Long term travel and remote work aren’t some niche lifestyle anymore. Over the past few years, more people than ever have chosen to work remotely, travel without a set return date, or split their time between countries. That freedom is incredible, but it also brings up a question that traditional travel insurance was never really built to answer:

What happens when travel isn’t just a once a year, two week getaway?

When you are hopping between countries every few weeks, living abroad for months at a time, or building a location independent life, your health and safety cannot be an afterthought. Yet many travelers still rely on credit card insurance or short term policies that stop making sense the moment your trip becomes open ended. We ran into this exact issue before starting our own long term travels. What we needed was something affordable and flexible, an insurance plan that would follow us wherever we went and cover more than just emergency medical accidents.

That is where SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Complete comes in.

This is not just another travel insurance policy. It is a full global health insurance plan combined with travel protection, built specifically for digital nomads, remote workers, and long term travelers who need coverage that adapts to their lifestyle.

In this guide, we break down exactly how Nomad Insurance Complete works, how it compares to traditional travel insurance, who it is best for, and some example of scenarios of how it all works.

TLDR: Nomad Insurance Complete is a no-deductible travel insurance that actually works for long-term travel. It covers medical emergencies, routine healthcare, and common travel issues like trip interruptions or lost luggage, offers up to $1,500,000 in coverage, and stays flexible with no set destinations or end date.

Check Price for Nomad Insurance Complete

Why Regular Travel Insurance Falls Short for Long Term Travelers

Most people start their travels with insurance from their credit card or a short term policy from companies like Allianz or Blue Cross. And for a typical vacation, that is usually fine.

The problem is that traditional travel insurance is designed around a fixed itinerary. 

These policies usually require you to set exact travel dates in advance and also set exactly which country you’ll be travelling in. Coverage often expires after 15 to 30 days, sometimes 60 at most. Once that date hits, your coverage ends whether you are still abroad or not.

They also focus almost entirely on emergencies.

If you break a bone or end up hospitalized unexpectedly, you may be covered. But anything beyond that is usually excluded. Routine doctor visits, specialist appointments, mental health care, ongoing treatments, and preventative care are almost never included.

Even worse, many plans stop working the moment you change countries or extend your trip.

For travelers like us, who move between countries frequently and do not always know where we will be next month, this kind of insurance becomes stressful rather than reassuring. Before starting our world trip, we knew right away this kind of insurance wasn’t going to cut it. Fixed dates, locked-in destinations, zero flexibility. It just didn’t match how we travel, so we went looking for a better option.

What Makes Nomad Insurance Complete Different

This article is written in partnership with SafetyWing, but it reflects our honest research and the same questions we had when we were choosing insurance before leaving on our long term travels.

Nomad Insurance Complete is fundamentally different from regular travel insurance because it is designed to function as full health and travel incident insurance, not just emergency medical coverage.

Instead of only stepping in when something goes really wrong, it supports all your health needs throughout your travels.

Medical Emergency Coverage

With Nomad Insurance Complete, you are covered for emergency medical treatment up to 1.5 million dollars annually. This includes hospital stays, MRIs, nursing care, ambulance services, extended hospital care, and emergency dental treatment.

But what really sets it apart is that it also covers everyday healthcare needs.

Everyday Healthcare Needs Coverage

You are covered for doctor visits, specialist care such as dermatologists and gynecologists, routine checkups, screenings, and vaccinations. Wellness therapies like physiotherapy and chiropractic care are included. Mental health treatment is covered. Chronic condition management is included. Even cancer treatment and maternity care are part of the plan, with medically necessary pregnancy and childbirth costs covered up to 2500$.

Travel Protection

On top of the health coverage, Nomad Insurance Complete also includes travel protection.

This means coverage for trip interruptions, travel delays, lost or stolen luggage, trip cancellation, stolen passports, robbery, and even evacuation due to local unrest. I was previously using a different Nomad health insurance and I can’t count the amount of times when I wish I had SafetyWing’s Travel protection, such as when we got robbed in Santiago, Chile, had an unforeseen trip interruption due to health issues, and ran into flight delays and lost luggage that could have been easily covered with proper travel protection.

Instead of juggling multiple insurance products, everything is bundled into one plan that follows you wherever you go.

Ultimate Flexibility

Beyond its extensive medical and travel coverage, what truly sets Nomad Insurance Complete apart is the flexibility it offers. You are free to travel where you want, with no fixed end date, and you can even purchase the policy after you’ve already left home. One thing to note though is that signing up for Nomad Insurance Complete covers you for the whole 12-months, so it is really best suited for those who are planning on being abroad travelling or remote working for at least a year.

Who Nomad Insurance Complete Is For

Nomad Insurance Complete is not for everyone. But for the right traveler, it solves a lot of problems.

It is especially well suited for:

• Digital nomads working remotely while traveling
• Long term travelers moving between multiple countries
• Expats and semi expats living abroad or splitting time between countries
• Remote workers spending extended periods outside their home country
• Long term Travelers who want consistent healthcare access

For us personally, the biggest advantage is flexibility.

