Traveling has taught me one important lesson: never rely on just one card.
Everything can work perfectly- until suddenly it doesn’t. Your card gets declined, an ATM swallows it, or your bank blocks a payment.
That’s why I always carry multiple cards with me.
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Credit card – basically essential
I use a Mastercard credit card, and honestly, you can’t manage everywhere without one.
A credit card is often required for:
- hotel check-ins
- car rentals
- situations where debit cards simply don’t work
Multiple debit cards from different providers
I carry several debit cards linked to different accounts and providers—both Visa and Mastercard.
This is important because not all places accept every type of card. I can’t remember a situation where at least one of these didn’t work.
I use the Revolut banking app a lot because it allows me to:
- create multiple bank accounts
- link different cards (Visa or Mastercard)
- exchange currencies
- send money
- manage everything easily in one app
- extra: 90-day travel insurance
One of my best experiences was in Indonesia when an ATM swallowed my card. I ordered a new Revolut card and had it delivered by courier within 3 days. Luckily, I had a backup card with me to get through that time.
Digital cards – an underrated lifesaver
With Revolut, you can also create digital cards instantly.
I’ve used them for example:
- adding a card to my phone wallet (Apple Wallet)
- sharing a parallel card with a friend so we both had access to the same travel funds
- creating disposable cards for online shopping
- freezing a card instantly if it gets lost
A second bank for backup
I still keep my old Nordea (Finnish) bank account active as well. Banking services can have outages, and if all your money is in one place and it stops working, it can become a big problem abroad.
That’s why I always keep at least two banks active – and some money in both.
Cash – even if you don’t use it
In Europe, cash is needed less and less, so it’s easy to forget about it. But I still always carry some, especially when traveling.
Keep your cash either in a safe or well hidden. Even during flights, you need to be careful. Once, my travel companion lost several thousand euros on a night flight when we fell asleep, and the money was taken from a backpack side pocket.
I was robbed while sleeping
I’ve also been robbed while traveling.
I had just withdrawn money from an ATM and hadn’t yet stored it safely before going to sleep. During the night, someone entered through a locked door, took my wallet, and left.
I didn’t wake up during it. I only realized what had happened later when I noticed the door was left slightly open.
Even though I filed a police report and submitted the ATM receipt (less than 24 hours old) to my insurance company, they refused to compensate for the cash due to insufficient evidence. This seems to be a common practice when it comes to cash claims.
Summary
When traveling, don’t think about what’s easiest – think about what still works when everything goes wrong. Because those situations always come unexpectedly.
- 1 credit card
- 2 debit cards
- at least 2 different banks
- enough cash for 3–5 days
Join Revolut
Join Revolut as well! I’ve been using it for over six years, and because the app is so good, more and more of my daily finances have gradually moved there.
In addition to everything mentioned above, the app also offers features for investing and saving. Paid plans include things like travel insurance, lounge access, and subscriptions to popular apps. You can also collect points and convert them into airline miles.
