TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
You need to buy a travel eSIM before you go.
What we found
On the countries we have actually rated, the honest cheapest answer usually is not the eSIM we would earn a commission on.
Sometimes a local SIM undercuts it by a wide margin, sometimes your existing US plan already covers the country, and sometimes wifi alone gets you through the trip.
Staying connected, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
A foreign tourist cannot buy a Brazilian SIM card without a CPF, the local tax ID.
What we found
Brazilian law lets a foreign national register a prepaid line with just a passport.
The holdup is a shop clerk who has never processed one, not the statute, and TIM handles visitors on a passport most reliably. The carriers have also added tourist packages that ask for no CPF at all.
See the full Brazil guide → · Staying connected, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
Choosing to pay in US dollars at a card terminal or ATM abroad is the safer, more convenient option.
What we found
Saying yes to "pay in dollars" hands you a marked-up exchange rate, dynamic currency conversion, that typically costs 3 to 8 percent more than your own bank would have charged.
Choosing the local currency lets your own card network handle the conversion at a real rate.
Cash and cards, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
Japan is a cash-only country, so budget lots of cash for the whole trip.
What we found
Card and phone taps now cover most spending in the big cities: cashless payments hit 58 percent in 2025.
But cash still rules the places travelers actually go for: temples and shrines, small family restaurants, market stalls, older ryokan, and most vending machines.
See the full Japan guide → · Cash and cards, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
US citizens can visit the UK visa-free, no paperwork to sort before the trip.
What we found
For any UK trip that crosses the border, US citizens now need an approved UK ETA before they board.
A pure airside connection at Heathrow or Manchester, with no passport control, is temporarily exempt, but a landside transit or any other UK airport needs one. It is not a visa, just a quick online check like the US ESTA, and it only costs 20 pounds from the official UK ETA app or gov.uk. A wall of other sites charge more to file the identical form.
See the full United Kingdom guide → · Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
A required travel authorization or e-visa needs a paid visa service to apply for it.
What we found
A required, paid government form is exactly the kind of thing the internet fills with overpriced middlemen.
Plenty of sites will take your money to file the same application at a hefty markup, and a few are outright scams. The honest route is the official portal, where you pay only the government fee.
Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
Americans need ETIAS to visit Europe in 2026, so apply now.
What we found
There is nothing to apply for yet.
The EU has removed the late-2026 launch target and its official portal says ETIAS is currently not in operation, with a start now expected in 2027 followed by a transition period. Do not pay any site claiming to take ETIAS applications today. Note this is separate from the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), the automated passport-scanning at the border, which is a different thing and is already running.
Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
US citizens do not need a visa for Brazil.
What we found
That is out of date and it can get you denied boarding.
Since 10 April 2025 US citizens need an e-visa to enter Brazil, applied for online before you travel through the official portal at brazil.vfsevisa.com. It costs 80.90 US dollars, is valid for multiple entries, and there is no longer a visa-free option.
See the full Brazil guide → · Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
The Vietnam e-visa is 30 days, single entry, and only for a short list of countries.
What we found
That describes the old rule.
Since August 2023 the e-visa is open to every nationality, valid up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, applied for online at the official portal evisa.gov.vn for 25 US dollars single or 50 multiple. The one catch that still trips people up: you must enter through the exact port of entry you picked in the application.
See the full Vietnam guide → · Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
Visa-free entry to Thailand means there is no form to fill in.
What we found
There is a form now, and it is mandatory.
Since 1 May 2025 every foreign arrival must file the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online within 72 hours before arrival, replacing the old paper TM6, and it applies even to visa-free and visa-on-arrival travelers. It is free and done at the official site tdac.immigration.go.th. This is not a visa or an entry fee, just a required arrival form.
See the full Thailand guide → · Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
Tourists can claim a VAT refund at Heathrow when they leave the UK.
What we found
Not in Great Britain, not anymore.
The UK abolished its tourist VAT refund, the VAT Retail Export Scheme, on 1 January 2021, and it has not returned. So you cannot reclaim the 20 percent VAT on shopping you carry home from England, Scotland or Wales, and there is no airport refund desk. Older guides and shop signs still imply otherwise.
See the full United Kingdom guide → · Passports and visas, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
Sweden is cashless, so just use Swish and you do not need any local currency.
What we found
Half right, and the wrong half will strand you.
Cards are accepted almost everywhere, so you rarely need cash, that part is true. But Swish, the app everyone means by "just use Swish", needs a Swedish personal identity number, a Swedish bank account and BankID, none of which a visitor has. As a tourist you pay by card or phone tap, not Swish.
See the full Sweden guide → · Cash and cards, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
You can just use WhatsApp or FaceTime to call home from Dubai.
What we found
Not over a local connection.
The UAE blocks WhatsApp and FaceTime voice and video calls on its own wifi and mobile networks; text, photos and voice notes still work fine, only the calls are blocked. Two things do work: a licensed app like BOTIM, or calling over a foreign travel eSIM or home-SIM roaming, which routes around the local block. So the honest fix is not "install an app", it is how your data is routed.
See the full United Arab Emirates guide → · Staying connected, every country →
TTC Truth Check
What the internet says
In Japan tourists get the sales tax knocked off at the register.
What we found
That is changing on 1 November 2026.
Until 31 October the old instant exemption at the register still applies. From 1 November Japan switches to a refund method: you pay the full tax-included price in the shop, then customs confirms the goods are leaving at your departure airport and the tax is refunded after that. The 5,000 yen minimum purchase stays; keep tax-free goods in your carry-on so customs can check them.
See the full Japan guide → · Cash and cards, every country →
No truth checks match that topic.
Why this page exists, and what it costs us
These corrections already lived inside individual country guides, one myth per page, reachable only by the reader who happened to open that exact page. Collected here, they are also the most shareable thing on the site: a traveler who finds out the CPF myth is wrong, or that the UK now requires an ETA before boarding, wants to tell someone.
The honest version of this page has to be willing to cost us money, and it does. The flagship entry says a travel eSIM, the product we earn a commission on, usually is not the cheapest answer. We would rather say so than pad this list with soft, flattering corrections. Every entry above traces to prose that already exists in a guide, with a real source you can open and check for yourself.