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travel secrets

Questions: Travel, buying property, moving gold, second passports

By Simon Black · 6 comments

February 12, 2010
Pattaya, Thailand

I’m happy to report that I seem to be in the final throes of my Asian jet lag– I finally managed to go to bed and wake up at a reasonable hour.

I appreciate the emails that I received giving me advice about how to deal with it more effectively… honestly though, I think time is the best remedy for everything.  With jetlag, I take a “sleep when you’re tired, eat when you’re hungry” approach, and it will work itself out eventually.

Anyhow, as I am out the door and headed to the beach in a few minutes, I’d like to spend some time addressing your questions this week:

Kevin asks: “Simon, I want to purchase a round-the-world plane ticket in order to get a sense of which country I would feel most comfortable living in / retiring outside the US.  Do you have any recommendation on how to find an open-ended round-the-world ticket on the cheap?”

“Round the world” fares are a flexible, cost-effective way to explore the world. Each of the major airline alliances (Oneworld, Star, and SkyTeam) has an around the world program, and the rules are generally the same.

You have to establish your route in advance, i.e. start in Vancouver, travel to Tokyo, then Singapore, then Mumbai, then Abu Dhabi, then Istanbul, then Kiev, then Krakow, then Madrid, then Miami, then Los Angeles, and finally back to Vancouver.

The nice part is that the dates for each flight are completely flexible. If you start in Vancouver and fly to Tokyo first, you can spend as much time as you want in Tokyo. When you get tired of it and are ready to move on, you just call the airline and they will book your next leg of the journey (to Singapore).

There are a few rules– the entire journey can only take up to 1-year, and there’s usually a maximum of 16 stops in total.

Now… here’s how you save money: If you live in North America, try to start your journey in South America. Buy a 1-way ticket to Colombia or Brazil, for example, and begin the routing from there. You will save about $1,000.

Peter asks: “Simon, I’m really interested in Panamanian property; given where I see my country headed, Panama seems like a great place to set up, and I want to get out while I can. I bought the Black Paper, and I am considering going to this International Living conference in April. Do you think it’s worth it?”

Yes. I was friends with most of the IL staff in Panama over the last few years, and I knew the conference organizers quite well. They routinely put on informative events, and if you’ve been strongly thinking about buying property in Panama, the conference is a great way to pack a lot of objective exposure into a short period of time.

Incidentally I may be back in Panama by April, in which case I might attend the conference myself to meet with some subscribers and old friends.

Helen asks: “Simon, when can we hear back from you about the sustainable community, and on the second citizenship programs?”

We have about 750 survey responses from subscribers telling me what they would like to see from a sustainable community in Panama. Clearly this is something that needs to be done. My partner Matt and I are digesting the data and strategizing how we would execute this. I will provide details next week.

In regards to second citizenship opportunities– I plan on rolling out quite a bit of information later this month, probably the week of the February 22nd. Stay tuned.

“LookingToLeave” asks: “Simon, do you have any suggestions for someone who plans on possibly using physical gold as a way to move their wealth out of the U.S.?”

Transporting gold is a great way to move wealth– a mere six pounds is over $100,000. There are three things you need to keep in mind:

First, the US government (and Canada too) does not consider gold to be a monetary instrument, so technically it would not be reportable… but be prepared to tap dance in case some Neanderthal government agent becomes suspicious about it.

I say this because in my travels recently, nearly every border guard I’ve come across has wanted to know one thing: “How much money are you carrying?”

Second, don’t forget to check the regulations on your destination country. Some places, like Uruguay, require you to declare gold upon arrival.

Third, do not underestimate security. If you’re confident, you can carry it yourself, but consider engaging a company like ViaMat to securely transport it for you.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll talk again on Monday.

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Why not Thailand and Uruguay?

By Simon Black · 13 comments

Seriously… isn’t it time the investment community stopped listening to the rating agencies?

Moody’s, Fitch, and S&P– these are the usual suspects who completely missed the boat on the US sub-prime debacle.  Back in 2005, they gave pristine credit ratings to risky mortgage portfolios stuffed full of borrowers who are notorious for not paying.

