Anyone been to Poland with Mondo?
Any reported issues or things I should know about for going to Poland?
According to the recent blog post, ~1,400 transactions have been made in Poland, so you won’t be alone!
https://getmondo.co.uk/blog/2016/07/08/where-in-the-world-has-mondo-been/
Just back from a weekend in Katowice. No issues using the card but beware of retailers trying to charge you in GBP rather than PLN without giving you the option - in a Sphinx restaurant I found that this had happened without my authorisation, and the waiter swore blind he hadn’t been asked by the machine, it did it automatically, no choice offered. Cost a couple of quid extra. Several other places were trying to change the totals to GBP until I told them not to.
Used at a ‘pay at pump’ Shell station, no problems. Had to pre-select how much fuel we’d need which is tricky when trying to re-fill a hire car to full, but seemed to work ok. Got a 1p refund immediately afterwards for whatever reason.
Wizzair wouldn’t accept my Mondo/Monzo card in the air as it didn’t have a name on it - I only wanted to see if it worked when airborne but they wouldn’t even try it.
You should report this transaction through chat, I’m pretty sure this can be disputed by Monzo with the retailer as it is against MasterCard rules
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I did wonder if it was a bit naughty but between the language barrier, the fact that I’m not entirely sure I believe the waiter when he said his machine did it automatically with no options, and the fact that I had only paid £30ish for an enormous meal for 4 with drinks in the Polish equivalent of TGI Fridays…
I’m not bothered myself about it, but if you think it might help others then I’ll send a note.
Same issue for me after three weeks in Warsaw. Several attempts to charge in £s which I was able to stop except on one occasion. Overcharged by about 50p not enough to make a fuss just be aware anyone travelling in Poland.
I’ve tried on British Airways (on-board duty free as catering is still complimentary) and Aer Lingus and both worked. The transaction was offline and appeared on the account a few days later. Both chip & PIN as their machines don’t support contactless. Others have confirmed it also works with easyJet.
When BA switch to charging for short haul catering they say they’ll be cashless and support contactless. As Monzo does an authorisation request each time a contactless transaction is made I wonder if contactless will work with Monzo offline or whether chip & PIN will still need to be used.
Anyone got any good food/museum tips for Warsaw? Am going tomorrow 
Theres so much in terms of good food, even great vegetarian options. Just try whatever looks good … Aioli is one of my faves though…
Anyone can confirm which ATM networks work with Monzo in Poland?
As I’m Polish and have a friend in local money exchange shop there, they always give me inter-bank exchange rate. It would be so convenient to be able to just withdraw money from ATM while I’m there though.
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I only withdrew money once from a Euronet ATM at the main train station in Kraków. You have to decline the suggested conversion rate (roughly 4.5PLN for 1GBP a couple of days ago compared to Monzo’s 5PLN) and you’ll be fine.
I was using Monzo in supermarkets (Biedronka, Małpka Express), small shops, bakeries, ticket machines, as well as restaurants in Kazimierz and the Old Town - never encountered any problems.
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Used Monzo extensively in Poland and it works very well. Like already stated just decline the currency conversion that automatically comes up when you try to pay; the rate is horrible.
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Be aware of some merchants that use eService Payment Acceptance. Already happened in two places and in both cases I was told that there was no option to change this even though my receipt said that I have agreed to it and I promise not to dispute the payment with MasterCard which is a clear lie. Other than that I didn’t have any problems, Euronet ATMs are very user friendly, give an option to use English language and allow to decline their currency conversion. A lot of merchants are already added to the database which is a very nice addition 
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I have just returned from Poland after two weeks, I used my card 90% of the time and also won a bet with my other half that the Monzo card will be better than using the money exchange kiosks (Kantor) with a much better exchange rate 
I also used an ATM there without any problem, there was a couple of retailers who asked if i wanted to be charged in pounds or Złoty, I obviously requested the local currency.
I think if I had not of had the Monzo card I would have spent far less whilst away… So thanks Monzo… I think 
Very pleased with Monzo, my other half now has one and she is pleased with it too!
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I have recently spent close to four months working in Warsaw on a project and during this time I used my Monzo card in numerous restaurants, cafe’s and shops without any problems at all. It was accepted everywhere I tried, including onboard with KLM, Wizz Air and British Airways on the flights to and fro.
With no bank exchange fees to pay on each of my 145 transactions, I probably saved close to £220 in bank fees alone, not to mention the savings on getting way better exchange rates than that offered by my high street bank.
I am one very happy camper and can’t wait to move all my banking over to Monzo and save even more!
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Hello!
So I used my Monzo at the beginning of May when I was in Poland and tbh it was the best way to pay for stuff. Exchange rate was perfect as you take 0% of fees so it beats any banks. Exchange rate was more or less familiar to ones in Currency Exchange places so it saved me time.
As it was mentioned above, sometimes terminals are asking if you want to pay in PLN or GBP. Of course you choose PLN as their exchange rate is bad so you loose couple £££ in transactions.
Only once I had problem with Monzo when I tried to pay for my online shopping. Money were taken from account and refunded later on, but I think there was an issue with website rather than with Monzo.
In overall, I am very happy with Monzo.
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Hello again!
Just came back from Poland, again and there was no problems at all.
The only issue was with paying contact-less at ticket machines in Gdansk. Very often machines did not accept payments and they cancelled transactions. I think there is an issue with machines but it is worth to mention that.
I saw a lot of folk paying with Monzo (Unique card colour is eye-catching 
) so it is popular around.
S
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thanks - we will be visiting Gdansk in a week’s time. We don’t use contactless at all, so should be ok?
Poland has really high contactless rate, in most other places, shops, restaurants, contactless is very normal and widely supported. It’s just some unmanned ticket machines that can be a bit wobbly and that’s what @Sate had inn mind, that’s why chip+pin seems like a better choice.
It’s always good to bring more traditional back-up card, as some ticket machines working in offline mode will not allow you to pay with Monzo at all (both chip+pin and contactless).
Er I see, great advice many thanks. I’ll probably bring my Barclaycard with me as it doesn’t charge non sterling transactions I believe.