Travel Tricks
Money Matters Abroad
May 24th
I can’t imagine how expat living must have been before the advent of electronic banking! If you depended on monies from the home country, you either had to bring in wads of cash and/or travelers checks, transact a cash advance against your credit card, or rely on costly money wiring services, and then convert these funds at a local bank or money exchange.. Whichever way you did it, you wound up losing a hefty percentage of your funds through an assortment of fees or a not so favorable exchange rate. Nowadays, in virtually any place on the globe, there’s usually no shortage of ATMs that are compatible with your bank’s network, making it a cinch to draw cash in the local currency, and you can manage your accounts via the Internet. The electronic age, however, does have its caveats, and it pays to be aware of them.
Preferred Currencies
The US dollar still reigns as the king worldwide, despite having lost an enormous amount of value against most other currencies. It’s easy to exchange dollars just about anywhere, but almost impossible to do so with Canadian or Australian dollars, at least not without being clobbered by an extortionate rate. Euros are also widely accepted and treated with respect, and former European colonies usually favor the currency of the old lording nation, such as English pounds. If you’re going to live abroad, the best kind of account to have outside your host country is in either US dollars or Euros. Anybody can open an account at a US or European bank just using their passport and filling out a declaration of non-residence (in the US, a W8-EN form). In most cases, your home currency will get you a favorable exchange rate upon converting to the US dollar, and also enjoy a fairer rate when you withdraw from that US account from your new country. Opening a US dollar account at a bank in your old home country (unless it is the USA!) isn’t the same thing, since it will not likely come with ATM access unless your bank has a US affiliate. Note also that US banks give you debit cards (aka check cards) with the MasterCard or Visa logo that can used the same way as credit cards, which comes in handy when renting cars abroad. For reasons unbeknownst to me, Canadian banks don’t offer check cards, and as a result, Canadian car rental agencies don’t accept check cards period. European banks often issue Maestro check cards, which is an alternate MasterCard system, or Visa Electron, a Visa alternate, which are widely accepted for debit purchases in Europe, but not so much in North America. Having a mailing address in the same country as the bank will avoid having problems making purchases online, where differing countries will typically cause your card to be rejected. Short of buying property in the US (or wherever), you can either use the address of a friend or relative who lives there, or use a re-mailing service such as UPS Mailbox. In the USA, it’s advisable that you provide your bank with a “explanation of US address” document (Example) even if they don’t request one, to avoid problems with the IRS or other agencies. This simply states that you’re a non-resident alien and the address is just for mail.
…it’s best not to use check or credit cards for purchases abroad
Debit and Credit
Your ordinary bank ATM card won’t work for pin debit transactions in shops outside the country where it was issued, though you can usually use them at any ATM that supports one of the networks listed on the back of your card, typically Plus or Cirrus. Generally speaking, however, it’s best not to use check or credit cards for purchases abroad because there’s a lot of businesses that will, without warning you, tack on a percentage to your bill, say 5%, passing their card merchant costs back to you. Also, many businesses, upon seeing that your card is American, will charge you in dollars rather than the local currency, their own bank applying an exchange rate which heavily favors them and not you. Once again, you won’t be informed of this, and thus my advice is to avoid making purchases with plastic except in the most reputable establishments, or when you have no choice (such as in a car rental situation), and always inquire about extra fees and/or which currency will be used for your foreign card.
Banking Fees
In general, MasterCard and Visa will give you the best exchange rates, be it for debit or credit transactions, but you’re probably going to be nicked for currency exchange fees, or a fee equivalent to a percentage of the transaction’s value, even if it was a withdrawal via an ATM as opposed to a purchase. Bank of America, for example, will charge you 3 percent of the US dollar value of the transaction. Add to that per transaction fees which the foreign bank will charge your bank for using their ATM, and fees will add up to hundreds of dollars a year. One way to save against the fixed per transaction fees is to withdraw the most you can each time you go to the ATM, or escape all such charges by using the local affiliates’ ATMs, or in the case of multinationals like Citibank or HSBC, their own automated tellers.
