Someone recently asked me about this myth. I had to post it when I saw it on MSN's opening page today. So, traveler, take heart... keep the key if it makes you feel better.
Hotels have switched from traditional metal room keys to computerized plastic key cards, giving rise to a weird urban-travel legend. Paranoid travelers are concerned that hotels encrypt credit-card details on the magnetic stripe of the key cards; then, once a guest checks out and returns the key card to the front desk, unscrupulous hotel clerks hack the credit-card number and go on spending sprees.
Pure fantasy. Although hotels can encrypt your key card with credit-card information, they almost never do. And despite an endless series of “tips” in the last year, I’ve never seen a police report or legal documents that prove a person’s financial details were lifted from a hotel key card.
Not convinced? Then do what I do: Take the key card with you when you leave. No hotel in the world requires you to turn it in when you check out. I’ve never even been asked to do so. If you really want to worry about hotel key cards, consider this: If there’s a power failure, and the hotel doesn’t have back-up power, those electronic locks won’t always work, and you may be locked out of your room for the duration of the blackout. Unlike the key-card scam, this has actually been known to happen over the years.
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3 comments:
Thanks for removing a ficticious fear and replacing it with a genuine concern.
my pleasure
Thanks for sharing more usable information with us. I think at the present time the concept of hotel key cards is well-liked everywhere. So hotel key Card is most necessary in present time.
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