>Thankfully, I had another credit card I could use.

You pretty much have to these days, preferably with the second one being from a different bank and potentially different payment processor. Between random fraud triggers and cards being frozen because of fraudulent charges or attempts, you really need a backup.

I've never had trouble dealing with the problem by phone but I'm still out the credit card in a foreign city for a few days and I may not even be at a location where I can easily have something sent to me.