Can you get a loan for traveling or going abroad? The mere thought elicits both excitement and fear.
You can borrow money for your travel, visit your dream destination, and pay it back when you get home. But at the same time, you know it could lead to uncontrollable debt.
Should you seek the help of a lender to fund your travel? The straightforward answer is yes, especially if that trip is urgent. A travel loan in the Philippines is also a good option if you don’t want to put a dent in your long-term savings, or if you just need a little amount to complement your existing budget.
We’ve put together a guide to help you understand loans for travel in the Philippines. We also have a few recommendations on where you can apply for one.
What is a Travel Loan?
A travel loan in the Philippines is a personal loan for funding the costs of a trip. Travel loans help you cover expenses such as airfares, accommodations, and tour packages, among others.
Normally, a personal loan is unsecured, which means that you don’t have to put up some type of collateral to complete your application.
What is the Difference Between a Travel Loan and a Travel Assistance Loan?
A travel assistance loan is a special type of personal loan for tourists who need to fulfill their visa application or show money requirements. This is also known as a Bank Certificate or Proof of Funds loan.
Some countries require proof that you have enough money to travel. In case you have a problem in this area, a travel assistance loan may be of great help.
👉 Where Can I Apply for a Travel Assistance Loan?
Travel assistance loans in the Philippines are usually offered by private lenders. Nevertheless, some travel agencies and tour operators also offer this kind of loan product. For your convenience, you may want to check your local travel agency, especially if you’re applying for a visa.
10 Lenders in the Philippines With the Best Loans for Travel
Looking for the best travel loans? You can go to any bank or lending/financing company that offers personal loans—just make sure to double-check if these banks actually allow travel as a loan purpose.
Here are some lenders that offer the best loans for traveling:
📌 UNO Digital Bank
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- Loan amount: ₱10,000 to ₱200,000
- Interest rate: 1.79% per month
- Loan term: Six to 36 months
UNO Digital Bank may be a newcomer, but don't worry—it's a legitimate entity that's licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). With its #UNOnow loan, you can borrow as low as ₱10,000 or as high as ₱200,000, depending on the length and location of your vacation.
No need to declare any asset as collateral or present an existing credit card or bank account. Just download the UNO Digital Bank app to apply for a travel loan. Once approved, wait for the amount to be disbursed to your UNOBank account.
Read more:
- Borrowing Made Easy: Top Cash Loans Without a Bank Account
- 16 Loans With Easy Application and Approval in the Philippines
📌 Metrobank
- Loan amount: ₱20,000 to ₱1 million
- Interest rate: 1.25% to 1.75% per month (25.976% annual contractual rate)
- Loan term: 12 to 36 months
Metrobank offers a personal loan for traveling abroad with low interest rates. If your trip is coming up soon, don't worry—Metrobank processes applications in as fast as seven business days.
To apply for a Metrobank personal loan, just prepare a Signed Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement (PNDS) and a valid government ID, fill out the online application form, and wait for a call from Metrobank.
📌 BPI
- Loan amount: ₱15,000 to ₱3 million
- Interest rates: 25.60% annual contractual rate
- Loan term: 12 to 36 months
With the BPI Personal Loan, you can get as much as three times your gross monthly income. It's a collateral-free loan, too, so you won't need to give up any asset.
Get the loan proceeds quickly and easily through your BPI account. Repayment is done through the bank’s automatic debit facility.
📌 PSBank
- Loan amount: ₱20,000 to ₱250,000
- Interest rate: 1.75% per month (for term loan)
- Loan term: 24 to 36 months
Looking for a loan that rewards you? Consider PSBank’s Flexi Personal Loan with Prime Rebate. It’s the first and only collateral-free personal loan with a revolving credit line and a fixed-term loan feature.[1]
This means that your loan will work like a credit card, albeit with a much lower interest rate. Depending on how much you’ve repaid, the amount that you can borrow either increases or decreases.
Because this loan for travel comes with a rebate program, you can expect rebates or savings every time you make advanced or excess payments.
📌 CIMB Bank
- Loan amount: ₱30,000 to ₱1 million
- Interest rate: As low as 0.83% per month (18% annual contractual rate)
- Loan term: 12 to 60 months
CIMB Bank offers a personal loan for travel that you can use for your holiday or emergency trip. This particular product has one of the lowest monthly add-on rates on this list.
You can borrow up to ₱1 million, which will be instantly disbursed to your CIMB Bank savings account or to your other bank accounts within one to two banking days.
Apply easily for this travel loan via the CIMB app.
📌 SB Finance
- Loan amount: ₱30,000 to ₱2 million
- Interest rate: 2% per month
- Loan term: 12, 18, 24, or 36 months
Make all your travel goals come true with an SB Finance Personal Loan. Planning to go on a trip across Europe? With this loan, you can borrow as much as ₱2 million!
Pay back your loan in up to 36 months with a monthly interest rate of 2%.
Read more: How to Compute Loan Interest and Monthly Amortization in the Philippines
📌 RCBC
- Loan amount: ₱50,000 to ₱1 million
- Interest rate: 1.3% per month
- Loan term: Six to 36 months
Achieve your travel goals with RCBC's Personal Loan. Fund your trips and borrow up to ₱1 million with an interest rate of 1.3% monthly.
If you're ready to pay it back early, you can do so in just six months.