…converting all your assets to a developing country’s currency is a very bad idea
The Exchange Rate Seesaw
You have to be prepared for wide fluctuations in exchange rates these days. If your source funds are in US dollars, the chart looks like a roller coaster. For me, the Colombian peso has careened up to just over 1600 a dollar all the way down to 2500 per in just the last five years, with big spikes in between. If, for example, my apartment rent was 800,000 COP per month, it would have cost me as little as 320 dollars to as much as 500 during this time! My strategy has therefore been to buy as many pesos as I can whenever it hits 2000 per dollar, although I should warn that converting all your assets to a developing country’s currency is a very bad idea, as such fragile economies have had currency crashes and/or hyperinflation many times in their history, with banks often freezing deposits. In short, your entire fortune could be wiped-out overnight.
Where to Exchange
Never exchange money at an airport: you’ll always get the worst rate possible. Banks use a lower than market rate and also charge a service fee. Reputable commercial money exchanges in your host country will generally offer a rate close or even higher than the official rate, and usually won’t charge you a service fee, and thus are your best option for converting your cash to the local currency. While the black market money changers offer the best rates, you would be participating in a crime and there would be no guarantee that you would get authentic bills in return, if anything at all! Don’t do it!
Moving large sums of money across borders is always a risk, even if it’s legal
Other Alternatives to Cash
Even if almost all countries only require you to declare cash you bring in if it’s worth 10,000 USD or more, carrying 99 or even just 50 one hundred dollar bills on your person or in your carry-on will raise suspicions from the time you cross the security checkpoint at the airport when you board your flight, not to mention that anybody carrying such sums is an immediate target for criminals, who might be tipped-off by airline or airport personel. Instead, you can use money wiring services like Western Union or MoneyGram, which in the past meant somebody had to withdraw your cash in your home country and physically bring it to a local branch, but now you can use their web sites to take money directly out of your account and wire it to yourself at a fraction of the cost of a branch to branch transfer. However, as they tell you in the small print “Western Union also makes money when it changes your dollars into foreign currency“, meaning that the official exchange rate won’t apply. As an example, a 2000 dollar transfer through Western Union from a US bank to Colombia would incur a 14 dollar service fee but with an exchange rate that’s more than 3% lower than the official, I really don’t come out ahead on what it would cost for multiple ATM withdrawals. Alternatively, you can buy travelers’ checks in a number of currencies, such as those offered by American Express, Thomas Cook or Visa. The strong points of travelers checks are that they’re safer to transport, are generally accepted by banks worldwide, and can be bought in large denominations (For Ex: 500 Euros or USD with Amex), though you have to closely examine the real exchange rate they’ll apply as well as any service fees. Moving large sums of money across borders is always a risk, even if it’s legal. I mentioned bank to bank wires earlier, and that’s really the only practical option, though again you should keep transactions under 10,000 USD to avoid undue scrutiny.
Avoiding Losing Your Cash to Thieves
If you’re not willing to part with your cash involuntarily, you need to take the following advice seriously: Avoid money exchanges, banks, money transfer services, and ATMs that aren’t in secure areas; avoid withdrawing large sums; don’t trust the people working in banks or cash related services, because they’re likely poorly paid and might pass information on to crooks for a cut of what they’ll steal from you; use ATMs in malls, preferably enclosed with a lockable door.; don’t hide wads of money at home, deposit it at the local bank asap! If even after taking all precautions, you’re held-up, don’t resist, because in many parts of the world. criminals don’t have much to fear from the law and won’t hesitate to take your money AND your life!
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Canadians: Know this if you take a US plated Car into Canada
Aug 3rd
My routine when traveling back to Canada, as a Canadian living abroad, is to land at a US airport not far from the border, rent a car and cross into the home country. The advantages of doing it this way are multiple: much cheaper car rental rates, cheaper flights, debit check cards can be used, and generally friendlier border agents. It has been smooth sailing in nine years of doing it this way. However, you ask, aren’t Canadians prohibited from driving US plated vehicles into Canada?
Yes, it is true. The main difference is that the restriction applies only to Canadian residents. As a foreign resident, I have the same status as any tourist, even if my passport is Canadian. However, I must state that fact when asked where I live. I have never been asked for any proof of residency, even though I have such documentation, and I have never been asked about the car. My driver’s license is Canadian, but that would have no effect, a Canada customs information person told me, and I was never asked for that either Just saying you live outside of Canada is deemed good enough.
For Canadian residents, even if you were living abroad and are now just returning to reside in Canada, you would have to go through the arduous process of importing the vehicle and have the paperwork in hand at the border. Definitely not something you want to do in the case of a rental, and it might cost you money if it is your own car. While the rules I read are aimed at drivers of US-plated car, it is a safe bet the same law applies to vehicles with plates from other countries as well.
