A few years ago, travelling to countries with different currencies usually meant paying a lot of fees and taxes. However, nowadays it is easier to get around this issue. Find out how you can save some money while travelling!
In fact, many of you might use Revolut already when travelling. The truth is that I’ve loved it since day one… besides saving money every time I travel to countries with other currencies, the App has many other useful features (not travel related) to use (money transfer to friends, online payments without needing to use a credit card, rewards in some brands, …). However, in this post, I will solely focus on its benefits while travelling. Continue reading to get to know all of the advantages of using a Revolut card when travelling.
For me, the great advantage of Revolut is not having to pay bank fees when paying or withdrawing money in countries with different currencies. In Revolut, only the interbank exchange rate is charged (which can also be consulted on App at any time). This is the real differentiating point and it really helps us to save some money on the road.
In addition, Revolut is also very useful for purchasing hotel rooms or flights in other currencies since we are only charged the exchange rate.
All of this without maintenance costs (if you opt for the standard plan, of course). In fact, you only have to pay the physical card shipping cost (10€ but you can also get it for free – see more information below).
How does Revolut work?
The Revolut card works by top-ups and the minimum amount of a top-up is 10€. These top-ups are done directly on the App and in a very quick and simple way. In addition, they are immediately available on your card for you to use it. In order to top-up, you have to link your bank account to the Revolut account.
The physical card works like any other debit/credit card at the time of payment or cash withdrawal.
However, Revolut has a number of additional features on the App that provide that extra dose of security. Some of the options include:
- cancel the card
- set a limit for contactless payments
- turn off contactless payments
- turn off online shopping
- disable swipe payments
- disable cash withdraw
- set up a monthly spending limit
What are the pricing plans of Revolut?
To this day, the standard plan was more than enough for my needs and I never felt the need to join the premium plans. However, I leave you here the main differences between each one of the plans:
» Standard Plan (0€/month)
- Free Euro IBAN account
- Cashback when booking accommodation (3%)
- No fee ATM withdrawals up to 200€ per month
- Free Revolut card (excluding delivery)
» Plus Plan (2,99€/month)
- Free Euro IBAN account
- Personalized card
- Cashback when booking accommodation (3%)
- No fee ATM withdrawals up to 200€ per month
- Free Revolut card (including delivery)
- Priority customer support
- Free Euro IBAN account
- Cashback when booking accommodation (up to 5%)
- No fee ATM withdrawals up to 400€ per month
- Priority customer support
- Delayed baggage & delayed flight insurance
- Overseas medical insurance
- Premium card with exclusive designs
- Free lounge passes for you and a friend if your flight is delayed by >1 hour
» Metal Plan (13,99€/month)
- Free Euro IBAN account
- Cashback when booking accommodation (up to 10%)
- No fee ATM withdrawals up to 800€ per month
- Priority customer support
- Delayed baggage & delayed flight insurance
- Overseas medical insurance
- Exclusive Revolut Metal card
- Free lounge passes for your and up to 3 friends if your flight is delayed >1 hour
- Cashback on all card payments
In summary, I think the big difference for travellers is really the maximum withdrawal limit per month as the standard plan only allows withdrawals without fees of up to 200€, which can be relatively small for longer trips and in countries where card payments are accepted less frequently.
Are there any disadvantages?
Nothing is ever 100% perfect and, as such, Revolut is no exception. First of all, sometimes (it is rare but it happens) it is not possible to pay with a card. Secondly, you will hardly be able to use a Revolut card (at least with the standard plan) to rent a car as renting companies usually require a credit card to be presented. However, the advantages clearly outweigh the less positive points and so it is still worth using Revolut!
How to join Revolut?
The signing-up process is quite simple and works very well. It’s as simple as installing the App, filling in your personal data, going through some authentication steps and voilà!
From here you can use the App and take advantage of its benefits. However, I also find it useful to have a physical card. All you have to do is indicate in the App that you want to receive a physical card, insert the PIN code that you want to associate with that card, enter the delivery data and then you can wait for the card to arrive home. In my case, I remember that I took advantage of a free shipping campaign that they had at the time. Although the shipping cost is only 10€, I know that you can also save here if a friend with Revolut gives you a link to benefit from free shipping.
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