COPPEL in Leon Home Depot mall - Do NOT use a credit card!

[kasugie]

I've had similar problems with Capital One. What they are actually doing is NOT declining the purchase but putting the transaction on hold while they pathetically attempt to contact you to verify the purchase. To the vendor, the transaction appears to be declined, given that it's not approved. However, when you get home an hour later, there will usually be a voice message or e-mail from Capital One to call their customer service or fraud department to discuss "recent activity on your account". When you call them back, they'll then ask for you to approve or decline these transactions. In either case, you're screwed because if you paid for the goods or services by other means, you'll be paying twice if you approve. In this case, you need to always decline. If you didn't pay, you can approve and then go back to Le?n or wherever and re-purchase they goods or services.

They way to avoid all this is to contact Capital One periodically and let them know you're spending the next two months in your "vacation home" in Mexico and will be using the card there. That will put a digital "flag" into your account not to decline these purchases.

Capital One is a hassle, but still seems to be the best credit card for ex-pats, given the no foreign-currency transaction fee and free reward miles