1. Use a debit card
It’s normal to wonder: “Should I travel with debit card?” And the answer is — it’s up to you.
You can use a debit card that is connected to your checking account to pay for various travel reservations. When booking a flight without a credit card and using a debit card instead, simply enter your debit card details in the credit card section. Be aware that if the money isn’t automatically debited from your account at the time of purchase, the airline may place a hold for the amount of the ticket until the flight purchase clears. The funds placed on hold in your bank account cannot be used to make other purchases.
If you put your hotel or car rental reservation on your debit card, the hotel or car rental company may place a larger hold on your card than the cost of the booking to safeguard for any accidents. For example, at Marriott, a hold may be placed on your debit card for the total cost of the room plus taxes, any applicable resort fees and a hold for incidentals (these daily fees can vary by location). The hold may remain on the card until five days after your departure. Be sure that you’re comfortable with the hold that is placed on your card because until the hold is released, that money in your bank account cannot be used for other purchases.
2. Get a PayPal account
You can use PayPal to pay for your flight, hotel or car rental. PayPal is a money transfer company where you can link your bank account and make online purchases. Using PayPal as a purchase method provides the security of paying for travel without entering your credit or debit card details with the airline or hotel.
3. Buy gift cards
Another way to pay for flights or hotels is to purchase gift cards where they are sold. For example, many grocery stores sell specific airline and hotel gift cards, as well as Airbnb gift cards. You can purchase those cards using cash or debit, and then use the gift cards to pay for your flight, hotel or rental booking when you’re ready.
4. Pay with cash
Although you cannot use cash to purchase a plane ticket online, many airlines will allow you to pay for tickets in cash at certain airports.
The websites of United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines all mention that they accept cash as a form of payment at designated check-in counters at specific airports.
5. Search for miscellaneous payment options
Depending on which airline or hotel you’re booking with, additional payment options may be available. For example, Uplift, which allows you to pay for purchases using an installment loan option, is listed as a payment method on United and Southwest.
6. Open a bank account that waives foreign ATM fees
International travel without a credit card is also possible. If you plan on using your debit card to pay for travel or withdraw cash when you’re away from your local bank, opening a bank account that waives foreign ATM fees is recommended. If you have a bank account that doesn’t waive ATM fees, you may end up paying two sets of fees:
- Your bank may charge you to take out cash from another bank’s ATM.
- The other bank’s ATM may charge an additional withdrawal fee on its own.
There are several banks out there that waive ATM fees or that waive a specific number of foreign ATM fees per month, so make sure you do your research when opening a bank account so you avoid paying unnecessary fees.
Analysis
International travel is fun, but there are a lot of tedious logistics that individuals have to tackle before they can enjoy their time abroad. One of these is banking, and how they plan to pay for everything overseas, where there’s an entirely different currency and level of credit card acceptance. This article gives several suggestions on how to tackle paying while abroad, with the strongest suggestion being finding a front to place between your purchases and your funds. This could be a third party service such as PayPal, or through gift cards that you buy in advance. Placing that extra level of security is sure to ease a lot of nerves. There are credit cards that work for international purchases, but you have to be careful about their transactional fees, because there are a lot of them! Especially with ATMs. Fees can get super high when both the ATM and your credit card company are charging you for withdrawing foreign currency. In the chaos of travel, I’d consider this a pain point. Banks should be working to make spending as easy as possible for their customers, even if they are overseas. Not only does this benefit the bank, but better service would also increase customer loyalty.
Source
Geller, E. (2023, August 17). How to travel without a credit card. NerdWallet. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/traveling-without-credit-card-tips