Although I have never had problems driving into Canada, I did run into a potential disaster returning to the United States with a Michigan plated car. I guess I caught a Homeland Security officer who was having a bad day, because as soon as I told him I was a Canadian citizen, but living in Argentina (at the time), he got rude and accused me of being an illegal immigrant in the USA. After some tirades about supposed hordes of Canadians overstaying their welcome, he asked me to produce my return flight reservation, and I stupidly could not find it in the jumble inside my suitcase. Then I remembered I had not printed-out my reservation! The border agent was now victoriously telling me he was going to bar me from entering the country. That is an automatic five-year long denial of entry, not to mention not being able to return the vehicle to the Detroit rental car agency, losing my return air fare, and having to spend a bundle to travel direct to Canada or via other countries than the US. I plead with the man, and after what seemed like an eternity, he finally he tells me: “show me the car’s rental contract”. He glances over it, and says, “Have a nice day”, and I am on my way. Personally, I think my baby blue shirt ticked him off! However the lesson learned is when returning to the United States with your US plated rented car, immediately proffer the rental contract with your passport, and have a printout of your return reservation handy in case they ask for it. I have been doing this ever since that ugly incident and I have never had any further border issues.
So, if you are worried about problems driving across the border, worry not unless you are living in Canada.
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The Medical Tourism Check-Up
Feb 12th
There’s an old story still going around about doctors in poor countries re-using syringes and even bandages. It’s a myth. If it ever did happen, it was in some remote outpost, and even then I would still doubt it. Fact is, medical schools in large cities across the developing world turn-out highly skilled doctors and the facilities they work in are often as good as in any in the developed world. The major difference is in what it costs to be treated by these doctors and those hospitals: a fraction of what it does in the United States. Furthermore, the cost of medications is also vastly less than in the US, and can usually be bought without a prescription.
Photo courtesy of Fernando Audibert
It’s no surprise, therefore, that medical tourism is all the rage, especially in areas usually not covered by insurance plans, such as plastic surgery. Flip through the pages of the on-flight magazine on any plane bound for Buenos Aires and you’ll notice the abundance of ads by state of the art plastic surgery clinics. Learn to dance tango and get a face lift! Just how big is the cost difference? A heart bypass surgery invoice for 140,000 USD in the USA might only be 20,000 in Mexico, 10,000 in India, or 9,000 in Thailand. A face lift would set you back 15,000 dollars in America, while only 6,500 in Costa Rica, or 5,000 in South Korea. Even after you factor-in your return airfare, hotel, food and the rest, you still come out ahead and you get to spend time in an exotic locale!
Medical insurance is also generally less expensive and more generous in its coverage than in most developed nations that don’t provide universal medicare. There’s usually a free government-run public insurance plan, but it’s almost guaranteed to include the lowest level of care. Instead, if you’re gainfully employed in your new country, get hooked-up with your employer’s health plan, which will be inexpensive and offer complete coverage. For example, Sura, a health insurer in Colombia offers a plan through employers which covers even medications and dental work for as little as 40 dollars a month for the entire family of the insured. There’s usually a small user fee for each service performed, but it rarely amounts to more than a dollar. There’s also private insurance plans which are much more costly (but still less than in the US) but will give you priority care (no waiting!) in the top hospitals and clinics.
Why does medical care and medicine cost so little in developing countries? First and foremost, because the cost of living and wages are much lower, but also because malpractice insurance isn’t a requirement or is inexpensive since patients aren’t as likely to litigate, and finally because the medical industry’s profits aren’t so hefty and protected by lawmakers greased by lobbyists. Just to mention a couple of advantages for the user: generic versions of drugs are more freely produced and distributed, and experimental treatments are readily obtained as they aren’t blocked by laws.
However, the lure of cheap medication and surgery comes with a warning label: Stick to the reputable clinics, many of which cater in large part to medical tourists, and don’t get your drugs from just any dispensary, lest you want to run the risk of a botched operation or ingesting bogus medicine.
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Gringo Discrimination Alert!
Jan 11th
Imagine going to a restaurant and being handed a different menu than other diners. The menu is identical in every way to the others, save for the prices, which are three times higher. This would never happen in New York, Toronto, or Sydney, but it happens routinely in Cozumel, Mexico, and a lot of other places in the developing world. The reason you were given the pricier menu is that you were deemed to be a foreigner from your appearance. If that isn’t discrimination, what is?
