The Best Credit Cards for Business Travel for Europe
When traveling abroad, one of the most important things to take into account is money. Is the currency the same as in my country? If the answer is no, does my current card have reasonable currency exchange rates? And does my bank allow me to withdraw money from any ATM without paying commissions?
Travel Cards: Which one should I use?
Well, traveling is an adventure itself. So, in order to travel anywhere, for whatever reason; we should have at least a short check-list of stuff that we should carry with ourselves. Let it be the passport/ID card, phone, and some money or cards. So how do I choose which travel card is better for my trip?
Well it depends on many factors like which is your main currency and which currency is used where you’re travelling to. But from Hotailors we’ve prepared the following list to help you decide which one is the best fit for you and your needs.
Revolut
One of the best consumer travel cards and we couldn’t possibly recommend it more. Revolut is a free online bank account based in England, therefore when we open it we’ll have an IBAN number for our Euro account from England. We use it regularly at Hotailors and we even pay some of our employees using it. Every time we pay with it, Revolut applies the best exchange rate available at the time. It doesn’t add fees, it allows you to top up easily and payments are quick and hassle free . We’ve used it in Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, Czechia, Ireland, UK, Morocco, USA… you get the idea. It works in different continents and with many different currencies, and we can count with one hand’s fingers how many times it hasn’t been accepted.
In terms of limitations, Revolut offers up to 200€ (or equivalent) in ATM withdrawal without charging fees, and after that it adds 2% of each withdrawal. It does not have any maintenance fee however, which is nice if you don’t travel that often.
Revolut also comes in a premium paid plan in which they double the limits and add free travel insurance among other things for 7,99€/month. The premium account also gives you access to disposable virtual cards in case you want to buy something online and you want to step up your security and premium card designs.
You can start the process of registering for a Revolut card here: revolut.com
N26
N26 is free online bank account like Revolut, but in this case, our account will be based in Germany, therefore our IBAN will be from this country and not England. It works similarly to the Revolut one, but in this case to top up you’ll have to transfer money to the IBAN account, which might take some days to get to your N26 account. In any case, it is still a very good option since the exchange rate is almost identical to the Revolut one, making both options good candidates while traveling abroad.
In terms of limitations, N26 has a 5.000€ spending limit per day, with a maximum 20.000€ spending limit per month. Also you’ll only be able to withdraw up to 2.500€ per day from ATM limited to 5 days per month without fees within the Eurozone. If you go beyond this limits, you’ll be charged 2€ per withdrawal, and outside the Eurozone, you’ll be charged a 1,7% on top of the amount withdrawn.
N26 also comes in a premium plan called “Black” in which they add free insurance worldwide and remove the withdrawal fee outside the Eurozone.
You can start the process of registering for a N26 card here: n26.com