The American covers his ass after the transaction...

If you read the post below, I did something that would raise Visa's antennae. Card is used in Scottsdale, AZ in the morning - and seven hours later in Montevideo, Uruguay. Better call them so they don't shut it off.

I am asked where I used the card this morning and the amount of the charge. I'm asked a couple of other questions and she said, "You're absolutely right to call us, our system would have flagged this as suspicious." She wanted to know the name of the merchant and the amount in local currency and that was that.

Save yourself the headache and call your bank when you make a sudden foreign transaction. Your card could otherwise be useless the next time you try it.