Financial essentials for stress-free travel

• Traveling the world requires careful financial planning to avoid setbacks and enjoy the journey with peace of mind. Travel insurance, prepaid cards, and smart currency management have become essential tools for the modern traveler.

With summer just around the corner, many are finalizing their preparations to spend their holidays in other cities or countries. International travel is very popular among the Spanish population. Last year, Spaniards made more than 21 million trips abroad, a figure that represents a 12% increase compared to the previous year, according to data from the National Statistics Institute. Spaniards tend to choose countries in classic Europe — Italy, France, and Greece —the north of the Old Continent — Norway, Sweden, Finland, or Iceland—or go further afield and cross the pond to the United States, Japan, and Thailand, which were among the ten most visited countries by Spaniards last year.

However, traveling the world requires smart financial planning to avoid setbacks and enjoy the experience with peace of mind. In this context, CaixaBank highlights three fundamental pillars that become essential allies for the modern traveler: travel insurance, prepaid cards, and proper currency management. Each plays a key role in protection, expense control, and resource optimization during international travel.

Facing Unexpected Expenses

Although not always mandatory, it is highly recommended to take out insurance before starting a trip. As explained by SegurCaixa Adeslas, insurance helps us deal with all kinds of unforeseen expenses. The high cost of medical assistance abroad, the possibility of cancellations, lost luggage, or even the need for repatriation can have a significant financial impact if you don’t have adequate coverage. That’s why it is strongly advisable to have insurance that offers the highest level of protection.

One example is medical assistance coverage, which includes medical, pharmaceutical, or hospitalization expenses, as well as emergency dental costs. If needed, these insurance policies also cover the delivery of medication, remote consultation or advice, and, if the insured person is a family member, the travel and accommodation expenses of a companion for the hospitalized insured.

Travel insurance also covers extreme cases such as death and repatriation. In this case, the coverage includes the following services: medical repatriation of the insured, return of minors and travel companions, repatriation of mortal remains, accompaniment of mortal remains, accommodation expenses for the companion of the mortal remains and return of the deceased’s companions.

Another scenario where insurance can be useful is if the trip needs to be canceled due to health, official, work-related, family, or extraordinary reasons; total or partial loss of luggage on long-haul trips (each year, approximately 25 million suitcases are lost at airports around the world); and extended stays, early returns, or travel delays. While these are general reasons, coverage depends on each insurance provider.

Managing Your Finances Abroad

Prepaid cards are another effective tool for managing your finances abroad. Since they are prepaid, they only allow you to spend the amount previously loaded onto the card, which helps maintain budget control and avoid unexpected expenses.

In addition, many of these cards, such as CaixaBank’s MoneyToTravel card, offer added benefits like no currency exchange fees, free withdrawals at international ATMs with no commissions, and included travel assistance insurance, such as medical coverage in case of illness or accident abroad and emergency dental expenses.

They also cover travel expenses for a companion in the event of hospitalization or death of the insured abroad, accommodation expenses for the companion, and emergency medical repatriation abroad due to accident or illness, as well as repatriation of mortal remains in the event of death abroad and the shipment of urgently needed medication due to serious illness or accident. In such cases, early return of the insured is also covered in the event of the death or hospitalization of a family member.

Prepaid cards offer additional services that enhance the travel experience and provide greater security in the face of unforeseen events. This includes access to VIP lounges at selected airports in the event of flight delays, as well as lost luggage tracking, with compensation of up to 120 euros in the event of a delay of more than six hours for checked baggage.

On the other hand, imagin, the neobank promoted by CaixaBank, also offers debit or credit cards for traveling the world with no ATM fees outside Spain, no currency exchange fees, full app-based management, and no issuance or maintenance fees.

Understanding how to handle money in different countries through effective currency management is essential to optimize expenses and make the most of every euro during your trip. Knowing exchange rates, avoiding currency exchange in less convenient places like airports and using cards with competitive exchange rates are key practices.

Additionally, carrying some cash for emergencies, diversifying payment methods, and applying hedging strategies against currency market volatility will allow you to adapt your budget to any situation without compromising your financial security.

Good currency management helps keep your expenses under control by exchanging money at more favorable times and saving on each transaction, allowing you to adapt to unexpected changes or emergencies. To achieve this, knowing how and where to exchange money safely reduces the risk of fraud and scams.

For better currency management, it is important to understand exchange rates. Some mobile apps and websites allow you to track currency fluctuations. There are also international debit and credit cards that do not charge fees for foreign transactions and offer competitive exchange rates, allowing you to manage multiple currencies with additional benefits.

It is advisable to avoid exchanging money at airports or hotels, as they usually offer less favorable rates. One option is to order foreign currency before traveling through the CaixaBank app or website, and the bank will deliver it to the customer’s home. It is also recommended to carry some cash for emergencies or small expenses such as public transport, markets, or tips, and to notify your bank of your trip to avoid your purchases being blocked due to suspicious activity.

Listen to the 'Finanzas con EFE' podcast episode 'Finanzas para dar la vuelta al mundo' and many others here