Emergency Cash in Europe without PIN

lisyloo

The card issuer is Halifax and no they said there was nothing what so ever at all they could do to assist me.

It's harsh, but they are not your bank, travel insurer or emergency assistance company.
I don't think they are obliged to provide any emergency assistance.

Probably a good idea to check what emergency assistance your bank or travel insurance would provide and make sure you take spare cards.
Any card can fail through no fault of your own so it's always worth having at least one back up. You can leave spares in the hotel safe so you don't have to carry around your worldy goods with you.

My travel insurance will advance me money in an emergency overseas.
I always carry the policy with me now (double-sided 2 per page) in hand luggage having had a hard time trying to find out what my entitlements were on a Sunday.

Did you have travel insurance?
Did you have the meregency number or any policy details with you?

dotdash79

reclusive46 wrote: »

Agreed with the cheques. Their only ok if there is an Amex travel agency near where you are and even then I don't bother as Amex customers can write a sterling cheque and they will give you the foreign currencies.

Cheques are still useful if travelling in Japan not many places accept cards (or didn't when I went)

jrm

After logging an official compliant Halifax has admitted that the information they gave to me was totally incorrect. To say that they could not offer any assistance was also totally incorrect. They advise that I should have been advised that an emergency cash advance ( with Western Union ) could and should have been offered to me and the fact that this was not conveyed to me falls way short of their customer service. I am now in the process of talking to them about compensation.

jonesMUFCforever

I thought they offered the emergency cash option.

jrm

No, the only thing they mentioned was MasterCard, but they did not offer any information or help in that direction. When I told them I was stuck in Tenerife with no cash their attitude was simply " that's tough". Even when I asked the agent to check with her supervisor / manager the same reply came back. So in effect they could have arranged for a cash advance against my credit card, okay it might have been slightly expensive, but at least I would have had cash. They have admitted they got it totally wrong.

reclusive46

dotdash79 wrote: »

Cheques are still useful if travelling in Japan not many places accept cards (or didn't when I went)

True with Japan outside major tourist areas although when I was in Japan I often found I could use my Amex but no other card as Amex have an agreement with JCB (Japanese credit bureau) meaning Amex is accepted almost anywhere the local card network is, where as as Visa or MasterCard would get you some dirty looks lol