My bank has done the same in the past, but now the offer an interface in online banking to inform them when I'm travelling.
It still annoys me though: Their fraud system keeps flagging regular transactions that I've done for similar amounts to the same companies, at the same times of month or year for years, yet when someone did two transfers of 3000 GBP each to a credit card account in a different bank that I've never dealt with before, in someone elses name, their fraud system did not trigger...
From my perspective, their blocks are nothing but a nuisance.
It still annoys me though: Their fraud system keeps flagging regular transactions that I've done for similar amounts to the same companies, at the same times of month or year for years, yet when someone did two transfers of 3000 GBP each to a credit card account in a different bank that I've never dealt with before, in someone elses name, their fraud system did not trigger...
From my perspective, their blocks are nothing but a nuisance.