Money mistakes
The costly mistakes travellers make with cash, cards and ATMs abroad, and what to do instead.
ATM fees & rates6 min read
The 3% Foreign Transaction Fee: Why It Matters When You're Abroad
You're at a mamak counter in Kuala Lumpur, plate of nasi lemak in front of you, 12 ringgit. Coffee, 3 more. You tap your credit card and the transaction goes through in seconds.
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Money mistakes5 min read
Colombia Money Questions Tourists Ask Too Late, Answered Before You Land
Card cloning fears, Nequi QR codes everywhere, and ATMs that cost more than you think. The Colombia money questions travelers ask, answered before your trip.
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Money mistakes5 min read
Peru Will Test Your Money Habits in the First 48 Hours. Here's How to Pass.
From counterfeit soles to the Yape wall, here are the money mistakes tourists keep making in Peru in 2026, and the practical fixes that let you pay like a local without a local bank.
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Money mistakes5 min read
Four Ways to Pay in Bolivia, and Where Each One Quietly Fails You
Cash, foreign cards, QR Simple, or a travel wallet? An honest comparison of how to pay in Bolivia in 2026, and the mistakes tourists make with each option.
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Money mistakes5 min read
The Peso Math Nobody Warns You About: Money Mistakes to Skip in Argentina
The waiter at a café in Palermo sets down your cortado and two medialunas, then nods at the little plastic stand on the table. There's a QR code on it. The porteño couple next to you already paid theirs, phones out, two…
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Money mistakes5 min read
The Caipirinha Vendor Takes Pix, Your Uber Driver Takes Pix, and You're Still Looking for an ATM
Brazil quietly became one of the most cash-free countries on the planet, and most visitors arrive with a plan built for the Brazil of fifteen years ago. They land in Sao Paulo or Rio with crisp US dollars, a debit card…
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Money mistakes5 min read
Mongolia Has Two Economies: One Scans QR Codes, One Counts Tugrik by Hand
Mongolia punishes lazy money planning more than almost anywhere else in Asia. Ulaanbaatar is a genuinely modern QR-payment city where cafes, pharmacies, and supermarkets expect you to scan and go. Drive two hours out of…
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Money mistakes5 min read
Landing in China Tomorrow and Your Wallet Is Full of Cash? Read This Tonight
Nobody warns you properly about paying in China. Guidebooks still talk about crisp yuan notes and hotel currency desks, then you land in Shanghai and watch a grandmother buy vegetables by scanning a laminated square of…
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Money mistakes5 min read
How to Pay in South Korea When KakaoPay Won't Let You In
Here is the strange thing about money in South Korea: it is one of the most cashless countries on earth, and yet tourists still manage to get stuck at the register. Not because payment is hard for Koreans. It is…
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Money mistakes5 min read
Why Does Everyone in Kuala Lumpur Pay by Phone Except You?
It is 1pm at a mamak in Bangsar. The line moves fast. Roti canai, teh tarik, nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaf, and at the register, a laminated QR standee that every single person ahead of you scans without breaking…
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Money mistakes5 min read
GCash, Maya, or a Wad of Pesos? Philippines Travel Money Questions, Answered Straight
Ask ten travelers how to pay in the Philippines and you will get ten confident, contradictory answers. Bring only cash. Cards work everywhere now. Just get GCash. You cannot get GCash. Somewhere between all of that is…
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Money mistakes5 min read
The Dong Has Too Many Zeros, and Other Money Mistakes Tourists Make in Vietnam
Watch the counter of any Hanoi cafe for ten minutes and you will see the same motion over and over: a customer lifts a phone, points it at a laminated card taped next to the register, taps twice, shows the screen, and…
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Money mistakes5 min read
Torn Dollars, Missing Riel, and Other Ways Tourists Quietly Lose Money in Cambodia
Cambodia is one of the easiest countries in Asia to overpay in without noticing. Not because anyone is scamming you. Because the money system itself, two currencies running side by side, quietly rounds against people…
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Money mistakes5 min read
Thailand Runs on PromptPay. Tourists Keep Paying Like It's 2015.
It's 9pm at a night market off Sukhumvit. The woman at the boat noodle stall ladles broth into a bowl, nods at the laminated blue square taped to her cart, and goes back to her pot. The Thai couple ahead of you scans…
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Read up, then pay like a local.
Scan local QR codes from your own bank or card, with no local account.