Why Your ‘Cheap’ Holiday Might Be Secretly Ripping You Off – And What to Do About It

You’ve locked down that dream vacation deal, your itinerary is colour-coded, and your flight alerts have finally paid off. But before you start bragging about how little you spent on flights and hotels, here’s a hard truth: the money you save might be disappearing faster than your data roaming in a dead zone.

According to fresh findings by international payments app Wise, Malaysians are getting blindsided—not by overpriced flights or overhyped destinations—but by what happens after touchdown. The culprit? Outdated money habits that bleed your travel budget dry.

While 70% of Malaysians carefully weigh accommodation costs and 69% are fixated on scoring the cheapest flight, only 41% consider what really counts: how far their Ringgit goes once they arrive. That means while you’re patting yourself on the back for getting a steal on your hotel, your money’s quietly getting eaten alive by hidden currency exchange fees.

Let’s break it down. A staggering 96% of Malaysians still swap money at traditional money changers—despite their reputation for less-than-friendly rates. Add to that the 65% who swipe their local bank cards abroad, even though two-thirds know these cards sneak in foreign transaction fees and inflated exchange rates of up to 3%.

So what’s the deal? According to Yee Won Nyon, Senior Product Manager at Wise, the obsession with promo fares and glossy getaways has distracted travellers from what matters most: value for money. “People spend hours comparing hotel rates, but overlook where their Ringgit goes furthest—places like Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan give solid bang for buck. And just as important, how you spend while travelling can make or break your budget.”

Wise isn’t just pointing fingers—they’re doing something about it. From 11–13 April, they’re hosting Malaysia’s Wisest Travel Agency, a pop-up experience at Pavilion Bukit Jalil’s Pink Zone, just ahead of the MATTA Fair travel rush. It’s not a travel fair in the usual sense—think fewer brochures, more brain cells engaged.

Expect hands-on money hacks, no-nonsense travel finance tips, and a dose of laugh-out-loud reality checks courtesy of content creator Adam Izzy (a.k.a. Uncle Tim). Through a live game show called Siapa Wise?, he’ll be exposing common mistakes we make with travel money—cue the “Aiyo, why like that?!” reactions—as he schools visitors on smarter, savvier ways to stretch their cash.

And if a free education on not being duped isn’t enough, there’s the cherry on top: a chance to win flight tickets to Asia. That’s right—wise up, and you could fly out.

As Adam puts it, “Malaysians say ‘save money, save money’—then go and lose it at currency counters that makan your duit quietly. It’s time to do better.”

So before you book that ‘budget’ holiday, ask yourself: is your money really working for you, or are you just feeding the fee machine? It might be time to be less loyal to old habits, and a bit more loyal to your wallet.

For more, check out Wise Malaysia on Instagram.