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Should you load a prepaid travel card, carry cash, or just use your regular card abroad? A clear-eyed comparison of fees, safety, and acceptance for modern travelers.
For most travelers, the choice is between (a) a prepaid multi-currency travel card (Wise, Revolut, Monzo, Chase, Travelex), (b) a no-FX-fee credit or debit card from your home bank, and (c) carrying local cash. Most experienced travelers use a combination: a travel card or no-FX card for 80% of spending, and a modest amount of local cash for small merchants, transport, and tips.
Cards from Wise, Revolut, and similar fintechs let you hold balances in dozens of currencies, convert at the interbank rate (with a small spread), and spend with no foreign transaction fee. They typically also include free or low-fee ATM withdrawals up to a monthly limit. The main downsides are loading limits, occasional account freezes that require ID re-verification, and reliance on a working phone for the companion app.
Many premium travel credit cards charge no FX fee and convert at the Visa or Mastercard wholesale rate โ usually within 0.2โ0.5% of mid-market. They also offer rewards (points, miles, cashback) and strong purchase protection. The cost is the annual fee (often USD 95โ550) and the interest rate if you do not pay in full each month. Use them for hotels, restaurants, and large purchases where chargeback protection matters most.
In Japan, much of rural Italy, Germany, Vietnam, and parts of Africa, cash is still essential for small merchants, transport, and tips. Withdraw cash from a major bank's ATM at your destination โ never from an exchange kiosk at the airport. Always decline 'pay in your home currency' (dynamic currency conversion) at the ATM screen. Bring a small reserve in USD or EUR as backup; these are widely exchangeable anywhere.
Airport exchange counters (spreads of 8โ15%), hotel currency exchange, and any merchant offering to bill in your home currency rather than the local one. Avoid loading huge balances onto a single travel card โ split between two cards from different providers in case one is lost or frozen. And avoid traveler's cheques: they have higher fees and lower acceptance than any card option and are essentially obsolete in 2025.
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