Call before you travel has become the norm and it's necessary. You can rail against it all you want, but that's simply the way it is. I travel with two Citi cards and an AMEX. I always call them both before I leave, with my itinerary and contact numbers and by doing so I haven't had any problems. It probably takes me 5 minutes to make both calls. A small investment of time to avoid having my cards shut down on me. Remember -- the card companies have algos that scan millions of transactions daily looking for unusual activity. Don't take it personally.
uh, that might be your experience but that doesn't make it a norm ...
I've gone on countless trips to Europe plus one each to SA and Asia. only time I had a CC problem was real fraud perpetrated in the UK
before I even got there. my CITI cards don't get put on hold just because I show up making charges on a different continent.
I suggest you check around before making blanket statements.