A few things to note:
- Card acceptance is almost non existent, even in the tourism areas. Even shops at Cairo Intl Airport don’t always accept cards. Were cards are (technically) accepted, staff are often untrained in usage of the machines, meaning you still cannot really use them (happened to me at burger king in cairo intl airport).
- Cash machines on the other hand are widely available, and work well with Monzo. There are plenty of cash machines in the cairo airport arrivals area, so there is no need to get cash before arrival if you travel through there. Many hotels also have a cash machine in their reception area (although they are sometimes chargable).
- Change (anything smaller than LE50) is rare. Anything smaller than LE10 is virtually non existent. Try to break your large notes up wherever you can (larger supermarkets are a prime source of change), and hold on to your coins and small notes, as you need them for all the tips.
- Not really related to Monzo, but it’s worth mentioning as I’ve experienced many travellers stranded at immigration because they didn’t have have the correct currency to aquire a visa: if you wish to get a “visa on arrival” you must pay for this in USD, GBP, or EUR. (Change is usually given in EGP at a lousy exchange rate.) You must have the required amount with you in cash before you board your flight in one of those three currencies as no-one will exchange currencies before you pass immigration, and they are legally not allowed to accept EGP for visa payments. (I’d generally recommend to pay in USD, as that’s what the visa is priced in, and you get some very expensive exchange rates if you use GBP or EUR.)