Disaster. Absolute disaster! You’re travelling. You’re on some big trip. You’re using your primary credit card to pay for things. But then you reach for your wallet one day and — oh no! — it’s not there. Maybe you left it somewhere and forgot about it. Perhaps it was stolen. You don’t know. You (almost) don’t care. All that matters is that you have no other way to pay for your meals, hotel charges, and other travel expenses because your credit card is missing.

What could you possibly do in a situation like this? And what can do you to protect yourself better the next time?

How to Get a Replacement Credit Card ASAP

You can’t wait a week or so for a new credit card to arrive. You have just a few days left on your trip, and you can’t enjoy a moment of it without knowing that your finances are secure (not to mention that you have no other way to pay for things). Here’s what you do:

You call your credit card company. You tell them the situation. You explain that you don’t need a new card a week from now; you need it yesterday. Okay, so you won’t get it “yesterday,” but if you’re willing to pay a rush fee you can probably get a new card fairly quickly and still have time to enjoy the rest of your trip.

Some credit cards offer you a chance to get emergency credit card replacement (rushed delivery) for an extra fee. For example, while the regular in-Australia replacement fee for a St. George credit card is $15, you’ll pay $45 to have it faster. Outside of Australia you’ll pay even more. Some cards have even higher fees, but you have to weigh them versus not having access to your credit card account.

Avoid This Credit Card Disaster Next Time

When travelling one of the best things you can do to protect yourself from these kinds of situations in the first place is to keep multiple funding sources around. That might mean a credit card and debit card, two credit cards, a credit card and travellers’ cheques, etc.

That isn’t enough though. It’s also vital that you not keep all of your funding sources in one place. Doing that is just asking for trouble, and losing one funding source probably means you’ve lost them all.

Protect yourself by keeping only one credit card on you, and put another one in your hotel safe or some other secure location. This way even if you do lose your credit card you can continue to enjoy your trip while you wait for your card replacement (and you might not have to worry about paying the higher emergency credit card replacement fee).