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Tried to pay hotel bill in Italy this morning, first €1000 then €500. Blocked both times as above some limit.
Smaller transactions went through fine.
Anyone aware of any limits? And how to get them lifted?
Thanks
BenVirgin has one of the worst (or strictest) card security. It seems that they may have blocked them as they are two immediately consecutive transactions at the same vendor. Being abroad would definitely not have helped.
Check the app to make sure they didn’t freeze the card. And expect a call from them. Or you call their card security team.When something similar happened to me with Virgin, it was so many phone calls and nuisance. I hated it.
+1, we’ve been fine abroad and paying £5k chunks each term for school fees but a few months ago the card took offence at renewing car insurance (🤷♀️) and it took ages to get the card unblocked – then had to go through the whole rigmarole again as they only unblocked the main card and not the supp 🙄
$18 Nandos transaction blocked in Chicago the 1st time I used it in the USA after many previous euro transactions on previous trips. (debit not credit)
Gave up on it, and it’s been relegated to card of last resort and ATM withdrawls.
Thanks all. How would I see in the app if it is blocked?
Not entirely sure, but if it’s going to be anywhere it’ll be under the “card” tab on the home screen. There is a “Card Active” line where mine says “yes”.
It is not called blocked but frozen or something like that. And you cannot unfreeze it from the app if it is frozen by them. You must call them in that case.
Nowadays when I travel internationally I always do the first transaction with pin by inserting the card.Nowadays when I travel internationally I always do the first transaction with pin by inserting the card.
That’s a good shout.
I have a feeling that unblocks the card too if you do get blocked rather than calling the fraud dept. (but they don’t advertise that method)
Ah that might be it. The transaction was contactless but with PIN (no card inserted). Will try full insertion next time.
Were any of these payments done through Apple Pay? I have regularly used both Virgin and curve abroad through Apple Pay and never had any issues.
Mine was a web click and collect order. Don’t use any of the new fangled methods, just typed my card number and cvv into the website.
Mine was a regular payment where I’ve put my virgin card number. It worked all fine for years. One day suddenly they decided to block it. I had no idea, only to realise it when I couldn’t use my card at Sainsbury’s. They rang up, sorted it out. However, my online merchant kept trying to charge the card. And virgin blocked it each time. It was funny at some point, I was talking to virgin people more than I talked to my wife. I told them it is a safe merchant, they said okay, yet blocked it and froze my card the next day.
I wanted to talk to their chief of online security, but then realised that they wouldn’t let me talk to a child.It worked all fine for years.
Banks are quick to block payments if anything is even remotely suspicious. No point arguing it had been working all these years. I’d suggest moving on to Apple Pay or google pay for more secure payments where possible. Cannot be used in all cases, but more mobile websites offer Apple Pay option nowadays.
I had problem a few years ago with the MBNA card that Virgin Atlantic used before moving over to Virgin Money.This was due to the payment made to the resort was registered twice by VISA taking me over my credit limit. Took a week to be cleared. Fortunately I had an alternative card that also had no foreign transaction fee.
I now make sure I have two cards everytime .Virgin and MBNA .and would recommend that to.everyone. My problem at the moment is Virgin card is only beneficial in Europe.Well this has made me paranoid so I’m being sparing using my Virgin Atlantic card now, switching to Revolut for smaller contactless Euro amounts to ensure I can earn points on the hotel bill at the end of the week.
But to give an example of how on-the-ball Virgin’s security is, the first time I had the card it came with a massive credit limit. Literally the day I activated it I happened to be buying a very expensive item of jewellery for Mrs Froggee for our tenth wedding anniversary. It used up about 80% of the credit limit which was the largest limit I have ever had on any card.
It went through fine. The machine didn’t even do the annoying I’m-thinking-about-it thing to make me sweat.
Then I wandered over to Prêt a Manger and attempted to spend a fiver on my lunch.
Transaction denied. Card blocked.
My card is blocked at the moment. Used it in Europe before Christmas. Went to Sainsbury’s to find not only my Nectar card was virtually zero (apparently emptied in Stamford) but my Virgin card declined. Doesn’t say frozen in app or any reason. Need to call tomorrow. Not looking forward to that having spent a long time today talking to Nectar.
Well this has made me paranoid so I’m being sparing using my Virgin Atlantic card now, switching to Revolut for smaller contactless Euro amounts to ensure I can earn points on the hotel bill at the end of the week.
But to give an example of how on-the-ball Virgin’s security is, the first time I had the card it came with a massive credit limit. Literally the day I activated it I happened to be buying a very expensive item of jewellery for Mrs Froggee for our tenth wedding anniversary. It used up about 80% of the credit limit which was the largest limit I have ever had on any card.
It went through fine. The machine didn’t even do the annoying I’m-thinking-about-it thing to make me sweat.
Then I wandered over to Prêt a Manger and attempted to spend a fiver on my lunch.
Transaction denied. Card blocked.
Similar experience. No problem paying for a car, blocked when paying for lunch.
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