We often change countries every few weeks or months. We do not always know where we will be next season. Traditional insurance requires you to plan everything in advance. Nomad Insurance Complete does not.

It covers you in over 170 countries and moves with you automatically. You do not need to update destinations or restart policies every time you cross a border.

Nomad Insurance Essential vs Nomad Insurance Complete

SafetyWing offers two main insurance plans: Nomad Insurance Essential and Nomad Insurance Complete.

Understanding the difference between them is important.

Nomad Insurance Essential

Nomad Insurance Essential is travel medical insurance. It is designed to cover emergency accidents and illnesses that happen while you are traveling. It is not a replacement for health insurance. Preventative care, routine doctor visits, elective treatments, and ongoing management of chronic conditions are generally not covered.

Nomad Insurance Complete

Nomad Insurance Complete is full health insurance with extended travel coverage.

It covers emergencies, but also routine care, preventative care, specialist visits, mental health, maternity, chronic conditions, and long term treatments. It also includes travel benefits like trip cancellation, delayed baggage, interrupted trips, stolen passport, and burglarized accommodation.

If you are doing a 2 month South East Asia backpacking trip and already have health insurance at home, Essential may be enough.

If you are traveling long term, living abroad, or no longer maintaining health insurance in your home country, Complete is the plan designed for you.

Key Benefits of Nomad Insurance Complete

Here’s a quick snapshot of the key features that make Nomad Insurance Complete different from traditional travel insurance:

• You can apply even if you are already traveling. You do not need to be in your home country to start coverage.
• It provides global coverage in more than 170 countries. You do not need to declare future destinations or lock in an itinerary.
• It covers both medical emergencies and everyday healthcare. This includes preventative care, routine doctor visits, mental health treatment, vaccinations, physiotherapy, and chronic condition management.
• It includes travel coverage like lost luggage, trip cancellation, travel delays, stolen passports, robbery, evacuation due to unrest, and accommodation burglary.
• There is no deductible. That means you do not pay anything out of pocket before coverage kicks in.
• You are covered even when visiting your home country, making it easy to return for family visits or longer stays.
• Maternity care is included, with medically necessary pregnancy and childbirth costs covered up to 2500$.
• COVID 19 treatment and quarantine are covered.
• You can visit any licensed hospital, clinic, or doctor, public or private. You are not restricted to a limited network of providers unlike many other health insurance companies, which makes a huge difference when navigating healthcare in unfamiliar countries.

How Nomad Insurance Complete Actually Works (With Examples)

Travel insurance is usually buried in 40 pages of fine print filled with conditions, definitions, and legal language. We get it. We’re the kind of people who actually did read every page before choosing and committing to the coverage for our long-term travel. So instead of overwhelming you with policy jargon, here’s a few examples of how Nomad Insurance Complete works in real life:

Medical Emergency

You’re riding a moped along the coast of Sicily when a car cuts you off. You swerve, crash into a ditch, and need an ambulance. This is a medical emergency, so your ambulance transport, ER visit, doctor consultations, X-rays, surgery, and private hospital room are all covered at 100%, with no deductible, up to $1,500,000.

Non-Emergency Injury

While travelling in Greece, you decide to try pickleball with friends. After a few hours of playing, you wake up the next day with a painful shoulder and stiff back. It’s not an emergency, but you want it checked and need some physio or chiropractic care. These visits are covered up to $60 USD per visit, with a total annual limit of $5,000.

Trip Interruption & home Coverage

You’re hiking in Patagonia when you receive the devastating news that your brother has passed away. You book a last-minute flight home during the Christmas rush, costing $3,000. Your one-way ticket is fully covered under Trip Interruption, up to $5,000. And while you’re visiting home, Nomad Insurance Complete still covers you.

Everyday Healthcare Abroad

You decide to base yourself in Japan for a year and want to stay on top of your health. Routine doctor visits, medical screenings, gynaecological checkups, dietitian appointments, and occasional psychiatrist visits are all covered. These non-emergency but essential services are generally covered up to $5,000 per year per category.

Nomad Insurance Complete offers broad, flexible coverage for long-term travelers. And when you need to file a claim, the process is straightforward: log in to your SafetyWing portal, click Make a Claim, fill a quick form and submit the necessary supporting documents, and reimbursement is typically processed via bank transfer within 10 business days or less.

How Much Does Nomad Insurance Cost

Pricing is one of the reasons SafetyWing is popular among long term travelers.

Nomad Insurance Essential costs 56.28 US dollars every four weeks for members aged 10 to 39.

Nomad Insurance Complete costs 161.50 US dollars per month for members aged 18 to 39.

The Essential plan can be purchased immediately.

The Complete plan requires a 10 day application processing period, so it is important to plan a bit ahead if you want full health coverage.

While Nomad Insurance Complete is more expensive, it replaces both travel insurance and health insurance, which often makes it more affordable than combining multiple policies.

Is Nomad Insurance Complete Worth It

If you travel occasionally, already have strong health insurance at home, and only need coverage for shorter trips, Nomad Insurance Complete may be more than you need.

