Travel Tip for Magnetic Travelers

When I say magnetic, I do not mean you attract the wrong kind of people although that might apply to some countries.

You go shopping, find something you always craved, look in your wallet, not enough cash, no problem, you whip out your platinum / gold / proletariat visa card. The salesman scans it, beep beep, does not work. Ok, plan B, you apologize, leave your much desired merchandise on the counter and promise to be back in a few secs. You look for the nearest ATM, push in your card, enter your PIN, beep beep, card gets rejected. You leave to your hotel all sad, thank God you got enough taxi cash. You arrive to the electronic door of your hotel room, swipe in your key card, card rejected. What is going on here? It must be a real bad day for you.

Well the answer is not because someone does not like you, although it is a possibility.

The reason is you had your mobile / iPod / latest electronic gizmo right next to your cards. All those electronics have powerful magnets and they where busy erasing the magnetic stripes on all your cards.

Tip for today, keep your electronic gadgets as far away from your cards.