Travel Tips to Share with Cardholders

The Citi Service Teams interact daily with cardholders who have experienced a transaction decline. The caller is often already on travel and needs to check in/out of a hotel or purchase a ticket to complete their trip. Outlined below are some of the most common, and avoidable, scenarios:

1. The account does not have sufficient credit. This is often observed for travelers who have back-to-back trips and/or for OCONUS travel.
2. The card has not been activated for usage. This can occur when a cardholder fails to activate a new card or when travel dates have not been updated in CitiManager, primarily for restricted cards.
3. The account was initially activated for travel but the travel dates have been extended/changed.
4. The cardholder received a replacement card but did not update their travel management system (DTS), with the new expiration date.
5. Cardholder transferred from another DoD Component or Agency where the card was deactivated prior to transfer.

Tips for Travelers:

• Verify the account is in good standing and that there is sufficient credit to cover expected (and unexpected) expenses – particularly if they will be travelling OCONUS and/or have multiple trips planned.
• Verify that DTS reflects the current card number and expiration date.
• Make sure that the account has been activated for travel and that the ending date provided to Citi is on/after planned completion.