But if travel is your lifestyle rather than a vacation, it fills a gap that traditional insurance simply does not.

For digital nomads, long term travelers, and remote workers, having insurance that does not expire every few weeks, covers routine healthcare, covers you in case of unforeseen travel challenges, and moves with you across borders provides peace of mind that is hard to put a price on.

Sign Up for SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Complete

Final Thoughts: SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance Complete

Travel has changed. Work has changed. But insurance has been slow to catch up. SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Complete is one of the few plans that genuinely reflects the lifestyle and travel of digital nomads today. It bridges the gap between health insurance and travel insurance, offering a solution that works whether you are in one country for a month or five countries in a year. If you are building a long term travel lifestyle like us, this is one of those behind the scenes decisions that can make everything easier, especially in the moments when things go wrong. 

The post SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Complete Review: Is It Right for Long Term Travel? appeared first on WaylessTravelers.

We have been using the Wise Travel card for the past 5 years and it has saved us a tremendous amount of money by reducing foreign transaction fees. However, most people don’t even look at their credit card statements following a vacation so they are likely not even aware of the exorbitant amounts their banks as well as the foreign bank is charging them. The problem is that there are so many hidden fees and markups on exchange rates that it can be hard to understand. In this review post, we will help break it all down for you, provide real-life price illustrations and comparisons, and our tips on avoiding the hidden fees to show you how WISE can save you hundreds of dollars during your travels.

Let’s jump right in!

Is Wise Travel Card Worth it?

Having visited over 20 countries with the WISE card, we can confidently recommend this card for your travels. 

In a world of complex banking fees, hidden charges, and fine prints, WISE provides a simple and cost-saving approach to travel cards. Not only do they have one of the best exchange rates available (Mid-market rate), but they are also one of the most honest banking companies we have dealt with. They are so transparent with their fees that they’ll even inform you if another company offers a better rate for the transfer you’re planning to make. 

This is a refreshing change from the usual hassle of digging through the fine print of banking cards just to uncover potential hidden fees. 

Another huge benefit of WISE is just how easy it is to get and use. Within 5 minutes, you can sign up for the card and have it shipped to you, no matter where you are in the world. Once received, you can then do all your banking directly from their secure app. Once you are on your trip, you can use it to pay in any currency, and Wise will automatically find the best exchange rate for you. The cherry on top? You can also dodge most of those dreaded foreign transaction fees (usually between 3-7$).

We go into more detail about all the benefits of the card in our detailed breakdown below, but if you want the quick summary:

Yes, Wise Card is worth it and for us, one of the essentials for frequent travelers and digital nomads who want to save while traveling.  

Get your WISE TRAVEL Card – Click Here

Have all the transaction fees waived on your first 800$ of foreign transfer with this signup link!

Quick Summary: Pros and Cons of Wise Card

In the sections below, we break down the hidden fees in banking and the unexpected foreign transaction charges you might face. If instead you just want the quick pros and cons of the WISE card, see the summary table below.

In-depth Guide: How does Wise work?

If you are seeing this post, you likely already know a bit about the Wise Card. Essentially, the Wise travel card acts as a debit card that can hold multiple currencies. You can use it to pay for merchandise/services at a terminal machine, and can also withdraw cash at an ATM. The biggest strength of the WISE card is how it minimizes the fees you pay on these foreign transactions by providing you with the optimal currency exchange rates and reducing your transaction fees.

Also, the fact that this is an online ‘bank’ service means you always have full and easy control of your money through their app.

Keep in mind this is not a credit card. You will always need to load money into your Wise card before you can spend.

The Problem with Hidden fees when using a credit/debit card

Imagine this. You come back from your amazing trip and look over your bank statements, and can’t quite understand why all the transactions seem higher than you recall. At the moment, you even googled how much 80 euros was going to cost you for that dinner, but your statement says 130 CAD instead of 120 CAD.

You then look at your statement to verify that time you had to pay for the 3 day trek offered by a local company. They didn’t accept credit cards so you had to send them the payment through Paypal. But 300 euros should have cost you around 450 CAD. Why does it show 493 CAD? Why is the price you paid so much higher than the exchange rate shown in Google?

This happened to us when we trekked the Volcano Acatenango in Antigua Guatemala and the surprising price difference was frustrating!

And don’t get me started on ATM money withdrawals.

To better understand why you end up paying a lot higher than what you expect, you will need to first understand the 4 types of bank fees involved in these transactions, and then see how the banks can markup those fees to charge you more.

The Rates charged by banks for Foreign transactions

There are four main rates that we need to be aware of when doing foreign transactions:

• Mid-Market rate
• Currency exchange rate
• Foreign transfer fee by Home bank
• Foreign transfer fee by foreign bank

Mid-Market Rate

The Mid-market rate is the ‘real’ exchange rate. It is the rates that banks and large money transfer institutions get when exchanging money with each other, thus providing the greatest value. But this beneficial rate seldom gets passed on to us.

