YouTrip

At the start of April, my existing travel card was suspended, and I needed a replacement. I was going to Spain in a couple of weeks and was in a hurry. I came across a travel card on the internet called YouTrip. Exactly what I was looking for. A debit card, linked to Mastercard, that was rechargeable via a credit card, and funds could be held in various currencies as needed, Euros in my case. Conversion rates were competitive, and basically comparable to Google rates. Way way better than conversion at ANY money exchange, including S Money. So I opened an account online, loaded it with Aussie dollars, and then converted this to Euros. I then loaded the virtual card, to my Samsung phone via the Google Wallet. All set. I also ordered their physical card, as a backup. Anyway, my departure date came, and unfortunately my physical card hadn't arrived. No big deal right? I had reserved a hire care at Madrid Airport, and when it came to pay, they required a physical card....Oh cr#p. I had obtained the YouTrip travel card in order to avoid them nasty international transfer fees and inflated FX fees. I had to suck it up and use my trusty credit card, that had all the fees under the sun...sigh. I even asked if they accepted cash...but alas, this was not possible either. So I coughed up the $52.12AUD transfer fee, and got my car. At least the FX rate was reasonable at 0.61 euros per $1AUD. I can happily report that the rest of my holiday went off flawlessly. The YouTrip card loaded on my phone, worked so well, that I used it everywhere I could. Paying restaurants, buying diesel, at bars and coffee shops, bakeries, even bus and train and ice creams. The tap and go function was basicaslly perfect, and I had a running account/history of my purchases. When the card did fail, it was because I ran out of funds. That's the only criticism I have of the card. I thought there was a failure/technical glitch, and didn't even think of lack of funds, as It wasn't stated. I had to login into my account via the app to realise why. It was easy peasy to load more cash as it was linked to my existing credit card, so a further $500 was transferred (no fees), and I converted it to Euros (all online via the app), and I was good to go again. This took under 5 min to transfer and convert. No waiting, all was pre approved. Completely seemless. I continued my Spanish holiday, unabated with the help of YouTrip. Highly recommended folks, just order your physical cards earlier than me.