The recent debt crisis in Dubai underscores their irrelevance once again.

As I discussed earlier this week, Dubai’s flagship holding company announced that it had run out of cash and put a temporary stalemate on all debt payments.  The announcement sent markets reeling and once again caught the rating agencies with their pants down.  

It’s mystifying how these three groups, each with a long tradition of getting it completely wrong, are still considered relevant by the financial community.

Meanwhile, amid Comrade Bernanke’s reconfirmation hearings, the job summit, the estate tax extension, and the Afghanistan rollout, it has been quite a week. 

These four events underscore some significant problems that are faced the United States: reckless monetary policy, inappropriate fiscal stimulus, a government budget crisis, and a disastrous war effort.  

As I mentioned in this week’s letter on the conflict in Afghanistan, though, nothing will actually be accomplished other than more summits, hearings, and motivational speeches. 

Sure, it would be nice to affect the system, but is it really worth spending one’s life fighting against a corrupt bureaucracy? Especially when so many ‘fellow citizens’ embrace the status quo, and most others are too uninformed to care? Ssssh… American Idol is on.

I’ve spent a great deal of time setting up a system that keeps me largely free of these headaches.  I still close my eyes and shake my head on occasion, but it’s mostly like watching a bad sitcom. With a multiple flags approach, you have the ability to pick up the remote and change the channel.

On the subject, I received several questions from a letter I wrote earlier this week, outlining my top picks for Asia and Latin America (Chile, Panama, Colombia; and Malaysia, Philippines, and China). 

The biggest question– why weren’t Uruguay and Thailand included on the list?

Thailand is a fantastic country, and I will be spending more time there next year. The problem is that it is difficult to reside in Thailand for the short-term and long-term.

Neighboring Malaysia gives 90-day, extendable tourist visas upon entry; Thailand is good for 15 to 30. Malaysia makes it easy to establish residency; Thailand only issues 100 permanent residency permits each year. 

The property market in Thailand is also quite cumbersome, with significant restrictions on foreign ownership and a lot of sharks who will take advantage of foreigners.

Overall Thailand is a wonderful place, and there are ways around these challenges. But comparing price and hassle, I think Malaysia is a better value.

Uruguay is also great country and would probably be #4 on my list.  I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from buying property or living there. In terms of value, available services, and lifestyle, though, I would pick Chile, Panama, or Colombia, mostly because Uruguay can be exceptionally sleepy.

And although I did not mention it in the original letter, I really like Ecuador as well.
The country is poor… very poor, but its local agriculture is spectacular– “all natural” is the only way they know how to produce.

This is of vital importance to me; I’m very careful about what I put in my body and think that the poison and hormone-filled foods in North America significantly contribute to poor health… and health, after all, is our most important asset.

We’re fortunate that world class physicians are available in places like Panama and Thailand for the price of a steak dinner, but as someone who has a natural aversion to doctors and hospitals, I tend to focus more on staying healthy.  To me, this has a lot to do with food.

Aside from Ecuador, I’ve also noticed that Laos, Chile, New Zealand, and surprisingly China have a vast stock of organic and all-natural food products.  Meanwhile I’m highly suspect of foods in Buenos Aires and Eastern Europe, especially at restaurants.

Of course, the hardest place to have a restaurant meal that isn’t served with a side of poison is in the US– probably the impact of corporate chains.

I recently bought an e-book though, for the whopping price of $29.95, that is the most comprehensive guide I’ve ever seen for all-natural restaurants in the US.  I was really impressed, especially given the price– about 200 pages of listings, reviews, and pricing of just about every place you would want to eat, coast-to-coast.

If you travel frequently or just want to eat some good, poison-free food, you should check it out…  as far as I can tell, the information simply isn’t available anywhere else– www.healthyeatshere.com

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3 ways you can save 60% on luxury international flights

By Simon Black · 13 comments

sunset_pattaya_nov09

After a hard afternoon of jet skiing yesterday, my friends and I came off the water right as the sun was descending in the horizon over the ocean. The sun sets in Thailand in a more vibrant, distinctive way than most other places in the world that I have seen, and quite honestly it can be intoxicating.

