The best bank cards for travel in 2021 Our choice

A selection of the most profitable bank cards for the traveler. Here are some of our favorites for helping you save money when traveling abroad!

Our travels around the world are equal to almost 5 years and 30 countries, so we gained experience in the money issue. 🙂 And although we always take a few dollars in cash with us (the key word is a little), the main emphasis is still on the card, and not just one.

A plastic card itself is more convenient and safer than cash, but we give preference, first of all, because of the many travel "goodies" in the form of cashback, free passes to airport business lounges, bonuses for the purchase of air tickets, etc. For example, having traveled to the USA, we saved up for tickets for the next trip in Europe!

So what are the best bank cards for travel?

Which bank card should I choose?

There are a great many offers from banks, as well as service packages for each, but if you plan to pay by card in stores, restaurants and withdraw cash, then you should pay attention to specific numbers:

• currency conversion rate
• commission for a cross-border payment (i.e. if the organization that carries out the operation with the card is located outside the Russian Federation). For example, you pay for dinner in a cafe in Pattaya, or while in Russia, buy a ticket on the Internet from Turkish Airlines, or withdraw money from an ATM in Barcelona - for all such actions you can stumble upon a transgran
• commission for withdrawing cash at a third-party ATM
• annual interest on the balance of funds and cashback (return of part of the money spent on the card with bonuses or money)

Currency conversion abroad (from $ / € to rubles) does not always happen at the exchange rate of the Central Bank. More precisely, almost never. Each bank throws a few percent on top, and some “finish off” with commissions for transgranny and cash withdrawals from other people's ATMs. Another thing is that losses can be minimized - due to cashback (when paying for purchases) and the absence of those very commissions. Each bank is tricky in its own way, but if you use several cards and pay for different services with them, you can be in a good plus!

Which bank card is better to choose depending on these points? Here, in our opinion, are the most acceptable options.

Advantageous travel cards

Basic Traveler Cards

We talk only about those cards that we have noticed for ourselves over the years of travel. Those that we use ourselves, we will definitely highlight, about the rest - there was a good impression from consultations with employees and feedback on the forums.

1. Tinkoff, debit Tinkoff Black

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + ≈2%
• Transgran: 0%
• Cash withdrawal: 0% at other people's ATMs, if the amount is more than 3000 rubles; for a currency account - from 100 $ / €
• % on the balance and cashback: 3.5% (for spending from 3000 rubles per month) and 1-5% in cash

She accompanies us on trips abroad from the very beginning, and we are not going to change preferences yet. We have one ruble card to which both the dollar and euro accounts are linked. We use the latter for storing currency and withdrawing abroad.

Click the button and get 3 months of free service:

Making purchases with a card in other countries, in the worst case, we lose 1% (rate - 1% cashback for all categories); at the best - we remain in positive territory by 3% (course - 5% cash for certain categories, for example, pharmacies, beauty, transport). For withdrawing cash in the amount of more than 3000 rubles, we give the bank ≈2%. Cashback and% on the account balance "fall" on the card in the form of money, and you can do whatever you want with them. If the account has more than 50,000 rubles, then the service is free; otherwise - 99 rubles per month.

In such a yellow envelope, they brought me my Tinkoff Black card
(photo of the map - below)

Example. Categories with more cashback change every 3 months. I constantly choose "transport", because the metro, and buses, and taxis fall under it. Abroad, of course, too. Once, in 10 days in Los Angeles, where Uber spent 30 bucks a day, Tinkoff returned the cashback of ≈ 1000 rubles.

In addition to the minimum sanctions for using the card abroad, main advantage Tinkoff is summed up in three words - it is an internet bank. And it is very convenient when traveling. Even being a premium client of Discovery or Alpha, you have to visit the office to clarify questions / apply / reissue a card, etc., which is, of course, impossible abroad. At Tinkoff, problems are resolved through a phone call and chat in a mobile application or online account. The latter is also very useful - here you can see all card / account statements, details of operations performed, you can manually set a limit on expenses per day (if you want to protect yourself from "accidental" charges) and notify the bank about the imminent departure of the card abroad with one click (to not blocked).

Example. In the States, they debited money from my card and blocked it. To unblock, you need to call the operator. I don't know what I would do if I had some kind of Sberbank that would insist on calling the phone (hello, crazy roaming). In Tinkoff, I was offered to call directly through the application, connecting to Wi-Fi. 5 minutes, 0 rubles for a connection - and again with a card. By the way, Tinkoff returned the money (all $ 300).