This mid-market rate is also the rate that we see when googling “80 euros in CAD”. If you want to read more in detail about the mid-market rate, check out the description on the WISE website.

Currency Exchange Rate

However, most institutions, such as your bank or Paypal, will add their markup to the mid-market rate and provide you with their own currency exchange rate. This is why you will see a different currency exchange rate depending on if you use RBC, TD bank, Wise, or Paypal etc… I mean just look at the table below and you will see how the rates can vary by as much as 6% between each other.

This is also the first reason why the amount reflected on your credit card bill is higher than the amount when googling “80 euros in CAD”. We are not getting the mid-market rate but instead getting their marked-up currency exchange rates!

Foreign Transfer fee by Home Bank

Third, most banks will add on a Foreign transfer fee, in the form of a fixed rate or a %. This foreign transfer fee will vary depending on if you are doing a direct money transfer, or an ATM cash withdrawal. Take a look at the third column (Transfer fee) in the picture above to see how the fees can be as low as 0$ and as high as 25$!

However, keep in mind that a 0$ transfer fee doesn’t mean it is the best option. When they don’t charge a transfer fee, they may be marking up the exchange rate to make their money.

In the case of withdrawing money at an ATM with my TD bank card (home bank), I will be charged a fixed rate of 5$ per withdrawal.

Foreign transfer fee by foreign bank

Finally, if you are withdrawing cash from a foreign ATM, there will likely be another transfer fee charged by the foreign bank. The amount will depend on which country you are in as well as which bank you are dealing with.

In our travels, we always search to see if there is a bank there that doesn’t charge fees or has minimal fees. The Foreign Transfer fee by the foreign bank is unavoidable though so you will be charged that regardless of if you are with WISE or another bank.

Example of all the fees together

To give you an example of how all the fees are applied, we’ll look at this situation with my TD debit card. When withdrawing cash at a foreign ATM, TD will charge:

• 5$ foreign transfer fee
• Then take a 2.5-3.5% markup on the mid-market exchange rate for the withdrawn amount
• Then the foreign ATM may charge another 2-5$.

On a withdrawal of 100$ at an ATM, this can easily add up to 13$ in fees! You can see how these fees can quickly add up!

Types of transactions and their costs

There are three main types of transactions we face when traveling.:

• Credit card payments at a terminal
• ATM withdrawals for cash
• Direct money transfer (usually for smaller independent companies)

Fortunately, the Wise Travel card can help with all three types of transactions, while providing you with the best rates as compared to a regular bank credit/debit card.

Regular Credit card transactions (~2.5% fee):

For most, credit card payments provide the most convenience when paying for goods and services while we travel. With my TD Aeroplan Visa card, the bank will add a markup fee of 2.5% on every foreign transaction, then VISA will use their own currency exchange rate.

Fortunately, the VISA exchange rate is only a tiny bit higher than mid-market rate. At the time of writing in July 2024, the VISA exchange rate for EURO:CAD is 1.503, only 0.002 above mid-market rate.

So overall, when doing credit card transactions, you will be receiving the best value foreign exchange rate as compared to ATM withdrawals or direct money transfer. Keep in mind though that there is still that 2.5% markup fee on the exchange rate.  

Regular ATM withdrawals (5-10% fee):

For many countries, cash is still preferred so inevitably you will need to make an ATM cash withdrawal. For these transactions, the foreign ATM machine will almost always charge their own base transfer fee (3-10$), then your bank will charge their transfer fee (5$ in our case), in addition to a 2.5-3.5% currency exchange markup.

As you can see, these fees can add up quickly.

On top of that, many ATMs limit the maximum that you can withdraw in a day.

For example, when we were in Guatemala, most ATMs had a limit of 2000 Quetzales, the equivalent of 350$. So if you add the 6$ foreign ATM fee, 5$ issuing bank fee, then a 3.5% foreign exchange fee (12.25$), and withdraw the maximum, the total additional fees come out to 23.25$, a whopping 6.6% total transaction fee! 

Regular Direct Money Transfers (4-10% fee):

Finally, there are times when the merchant doesn’t accept credit cards and requires a money transfer to book your activity. This was the case when we went to Casa Del Mundo Hotel, a beautiful remote hotel in Lake Atitlan Guatemala.

I made my payment through Paypal but in the end was charged a foreign transaction fee of 8$ (the options ranged from 8-30$ depending on if I paid directly from my bank account vs. credit card) and had to use Paypal’s currency exchange rate, which was about 3% worse than the mid-market rate.

On this transaction of 350USD, I paid around 22$ in fees, a substantial 6% transaction fee. 

The Solution: How Wise can help you save

Since most of us don’t ever read the fine print and 14 page pamphlets that come with our bank cards, we often don’t realize the substantial fees we are being charged when traveling. Fortunately, since we’ve discovered Wise, it has helped us save hundreds of dollars on every trip.

Not only does WISE use the REAL exchange rate (mid-market rate), but they also keep their foreign transaction fees to a minimum, usually 30-50% of the price of my bank card. This applies to using it for foreign credit-card-type transactions, ATM withdrawals, and even direct money transfers.

