STUDY: Nearly one-third of Aussies suffer money woes while on holiday

Beautiful woman on the beach is paying for her drink with credit card
By Travel Weekly


From lost cash to poor budgeting and hidden fees, new research has revealed that almost one-third of Australian travellers experience problems with money while overseas.

The study, conducted by Mastercard, found that 31 per cent of Aussie travellers have suffer money woes when abroad.

Almost one in 10 have been left out of pocket every time they go away, with the average traveller losing out on around $500 due to poor budgeting, unknown transaction fees, and lost and stolen cash.

Despite Aussies’ love for heading overseas, 26 per cent return home with travel money regret, according to the study.

Lack of understanding of currency conversions (39 per cent) was the top reason why travellers experienced money regret, followed by getting caught in holiday mode (31 per cent), not tracking spending (24 per cent), and poor planning (25 per cent)

The study also found that while 37 per cent of Aussies admit to being balanced with their spending overseas, 10 per cent are impulsive and reckless.

And although 16 per cent of Aussies organise their travel money as soon as their overseas trip is booked in a bid to avoid the unexpected, 20 per cent are leaving it down to the wire, only a week before travel, and three per cent arrange their travel money while at the airport.

A popular destination for Aussie travellers, Asia is also the most common for their money woes (43 per cent), followed by the UK (11 per cent) and the US (10 per cent).

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