Using USA Credit Card/Tarjeta in BA and Mendoza

[Steve K]

Hello folks,

I will be in Buenos Aires for 2 weeks and Mendoza for 6 weeks starting in October. I have a Charles Schwab debit/ATM card for getting what cash the ATMs are allowed to give and will get the exorbitant fees reimbursed.

I generally use a Capital One Master Card with no foreign transaction fees for dining, lodging, transportation, and everyday shopping. But of late their AI (artificial intelligence) fraud program has been shutting the card down frequently for whatever reason. Since I cannot trust it to work every time, I need a backup card.

The Chase Sapphire is highly rated for travelers because of the rewards program, but VERY poorly rated for customer service. I am thinking I need a Visa Card rather than Amex or Discover, and was wondering if you had any recommendations of ones to get (or ones to avoid).

 

[Ceviche]

you wil be fine with the 3 options, you described above.

 

[Steve K]

Was wondering if any of you have a particular no-foreign-transaction-fee Visa card that you like.

 

[sts7049]

i have a sapphire reserve and have had no issues at all using it in Argentina. never had problems with fraud alerts.

did you do the online notification to tell them you would be traveling? that should help

 

[elhombresinnombre]

OP: Have they introduced two-factor authorisation in your (American) neck of the woods yet? My (British carrier) mobile phone will receive SMS anywhere in the world and an authorisation sent to my mobile will clear a transaction without problem. One of my UK banks is a little bit clever and, provided I make a transaction with the card at the UK airport on my way out or even just check my balance in a card machine there, they expect foreign transactions to take place and hardly bother me at all.

 

[Preston]

Amazon Prime (Visa) Credit Card - No international fees

 

[Steve K]

Cap1 has been denying my first purchase (usually fuel) almost every time I cross a state line in the USA. Most times they send a text and ask it it's legit, and then re-enable the card when I reply that it is. Then 2 weeks ago they did that and still did not turn it back on, so I used my Discover card and called Cap1 while the fuel was pumping. This time they wanted a 2 factor, and they sent me a text and I read the code to the rep on the phone. Really annoying.

Then yesterday they shut down an online transaction (vendor in Germany) and required me to accept a text with a link to an app where I had to scan my physical Driver's License both front and back. That was the last straw for me.

They used to have an online system where you could tell them where and when you were traveling, but they took that down when they introduced the chip cards. Only 2-factor they have is for accessing their website. It's absurd that a card that's marketed as a traveler's card is controlled by a fraud AI that assumes pretty much all travel is fraud.

It is possible that the runaround will only occur the first time I enter Argentina, and the first charge when we move to Mendoza. @elhombresinnombre the idea to make a small purchase in the airport each time and deal with it all there is a really good one.

Too bad Discover is not accepted much in Argentina. The card, cashback rewards, and service are all wonderful.

I will look again at Chase Sapphire, and Amazon Prime. And any others that you folks have found to be useful.

 

[sts7049]

for what it's worth, i have not needed much in the way of customer service for the chase card i have...but the couple times i have called them i've never had any issues.