Here’s a summary of how WISE can save you hundreds, no matter what type of transaction you are doing.

Below we will go into detail about how WISE helps you save on each transaction type.

WISE Credit card transactions (WISE average 0.89% VS. 2.50% Credit card):

WISE provides a physical card that can be used like a debit card. When making payments abroad, WISE charges a very minimal transaction fee and provides you with the most beneficial currency exchange rate, the mid-market rate.

For example: when paying for a 50 euro meal in Italy, WISE will automatically convert the required amount from your home currency balance in your account to euros using the mid-market rate. This will be VERY similar to the rate when googling “50 euro to CAD”.

I have listed below an example of several popular currencies, the transaction fee, and total transaction fee in % when converting 1000 CAD to a foreign currency (if you convert less money, for example, to pay off the 50 euro meal, the WISE fee is adjusted accordingly thus the total transaction fee % overall stays the same):

I tried to provide a range of currencies to illustrate just how advantageous it can be to use WISE. For the most part, the exchange of currencies costs a total of 0.50-1.14%, giving you significant savings over the common 2.5% currency exchange fee provided by bank cards.

There are times however when I may opt to use my TD Aeroplan Visa card, to accumulate points that help me save on flight bookings.

WISE ATM Withdrawals (WISE ~2.20% VS. 6.65% Debit card):

As previously illustrated, withdrawing cash at ATMs can often come with the heftiest transaction fees. Fortunately, with WISE, you can make 2 ATM withdrawals totalling up to 350 CAD total each month without incurring any fees. For each time you withdraw money after that, you will be charged a fixed fee of 1.50 CAD.

Also, once you withdraw more than 350 CAD, you’ll pay their ‘variable fee’ of 1.75% (varies based on country).

Check below for a table showing your fixed rates and variable rates based on country:

Get your WISE Travel Card – Click HEre!

Have all the transaction fees waived on your first 800$ of foreign transfer with this signup link!

Example of ATM withdrawal fees Debit vs. Wise

We will illustrate and compare two scenarios when withdrawing cash from an ATM using Debit card Vs. Wise card. The first example we need to withdraw 700 CAD and the second example, we need 350 CAD.

ATM withdrawal of 700 CAD

In this second example, using WISE card for the ATM withdrawal allowed us to save 27.4$ on the transaction, a huge 3.9% savings!

ATM withdrawal of 350 CAD

In this example, using WISE card for the ATM withdrawal allowed us to save 17.25$ on the transaction, a huge 4.9% savings!

I’ve illustrated two examples. One where you need a larger sum of cash, for when you are in those countries that do not commonly accept credit cards. The other example of a 350 CAD withdrawal illustrates when you are in a country where they do accept cards but you just need some loose cash to buy food/souvenirs from local merchants.

In both examples, by using WISE, you can save up to 4.9% on the total transaction fee! 

TIP: Be careful with DCC

Also make sure to choose to be charged in the local currency of the country you are traveling in (USD if in the United States, Euros if in Europe, Turkish Lira if in Turkey etc…), and refuse the ATM’s offer to convert the amount to your home currency. This is something called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion), and although it may sound great to have the ATM show you how much you’ll be charged in your home currency, it’s actually a total scam.

It essentially allows the foreign ATM machine to use a significantly marked-up exchange rate to convert your money, thus earning them a hefty bonus. 

So make sure to choose to be charged in the local currency of the country you are in, that way your WISE card can provide you with their awesome true mid-market rate and save you money! 

With that extra cash, you can maybe buy that luchador mask your partner has been nagging you about the past week. Double win!

WISE Direct Money Transfer (savings variable):

Finally, for those merchants who don’t accept credit cards, we often need to find a direct money transfer service. It is harder to illustrate the savings with exact numbers since it highly depends on the bank/service, but WISE provides a very handy tool that shows you an easy comparison.

In this example, I am sending 1000 CAD to a recipient in Europe.

Note how Paypal, although only charging a 2.99$ transfer fee, you end up with far less money as compared to using WISE. The reason for that is the Exchange rate they use.

Remember how WISE uses the mid-market rate? In this example, 0.67. Notice how Paypal’s exchange rate is 0.64, a whopping 3% below the mid-market rate. That is why it is useful to understand all the hidden fees in such a transaction. The table above is about a year old but the same savings continue to stand true.

Loading your WISE Travel card with cash

A quick note about loading your Wise card with money balance. Since the Wise card acts like a debit card, when you withdraw money from an ATM, or pay with the card at a store, you need to have a cash balance available in your account. Most of the time, it will be your home currency, and then whatever amount Wise needs, it will convert from your home currency balance, again at the mid-market rate (as shown in the credit/debit transaction examples above).

There is also the option to open multiple balances in different currencies, that way you can also convert money to that currency during advantageous periods and hold it in your account until you need to use it. 

But that means you need to first load cash into your account. What kind of fees does that incur?

