Revolut has been juggling terms and benefits quite a bit lately. The neo-bank is often making these changes to try balance their profit making endeavours with offering customers a great banking experience. This latest change is a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion, so let’s get into it.
Changes to Revolut Travel Insurance
From 5 December 2024, Revolut will implement some updates to the travel insurance coverage included with Metal. These changes will apply to any new trips booked after this date:
• Only trips purchased with your Revolut account will be covered.
• Coverage for trip duration will change from a maximum of 90 days to 30 days.
• Coverage for trip and baggage delays will now apply after an 8-hour delay instead of the previous 4-hour threshold.
It’s important to note that if you book a trip before 5 December 2024, you’ll still be covered under the previous terms, even if the trip wasn’t purchased with your Revolut account. Revolut’s travel insurance partner has also updated some policy wording, and you can check the FAQs for more detailed information.
If these updates don’t suit your needs, Revolut is offering a free downgrade option for Metal subscribers until 4 December 2024. To downgrade, head to your account settings in the app, select “Your plan” and follow the prompts to downgrade under “Unhappy with plan changes.”
Is This a Big Deal?
Some of this is pretty poor for people who depended on Revolut’s travel insurance and saw it as a big selling point of Metal. But it is one of those changes that will affect a certain cohort while others won’t feel it at all.
You’re generally best off to assume any benefits like insurance or guarantees with Revolut require them to be paid with a Revolut card. The delay coverage never really benefitted me in the past. 8 hours is a whopper delay to be waiting on and I’d imagine considerably rarer than 4-hours.
Overall, it’s a shame to see customers losing any protections in the current climate, but this is becoming par for the course.
Enhanced Purchase Protection
There is some good news for people who like Revolut’s Purchase Protection. The €50 excess on claims for items purchased through your Revolut account, like phones, laptops, tablets, and other electronics, has been removed. Additionally, jewelry and watches are now covered.
In total, users will be able to claim up to €10,000 per year if eligible items are damaged or stolen within 12 months of purchase, subject to policy wording. Please do always read the fine print which excludes protection if you opt to spread payments with Pay Later.
Perplexity Pro Added to Your Subscription Lineup
I’ll put my hand up and say I’m excited about this one. Revolut Metal subscribers now have access to Perplexity Pro at no additional cost.
Perplexity Pro is a premium subscription designed to enhance the search experience with advanced features. Subscribers get up to 300 Pro searches daily, access to powerful AI models (like GPT-4 Omni and Claude 3 Sonnet/Opus), and the ability to upload and analyze files, including PDFs and CSVs.
Pro users also receive $5 monthly for API credits to embed AI-powered search into their projects. Additional perks include access to a dedicated Discord channel and priority support. Members can switch between AI models and manage their subscriptions directly from their settings.
With this addition, Metal now includes a total of 14 brand subscriptions, valued at approximately €2,600 per year.
While some Metal customers will certainly be unhappy with the changing terms, I personally feel like these are net gains for overall customer value.
