. It's like you have to ask permission to travel, for heaven's sake.
I like what you said about your kids being seasoned travelers. Ours are too - we didn't set out that way, but they are seriously veteran travelers and I've been pleasantly surprised by their know-how in various situations.
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