Fortunately, loading cash costs very little. I recently put 800 CAD into my account and was only charged 1.84$ (a tiny 0.23%).

WISE Travel card review

Beyond the amazing savings that you can get by using WISE when travelling, here is our review on its usability, security, and two other distinct advantages of the card. 

World Wise Usability

Now that you understand just how much you can save using the WISE card vs your bank card, the other important criterion to evaluate is its real-world usability. We have now travelled to over 10 countries in the past few years using the WISE card and it has worked under all scenarios.

Whether you are having a trip through Vietnam, Japan, Guatemala, Turkey, Namibia, or just about anywhere else in the world, WISE will work for you! In fact, WISE can hold and deal with over 50 currencies around the world!    

I frequently use it to withdraw cash at an ATM abroad, and have also used it to send money directly to a merchant. If the other user has WISE, it is super easy to transfer money to them. If they don’t have WISE, then you can send money directly to their bank account using your WISE account. 

Security

Opening an account is very easy and can be done in under 10 minutes, going through all the verification steps. After that, they will send you a physical WISE travel card as well as a digital card that can be used immediately.

WISE is also extremely secure as they have a dedicated fraud and security team working to protect your money, they use 2-factor authentification, and they hold your money in established financial institutions.

We have also felt very secure using WISE since they immediately send you notifications once there are any transactions or logins to your account. 

There are also two more very helpful advantages that we have noticed with WISE

Card can be quickly replaced while abroad

If the ATM ever eats your card, you are able to easily freeze your card in the app, and then order another card. The WISE card can be delivered almost anywhere in the world and takes around a week to arrive. With my bank debit card on the other hand, they have significant limitations on if they will send you another debit/credit card while abroad.

This happened to us when our credit card got frauded, and we had to cancel the card. The bank however was unwilling to send us another credit card and the only way to get it was to go to our home bank branch. This would be very inconvenient as we were travelling for several months.

So we were glad to have WISE knowing that if anything happens to the card, we could get a replacement.

Two-factor authentification

When trying to pay for something like airplane tickets online, there is frequently some sort of two-factor verification required. Using my VISA card, they will often try to send me a text message with a code to authenticate the order.

When I am abroad, receiving these text messages can often be glitchy and oftentimes I never even receive them. This means that I am unable to process the transaction.

With WISE, however, you can either receive a text message or authenticate it directly by logging into the WISE app on your phone. This has ensured that all my online transactions while abroad goes through seamlessly.

Summary: Wise Travel Card Review

Hopefully, this guide has helped you better understand the various fees we need to consider when making foreign transactions/withdrawals and that the real-life examples have shown you just how much money you can save with WISE.

I was skeptical at first but after the first time where I had to send 300€ to our Turkish Gulet voyage while traveling through Kas Turkey, and I was only charged 1.50CAD and given the mid-market rate, I was convinced! The Wise Travel Card has yet to fail us through our extensive travels, and it is for this reason that we highly recommend it to all our traveling friends!

To Sign up and start saving, GET WISE. With this signup code, you will also get a fee-free transfer of up to 800 CAD! This is perfect for when you have a big trip or service to pay for soon!

Get your Wise card now

Have all the transaction fees waived on your first 800$ of foreign transfer with this signup link!

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Looking for more travel inspiration?

Explore all the best experiences of Japan: visiting the epic coast of the Izu Peninsula, discovering the culture of Kyoto, See the bustling metropolis of Tokyo, visit the bowing deers of Nara, and more of Japan!

Incredible volcanoes and ancient Mayan civilizations: Tikal and Antigua in Guatemala.

Hiking in the Andes and discovering Machu Picchu: Travel itinerary in Peru, hiking to Machu Picchu

Exploring ancient cave dwellings and riding hot air balloons in Cappadocia. Find the most unique cave hotels in Cappadocia.

Exploring and sailing on the Turkish Coast

Hiking in one of the US’s best national parks and road tripping through Utah

Discover Vietnam including the North on the Ha Giang loop, or venturing into the Unesco town of Hoi An.

The post WISE Travel card review (2026): How much can you save? appeared first on WaylessTravelers.

Traveling can be expensive but if you adopt the right strategies, you can actually find ways to have huge savings. In general, booking early, picking affordable destinations, and choosing AirBnBs or guesthouses for accommodation will help you keep the budget lower. However, one of the best strategies we use to save money on our travels is through travel hacking the largest expense on the trip, flight tickets. Below we’ll give you a rundown of what Canadian travel hacking is and how you can implement this method.

What is Canadian travel hacking?

Travel hacking refers to the practice of strategically leveraging various methods, such as credit card rewards, frequent flyer programs, loyalty points, and other travel-related perks, to maximize the value and minimize the cost of traveling. The method of travel hacking is different depending on which country you are in, but in this post, we’ll focus on Canada and Aeroplan. This method can be used to book hotel stays, car rentals, or activities, but we feel the redemption value is greatest with flights.

Is travel hacking worth it?

