The GPS maps for Europe I bought for $110 turned out to be a good investment. My vacation would have been much more stressful without the GPS.

As far as money is concerned, things worked out OK. They accepted my World MasterCard for rental car insurance. That saved me about $300. There are a few stories and observations I’d like to share over the next few days. The first story is $27 for a 1-minute phone call.

After I finished the paperwork for getting my rental car, I headed to the ATM machine to get cash. To my chagrin, it didn’t work. After I entered my PIN and the desired amount, the machine just spit out my card with a message saying “this transaction cannot be completed.” I tried five or six times with different amounts, but the results were the same. I tried it at a different ATM. Still the same thing, although the two ATMs were from the same bank (Bank of Ireland).

My immediate reaction was that my card declined the withdrawal because I was doing it from an international location. Before I left, I called them to let them know my travel plans. Maybe they didn’t record it correctly. No problem, I thought. There’s a phone number on the back of my card which I can call collect from outside of US.

I called collect to that number, but the automated system said it couldn’t complete the call. I tried to get an operator to help me place the collect call, and the operator told me he couldn’t do it either.

I panicked. Not having access to cash would make it really difficult for my vacation. I also wasn’t thinking clearly because of the jet lag. It was 2:00 a.m. in my time zone. It had been 22 hours since I got up. I only had off-and-on naps on the plane.

I decided to call that number on the back of my ATM card straight, with my credit card. I got a recording, which gave me a different number for lost and stolen cards, and a message saying customer service is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern Time. A few days later I found out that 1-minute phone call cost me $27.

In the grand scheme of things, $27 isn’t a large amount. When you are traveling in a different country, you end up paying a lot more than the locals do. You don’t have time and resources to shop for good deals. The foods in tourist places are both bad and overpriced. I could’ve easily saved $27 elsewhere during my vacation.

But still, $27 for a 1-minute phone call is excessive, don’t you think? I will dispute it with my credit card company because the rate was never quoted to me, nor accepted. I don’t expect to win though. I don’t think the credit card companies are on the cardholders’ side.

The company that ripped me off is BBG Communications. The name that appeared on my credit card as a pending authorization was originally BBG Luxembourg. It’s a global company that prays on tourists from payphones, airports and hotels worldwide. Ripping off people is BBG’s business model:

• Rip Off Report #186806
• numerous reports on Complaints Board
• just Google the company’s name

Remember that name and stay away! Class action plaintiff attorneys should sue this company out of business. [Update on October 22, 2009: I was contacted by a class action attorney who is investigating BBG. If you would like to contact the attorney or to be contacted, please use my contact form and give me your e-mail address. I will forward the attorney's contact info to you.]

If I wasn’t sleep deprived, there were a number of things I could’ve done in that situation. I could’ve tried to find an ATM machine from a different bank. When I did that a few hours later at a different location using a machine from Allied Irish Bank, my ATM card just worked. I could’ve tried using the debit function for a purchase at the airport, just to see if the card blocked international transactions. I could’ve tried withdrawing cash using my credit card. A 3% cash advance fee plus interest for 10 days is still a lot less than $27. I could’ve looked for a calling card for 5 or 10 Euros for my call.

There are also a number of things I could’ve done before I left the U.S. which would prevent me from getting into the panic situation in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Lessons learned from my cash woes:

1. Never, ever make a call with your credit card, both in and outside of U.S.

2. Before leaving the U.S., call the toll number on the back of the cards you plan to use and ask about their hours of operations. This will also confirm that the number hasn’t changed.

3. Have a backup for getting cash. It can be a second checking account with extra money in it. Or it can be Traveler’s Cheques. Many banks and credit unions sell Traveler’s Cheques without a fee. AAA also sells them without a fee if you are a member. Unused Traveler’s Cheques can be deposited back to a checking account like any other checks.

4. Get a calling card that works from outside of U.S. Many calling cards that work in the U.S. also work from outside of U.S. You just need to know the access number in the country you are traveling to.

For example, I use OneSuite for long distance calls in the U.S. OneSuite has international access numbers in 25 countries. Ireland happens to be one of them. Their rate isn’t the lowest but it isn’t outrageous either. Had I known the OneSuite access number, my 1-minute phone call from Ireland would be $0.51, not $27.

The Verizon/MCI calling card sold at Costco also has international access numbers from 138 countries. Because the minutes never expire on the Verizon/MCI card and it works from practically anywhere in the world, that makes it a good all-purpose emergency calling card. Had I known the Verizon access number, it would be $0.25 a minute, not $27.

I learned these lessons the hard way so you don’t have to. Live, learn, and share. That’s the purpose of this blog.

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1. Liability vs. Theft, Collision and Damages. On any auto insurance policy in the U.S., the coverage for liability and the coverage for the car are separate. If you have an older car, you may not have coverage for the car itself, but you should have coverage for liability, i.e. damage you cause to others. This liability coverage may or may not follow you worldwide. You have to call your auto insurance company to find out. If you are covered, there is usually no deductible on liability coverage. Theft is covered under comprehensive while damage caused by a collision is covered under collision. There are separate deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage. Your collision and comprehensive coverage from your auto policy also may not follow you worldwide. I called my insurance company. They told me I will be covered for liability worldwide but I won’t have collision or comprehensive coverage outside of U.S. and Canada.

