Originally Posted by j2simpso

Hey FTers,

Whilst going to the gate to take an SQ flight to DPS earlier today I encountered several cases of DYKWYD (Do You Know What You're Doing?). In the first case, during the x-ray scan at the gate in SIN, there was a European in front of me who decided to bring along a 1.5L bottle of vodka (not in a "security bag" with receipt). Needless to say she was surprised when security confiscated it, saying, "I brought this from Poland," which begs the question how the heck did she manage to get that into the transit area of SIN?

The other DYKWYD case I witness today on the same flight, I was seated beside someone who called their bank (while waiting to board) and was angry that the only credit card he took with him for international travel got cancelled while he was en-route to his final destination. To me, this seems like an amateur error albeit from the sounds of things it looks like his financial institution were sitting on their hands giving him the run around.

Is it just me or is it crazy to travel internationally with just one credit card? The way I see it, you should expect that one (or more) of your credit cards won't work whilst travelling. I can understand the safety and security element of it (i.e. what if card gets lost/stolen), but if you're travelling exclusively with credit cards the only person's money who is lost is the bank (not yours!) Another thing I hear a lot on forums and elsewhere online is the idea that you should bring a debit card with you to withdraw cash. Can someone explain the rationale behind that? It seems to me that carrying a card that has access to all your assets seems irresponsible to put it modestly. Again, why not rely on using the credit card to withdraw cash (in fact my bank charges more if you dare to use a debit card to withdraw cash overseas versus a credit card!)? Sure you have to prepay your card by a little bit (to ensure you aren't assessed interest right away), but again reduces the liability.

Safe Travels,

James