Few weeks ago on an Asia-Europe route, I hit one of those “this is why I like crypto rails” moments.
Airline app throws a last‑minute business upgrade at a fair price. I go to pay with my normal bank card, and it immediately bricks the transaction. No heads‑up, no SMS, just a block and a generic error.
While I’m stuck in the verification loop, the upgrade seats sell out. No lie‑flat, just 10 hours in economy thinking about payment infrastructure.
That was the point where I decided to always keep a funded crypto‑linked fintech app handy when I travel (Keytom for me, similar idea to Revolut/Wise but wired into my crypto stack). If my “trusted” bank doesn’t like the transaction, I can route from my own assets through the app instead.
Anyone here actually using crypto as their main travel stack?