In this review, we will see how the Travando brand created one of the most featureful and classy wallets for an affordable price – the Travando Men’s Slim Wallet, aka the Travando Austin.
Travando Austin Review
The Travando Austin is a classy, bifold, leather, minimalist wallet. It has space for up to 11 cards and 5 cash bills. The wallet has many features, such as a wide money clip, quick-access card slot, ID window, and provides RFID protection to all of the cards stored inside. It’s very simple to use, has immense aesthetic value, and provides much of the same feeling as you are using a slimmer version of a traditional wallet.
Should you buy the Travando Austin wallet?
The Travando Austin is the perfect choice for those who need storage for lots of cards and cash, but want something affordable yet classy.
With its eleven pockets, sturdy money clip, and elegant design in various color variations, this is the go-to wallet if you need something functional, feature-complete, and aesthetically pleasing, without paying a premium price for it.
Buying
The best, and at the time of writing the only place where you can find this wallet, is Amazon.
Price and value for money
The Travando Austin wallet will usually cost you $30. It’s a fairly cheap price, and among the lowest when compared to similar minimalist wallets.
It’s amazing how much functionality this wallet has for such an affordable price. It has 11 pockets, a money clip, and provides RFID protection, all neatly packed in a very small-sized item. You won’t find any other wallet with as many features as the Travando Slim for less than $50.
Shipping details
Ordering this wallet on Amazon comes with free shipping.
The wallet will be delivered to your doorstep in about a week. If you are in a hurry and want the item much sooner, you can also opt for one of the expedited shipping options that start from around $8.
Customer support
Besides great products, Travando offers excellent customer service as well, with multiple ways to get in touch with the brand.
Your best option is to contact their customer support team on the contact page on Travando’s website, or by sending them an e-mail at [email protected].
The brand can be found on various social media apps as well. You can follow their accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest to get the latest info about their products.
Returns and refunds
In case the wallet comes delivered damaged, with some defects, or you simply didn’t quite like it as much as you hoped to, you can return it and get a full refund of the money you paid.
Amazon offers a 30-day free return policy which applies to all orders, as long as you keep your receipt and the original package of the wallet.
Basics
Travando Austin is a slim bifold wallet with a high capacity for both cards and banknotes. It is one of the five bifold pockets available in Travando’s assortment and is the most popular option out of them all.
How to use the Travando Austin wallet?
The wallet folds onto itself like a notebook without any closing mechanisms or extra buttons. It functions similarly to how any other, traditional bifold wallet would, and provides pretty much the same feeling when using it.
Once you open the wallet, you will notice a thin money clip on the right side, designed to hold your cash bills, and a plethora of card slots on both sides designed for your ID and credit cards.
On the outer wall of the wallet, you have a single extra pocket that has a small notch at its bottom for quick access to the card stored inside of it. Here you will likely keep the main credit card that you can just pick out whenever you need to complete some payment.
Aesthetics
With the smooth leather surface and carefully designed edges that are stitched with fine thread, the Travando Austin is arguably one of the most stylish bifold wallets in this price range.
Design
Although it has lots of pockets and a bifold design, the Travando Austin is a surprisingly uncluttered and clean wallet.
On the inside, the card slots are perfectly blended with each other, maximizing the efficiency on both sides of the wallet.
On the outer walls, however, you won’t find much else rather than the single quick-access pocket and the Travando logo, a steel emblem that is elegantly placed in the middle of the wallet’s front side.
Materials
The Travando Austin is mainly made from faux leather, a material used in most of the brand’s products. This type of leather is somewhat of a lesser quality than other types that are often used in the industry, but is much cheaper and easier to clean.
Aside from the leather, the wallet also includes stainless steel used for the money clip, as well as a bit of plastic used for the plasticized ID window on one of the card slots.
Colors
The wallet is currently offered in 9 different color versions:
- black
- black and orange
- black and white
- carbon
- chocolate
- cognac
- grey
- red
- vintage brown
Clothing style fit
With such a large array of colors that you can choose from, this wallet can fit many different styles.
With such a finely thought-out design and an elegant leather finish, the Travando Austin is a perfect fit for a formal business outfit. This wallet will be a great accessory to any professional attire, and you can easily combine it with any office or dinner attire.