Minuses? They are: ambiguous reviews from the owners of Tinkoff credit products (we are talking about debit products now) and a decrease in per annum to 3.5%. The first can be countered like this - who makes people take credit cards and does not allow them to carefully read information about tariffs? And as for the second, the bank, even in this case, is very captivating with its service. And here we definitely have something to compare with.

2. Tinkoff, credit ALL Airlines

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + ≈2%
• Transgran: 0%
• Cash withdrawal: high commission
• % on the balance and cashback: - and 2-10% with miles

Credit cards are not our profile - we have never set foot on this "minefield". Nevertheless, this particular one is presented so “tasty” that it should be included in the choice of a bank card for travel.

Why is she so cute? Cashback: the minimum (for all categories of goods) is 2% and thus brings any purchases abroad to zero. 3% of the cash is returned for flights, 5% - for air tickets on the Tinkoff website (compared to Skyscanner, our favorite search engine for cheap tickets - prices are significantly higher), 10% - for hotels and cars, also booked on the Tinkoff website. It is really profitable with hotels, because the site works with good old Booking. Cashback is credited in the form of miles, 1 mile = 1 ruble.

Go and get 1000 miles to your account:

One of the main disadvantages stems from the ability to spend bonuses. Firstly, only for air tickets. Secondly, yes, any site will do, but: a ticket must cost from 6,000 rubles. Moreover, the price should be “adjusted” to the miles, because they are withdrawn in multiples of 3000. For example, a ticket can be equal to 6500 rubles, but it will take 9000 miles from the card. They will not charge you less than the price of the ticket.🙂 Another disadvantage is still a credit card, and it is better not to go beyond 55 interest-free days. The main thing is to clearly understand the conditions. Our friends are actively using this card and are very satisfied.

There is also an ALL Airlines debit card option Read More >>

By the way, both credit and debit All Airlines come with free travel insurance. This is a great addition, especially if you travel frequently.

If your bank does not provide such a thing, but you need insurance (and not only for a visa, but also for your own peace of mind), look at Cherehapa or Compare.ru. Here are the cheapest policies.

3. Tinkoff, debit premium Black Metal

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + from 0.25% (almost like the Central Bank!)
• Transgran: 0%
• Cash withdrawal: 0% at any ATM; for a currency account - from 100 $ / €
• % on the balance and cashback: 3.5% and 1-5% in cash (by category)

We recently switched from Tinkoff Black (the most popular debit card) to Tinkoff Black Metal (also debit, but premium). New cool chips have been added, the limits of cashbacks, withdrawals and transfers have greatly increased!

We issued a metal card from Tinkoff a month ago and have already managed to test passages to the Lounge Key business lounges and cashback increased to 30,000 rubles per month.

About conditions.
The cost of servicing the card is 1990 rubles per month. Or free if:
- spend from 200,000 rubles a month and keep 1,000,000 rubles in accounts,
- or daily maintain on accounts from 3,000,000 rubles.
Everything is taken into account as accounts: card, accumulative, brokerage, deposits, and IIS.

Another of the classic advantages over regular Black:

• Cash withdrawal from an ATM of any bank without commission up to 500,000 rubles per month
• Increase in transfers without commission to cards of other banks from 20 to 50 thousand rubles per month
• 3.5 percent on the balance is valid for the entire amount on the card account (and for "just Black" for up to 300,000 rubles)
• Increasing the maximum cashback amount from 3 thousand rubles to 30 thousand per month! We bought a laptop in a store with which Tinkoff partners, and received 12,000 rubles back - and if we paid for the basic Black, we would only return three thousand. We can say that the cost of maintenance has already been recouped for eight months in advance :)

Why did we switch to Black Metal? We got interested in investments and, in addition to the card account and the deposit, we opened a brokerage account from Tinkoff. Plus, "bribed" and bonuses for travel (about which below).

By the way, here is "proof" that we really use Black Metal - we have an invitation link, having issued a card by which you will receive 2000 rubles to your account:

This link is available only to premium plan owners.

