If you will be traveling, make sure your planning includes a financial things to do pre-vacation checklist.
Avoid nasty surprises and keep your vacation, or even weekend getaway, from being ruined by making a financial things to do pre-vacation checklist.
My story
Years ago, shortly after high school, Isaac decided to join a group of work friends on a weekend trip to New York City.
As a mom, I didn’t love the idea. As a young adult, Isaac was determined to go.
The best I could do was make sure he was prepared.
I made sure his wallet had a small amount of cash, a debit card and a brand new, low limit credit card.
Isaac left for New York with me feeling confident the financial bases had been covered.
It turned into a trip that still makes me shudder.
Long story short. Although the credit card had been paid off, the payment hadn’t posted to his account and those funds remained unavailable.
Because he used it in New York City, his debit card was automatically shut down when he ran it as a credit instead of debit. The bank assumed fraud.
The debit card was from a local bank and couldn’t be reactivated until the bank opened on Monday.
Isaac spent his time in New York City completely dependent on friends to pay his way.
While the situation was difficult, if Isaac had been traveling alone, it could have been catastrophic
Note: This was before the wide availability of money apps that makes transferring funds to others easy and convenient.
The situation was a rude wake-up call.
Now, my prevacation planning includes both a vacation packing checklist and a financial things to do checklist.
Here are the basic things to include on a pre-vacation financial things to do checklist.
Make sure you have access to enough funds for the entire trip.
Carry an adequate amount of cash.
Plastic is convenient and the world is moving to cashless.
However, if your plastic is lost or stolen, or the world goes crazy and plastic isn’t working, you will need cash.
Take small bills. If you only need a couple of dollars, you don’t want to flash around a roll of twenties!
Keep a very small amount in your wallet and zip the rest in a pocket in your purse or backpack.
If possible, use a credit card and not a debit card.
A credit card can be replaced while you dispute the charges.
While going through the dispute process for a debit card, the funds will remain missing.
Keep a minimal amount of money in your checking or savings account if you are using a debit card. Transfer more in as needed.
A Visa or Mastercard gift card is a good alternative if you don’t have a credit card and don’t want to use a debit card.
Have a backup credit card.
In the event your primary card goes missing, have a second card available.
There are more things you need on your checklist than just making sure you have access to enough funds for your trip.
Know your pin numbers.
Knowing your pin numbers allows you to get cash using either your debit card or credit card.
A pin number can be used to identify that you are the authorized user for the card.
Check your daily limits.
Some cards, especially debit cards, have a daily limit. Know what it is.
Your transaction will be denied when you are checking into your hotel if the amount is over the daily limit.
This just happened to someone with whom I was traveling.
Confirm the balance on your credit card.
Don’t do the math in your head and assume there’s plenty of available credit.
Log on, or call, and confirm.
Take a photo of, or write down, the critical information from each and every card you are taking with you.
Keep that information in a safe place where it can be accessed.
In the event your card is lost or stolen, having access to the information will make reporting so much easier.
Check with your bank and credit card issuer to see if a travel alert is necessary.
Not all banks require a credit alert.
Just remember the old adage, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
That small step would have saved our family a lot of agony.
Are you planning a vacation in the near future?
Avoid any nasty surprises by making your own financial things to do pre-vacation checklist!
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