Photo courtesy of Karl-Erik Bennion
This unjust practice isn’t limited to restaurants. It’s also commonly used to gouge foreigners for a hotel room, entrance fees to national parks, and even for airline tickets, to name a few. For example, virtually every quality hotel in Buenos Aires (Argentina) will charge a room rate that’s higher for foreign nationals. It’s also routine for national parks in Mexico and Colombia to charge higher gate fees to non-nationals. I’m only giving examples that resulted from my own experiences, but I suspect that this money grab isn’t limited to the locales I mentioned.
Businesses who engage in such ludicrous behavior may actually be violating local laws, but as enforcement of such regulations is usually very poor (and corrupted) in the developing world, they do so with virtual impunity. The one situation that made me most furious amongst all was that Lan, the big South American airline, charges higher airfares for foreigners traveling within Argentina, where I reckon they’re permitted to do so. I will think twice before flying with them again!
There are some things you can do to defend against such practices. In the case of the restaurants, ask them for the “menu local” (local menu), which is what the other patrons have in their hands. Point-out in a friendly way that you’re a resident if you need to, and if you’re rebuked, just eat elsewhere, no matter how great their shrimp cocktail is! For hotels, have someone who’s a national reserve for you, and avoid using credit cards, which would identify you as a foreigner. If you’re given a rough time, ask for the manager and nicely request that you be treated fairly and pay the resident rate. You could try the same strategy with the airlines and other types of businesses, and if you know that what they’re doing is illegal, you could bring up that fact to great effect. I would be very careful not to escalate the tone of any dispute, especially with those who handle your food!
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24 Hours is all you Need to Visit Any City!
Jan 9th
If you travel as often as I do, you’ll break-up the physical and mental torture of long trips by including a brief stop in a major city of interest, preferably where you’d be connecting to another flight taking you to your final destination.
If you travel as often as I do, you’ll break-up the physical and mental torture of long trips by including a brief stop in a major city of interest, preferably where you’d be connecting to another flight taking you to your final destination.
I’m going to be a heretic and tell you that you can indeed visit just about any major city in the world within a single day. Forget the travel guides whose pages are chock full of “Must Sees” and “Must Dos”. The authors have to fill pages and are thus prone to fishing in obscure waters for dubious interesting places for you to visit. There’s an astounding number of sights in any given city which the natives themselves have likely never heard of, let alone would bother visiting. Why would you travel thousands of miles to waste an hour in a Renaissance pottery museum? If you’ve seen one major zoo, you’ve probably seen them all. Ditto with botanical gardens and city parks. Any science center, natural history museum, or planetarium is pretty much the same the world over. Unless you’re an art fanatic, or your stopover city has a unique collection, art museums will just make you tired and cranky. Old Christian Churches the world over repeat the same dreary themes and can be overlooked, unless we’re talking about something like Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or Notre Dame in Paris. Avoid the sites that are prone to big lineups and be content with seeing them from the outside, or consider an alternative. For instance, in New York, since the loss of the World Trade Center, most tourists will line-up for the observation deck at the Empire State building, not knowing that there’s another observation level at the Rockefeller center. In London, most will head for the “London Eye” not realizing you can get a great panoramic view of the city from atop the Monument, and for just 2 “quid” to boot! Look for those kinds of alternatives and don’t be a sheep!
Books and TV shows greatly exaggerate the importance of dining out. In this day and age, you probably can get a better meal at a French restaurant in your hometown than in some overpriced and overrated joint on the Champs Elysees. Instead of wasting 2 hours at a full service restaurant, grab a bite at a Quick’s (if you’re in Paris) and use the extra time to discover another emblematic site. Walking and riding subways are without a doubt the most efficient, economical and quickest ways to get around just about any big city and see it all. 90% of what you want to see is more than likely to be in the city center anyway. You’ll generally find transit system maps of any city right on the web, which you can download and print. The open air tour buses found in most cities are fun, but are usually very expensive and don’t give you the freedom to explore when and what you want to. The tour buses that do allow you to jump out at any point in their trajectories wind-up wasting you hours waiting for the next bus to come along.
Planning ahead what you’ll visit and how you’ll get there will definitely help you to see everything that needs to be seen in short order. Most importantly: wear comfortable shoes, or blisters will put a damper on your adventures!
