I have given my banks the "heads up" when traveling States side. They told me it won't help,, because your card could be stolen while in the States. In truth,,, I believe that the cancelations are automated and random,,, playing purely on stat's,,, and even that is a maybe. They did say that calling them for re-activation can take days, potentially. And, that the card may become functional as you move to a different region. So not much help there. I carry 2 or 3 cards, plus some cash as a backup. One or the other has always gotten me through. CAt'
To avoid a significant portion of the extra exchange rate that banks charge, I use my CC when in the US (and other countries) The CC I use has a "no international transaction fee" which saves me about 2.5% per transaction. There are about 5-6 cards in Canada that have this.
7 Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards 2025 - NerdWallet Canada
The majority of credit cards charge a 2.5% fee on every purchase you make abroad. Avoid it by choosing a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. A U.S. dollar credit card can also be handy if you make frequent U.S. purchases.www.nerdwallet.com
You need to work out the math. Some of them have a pretty hefty annual fee but if you do enough travelling it works out to your advantage if you use it enough and also use the "perks" that some offer. I end up out of the country quite a bit so it saves me. I also find that the actual exchange rate, charged by the CC, is a bit better than the bank so I do not carry much local cash with me to avoid the high exchange fees of banks.
I tried the US bank account/CC thing but the cost of maintaining/using the accounts was not worth it.
I also carry multiple CC's when travelling just in case one gets shut down but so far that has not happened.
I also use the no fee Visa and find that, if you can enter in your pin, it works with no issues. Not all places utilize the pin though and still require the zipcode thing. Interesting that the US is virtually the only country where there are issues. Even in places like the 'stan countries of central Asia, the chip/pin system is in place.
When I looked in to this back in 2014 (see link in my previous reply) the bank told me that the US was one of the last markets to introduce the PIN system due to push-back and reluctance from both US retailers and consumers. Introducing the need to enter a valid US ZIP code was the US banking industry/credit card processor's attempt at fighting credit card fraud without introducing the PIN system. If this is correct, and I have no idea how accurate it is, it was a stupid solution. There isn't much difference in added nuisance factor between entering a PIN or a ZIP code, but the PIN system is a much more secure option that is accepted pretty much world-wide.
That's a great tip about letting your bank know ahead of time. I contacted rio grande credit union customer service once for this purpose.
Here in Canada it is fairly common to be able to pump and then pay on the other side of the border it seems impossible.
I have not found it to be very common where you can fill without some method of payment being presented. The pump will not operate unless turned on manually by the attendant or by the payment method. Some of the smaller, independent stations still operate this way (ie. fill and then pay) but, at least where I ride, they are few and far between.