An example of our latest redemption was for the Business class layflat seats on Singapore Airlines from Montreal to Ho Chi Minh City. We used 87,500 points each + about 150$ per person to redeem this itinerary that would’ve otherwise cost us about 9000$ per person! This is about a 10c/point redemption, which is amazing!

In comparison, most cash-back credit cards provide only 1-2% return, normally meaning 1c/”point”. As a reference, saving up 87,500 points took about 6-8 months to accumulate.

So you can see how Canada travel hacking with points can be very advantageous.

For this tutorial, we will be mostly talking about Aeroplan points since it has the best redemption value for Canadians. 

The 3 steps of travel hacking flights in Canada

There are three main steps to do to travel hack flights. The first two involve accumulating points and the last, are strategies for redeeming and getting the best value with your points:

1) Signup bonuses with credit cards

2) Accumulation of points through spending

3) Redemption of points for flight ticket

1) Signup bonuses in Canada

One of the easiest and quickest methods of accumulating points is through credit card signup bonuses. When you sign up for a credit card, there are oftentimes promotions that give you a large sum of points after surpassing minimum spending.

As an example, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card we use provided around 50,000 points after spending 3000$ within 3 months (that was the promotion at the time of signing up). This is usually enough to fly roundtrip to Europe. With the cost of everything nowadays, this shouldn’t be too hard to achieve. The current promotion with TD may vary.

The bonuses are usually provided in a few phases:

For example (this is the current promotion at the time of writing):

• 10k points after your first purchase
• then 20k after 5000$ of spending within 180 days
• and a final 10k after spending 7,500$ within 12 months.

What’s great also is that with the promotion, usually, you will have the first-year credit card fee waived. This means that by simply putting your regular monthly spending on the new credit card, you can earn just about a roundtrip Europe flight ticket already.

2) Accumulation of points

The 50k signup bonus is a great start to accumulating enough points, but the next step is earning points through regular spending. 

TD Aeroplan credit card point accumulation

For the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card, this is simple. Just put all your spending on that card. Try to minimize charging anything on your debit card as it earns you no points.

The point accumulation value varies depending on the card you get. Sometimes they will provide 1.5x points on gas and travel-related expenses, and 1x points for everything else.

This means that if you spend 50$ on gas, you will earn 75 points. If you spend 100$ on non-qualifying purchases, then you will earn 100 points. This point accumulation stacks on top of the signup bonus so your minimum spending will also earn you points. 

American Express Cobalt point accumulation

With the previously mentioned American Express Cobalt Card, the main perk is actually how it earns points on regular spending. Particularly beneficial is that it earns 5x points on groceries and restaurants.

Typically a couple or family can spend 100-300$ per week on groceries so that means you can earn 500-1500 points per week! The same applies to restaurants.

This means that you will earn 2500 points with Cobalt for exceeding 500$ spending (promotional bonus), and on top of that earn another 2000-6000 points from the grocery and restaurant spending, giving a total of up to 8500 points per month, or 102,000 points per year! Right there you have enough points to redeem that business class flight! 

A great way of milking this further is by purchasing Gas gift cards from the grocery store. In this way, you will also earn 5x points for your spending on gas! Under normal circumstances, Gas only earns 2x points. 

As you can probably tell, the points accumulated through the 5x redemption are the reason why the 12$ monthly fee is worth it.

If you are a family or couple, you can combine your Aeroplan accounts into a family plan so you can share the points. 

3) Redemption of points for flight tickets

This is the fun and exciting part where all your hard work pays off!

Searching for flights

To redeem your points, you will need to search for flights on the official Air Canada Aeroplan website. Although generally point redemption values are based on distance and the zone of the country you are going to, the values still fluctuate depending on the day of departure.

As an example, when we redeemed our business class tickets on Singapore Airlines, our redemption value was 87,500 points but all the other days of the entire month were close to 130,000-150,000points! That’s almost double! And after we bought those seats, the points cost for the same flight business class seats went up to 120,000 points. 

So it pays to search for your flights far in advance as there will be more options and usually better value. There is no secret trick here, it comes down to taking your time and clicking through different combinations of dates and flight routes.

Also, make sure to pay attention to not only the point value but also how much additional fees there are. Sometimes the point value may be good, but it costs 700$ in additional fees. To figure out if the flight redemption is worth it, check out the following section.

Value of the point redemption

Since every flight route will have its own point cost as well as additional fee costs, it is important to have an objective way to figure out if the redemption is worth it. This is where the point redemption value formula comes in. 

As a rule of thumb, if you get a value of:

• > 2¢/point, is considered a satisfactory redemption
• > 4¢/point, then it is a great redemption
• > 8¢/point is considered a rare and excellent redemption

To figure out how much your redemption value is, follow this formula:

So that is the regular cost of the flight if you were to book it without points, minus the fees you pay during your Aeroplan point redemption, divided by the total number of Aeroplan points used. You then multiply that total by 100 and you will get the redemption value in cents per point.

