Best Travel Cards for the USA | Comparison and Opinion |

Best cards for traveling to the USA: Comparison table

Although we'll provide much more information about each of the cards we recommend later on, here is a very visual comparison table of all of them so you can see the main differences at a glance.

Please note that we're only comparing the free plans, we'll talk about the other available plans later and give you our personal opinion on each card (as we have used them all). The different costs and commissions are shown in Euros, but they're very similar in case you use other currency.

⚠️ Remember that if you're going to rent a car in the United States, you'll need a credit card. All the cards we recommend in this post are debit cards, so they aren't valid for this purpose.

N26, the best card for paying in the United States

N26 is a Mastercard debit card and one of the best prepaid travel cards for the USA that we've been using for many years. We have never had any problems with it, except at some self-service gas stations in the United States (we solve this by going into the gas station store and making the payment there).

Every time we travel to the United States, we use our N26 card a lot, but only to make payments in dollars, as the Standard plan doesn't allow commission-free ATM withdrawals and charges 1.7% of the amount withdrawn.

The advantage of N26 over other cards is that it never charges fees when paying in foreign currency, even on weekends. In addition, there is no maximum monthly amount you can spend: payments in dollars are unlimited. This is great because you can completely forget about the limits that other cards have.

🤑If you apply for your N26 card here, you'll receive a 15€ cashback when you make your first purchase of more than 20€.

We have occasionally used N26 to withdraw foreign currency from ATMs when we've exceeded the limits on our other cards, as it's still a better option than using a conventional bank card (which charge between 3% and 5% of commission).

N26 is a German bank, which means that you're given a German IBAN account number as soon as you sign up. If you have money left over in your N26 account after returning from your trip to the USA, you can transfer it back to your main bank account at no cost. If you want the money immediately, they'll charge you 1.99€ for the transfer, but you have the option of sending the money free of charge, which takes between 1 and 2 business days.

💡Many ATMs charge a fee for withdrawing money from them. Keep in mind that no card on the market covers this fee. 

The disadvantage of N26 is that it's no longer possible to have a physical card with the Standard Plan (when we signed up years ago, it was). So, if you don't want to pay a monthly maintenance fee, you have to use the virtual card and make payments with your phone through Google Pay or Apple Pay.

In addition, N26 doesn't allow instant top-ups with this plan, so if you want to transfer money, you must do so by bank transfer. What it does allow is immediate money transfers between N26 users.

Below is a comparison table showing all the plans offered by N26:

In this table, you can see the advantages and disadvantages of the N26 Standard Plan, which has no monthly maintenance fee:

Wise, the card for managing different currencies

Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) is a Mastercard debit card that we've been using for a couple of years. Wise is a British bank, but it differs from other cards to use in the USA in that it gives you up to 9 bank accounts in different countries so you can manage multiple currencies.

😊You can get your Wise card here at no cost (only shipping fees apply).

Therefore, for € you'll have a Belgian IBAN account, for USD a US account, for GBP a British account, for AUD an Australian account, and so on for other currencies such as CAD, NZD, SGP, RON, and HUF. This works great if you're traveling to the US, as you can open a USD account for free and deposit the dollars you purchase there. This way, when you make payments in dollars, Wise won't charge you any commission as it will take the money directly from your USD account.

Unlike other cards, Wise has a single plan and is free. With this plan, you can make 2 withdrawals per month in dollars for a maximum of 200€. After that, the following fees apply:

• Up to 200€/month: for 3 or more withdrawals, 0.50€ per withdrawal
• Over 200€/month:
  • 2 or fewer withdrawals: 1.75% of the amount exceeding 200€
  • 3 or more withdrawals: 0.50€ + 1.75% of the amount exceeding 200€

According to our calculations, these fees are practically the same as those applied by Revolut when you exceed 200€.

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With Wise, you can spend up to 30,000€ per month in USD, although a 0.45% commission applies if you don't have that currency in your account. Ideally, you should open a USD account, as mentioned above.

Wise is currently the best option for international transfers, as it has the lowest fees on the market. We have sometimes had to make transfers in USD to book accommodation or activities. This isn't usual, but it does happen occasionally.

Here you can see the advantages and disadvantages we see in Wise free plan:

Revolut, all-in-one card for traveling to the USA

Revolut is one of the best debit cards for the USA. It's a Visa card and one of the most complete on the market. We have been using it for years (we got it at the same time as N26) and have hardly ever had any problems with it, so we recommend it for withdrawing cash, making payments, and international transfers. Moreover, it's very easy to have an instant virtual debit card for the USA through its app.

💵You can request your Revolut card here at no cost (only shipping fees apply).

In the comparison table below, you can see all of Revolut's plans to make it easier for you to choose. We have used both Standard and Plus, as we sometimes need the limits of the latter.

In any case, the Standard account is free and allows you to withdraw up to 200€ per month in dollars or make up to 5 withdrawals in Euros free of charge. In addition, you can make payments in foreign currency without commissions up to 1,000€ per month (above this amount, you'll be charged a 1% commission).

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The downside of Revolut is that it charges a 1% fee on withdrawals and payments made during the weekend (from Friday at 5:00 p.m. CET to Sunday at 6:00 p.m. CET). It's very important to note that this time is Eastern Time (New York time, to make it easier). Therefore, you'll have to convert the time according to where you're (if you're in San Francisco, weekend hours would be from Friday at 2:00 p.m. to Sunday at 3:00 p.m.).

To avoid this fee, we recommend either not using the card during the weekend (which can sometimes be difficult) or getting a Wise card to have an extra 200€ per month in withdrawals and the N26 card to make payments in foreign currency without fees any day of the week.

Here is a table showing all Revolut plans so you can see the differences between them:

Based on our experience using Revolut for years, these are the advantages and disadvantages we see in the Standard Plan, which has no monthly maintenance fee:

When to use every travel card in the United States: summary

After spending a long time testing all of the above cards, both in the USA and in other countries, for a trip to the United States we'd take at least 2 of the 3 cards, combining Visa and Mastercard. We use each one in different situations to save on all the fees (plus, you should never travel with just one card, just in case something happens):

• N26: it's a Mastercard. We use it for making payments in USD any day of the week, but especially on weekends when Revolut charges a commission. Apply here and get 15€ bonus when you make a purchase of at least 20€.
• Wise: it's a Mastercard. We use it to withdraw money in USD and make payments using the dollar account for avoid commissions. Get it here.
• Revolut: it's a Visa. We use it for withdrawing money in USD and making payments, but only on weekdays. Request it here.

We hope this post about the best cards to use in the USA has answered your questions!