These are our top money saving tips, a collection of the apps and services we use to save cash while travelling.
Revolut
Revolut is my go-to card for holiday spending. With great value exchange rates there’s no need to mess around sorting out foreign currency in advance. You can also send and receive money in multiple currencies quickly and easily – and at far lower cost than using a regular high street bank. If you do need cash while travelling, you can use a local ATM to withdraw it. Paid-for plans (we have a Metal subscription) offer extra goodies like a savings account and crypto/stock market investing.
Right now you can earn up to £20 completely free:
- Sign up to Revolut and create your account in a few taps.
- Create a virtual card or order a physical one (fees may apply), add money to your account, and spend at least £5.
- You’ll then receive up to £25 back from Revolut after your card payment is processed (typically takes up to 24 hours).
Be quick though, this deal ends on July 4th. See T&Cs for full details.
Smarty
Using your mobile abroad can be stupidly expensive. But with a Smarty SIM-only plan, you can use up to 12GB of your monthly data allowance in the EU for free. Plans start from just £6 per month and are exceptionally good value. So much so that we moved all of our family’s phones across.
Use our Smarty referral link to receive a bonus £10 Amazon gift card when you sign up.
American Express Gold Credit Card
Airline loyalty points are incredibly useful for helping to reduce your travel costs – and with the Amex Gold Card you can earn transferrable points on every pound you spend. Why does that matter? Your Amex points can be converted into points for many airline and hotel schemes (like Avios), quickly boosting your balance. After the first year, there is an annual subscription cost, but with the ability to earn bonus points quickly and easily, along with monthly cash back offers, you can easily make your money back.
Use our Amex referral link to apply for your card and earn a 22,000 30,000 points welcome bonus (when converted into Avios, that’s more than enough for a business class return flight on British Airways to mainland Europe.
Booking.com Genius Level 3 Membership
Hotel loyalty programs offer some great benefits – if you’re willing to commit to a single brand. But what about the rest of us who like the flexibility, choice and cost benefits of being able to stay anywhere? Enter the Booking.com Genius program.
At the top tier, members can save up to 20% on bookings. They can also score free room upgrades and breakfast at participating hotels. Best of all, membership is completely free – you just need to reach the requisite number of stays each year.
Check out our complete guide to reaching Genius Level 3 (and unlocking all the best benefits) for less than £8 in our complete guide.
We’ll be adding more top money saving tips as we discover them – so don’t forget to check back here occasionally!
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Please note that we use sponsored links on this blog. Although we may earn a referral fee or bonus points on some of these products and services mentioned, we never recommend anything we wouldn’t use ourselves.
Check out our full Affiliate Disclosure Policy for more info.