Example: As an example from our Business class flight seats (we used 87,500 points and had to pay 150$ in airline fees. The normal cost of the flight as determined on the Singapore Airlines website for the exact same flight was 9200$): 
9200$ – 150$ / 87,500 points = 0.1034 x 100 = 10.34c/point

To find the best value, make sure to click through every day of the week to see how many points your flight costs. Different itineraries, airlines, and flight times will each have their point value cost.

Applicability of points

In this tutorial, we mostly go through Aeroplan points since it is the most flexible and valuable flight loyalty program we have in Canada. With Aeroplan points, we can redeem points to book flights with any of the 26 Star Alliance partners.

These include main companies such as Lufthansa, United Airlines, and Swiss Air, but also more distant airlines such as Egyptair, Eva Air, Turkish Airlines, and Ethiopian Airlines. 

If you are also collecting points through Cobalt, then you will have the option of transferring the points 1:1 to Aeroplan, or maybe another airline’s loyalty program. 

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5k Layover hack

Another awesome perk of Aeroplan is that you can add an extended layover on an “on-route” destination for only 5k more points. For example, If flying from Montreal to Vietnam, one of the optional itineraries is to fly to Japan and then switch airlines to arrive in Vietnam.

Since Japan is considered “on-route” to the destination, you can add a multi-day layover in Japan by simply paying 5k more Aeroplan points. You can extend your stay there for up to 30 days in this way. This is an awesome way to get more value with your points and to visit an extra country on the way to your destination. It’s like paying for two separate plane tickets with one Aeroplan redemption!

It is not always clear-cut how Aeroplan determines whether the destination is “on-route” so you will need to try it out in their system. Normally, if the country/airport is one of the layovers when you search for a flight redemption on Aeroplan, then usually the 5k layover can be used. 

Can you travel hack for hotel stays?

Yes, you certainly can. However, we feel that the redemption value is better with flights. In most cases, you will get only around 1-2c/point with hotel stay redemptions. Also, the way we see it is that with hotels, you always have options of staying at more budget accommodation whereas, for flights, the prices are quite fixed and expensive.

For this reason, we prefer to spend our points on an expense that is always costly and that we have no alternative way to save on. 

If you are interested in checking out redemption values, you can look at Hotel loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, and Radisson Rewards. You can transfer your American Express Cobalt points to these programs.  

Tips for Canadian travel hacking

Here are some additional tips to help you accumulate points more smartly:

• You can take advantage of different signup bonuses with different credit cards but I wouldn’t sign up for more than 2-3 cards maximum per year. Since you will need to cancel the card normally after the first free year, it can end up affecting your credit score. 
• For Aeroplan points, the credit card companies you should pay attention to are TD, CIBC, and American Express. 
• Since after the first year, you will need to pay the credit card annual fee, we would normally recommend that you cancel the card. You can also try to call the credit card company and see if they are willing to waive the fee for another year. 
• After cancelling the credit card, if later on they have another signup bonus promotion, make sure to read the fine print for the conditions. Many credit cards will not give you the signup bonus again if you’ve signed up for the card in the previous 12 months. 
• Make sure to take advantage of the free checked luggage benefit for your Aeroplan flights.
• You can also send a referral code to your partner/family/friends. If they sign up, you will earn 5,000-10,000 points. 

Using WISE card worldwide

When taking cash out of an ATM while abroad, you will most likely be charged both a foreign exchange fee and a foreign transaction fee by that country’s ATM. With my Canadian card, this can easily be 3-4$ + 2.75% + a markup on the exchange rate charged by my bank, and then another 3-5$ charged by the foreign ATM.

This can be really costly. For this reason, we recommend using WISE card which has only minimal fees and just about no foreign currency exchange markup. This helps me save at least 5-7$ every time I take out money from an ATM. If you want to see our full review of the card showing exactly how WISE can help you save, check out our WISE Travel card comparison post.

Summary: Canada Travel hacking flight tickets with points

And there you have it!

By smartly signing up for the right credit cards, putting your inevitable daily spending on that credit card, and then strategically looking for well-valued flight tickets, you can have huge savings on the biggest expense in traveling.

We have applied these techniques in the past 6 years or so and have already been able to redeem for over 6 flights for two people! Yes, travel hacking requires some additional prep work and keeping track, but the payoff is certainly worth it! I mean just imagine, travel hacking has brought us to Tokyo in Japan, to Cappadocia in Turkey, to Antigua in Guatemala, and through Vietnam!

In our case, it has saved us over 30,000$ in flight ticket costs over the past 5 years. 

Looking for more travel inspiration?

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Exploring ancient cave dwellings and riding hot air balloons in Cappadocia

Exploring and sailing on the Turkish Coast

Hiking in one of the US’s best national parks and road tripping through Utah

Discover Vietnam and the exciting northern Ha Giang Loop, as well as the Unesco city of Hoi An.

Discover Japan through the bustling city of Tokyo, the ancient culture of Kyoto, savouring the food of Osaka, the bowing deers of Nara, or off-the-beaten path on the coast of Izu Peninsula.

Venture into the sand dunes of Sossusvlei in Namibia and kayak with seals in Swakopmund!

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