This premium card from Tinkoff Bank contains a number of significant advantages for traveling abroad:

• Insurance up to $ 100,000 applies to ANY five people. Usually banks put a condition on a spouse and children, but with Black Metal, you can enter, for example, a common-law wife / husband, and your parents.
• Free passes to business lounges using the Lounge Key 2 times a month (12 times a year in total) - which is not a delight, but now everything is complicated with these passes for any bank.
• Excellent increased cashbacks for travel - 10% for hotel bookings, 5% for air tickets, 10% for car rental.
• And a bonus: 15% discount on the Business tariff in Yandex Taxi - if you add another 10% of the Yandex Plus subscription, it will be 25%, which is very good!

The Tinkoff website does not write about this, but the first month the Metal card can be used free of charge, since the tariff calculation starts from the next date of the period. For example, the card was issued on July 27, and the billing period starts from August 24.

Therefore, you can open the card before the trip, first get cashbacks for reservations, then use the passes to the business lounges and very good insurance, and then close it if you don’t like it, paying for 1 month of service (that is, 1990 rubles). And you will cover them with a gift of 2000 rubles under the "Bring a friend" program from us - I will duplicate the link again!

In total, two months are free. Only insurance for a family of several people will cost three times more expensive 🙂 It's worth a try.

I have been using the card for almost a year and have matured for an honest review - I have listed all the pros and cons and concluded whether it is needed at all after the free period.
P.S. Black Metal works great in conjunction with the All Airlines premium credit card!

4. Opening, debit Opencard

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + ≈2.8%
• Transgran: available
• Cash withdrawal: 0%
• % on the balance and cashback: - and 3-11% in the form of bonuses

Like Tinkoff Black, this is not a travel-focused map. But it looks much more interesting than a travel product from Otkrytie (about which below).

So, Opencard is free to maintain - no strings attached; from it you can transfer up to 20,000 rubles per month to cards of other banks without commission; withdraw from ANY ATM up to 1,000,000 rubles per month without commission.

There is a cashback of as much as 11% for the "Hotels and Tickets" category and a fixed 1% for everything else. Requirements for such generosity: maintain a balance of 100,000 rubles or more, buy from a card for at least 5,000 rubles and make a payment through the application from 1,000 rubles per month (for example, for housing and communal services).

But stop, where are the minuses? Increased cashback - 11% - no more than 3000 rubles per month. That is, it is profitable to spend about 27,000 rubles on hotels and tickets. In addition, Otkritie is one of those "harmful" banks that take a double conversion if the company from which you buy something is not from Russia. Even if the invoice is issued in rubles.

We constantly repeat this situation with Airbnb - buying in rubles, but the bank sees that the seller is foreign and converts the payment into dollars, and dollars again into rubles. On course, of course. The difference between the "total" and the final write-off can be up to 5%.

Opening, debit Travel card, Optimal package

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + ≈2.8%
• Transgran: available
• Cash withdrawal: 1%, at least 250 rubles (if the requirements are not met)
• % on the balance and cashback: up to 7% on the account and 3% in the form of bonuses-rubles

Discovery had a decent selection of travel maps until 2019. After the merger with B&N Bank, only one Travel card remained - and that one is not particularly profitable. But we will nevertheless consider the most acceptable package under the terms of free service - Optimal (there is also Premium).

The whole travel essence of the card can be described as follows: “get a fixed cashback of 3% for any purchases - spend it on the purchase of air tickets and railway and hotel reservations exclusively on the Opening website (where prices are traditionally overstated)”.

Okay, at least cashback brings purchases in other countries to almost zero. Withdrawing money from foreign ATMs takes place without a commission (but 2.8% is lost on conversion), if you deposit 50,000 rubles on the card every month, or maintain a balance of 150,000 rubles or more with spending from 20,000 rubles a month. It is possible to link the card to the "My piggy bank" account and receive a 7% interest on the balance.

5. Home Credit, Debit Travel Benefits

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + ≈2%
• Transgran: 0%
• Cash withdrawal: 0% for the first 5 transactions per month, then - 100 rubles
• % on the balance and cashback: - and 1-5% in the form of bonuses, which are converted into rubles 1: 1

Travel Benefit is a novelty on the travel card market. And at first glance, not a card, but some kind of gift! But let's take a closer look.

Of the heady pluses - 3% cashback on any purchases abroad, 5% return for air / railway / hotels / cars and 1% for purchases in the Russian Federation. And also insurance, 2 welcome passes to business lounges, 5 cash withdrawals per month without commission and all temporary "buns" from Visa (yes, this Home Credit card is premium). Service is not premium-adequate - 199 rubles per month or daily maintenance of the balance from 30,000 rubles / spending on the territory of the Russian Federation from 30,000 rubles per month ("travel" does not count).

