Revolut Ultra Review: Is it Worth It? Are the Perks Any Good?

After months of teasing, Revolut has launched Revolut Ultra today, replacing Metal as the newest and most exclusive tier on offer by the global fintech giant Revolut. With a comparatively high monthly fee as far as premium fintech accounts go, Revolut Ultra takes online finances, digital payments, and card spending to a whole new level with high-end perks, exclusive travel and lifestyle benefits, and excellent FX unparalleled in the market by Revolut’s competitors.

In this short review, we explore the plan's ins and outs and provide our thoughts on when Revolut Ultra is useful – and when it’s just plain overpriced.

Before we dive into the details, take a look at the table below to get an overview of Revolut Ultra’s most interesting features and what we think about them:

Pricing and Minimum Duration

First things first: Revolut Ultra’s monthly fee and its other pricing points. At £55 (or €55) per month, Ultra is by far Revolut’s most expensive plan in terms of monthly fees. For context, that’s more than four times pricier than Revolut Metal’s  £12.99 per month, and it far outpaces Revolut Premium’s £6.99 per month. As with other plans though, the amount can fortunately also be paid annually at £540 (or €540), which means that you save £120 per year in exchange for some commitment.

While this price tag may admittedly seem very steep, you get a lot in return (we’ll get to that later), making it an excellent choice if you spend a lot every month or travel frequently.

Because of its already high monthly fee, there are few other fees to speak of on the Revolut Ultra plan, and most of the existing fees kick in only after much higher limits. For example:

• FX Fee: 0.2% - 2% after £2,000 /month (weekend surcharges may apply)
• ATM Withdrawal Fee: 2% after £2,000 /month (weekend surcharges and third-party ATM charges may apply)

We find it interesting to note that Revolut Ultra’s monthly fee is priced significantly higher than the top-tier plans from other major fintechs like Monzo in the UK (where Monzo Premium is only £15 per month) and N26 in the EU (where N26 Metal is only €16.90 per month), hinting that Revolut is moving to target a new high-end segment of customers before its competitors do.

Card and Cashback

If you sign up for Revolut Ultra, you’ll receive an exclusive platinum-plated debit Mastercard with a clean, metallic design in what Revolut calls its “most precious card ever”.

The card will be delivered to your door for a small fee, but the production of your physical card itself will remain free unless you cancel or downgrade your account within the first 14 days of the card being sent to you or unless you order a replacement later.

Although the card is indeed slick and impressive, we believe its true benefits lie in the wealth of perks you get just by owning it, which we discuss in the next section. Unfortunately, however, we don’t find the cashback too special on the Ultra plan. Like Revolut Metal, you’ll earn up to 0.1% cash back on purchases within Europe and the UK and 1% everywhere else globally (with the maximum redeemable amount being capped at the monthly plan price). This isn’t particularly special unless your monthly spending is consistently on the high end, in other words, at least £55,000 per month in Europe or the UK or £5,500 in other countries. 

Travel and Lifestyle Features

This is the area in which Revolut Ultra truly differentiates itself from other premium plans and stands head-and-shoulders above the rest of the market. Below, we’ve highlighted the key features and benefits you’ll be able to take advantage of by signing up for Revolut Ultra:

Premium Subscriptions

In a market-first for fintechs and online accounts, Revolut Ultra comes with a bundle of paid subscriptions you can use right from the get-go. These include:

• Financial Times Premium Digital (normally priced at £55 or €65 /month)
• NordVPN (normally priced at at least £10 or €13 /month)
• WeWork (normally ranging from £200 to £600 /desk /month)

In our opinion, each of these subscriptions on their own are excellent deals for expats and remote workers with busy online jobs and projects – and each goes a long way in justifying the monthly cost of the Ultra subscription. However, taken together, these subscription bundles make Revolut Ultra a one-of-a-kind deal that’s well worth considering if you’re an on-the-go traveller or expat who’d get mileage out of these services.

Insurance

With Revolut Ultra, you’re covered for many of the risks that you normally need to take our dedicated travel insurance policy for – saving you time, hassle, and money in the process! By signing up with Ultra, you automatically cover yourself for the following:

• Cancelled flights, trains, and accommodation up to £5,000 /year,
• Cancelled events up to £1,000 /year,
• Purchase protection up to £10,000 /year,
• Refund protection of £300+ (on eligible purchases within 90 days of purchase),
• Emergency medical and dental care (including for winter sports),
• Car hire excess, lost or damaged baggage, delayed flights, and personal liability up to £250 /year.

These are great perks for the frequent traveller and are easily worth a few hundred pounds annually. However, we strongly recommend reading the full insurance T&Cs before signing up for Revolut Ultra to better understand what’s covered and what’s not.

Airport Lounge Access

As an Ultra member, you’ll also have unlimited access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide (which includes food and drinks while you’re there). This perk alone is valued at over £300 per year, making it an interesting perk that can help you unwind before taking off on your next flight.

Revolut Stays Cashback

Did you know Revolut has its own hotel booking platform? It’s called Revolut Stays, and it lets you compare hotels and accommodations in cities worldwide, just like a built-in Booking.com. With Revolut Ultra, you receive up to 10% cashback every time you make a booking via Revolut Stays. This adds yet another attractive perk to the Revolut Ultra for the frequent traveller!

Savings

Additionally, like other Revolut plans, Ultra customers in the UK can access Revolut Vaults, which let you save money with a variable AER paid out daily. As of June 2023, the interest rates for Ultra customers amount to 3% for GBP, 3.54% for USD, and 5.2% for PLN balances.

Other Features

Finally, in case you’re wondering, Revolut Ultra does include all of the perks you’ve come to know and love about Revolut on its cheaper plans. Here are three key examples of the perks you’ll receive when registering for Revolut Ultra – all of which can be found on the cheaper plans too:

• UK account details and an EU IBAN,
• Discounted international transfers.

Is Revolut Ultra Worth the Cost?

Whether or not Revolut Ultra makes sense for you depends largely on your needs and preferences – especially concerning your monthly spending habits.

Let’s face it: Revolut Ultra isn’t just your average premium plan. On the contrary, it’s a high-end, if not luxury plan aimed at (at least reasonably) wealthy customers whose lives frequently take them across borders. For example, as we saw earlier, Ultra’s cashback doesn’t make much sense for customers spending less than £11,000 per month in Europe or the UK or £5,500 in other countries. And while maxing out your cashback isn’t the only way to benefit from Revolut Ultra given the many other valuable perks, it does provide a rough benchmark for the kind of customers this account is aimed at.

As such, if you’re a big spender, a frequent traveller, a young working professional, a globe-trotting expat, or a voracious traveller, then Revolut Ultra’s £55 monthly fee could be worth it for you in exchange for all the insurance, protections, subscription bundles, lounge access, fantastic FX, and other benefits you’ll receive with the plan.

On the other hand, if your spending habits are a bit more modest but you’re still interested in the metal debit card or other premium features, we recommend checking out Revolut Metal instead, which we think will likely be better suited to your needs and preferences.