do i need to let natwest no im going on holiday because i have a advantage gold account.Or am i covered

Good point, wojtek, best to do this with all debit and credit card providers now, whether they ask you to or not.

I once had my mobile phone barred because I'd changed my pattern of usage...I was in Scotland dealing with my mother's death and relying on my mobile unusually heavily, it was a real problem to have it barred. I rang them up to find out why, and explained my situation, then lo and behold, they barred it again! Grrrr!

The same happened to us in France, fruits, when there was a strike and we had to change our travel arrangements by accessing the net on Mr F's mobile.

Phone got blocked and I had to buy a phonecard and call my sister from a public phone and ask her to try to sort it out from the UK.

It didn't work as they wouldn't deal with her even though we'd given her his account number and password. In one way this is encouraging, from a security point of view, but they weren't even willing to call him on his mobile for confirmation.

We got home on a wing and a prayer.