Travelex Review 2026: Travel Money, Card Fees and Exchange Rates

The online rate versus the airport rate

Travelex earns from the margin on the rate, and we checked it across the channels. Order your currency online and you get a tourist rate around 2% above the mid-market, which is reasonable for cash.

The walk-up counter is a different story. Airport and in-store rates for customers buying on the day run far wider, often 5% to 10% off the mid-market. So the rule is simple: order online ahead of time, never at the gate.

There is usually no service fee on an online cash order, and home delivery or click & collect is free. The cost is in the rate, not a separate charge.

The prepaid card's fees

The Travelex Money Card is free to order online and holds 22 currencies. But the fees stack up if you are not careful. Topping it up in pounds costs 2%, and spending a currency you have not loaded triggers a 5.75% charge.

Two more to watch. ATM withdrawals are free from Travelex's side, capped at £500 a day, though local machines may add their own fee. And a card left dormant for 12 months starts costing £2 a month.

These are sourced figures dated 27 June 2026, and we compared the Travelex online rate against the mid-market. Rates move daily, so check the live rate before you order.

The mid-market rate was about 1.1584 that day. Buying £1,000 of euros online with Travelex gave €1,134.30, about €24 less than the interbank ideal, a margin near 2%. At an airport counter the gap would be much larger.

Cash and the card

We confirmed Travelex now focuses on two things for UK customers: physical travel cash and the prepaid Money Card. You order euros, dollars and dozens of other currencies online, then collect or have them delivered.

Its network is large, with airport and high-street branches across the UK. For major currencies like euros, click & collect can be ready in as little as four hours, while rarer currencies may need up to 48 hours.

What Travelex does not do

• It no longer offers international money transfers to a bank account
• So if you need to send money to a bank in Spain, you need a transfer specialist instead
• It cannot pay out cash to a recipient abroad, only sell you cash to take with you
• There is no current account or IBAN of your own

Getting your money

Travellers who want cash before they fly

This is the heart of what Travelex does well. If you like to land with local notes in your pocket, ordering online for free click & collect at the airport is quick and the online rate is fair.

For a quick euro or dollar pickup before a holiday, it is convenient and the price is reasonable as long as you order ahead.

Cash-heavy trips with lots of ATM use

A good fit. The Money Card's free ATM withdrawals abroad, within the £500 daily cap, can beat a card that limits free cash, as long as you stick to a currency you have loaded.

Everyday card spenders and senders

Not the best choice. If you mostly tap to pay, a mid-market card gives you a better rate. And if you need to send money to a bank account abroad, Travelex cannot do it at all.

How your money is protected

We checked the FCA Register. The Travelex Money Card is not issued by Travelex itself. The e-money is issued by PrePay Technologies Limited, an FCA-authorised e-money institution under firm reference number 900010.

Money on the card is safeguarded, held separately at a banking partner, but it is not covered by the FSCS. So if the issuer failed you would not have the bank-style guarantee, up to £120,000. Physical cash you have collected is simply yours.

Security and the 2020 attack

Travelex was hit by a ransomware attack in 2020 that took its systems offline, and that, with the pandemic, pushed the business into restructuring under its lenders. It has since refinanced and stabilised, and 2026 marks its 50th year.

For the card, you can freeze and unfreeze it in the app, and it uses chip and PIN like any Mastercard. As with any travel card, watch for skimming at unfamiliar ATMs.

Ordering cash. You buy online, lock the rate, and choose home delivery or click & collect at a branch or airport. Major currencies are ready fast, so you can order close to your trip.

The card. You order it free online, it arrives by post, and you activate and load it in the Travelex app. Load the right currency wallet before you travel to avoid the 5.75% cross-currency charge.

Customer support. Travelex splits help between general cash queries and card support, reachable by phone, app and in-store. Reviews are mixed on card and refund issues, so keep your order references.

We read the recent reviews rather than just the score, and the picture is positive overall, with a very large number of ratings behind it.

What goes wrong: the poor rates for walk-up airport customers, the £2 card inactivity fee, and the odd glitch blocking a card reload.

For spending abroad, Travelex is built around cash and a prepaid card, so it suits a different traveller from the app accounts, and you can weigh it in our money transfer comparison.

The big rivals give you the mid-market rate. Our Revolut review covers a full app account with fee-free exchange up to a limit, while our Wise review shows a multi-currency account and card. Both beat Travelex on card spending, while Travelex can win for free ATM cash on a supported currency. Among the other travel cards and apps our FairFX, Monzo and Starling reviews are worth weighing. For travel cash and currency on the high street, our Post Office Travel Money review covers the closest alternative.

Rates move daily, and we refresh the live figures, so run a live comparison of today's rates and fees before you buy. If your need is actually paying a company or person abroad, compare dedicated international business payments options, since Travelex no longer sends money to bank accounts.

Travelex is the one to reach for when you want physical holiday cash, ordered online and collected at the airport, or a free card for heavy ATM use abroad. For those jobs it is convenient and fairly priced.

For that role it is solid, and we rate it 3.5 out of 5. The online rate is reasonable, the network is everywhere, and the free ATM policy helps on a cash-led trip.

Just know its limits before you rely on it. The airport counter rate is poor, the card stings you 5.75% on an unloaded currency and £2 a month if dormant, and it cannot send money to a bank account, so a mid-market card or a transfer specialist often fits better.