Apply for a Travel card or regular Benefit (also with a profitable cashback) and get 500 rubles as a gift:

What does fabulous cashback hide? In general, 3% abroad turns into 1% due to the conversion rate. 5% on organizing moments on a trip is profitable, no argue (especially since the cache threshold is 5,000 rubles, that is, you can spend up to 100,000 rubles a month on travel). But 1% for operations in Russia, and in combination with the absence of interest on the balance, clearly does not make it the main one for use.

But we have already left an application for the release 🙂

I am complementing the review. We paid the bill in a cafe abroad several times - the cashback came, everything is in order (although the conversion is not the most profitable).An interesting map for me was travel insurance - and then a fat minus appeared. You need to come to the office, leave an application for connecting the service (as well as for the lounge key), and then - in the evening - you also need to call Allianz insurance and ask to send the policy by mail. That is, you cannot get insurance on the spot in the office. Okay, but here's a set-up: on the very day when I arrived at the HomeCredit branch, the system broke down (for the whole day!), And the connection of insurance and lounge did not work. A coincidence, of course, but the sediment remained. Given the far away location and the huge queues, I chose to buy insurance online.

6. Alfa Bank, debit Alfa Travel, basic package

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + 1.5%
• Transgran: 3%
• Cash withdrawal: 0%, with monthly expenses of 10,000 rubles or more
• % on the balance and cashback: 1-6% and 2-9% with bonus miles, for which you can buy tickets 1: 1

In our opinion, one of the most controversial among the popular bank cards with cashback. It all the time wins some titles, user recognition, but we do not see anything beneficial in it.

The first 2 months of service - 0 rubles, and then:

Spending <10,000 rubles a month? You get service for 100 rubles a month, 2.4% for flights and 6% for hotels, but 0% cashback for all other purchases.

Spend> 10,000 rubles a month? You get free service, 4.5% refund for air and 8% for hotels, 2% cashback for any other purchases and 1% for your account balance.

But if you spend> 70,000 rubles, you will get 5.5% cashback for flights and 9% for hotels, a fixed 3% for other purchases and 6% for the account balance.

Disadvantages. Firstly, significant expenses for maximum cashback. Secondly, increased miles for air and hotels are credited only if you purchased them on the Alfa Bank website in the "Travel" section. Thirdly, the 3% conversion commission reduces any cashback for purchases abroad to 0, if not a minus. What is left there - 1-6% on the account balance? Thank you, Tinkoff also has this (moreover, for spending from 3000 rubles).

7. Promsvyazbank, debit card of the world without borders

• Conversion rate: Central Bank + 1.5%
• Transgran: 0% if the transaction is made in $, € or rubles, otherwise 1.99%
• Cash withdrawal: 1%, minimum 299 rubles
• % on the balance and cashback: up to 5% and 1-1.5% with bonus miles; you can only spend on air and railway tickets, hotels, car rental, tour or cruise at a rate of 1: 1

We haven't tried Promsvyazbank yet. But in general, the card is more or less suitable for payments in dollars / euros abroad, and includes travel insurance.

Let's clarify the situation with cashback: 1.5% - for purchases abroad and the category of "travel"; 1% for all others. Thus, losses on purchases in $ and € will amount to 0-0.5% (exchange rate - cash), in other currencies - ≈1.5-2%. For withdrawing money from a foreign ATM, you will have to say goodbye to 2.5-4.5% of the amount. Annual and cashback come to the card in the form of bonus miles (1 mile = 1 ruble, no more than 3000 miles per month), you can waste them in the aforementioned categories.

Service cost - 1990 rubles per year, if you pay within a month from the date of card opening - a "compliment" 500 miles.

But besides cashbacks, insurance and business lounges, there are other points: which card is more profitable for withdrawing cash, which one is for payment ... Plus, multicurrency and the eternal question "Visa or MasterCard?" - is it important at all? This article would have turned out to be very long, so we talked about all this in a separate article 🙂

Bank cards with Priority Pass

When choosing a bank card for trips abroad, and especially frequent ones, pay attention to the availability of the priority pass program. It gives the right to enter the business lounges of airports around the world, where you can relax / take a nap on comfortable sofas, or even in separate rooms, take a shower, eat for free, etc. Have you ever managed to have a snack, for example, at a Moscow airport, without making a hole in the budget? 🙂

Bank cards with a priority pass belong to the premium category, and banks set special conditions for their issue. Moreover, in 2019, conditions for all banks deteriorated significantly. If before, unlimited access to business lounges was given for maintaining 400,000-600,000 rubles in accounts, now the threshold is greatly overestimated.

