Keeping Your Money and Credit Cards Secure While Traveling

Traveling should be about adventure, not anxiety. Yet money and credit cards are some of the most common targets for theft and scams on the road. We’ve learned over years of family trips, hiking adventures, and road travel across the Southwest and beyond that a few simple habits can go a long way in protecting your finances. With the right prep, you’ll spend more time soaking in the views and less time calling your bank from halfway around the world.

TL;DR:

Keep your money safe while traveling by preparing before you leave, carrying cash and cards in secure ways, using ATMs wisely, protecting your digital accounts, and having an emergency backup plan. Simple steps like notifying your bank, splitting up funds, using RFID wallets, avoiding shady ATMs, and enabling card alerts can save you from headaches and scams so you can focus on the adventure.

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Before You Go: Set Yourself Up for Success

• Notify your bank and card issuers. Letting them know your travel dates helps prevent your card from being frozen when you’re halfway through paying for dinner in Madrid or gas in Montana. We learned this the hard way on a road trip when our card was declined at a lonely gas station — lesson learned: always set a travel notice.
• Set up automatic payments. Nothing ruins a vacation vibe like realizing your credit card bill is overdue while you’re camping in the desert with no service. We now schedule payments before every trip, so bills take care of themselves while we’re away.
• Choose travel-friendly cards. Pick at least one with no foreign transaction fees and fraud protection. Carry cards from different networks (Visa, MasterCard, AmEx) in case one isn’t accepted. Our go-to is a card with built-in travel alerts and purchase notifications, which give us peace of mind every time a charge goes through. If you’re also trying to reduce your environmental footprint while you travel, check out our eco-friendly travel tips.
• Make copies of important documents. We keep photocopies of passports, cards, and emergency contacts at home with family and store digital versions in a secure (We use proton drive but any will work). It’s a backup we hope to never need, but it’s comforting to know it’s there.

Carrying Cash and Cards Safely

• Don’t carry it all at once. We split cash and cards between us, plus stash a little in our luggage. That way if one wallet disappears, we’re not stranded.
• Use secure accessories. In crowded cities, we prefer crossbody bags that zip, or a slim money belt for transit days. On hikes or in the backcountry, a small hidden pouch clipped inside a pack keeps essentials safe without weighing us down.
• RFID protection. Skimming is rare but possible, so we upgraded to an RFID-blocking wallet a few years ago. It’s slim, tough, and has survived dozens of trips.
• Decoy wallets. A seasoned traveler once shared this trick with us, and we’ve used it abroad: carry an old wallet with a few expired cards and small bills. If you’re ever targeted, you can hand it over while keeping your real stash hidden. Luckily, we’ve never had to use ours — but we pack one anyway.
• Hotel safes. When we’re staying in hotels, we leave backup cards locked in the safe. For even more tips on keeping your room secure and your belongings safe, check out our guide on hotel security. For camping, we hide extras in the glove box with a lockbox.

Using ATMs and Handling Cash

ATMs are convenient, but they’re also a prime spot for theft and fraud. Over the years, we’ve picked up some habits that keep our withdrawals safe and stress-free:

• Stick to machines inside banks, hotels, or airports. These are less likely to be tampered with and usually have cameras or security nearby. We avoid stand-alone machines on dark streets or outside convenience stores — they’re easier targets for criminals to install skimmers.
• Cover the keypad and check for skimmers. Before inserting a card, we give the machine a quick inspection. Tug on the card slot to see if anything looks loose, and cover the keypad with your hand when entering your PIN. More than once while using ATM’s in sketchy areas, we have noticed a card reader that looked odd and chose a different machine — better safe than sorry.
• Withdraw smaller amounts more often. Carrying hundreds in cash might feel efficient, but it also makes you a bigger target. We prefer to withdraw what we’ll realistically spend that day. This way, even if something happens, the loss is limited. Plus, smaller withdrawals spread out fees, and with the right travel card, many of those fees can be minimized or reimbursed.
• Skip the airport currency exchange booths. On a trip to Mexico, we made that mistake at the Cancún airport and ended up with a terrible rate compared to the ATM we used later in town. Since then, we’ve stuck to ATMs for far better conversion.

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Staying Digitally Secure

Digital theft is just as real as pickpockets. Here’s what we do:

• Use mobile payments (like Apple Pay or Google Pay) when accepted. They’re more secure than swiping a card.
• Turn on transaction alerts. Getting a notification every time a purchase posts has helped us catch fraud attempts in real time.
• Avoid public Wi-Fi. We once logged onto a hotel’s “free Wi-Fi” in Mexico only to realize it wasn’t the hotel’s at all. Now we tether to our phones or use a VPN before opening any banking apps.
• Stick with EMV chip cards. They’re harder to copy than old magnetic stripes. Most of our cards are chip-only, which adds another layer of safety.

Watch Out for Local Scams

Every destination has its tricks. We’ve run into fake taxi meters, “friendly helpers” at ATMs, and even bogus ticket sellers. A little research before you go can save a lot of stress. We also follow a simple rule: if someone approaches us about money, we politely decline and keep walking.

Bonus Tip: Look for videos on popular scams, like the one below, wherever you’re headed so you know what to look out for.

Have an Emergency Backup Plan

Even the best prep can’t prevent every mishap. Build a backup plan:

• Keep copies of documents. Paper and digital, stored separately.
• Know who can help. We always let one family member back home know our itinerary and give them copies of our cards. They’re our “just in case” contact if something happens.
• Travel insurance. For bigger trips, especially abroad, we get coverage that includes lost or stolen property. It’s never fun to file a claim, but it beats losing thousands.

On one family trip, a friend of ours had their wallet stolen in Barcelona. Because they had a backup card in the hotel safe and their spouse carried a separate stash of cash, they weren’t completely stranded. That story stuck with us, and now we always double up our safety measures.

Final Thoughts

Keeping your money safe while traveling doesn’t have to feel complicated. A few good habits — splitting up cash, carrying the right gear, using alerts, and preparing backups — can make the difference between a small hiccup and a trip-ruining disaster.

Travel is meant to be fun, freeing, and full of discovery. Protect your finances, and you’ll have the confidence to focus on the adventure itself.

Have any tried-and-true tips of your own? Share them in the comments — we’d love to learn from your experience. And don’t forget to follow Adventureite on social media for more travel tips and inspiration.

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By Summer and Bill

Summer and Bill are the dynamic duo behind Adventureite.com, a blog dedicated to inspiring others to explore the great outdoors. With a combined lifetime of experience traveling and adventuring across America, they have a wealth of knowledge to share. From hiking to camping, kayaking to travel, Summer and Bill are passionate about helping others discover the beauty of the natural world.