2. Primary Rental Car Insurance. Your own auto insurance usually covers you when you rent a car, at least in the U.S. If you don’t want to use your own auto insurance (and subject yourself to premium increases in case you file a claim), you can buy primary rental car insurance. I found two places that sell primary rental car insurance:

[1] Must enroll an American Express card

I don’t find primary rental car insurance that useful. I am exposed to the risk of having an auto accident every day when I drive my own car. That risk is covered by my own insurance. I don’t see why all of a sudden I want to pay extra to protect my own insurance only when I rent a car. If you want primary rental car insurance though, I think the American Express product is a better deal.

3. Secondary Rental Car Insurance. Many credit cards provide free rental car insurance. This insurance only covers theft, collision and damages. It does not cover liability. Usually it’s also secondary, which means your own auto insurance must pay first. In effect, the credit card’s rental car insurance only pays your deductible. If you don’t have collision or comprehensive coverage on your own auto insurance policy, then the credit card’s insurance becomes primary.

The coverage from Visa and MasterCard are better than that from American Express because Visa and MasterCard also cover loss of use.

4. Ireland. If you are still with me, you notice Ireland is one of the excluded countries in all these insurance options, and I happen to be going to Ireland! I don’t know what the deal is with Ireland. Theoretically AmEx, Visa, and MasterCard cover me if I rent a car in Iraq but they won’t cover me in Ireland. Isn’t that crazy? The rental car companies in Ireland offer Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) for about 15 Euros per day, and it comes with a deductible of 1,500 Euros or so. 1 Euro is worth about $1.50 now. If I pay another 10 Euros per day for a so-called "Super CDW," they will lower the deductible to 100 Euros. $25 Euros per day for insurance is more than the cost for renting the car itself!

Fortunately I found a way to avoid being fleeced. The rental car insurance offered by a regular ("Platinum") MasterCard excludes Ireland. The insurance from a World MasterCard (except those issued by Citibank) includes Ireland. Needless to say I upgraded my MasterCard to a World MasterCard. Whew!

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Exchanging money. The best way to get the local currency is still using the ATM card, as long as you don’t pay a foreign ATM surcharge. Banks and money exchange services post two rates — a "buy" rate and a "sell" rate. The lower "buy" rate is used when you exchange US dollars into the local currency. The "sell" rate is used when you exchange the local currency back to US dollars. My Fidelity mySmart Cash account does not have any surcharge for using the ATM card overseas. Visa charges 1% extra on top its wholesale exchange rate, which is better than the retail rates posted by the bank branches. The all-in exchange rate I received from using the ATM card was close to the "sell" rate posted at local banks and money exchange counters. If I exchanged my US dollar bills at a bank, I would get the "buy" rate which is 2-3% less.

I charged a hotel bill to my American Express card. American Express charges 2% for foreign transactions. But because American Express also gives me a rebate for using its card, it evens out to a wash between the exchange rate surcharge and the rebate.

Crazy prices for convenience. Although I was in a developing country, I wouldn’t know it if I just looked at the prices. Hotels know it well. They’ve got you on their premise and you don’t have many choices. If you want convenience, you’ll have to pay dearly. $4 for a small bottle of water in their restaurant. $25 per person for a breakfast buffet. $1 a minute for *local* calls. $25 a day for Internet access in your room. $10 per day per person for using their gym. All these services are optional. The prices are disclosed up front. If you don’t like the prices, you don’t have to eat there or use their Internet access or gym. But it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They may call you guests but they really see you as trapped profit generating subjects. What are you supposed to do? Bob Sullivan in his book Gotcha Capitalism suggested that before you make a reservation, you should call the hotels you are interested in and ask about their prices for the services you will likely use, such as parking, Internet access, fitness gym, breakfast, etc. You then add up all the prices and compare the bottom line between hotels. It’s too bad you have to go the extra mile like that.

Taxes included in prices. I really like how other countries show the prices. The sales taxes are included in the price on the tag. What you see is what you pay. There is no surprise. The United States and Canada are the only two countries I know that add extra sales tax at checkout. If the sales tax is mandatory, why not include it on the price tag, like the way gas prices are displayed at the gas stations?

No evidence of consumers clamming up. I read and heard in the news media about American consumers being hit hard by foreclosures and high food and gas prices, but I didn’t see any evidence of their clamming up from my casual observations. Most of the tourists at the place I went came from the U.S. The flights were full. I saw many happy middle class American families at the airport, in the hotel lobby and pools, at restaurants, on the streets wandering about, and at tourist attractions. Perhaps there are fewer tourists than before, but there are still more than plenty. Don’t believe the doom and gloom. American consumers are still kicking alive and well.

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