Traveling – Your Money and The Credit Union

Summertime and you are hitting the road.  Reservations are made, bags are packed, the neighbour is feeding the cat and watching the house – but have you taken steps to make sure your money is ready?

Step One – Make Some Calls
Call your financial institution and your credit card companies and let them know when you will be away and where you will be. Once they know where you are and what you expect to be doing they can use the information when they are monitoring your account.  But if you forget to call in advance – you can still do it from the road – the company 1-800 contact information is usually available on the back of the card or on their website. 

When you call make sure you ask about your spending limits – especially with your debit card.  Getting caught short on cash because you are over your limit is no fun at all, especially on vacation.

Step Two - Make Payments
If bills are due while you are away pay them early or use our Online Services to set-up post-dated payments.  Having to try to remember to pay the gas bill while you are away is also no fun at all, and can put you in a bad position when you get home  if for some reason you cannot access your accounts.

Step Three – Make Sure You’re Covered
While travel and travel health insurance do not protect your money directly – making sure you are adequately covered should something happen, means you won’t suffer unnecessary financial losses.  Before you hit the road make sure you understand what coverage you have with credit cards, employee plans and any personal insurance programs to which you belong.   If there are gaps in cancellation, purchase, medical and other travel insurances – close them before you go.  

Step Four – Pack Your Credit Union Debit Card
Planning on using your credit union debit card while you are on vacation this year?  Think that surcharges are just something you have to accept?  Think again! THE EXCHANGE® Network has hundreds of ATMs across Canada and the US.  And because you are a member – there are no additional surcharges when you use your credit union debit card in any Exchange Network ATM.    Take a few minutes before you leave and check out Exchange ATM locations in the places that you will be visiting.  Just go to the-exchange.ca and click on “Find an ATM” or go to mycreditunion.ca and click on ATM Locator or click here

So when you are making your packing list – add THE EXCHANGE® Network web address – after all wouldn’t you rather spend your vacation money then give it to a financial institution?

Step Five – Make a Back-up Plan
While credit and debit cards can free you from carrying cash while traveling they are not always available.  Systems go down; cards can be damaged, lost or stolen.  Make sure that you have more than one way to access funds.   But that being said, do not load up your wallet with cards or cash.  Take a debit card and no more than two credit cards (one for regular use and one for emergency backup).  Keep everything else locked up at home.   That will also help keep you on budget.  Keep only a small amount of local currency in your wallet at a time.  And as old-fashioned as they seem – it is wise to take travelers’ cheques with you.  They are widely accepted and are not subject to credit approval or system failures.  And unlike many cards they are easily replaced if lost or stolen while you are traveling.  If you do not use them you can save them for another trip, or deposit them back into your account when you get home.