Features
The Travando Austin is stacked with lots of useful features, helping you easily organize everything you keep in your wallet.
RFID blocking
Wireless theft and stealing credit card info using RFID technology has become an endless fear for the past few years.
Luckily, Travando is one of the RFID-blocking wallets, employing technology that protects your credit cards from unwanted wireless contact.
The only thing you should be more aware of is the outer card slot on the front of the wallet. This slot is provided with much less safety than the inner ones, so I would advise to only keep cards without scannable data or less important cards in there.
Money clip
On the right inner side of the wallet, you will find a steel money clip designed to hold a number of cash bills attached to it. You will be able to fit several bills on this clip, each one folded only once.
The clip is wide and strong enough to prevent any bending or breaking, even after years of usage. It is one of the most convenient ways of storing cash bills and is implemented in most of the latest minimalist wallets.
Quick-access card slot
On the front side of the wallet, you will find a single card slot designed to hold one card that you use most often. This slot has a quick-access thumb notch at its bottom, helping you push the card out and pick it up in a matter of seconds.
I wouldn’t, however, recommend keeping your most used credit card here, as I don’t believe this slot has the same RFID protection capability as the inner pockets. This is a slot designed for an entrance card, metro card, gym membership card, or any other ID badge you will need to quickly show or scan somewhere almost every day.
ID window
On the left side, right across the money clip, you will find a transparent ID window on of the pockets. With the help of a plasticized cover, this pocket provides see-through access to one of the cards inside the wallet, most commonly used for your ID card.
How many cards can the Travando Austin wallet hold?
You can fit up to 11 cards in total in all of the pockets of this wallet.
Each pocket, including the ID window and the outer pocket, store exactly one card inside of them. In some of the inner slots, you might be able to fit one more card, enlarging the storage to around 15 cards, but this will make the wallet practically unusable because of all the clutter.
I would advise keeping the number of cards slotted inside up to 10 at most for the best functionality.
How much cash can the Travando Austin wallet hold?
Ideally, the money clip will be able to hold up to 5 cash bills on it, folded at least once.
Of course, this number can go much higher, especially if the card pockets on the right side of the wallet are empty. However, you would then risk making the part around the clip too thick and being unable to close the wallet.
Water resistance
With such a semi-open, leather build, the Travando Austin provides next to no water protection to the contents stored inside.
Some parts, such as the money clip that is made from stainless steel, will likely not get damaged, but still, there is no guarantee that your cards and cash bills will stay safe.
Weight, size, dimensions
The precise dimensions of the Travando Austin are:
- width: 4.3 in / 10.9 cm
- height: 3.1 in / 7.9 cm
- depth: 0.8 in / 2 cm
The wallet also weighs around 1.58 oz / 44.7 gr, which is on par with some of the lightest leather wallets available on the market.
Customer satisfaction
The Travando Austin is not only the most popular wallet from the Travando brand but is one of the best-selling wallets on Amazon overall.
It has even gathered an average rating of 4.5/5 stars out of more than 80,000 reviews, which is simply an unbelievable feat, and clearly means that this is an all-around amazing product.
Known issues and problems
Even though the Travando Austin is one of the most featureful wallets in its price range, it’s still a fairly cheap wallet. That means it will not be entirely without issues.
The first thing you’ll notice here is the poor material quality of the leather used to manufacture this wallet. Faux leather is considered a more affordable alternative to other types of leather, often regarded as a cheap mimic of genuine or full-grain leather. It’s a less durable material that will start tearing apart after a couple of years of usage. This will then result in pieces of leather left on both your cards and in the pocket where you keep your wallet, as well as lots of worn-off marks all around its surface.
When it comes to functionality, we have to mention how inaccessible some of the card slots are, especially when you fill up the wallet. The inner pockets are extremely tight, and most of the time those less frequently used cards will dive so deep inside that you might struggle for a while to get one out.
Another thing you’ll notice after filling the wallet up is how hard can it be to close it up. You won’t have any problems while it’s in your pocket, but as soon as you put it down on a table it will unfold itself and open up, revealing all the cards and cash you have inside.
How does the Travando Austin wallet compare to other minimalist wallets?
