Keep Your Credit Cards Safe During Your Travels

Traveling brings with it many joys. It also brings a number of things that you’ll have to pay for. While one alternative is to always carry cash, it’s actually safer and often easier to simply use your credit card. You can use them everywhere from the restaurant to the hotel to the souvenir stand. However, credit cards are still easily stolen. Make sure that you follow certain guidelines to avoid losing your credit cards.

Put Your Credit Card Away Immediately

As soon as you get your credit card back, you need to make sure that you put it away. Often times, people let their credit cards sit out for awhile as they chat with friends and family. It’s rarely intentional. In most cases, the waiter or the clerk just took the card, brought it back, and then you just stand there and wrap up the conversation. You have lots to discuss with your travels. You should put it away, no matter whether you are in great restaurants in NYC or hotels Philly.

This moment in between the payment and the putting away is an ideal time for thieves and pickpockets to strike. Good ones will just walk by and make the card disappear without your even realizing what has happened until it’s too late. Good pickpockets know that a credit card is much easier to remove when it’s on the table rather than in your pocket.

Do Not Pull Your Wallet Out in Front of a Pan Handler

Sometimes in your travels, you will run into people who are in need of money. Not all of them are thieves. Some really are in a bad situation and need help. Unfortunately though, a number of pickpockets and thieves pretend to be betters. They wait until a good hearted traveler pulls out his wallet, and then they snatch it. If you are going to give money to someone, make sure that you back away at least a few steps and remove it carefully. Put your wallet away immediately after removing the money that you plan to give to the pan handler. Then give the money to him when the wallet is secured.

Carry Your Credit Cards in a Hidden or Inner Pocket

Often times, people carry their credit cards in an easy to reach location. After all, credit cards are all about convenience. The problem is that most of the time, pickpockets know these convenient locations. For men, the most common place is the back pocket. Women typically put their credit cards in purses that they carry loosely hung on their shoulders. Instead, regardless of whether you carry a purse, make sure that you put your credit cards in either a hidden or an inner pocket.

Do Not Leave Your Credit Card Behind

When you’re out sightseeing or enjoying dinner, make sure that you don’t leave your credit cards behind. Hotels are often targeted by thieves because a number of travelers leave behind personal belongings like cash and credit cards they don’t think that they’re going to need. In general, they will be safer in that hidden or inner pocket than they will be in the hotel room. 

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