Money-Saving Tips Wherever you're headed — read this once, then travel anywhere for less. The Right Card Saves You More Than the Right Pass Which card is in your wallet can matter more than which pass or ticket you buy — plenty of standard bank cards quietly charge 1–3% in foreign transaction fees on every single tap, which adds up fast over a trip. A handful of fee-free cards have made this a non-issue, and which one's best depends on where you're from and where you're headed. If you're from the UK or Europe: Revolut and Wise are the two best-known names, and both are genuinely fee-free for everyday spending. Wise uses the real mid-market exchange rate with only a small variable fee (from around 0.33%) and never adds a markup, which makes it slightly more transparent than Revolut, whose free and Plus tiers add a 1% markup on weekend currency exchanges. If you're an EU resident, N26 is also worth a look — 0% markup on card spending, though it isn't available in the UK. If you're from the US: options are thinner but solid — Charles Schwab's High Yield Investor Checking account charges no foreign transaction fee and reimburses ATM fees worldwide, which makes it a favourite for frequent travellers. Capital One 360 Checking also charges no FX fee (though it won't reimburse ATM charges), and Wise's US card gives you the same mid-market-rate advantage as in Europe. If you're travelling through Asia: Singapore-based YouTrip and Trust Bank are both genuinely zero-FX-fee and widely used across the region, alongside Wise and Revolut, which both operate there too. In Japan and Hong Kong specifically, Wise and Revolut tend to be the most practical choice since local multi-currency cards are less common — though it's worth remembering Japan still runs heavily on cash outside its major cities, so don't rely on a card alone. Whichever you choose, get it set up and loaded with funds before you fly — trying to sort this out on arrival, jet-lagged and in an unfamiliar airport, is exactly the kind of thing that ruins the first day of a trip.