The minimalist wallets industry is booming right now, with lots of new products released every single day. Sometimes this can make it hard to choose the right one for you. Here is a quick comparison between the two most popular counterparts of the Travando Austin wallet that might help you make a better choice.
Travando Austin vs Serman Brands Transformer
The Serman Brands Transformer is probably the most similar-looking wallet to the Travando Austin.
It costs roughly the same, priced at around $30, and has a very similar design with its arranged one-card pockets and wide steel money clip.
The biggest differences between the two are found on the outer side. The Serman Brands Transformer has two card slots on the front, unlike the Travando Austin which only has one. Also, the Serman Brands Transformer is made from full-grain cowhide leather, which is a higher-quality material.
However, while the leather is of slightly better quality, the aesthetics of the Serman Brands Transformer are kind of simpler, and possibly worse for a lot of people, as it comes in only a few monotone colors and bland designs.
The main question here is whether you prioritize quality or style. If so, go and check out my full review of the Serman Brands Transformer wallet.
Travando Austin vs Andar Apollo
The Andar Apollo is the more premium alternative when it comes to bifold leather wallets.
It is about twice more expensive, costing around $59, and offers more features, as well as better style. For such a price, the Andar Apollo offers the same capacity, but comes with fewer pockets that are larger in size and fit up to 3 or 4 cards inside.
The Andar Apollo also has a pull-tab for one of the pockets, its money clip is thinner and less intrusive, and is made out of premium full-grain leather with way better quality than the faux leather Travando uses for the Austin wallet.
If this got you interested, and you are thinking of spending a bit more on something more high-end, read my review of the Andar Apollo wallet to see whether it will fit your needs better.
Who should not buy the Travando Austin wallet?
First of all, I wouldn’t recommend this wallet to people who use just a few cards, as they won’t have the need for so many pockets. The Travando Austin has 11 card slots in total, which is an unreasonably high number of pockets for someone who only has a couple of credit cards along with their ID.
This wallet is also not ideal for people who spend most of their afoot. If your job requires a lot of walking, or you are simply an athletic person who likes walking to places instead of driving there, the leather of this wallet won’t hold on for long before it starts to deteriorate.
I don’t think the Travando Austin is the best fit for you if you’ve stopped using cash altogether recently and have started shopping only with your credit cards. The wide money clip is the focal point of this wallet’s design, and if you have got no use for it, then I believe you’d be better off with some other cardholder model instead.
The wallet is not very pricy, which means it may not be a good choice for a special occasion. See my guides on the best wallets under $100 or the best wallets under $200 for some higher-quality picks.
And finally, the Travando Austin is far from your best choice if you are looking for a small wallet that will fit in any pocket. With a width of 4.3 in / 10.9 cm, this wallet is among the widest ones out there and many have struggled to carry it anywhere else other than their back pocket.
Who should buy the Travando Austin wallet?
The Travando Austin is the perfect wallet for people who like to keep their things organized and within reach. With a separate pocket for each card, this wallet is one of the best from an organizational aspect and will help you to always have a clear idea of where a specific credit card is.
I would recommend this wallet to anyone whose best look is in formal wear and business outfits. The Travando Austin will go great with suits or shirts in all colors, and will perfectly blend with any wardrobe full of classy clothes.
This wallet is a safe choice for anyone who likes bifold wallets in general. Old habits die hard, especially when the time comes to change your old traditional leather bifold wallet for a new one, and the Travando Austin will provide a seamless transition in this case.
Overall, I would recommend this wallet to anyone who is on a tighter budget but still wants an elegant leather wallet with enough capacity for everything they need to carry. The Travando Austin is one of the most affordable options with so many features when it comes to wallets priced below $50, so if you are on a limited budget, definitely consider this wallet.
Where to buy the Travando Austin from?
Travando Austin Specifications
| Type | minimalist |
| Max n. of cards | 11 |
| RFID blocking? | yes |
| TSA compliant? | yes |
| Materials used | faux leather, stainless steel |
| Height | 3.1 in / 7.9 cm |
| Width | 4.3 in / 10.9 cm |
| Depth | 0.8 in / 2 cm |
| Weight | 1.58 oz / 44.7 gr, |
| Features | RFID protection, quick access card slot, ID window, money clip |
| Water resistance | none |
| Warranty | 1-year warranty |
| Return period | 30 days |
