It doesn't disable all security checks, but there is a phrase that will eliminate the need for advance travel notifications on cards in North America. It's "Hello, AmEx? I'd like to open x card." American Express does not require travel notifications for its cards. If you call and try to get them a notification of upcoming travel, the automated system informs you that they don't need it. Or, at least, that's what it does on my U.S.-issued AmEx cards.

In general, card products that are aimed more toward frequent travelers will have less impedances to using your card abroad. On the flip side, cards that are aimed more toward the average consumer may place a hold on your account and try to contact you for verification just for using your card within the same country a few hundred miles away from your home.

While I don't have as much personal experience with them, I would assume that the same, or at least similar, would hold for other non-AmEx cards aimed at frequent travelers. For example, the Chase Sapphire products, Citi's travel cards, etc. I've not had any trouble using Chase's Hyatt card abroad, though I do call and give them a travel notification before using it out-of-country.

The other benefit to using travel-focused cards when traveling internationally (aside from their respective card-specific benefits) is that they tend not to charge foreign transaction fees. However, you can also get that on some fee-free cards, too, such as Discover or Capital One cards.

It doesn't disable all security checks, but there is a phrase that will eliminate the need for advance travel notifications on cards in North America. It's "Hello, AmEx? I'd like to open x card." American Express does not require travel notifications for its cards. If you call and try to give them a notification of upcoming travel, the automated system informs you that they don't need it. Or, at least, that's what it does on my U.S.-issued AmEx cards.

In general, card products that are aimed more toward frequent travelers will have less impedances to using your card abroad. On the flip side, cards that are aimed more toward the average consumer may place a hold on your account and try to contact you for verification just for using your card within the same country a few hundred miles away from your home.

While I don't have as much personal experience with them, I would assume that the same, or at least similar, would hold for other non-AmEx cards aimed at frequent travelers. For example, the Chase Sapphire products, Citi's travel cards, etc. I've not had any trouble using Chase's Hyatt card abroad, though I do call and give them a travel notification before using it out-of-country.

The other benefit to using travel-focused cards when traveling internationally (aside from their respective card-specific benefits) is that they tend not to charge foreign transaction fees. However, you can also get that on some fee-free cards, too, such as Discover or Capital One cards.