Therefore, having looked at all bank cards with a priority pass, we came to the conclusion that now there are no particularly attractive ones for long-term use. And the best ones in 2021 for “just trying” are Sberbank Premier and Raiffeisen with the Premium package.

We prioritize the pass from the archive tariff of the now defunct B&N Bank. After the expiration date, we don't even know what to look at.

UPD: switched to Tinkoff Black Metal (2 passes to business) + All Airlines credit card (2 more passes) But if the accounts have more than 3 million, then 4 passes on each card!

Sberbank, Sberbank Premier package: As it seems to me, the most short-lived Sberbank product in use. And all because customers are attracted by the priority pass card and free conditions - until 2019, an unlimited card was issued both for the holder and for all guests for 2500 rubles per month! But the bank has become angrier, and now in 2021, for the same commission, 8 passes per block (i.e. for 3 months) + cool travel insurance abroad (it was available before). Unlimited money is given for maintaining the balance from 2,000,000 rubles.

Raiffeisen Premium Package 5: you can open a card for 3 months, pay 5000 rubles for service (for the first month and month of disconnection, the commission is not charged if they do not match) and get 10 passes for the cardholder. For a family of 3-4 people for 1 trip - ok. Unlimited money from Raiffeisen (for a quarter!) Is given for 5,000,000 rubles on accounts; or for 3,000,000 rubles on the balance sheet and monthly expenses from 200,000 rubles.

The following bank cards with a priority pass are much less interesting and beneficial. But we have to tell about them.

Opening, package "Premium": using a card from Otkrytie, both the owner and several satellites can enter the business lounge. By the way, the bank cooperates not with Priority, but with Lounge Key - which is the same, but without a separate card. The lounge provides 12 passes per year, and conditions: irreducible balance 2,000,000 rubles.

Privilege package VTB24: gives 2 free visits per month for the cardholder who keeps from 2,000,000 rubles in the account, or spends from 100,000 rubles per month, and 8 passes, if the account has more than 5,000,000 rubles.

Alfabank, Premium package: grants the owner 4 passes per month with spending from 100,000 rubles and 1,500,000 rubles on the account. Unlimited pass - just a minute! - from 6,000,000 rubles.

Promsvyazbank, Orange Premium Club program: unlimited and free priority pass from Promsvyazbank requires 4,000,000 rubles on the client's account.

Home Credit Card Benefit Travel: works with Lounge Key, gives 2 free passes once per card issue. Further, while maintaining from 600,000 rubles daily or monthly spending from 100,000 rubles (with a very sad cashback) 1 pass per month is provided. They accumulate, but they burn out after 4 months.>

Credit Europe Bank, TravelPass card: for spending about this credit card from 60,000 rubles per month it is necessary 8 passes per year to business lounges under the Lounge Key program. The card, by the way, is pretty - there is a cashback of 5-10% for hotels, air cars, gas stations and cafes and restaurants. Bonuses drip immediately after purchase!

Tinkoff, any Premium card: 1 999 rubles per month. Free - when spending from 200,000 rubles and 1,000,000 on accounts. Or have a total balance of 3,000,000 rubles or more on all accounts. Alternatively, you can connect a premium investment to Tinkoff, put 1,000,000 rubles there and there will be 990 rubles / month (and the cards are already issued free of charge).

Traveler's debit card is our choice

For us, the best bank cards for travel are, firstly, ruble Tinkoff Black (recently switched to Tinkoff Black Metal). An excellent debit card for travel, we mainly use it to pay in stores, withdraw money, or simply "scatter" funds on other cards. no commission is charged for transfers.

The second place is taken by the archival binbank Airmiles. Well, it's clear why: a card with insurance (free), decent cashback and super conditions for an unlimited priority pass.
In our opinion, this was one of the coolest travel maps.

It is quite easy to save up for a trip (using cashback and interest on the balance) - for example, part of the cost of tickets and hotels in the United States returned to us in the form of tickets to Europe for May for two. Unlike competitors offering similar cards, B&N Bank allowed bonuses to be spent on any site, which is an important point for budget travel.

Now the most approximate option is the Opencard Premium card.