Woman Mistakenly Spends $16,000 on Vacation (Believed Payment Was in Pesos)

By: Ene Ayegba | Published: Oct 31, 2023

Originally Published on travelfiber.com and repurposed with permissions

Imagine being on a trip and thinking you’re using the local money to pay for your expenses. But somehow, instead of using the local currency, you end up using your own country’s currency, which is way more valuable. That’s what happened to this traveler.

This woman had a rude awakening during her vacation when she thought she was spending Mexican pesos, only to accidentally pay 16,000 U.S. dollars. Unfortunately, she only realized the mistake after the payment was made.

The Growing Rate of Inflation

As prices keep increasing worldwide, knowing how much your currency is worth in different countries is becoming more challenging. Let’s take the example of traveling from the United States to Turkey. In January this year, you would get about 18.76 Turkish lira for one US dollar.

Source: Pexels

But if you were to travel to Turkey now, your dollar would be worth much more, about 26.94 lira. The value of the Turkish lira has changed a lot, making the dollar increase in Turkey compared to earlier this year.

She Learned a Tough Lesson

With the values of different currencies changing constantly, it can be tough to keep track of all the exchange rates, and ensuring that your money is consistent is one challenge TikTok user Ana’s mother (@lilssuki) faced during her trip to Mexico.

Source: @lilssuki/ Tiktok

In a video, Ana shares a funny story about how her mother accidentally paid $16,000, thinking it was in Mexican pesos instead of dollars. As a result, they ended up staying at the luxurious Moon Palace The Grand in Cancun, Mexico.

It Was an Accidental Mistake

For better understanding, 16,000 Mexican pesos is approximately equal to $954 USD as of Wednesday morning. The Moon Palace The Grand’s website shows prices in USD, so it’s understandable that a traveler might not notice the currency difference.

Source: dreamstime.com/ Pinterest

Moreover, the hotel has some expensive rooms that can cost more than $1000 per night. Ana mentioned that they stayed for eight days, so spending $16,000 after booking one or two of those pricey rooms was possible.

People Had a Lot to Say

When one person asked on TikTok about their financial situation after the trip, Ana wrote, “We are okay.” However, some people who saw the video couldn’t believe that Ana’s mother didn’t notice the mix-up earlier.

Source: @lilssuki/ Tiktok

“The fact that she had enough to even accidentally spend that much without noticing is crazy,” wrote a user.

“How does she accidentally do that,” questioned another. “The difference is ALOT..?” “MY HOUSE IS THE SIZE OF A GRAIN OF SAND COMPARED TO THAT,” another user said.