📌 Maybank
- Loan amount: ₱50,000 to ₱1 million
- Interest rate: 1.3% per month
- Loan term: Up to 36 months
Fund your next adventure with the Maybank Personal Loan. Borrow as low as ₱50,000 for mid-range trips and up to ₱1 million for glamorous overseas vacations. This option is definitely appealing with a relatively low interest rate of 1.3% per month.
Apply for this loan online or request further information and assistance via Maybank's hotline or in-branch.
📌 Digido
- Loan amount: ₱1,000 to ₱25,000
- Interest rate: 0% to 11.9% per month
- Loan term: Three, four, five, or six months
Digido is a licensed online lender that offers travel loans, ranging from ₱1,000 to ₱10,000 for first-time borrowers and up to ₱25,000 for repeat borrowers. Since the amount is pretty small compared to those offered by banks, Digido's loans are ideal for domestic travel only.
First-time borrowers can enjoy a 0% interest rate. However, repeat borrowers have to pay back loans at an 11.9% monthly rate.
📌 Cashalo
- Loan amount: ₱1,000 to ₱7,000
- Interest rate: Starts at 3.95% per month
- Loan term: 90 days
Cashalo is a legit fintech company offering financing products in the Philippines. Since the biggest loan amount you can get is ₱7,000, use Cashalo's cash loan to fund quick, urgent out-of-town trips. Once approved, you can get the disbursed amount in just one to three days.
Note that the maximum loan term is also relatively short at three months.
📌 Finbro Personal Loan
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Apply now via Moneymax to get started on your quick loan!
- Loanable amount: ₱1,000 to ₱15,000
- ₱1,000 to ₱15,000 on your first loan
- Up to ₱50,000 on succeeding loans
- Monthly add-on interest rate: 0% to 0.2% daily or 6% monthly
- Loan tenure: 12 months
- Processing fees: Cap of 15% monthly
- Processing time: Between 10 minutes to 1 business day
What to Consider When Applying for a Loan for Travel
A travel loan is still a financial obligation. If you want to be more responsible when it comes to handling this, you should ask yourself the following questions before initiating any loan application:
🧳 How Much Does My Trip Cost?
Figure out how much your trip will set you back. Include all travel essentials in your computation—from airfare and accommodations to tours and shopping.
Cut costs where you can, like choosing budget hostels instead of three-star hotels. Set your travel budget within your means—it should be something you can afford given your income.
Once you've set a reasonable budget for your trip, check how much money you currently have. To get the amount you actually need to borrow, subtract your available travel fund from your budget. This will prevent you from borrowing more money than you need and dealing with more debt than you can manage.
However, you may not need to get a loan for travel if the difference between your budget and your available funds is something you can save up for weeks or months before your departure date. Saving up is better in this case because you won't have to worry about paying the interest on top of the actual loan amount.
🧳 Can I Afford to Pay Off a Travel Loan?
To decide if you really need to borrow money for travel, review your income and spending, including any existing loan and credit card balance. Will your monthly budget allow you to repay a travel loan monthly for up to a certain number of years? Your monthly loan repayment shouldn't be higher than 30% of your monthly income.
Take a look at your savings, too. It isn't practical to spend your emergency fund on your trip. Travel for leisure doesn't qualify as an emergency, right? Unless you'll go abroad to visit a sick family member or for any urgent reason, then it's best not to touch your savings for a vacation loan.
Can't afford that month-long solo backpacking trip in Southeast Asia or that anniversary trip with your fiancé to Europe? Consider postponing the trip until you save up enough for it.
But if you're sure you won't have to live paycheck to paycheck after your trip and have a plan to pay off your travel loan, then you probably don't need to worry about borrowing money from a lender.
🧳 Is My Travel Purpose Worth Borrowing Money For?
Unlike borrowing money for starting a business, buying a car, or building a home, a travel loan doesn't have an obvious ROI (return on investment), unless it's for business purposes. In most cases, you can't earn more money from traveling, in contrast to making a profit from a business, driving a car, or renting out a property.
Then again, traveling offers some intangible and immeasurable benefits. Aspiring immigrants can finally reunite with their loved ones who are based overseas. Entrepreneurs can learn best practices in their industry by observing how other countries do them. Professionals can expand their skills and boost career growth by studying abroad. Tourists can experience different cultures and make lasting memories with their families.
In any of these cases, loans for travel become good debt because you get something valuable in return. Be sure that your reason for traveling is worth the long-term costs such as the personal loan fees and interest payments.
Which is Better: a Travel Loan or a Travel Credit Card?
A loan for travel isn't the only option for financing your trip. You can opt to use your existing credit card when traveling. If you often travel abroad, you can save more with a dual-currency credit card and/or a card with no foreign currency transaction fee.
Compare personal loans and credit cards to know which one is the most beneficial to you. For one, travel loans have lower interest rates than credit cards. Loans also have fixed monthly amortization and repayment schedules.
Meanwhile, travel credit cards offer money-saving perks like air miles, rebates, travel insurance, purchase protection, and other benefits that travel loans can't provide. A credit card is also safer to carry around than cash and allows you to repay only the amount you actually use.
Final Thoughts
You don't want to struggle for several years with your loan repayments after enjoying a two-week vacation abroad. This is why it's very important to carefully decide whether to get financial assistance through loans for travel. Research and compare your loan options to ensure that you can satiate your wanderlust without going broke.
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Source: [1] PSBank Flexi Personal Loan with Prime Rebate
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