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Get 'em while they're hot! I stayed up 'til 4 am and managed to score one for Leipzig. Now I have the next 11 months to plan the trip and line up a bunch of folks to chek in on Mom every day while I'm gone.

Wait -- now hours later Bank of America fucked up my order. I have no idea if I have a ticket or not. Aren't you supposed to get an email confiirmation if you get a ticket from WOMADshop? I don't have any such email and don;t know what the hell's gpoing on.

Sometimes the credit card company refuses the orders when you are ordering out of the country, as a protection. The suspect it's suspicious activity, so they deny the charge. Call your credit card company and ask them to put the charge through. It's happened to me several times. Good luck with the Leipzig tickets!

Thanks, but Bank of America immediately denied the charges and shut down the entire card, so now I have to get a new card. If I had known they tightened seucrity so stringently, I would have never used a Bank of America card. I have written WOMADShop but still no reply (I guess they're off for the weekend.) I tried getting a ticket with a different card.

Good luck with it all, Rraven. As Laura mentioned, there are very strict regulations on all bank cards these days and before you try another card, it's best to contact the bank, let them know what you're doing and then they can mark their records. As sad as it is that these banks have taken such security measures, I suppose it's better than them allowing charges from all over the place. Here's my one traveler's tip (for anyone who cares to read and heed) -- before I travel anywhere -- even in the USA, but most especially outside of the USA, I contact my banks and let them know the dates/places where I'll be traveling so that I don't run into any problems with spending my money (heaven forbid, I couldn't spend my money! ). It's always worked for me and even though, it's most likely not necessary, it's a precaution I just automatically take nowadays. It's certainly worth my 10 minutes that it takes to not be caught cash/credit short while vacationing. That's great that you can attend the Germany show -- hope it all works out well for you and any others who will be attending the shows. Kind regards,

Ugh, hope you get things straightened out RRaven. Yeah, Ela, often on my trips to Florida I run into that stuff. Good thing to have a debit card to pay the fuel station while they've got a hold on your card(s). Sheesh. Especially on a trip I've made every winter for how many years? (might not this winder, but likely for many winters after) They aren't protecting us, as much as themselves. Very annoying. Usually isn't a problem until I get into the Miami/Florida City area, guess credit card theft is a big problem there. Anyway, usually just takes a phone call and all is good again. As for me, and Peter's upcoming concerts, until I know when I have off, there is no sense in ordering tickets anywhere. OK and it's probably an expense I shouldn't undertake anyway, but if things did line up just right with vacation time and such, who knows. But I'm thinking a more southern location this time. Mostly because I missed on front row Glasgow. That would have been great, because I could have run up and visited my friend in the Shetlands. Good luck getting the tickets you want for the ones that can make it to the European concerts. Bet there are a few more dates coming.

Zen-- Sorry to intrude on your conversation here, but I did want to comment on something you wrote regarding the credit card theft being a big problem in Miami/Florida City area -- I'm sure you realize that credit card theft is a B IG problem in many places, especially in large cities, so it is probably why there is more security in those places. As I commented earlier, I simply find it easier to be proactive in these things so that my vacation and holiday spirit doesn't get trampled when my credit/debit cards don't work. As you mentioned, it's a simple phone call -- just one which I prefer to handle ahead of time. But as I said, it was just a traveler's tip, no harm done if not heeded and certainly not meant to intrude in your conversation. I Hope that in everyone's case, they're able to make the shows they want to and as much as I wish I could just buy tix and go from there, that's not what I can do at the moment, so I'll just keep things in my planning stages and go from there as it becomes more realistic. Kind regards to all

It is, but apparently, according to my credit card company, this tourist spot is a hotspot.

Oh, yeah, and I'm sure there are quite a few more on the list too. Shame, really, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry for all involved. I'm currently wondering why I keep getting charged a few bucks for the POS International Banking Fee on the Encore CD I had ordered (and paid for, by the way) -- the charge has now appeared 3-4 times on my bank statement. Will call them in the morning to find out exactly how many times they made one transaction and why I'm being charged for it several different times (and amounts).

Maybe Pat, but I haven't been to those places perhaps? We were talking about personal experiences with credit card companies and banks, not newspaper stories or such. In all my travels over the last several years, it's only on my trips to Florida and not until I reach the Miami/Florida City area, over 1600 miles traveled, when the credit card company has a panic attack and requires me to call them to let them know I'm actually down there spending money down there. When I went to NYC for Scratch My Back, never had that happen in NY or any of the cities between. Not even Detroit. I kid Detroit. http://youtu.be/x0dJm9ec2lU BTW, much as I may be part of the conversation, it is not 'my' conversation. I found that a bit odd. Unless you were referring to my post alone as being my conversation?

Zen, I suppose you're right in that maybe because you hadn't been to those places before, but I didn't think any bank paid that much attention, so good I guess that they did. As for the conversation, I, too, had added a comment that was similar to Laura's in that I had given examples of what the banks tend to do and in my case, what I've done to help prevent it. It was a general comment, written for anyone who chose to read it. I had read your comments, along with others and agree with most of it, but commented on the specific sentence regarding Miami having a big problem with credit card theft and since it was contained in your conversation with Laura, I wrote that I didn't want to intrude in your conversation, again, because you were commenting specifically to Laura at that point (much like we're doing here, writing to each others comments). In any case, I was following the conversation here between everyone and my comments were just that. Anyway, I'll bow out here now and wish everyone luck with getting tickets if they try and with dealing with banks if they must. Kind regards to all,

Did you get it worked out Rraven? Bank of America shouldn't cancel your card without contacting you first. That's bizarre. Last year I had a couple of fraudulent charges on one of my credit cards, and once they spoke to me to find out if the charges were mine or not, and I told them they were not...that's when they notified me that they would cancel my card, and reissue with a new number. Hopefully you were able to get your ticket with a different card.