As we collected our belongings and paid the 1,300 baht fee (roughly $40) for the afternoon rental, we started talking about travel– my friends are returning to Europe tomorrow on Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, which was recently voted ‘the world’s best air carrier’ at the 2009 World Travel Awards.

Our conversation made me realize that I had not touched on travel secrets in a while, so I thought I would make a few suggestions if you are considering some holiday travel.

It’s no secret that most airlines are short of cash. They’ve come up with creative ways to raise money through checked baggage fees, ticketing fees, increased change fees, and of course, the fuel surcharge.

My favorite was Bratislava-based Sky Europe’s ‘payment fee,’ which as the name suggests, charges a fee for the passenger to make a payment.  It makes me wonder if they were planning to charge a fee for someone to pay the payment fee… No wonder they went out of business.

The newest cash-raising craze for airlines is to sell miles or points within their award programs.  Points can subsequently be accumulated and traded in for free tickets, and even extend beyond the airline to the rest of their alliance.

American Airlines, for example, is a member of the ‘One World Alliance,’ which is also comprised of British Airways, Royal Jordanian, Japan Airways, Malev Hungarian, Mexicana, Spain’s Iberia, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, Finland’s Finnair, Australia’s Qantas, and Chile’s Lan.

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Two unique privacy solutions

By Simon Black · 23 comments

Here’s the scene… you’ve just landed and are making your way through immigration. Bleary-eyed and a bit disoriented, the portly fellow behind the desk singles you out for ’secondary screening,’ and you are whisked away to the catacombs of the Customs service.

At this point, it really doesn’t matter what country you’re arrived to… until you clear customs and immigration, you’re in no man’s land.  For customs officials, anything is fair game, including laptops and personal effects.

I have written before about this practice by the US Customs and Border Protection agency, but frankly just about every government in the world reserves similar powers to protect its borders against the terrorist and criminal elements.

Computers can be confiscated, inspected, and even copied in order for immigration agents to make a determination whether or not to let you in the country. It doesn’t normally happen very often, at least in civilized places… but the mere possibility is enough to make me want to take some precautions.

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A loophole at the border

By Simon Black · 0 comments

He was brown.

A few inches shy of 6 feet tall and well-dressed in a tailored suit, my guess was that he was of Lebanese origin given his easy command of French, English, and Arabic… but regardless, he was standing in the US citizen line at the airport immigration checkpoint.

I don’t know exactly what was said between the man and the border patrol agent, but the encounter was brief; within 30-seconds he was being escorted to the secondary screening room.

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Cost effective first class travel

By Simon Black · 19 comments

I’m going to let you in on a few secrets.

I’ve learned through a great deal of experience over the last several years about travel.  People often ask me about my travel habits because I do so much of it… and one of the common questions I get is “How much do you spend each year on travel???”

Honestly… quite a bit. But I recognize that my travel breadth and frequency is abnormal.  Also, as a sharp investor myself, I detest needlessly squandering money… and as such I’ve picked up a few tricks along the way for paying substantially less than everyone else, and to me, that’s like buying an undervalued stock.

The truth is, you don’t need to blow a lot of money to travel well and see the world.  And as I happen to be sitting on a plane as I write this having just enjoyed a nice nap, a great meal, and an endless supply of Tuscan wine, I’d like to share a little-known tip for flying well:

For long-haul international flights, economy seating can simply be too painful… a lot of airlines are now offering substantial discounts on business class fares (a few weeks ago I mentioned Finn Air’s roundtrip from JFK to Helsinki for under $2,000), but there are some even better deals out there:

American Airlines is one of the largest carriers in the world and part of the well-established “Oneworld Alliance” that has routes and hubs on every continent.   Each year, as a reward for its most valuable customers, the airline bestows 8 system-wide vouchers that can be used to upgrade any flight.

The vouchers are only good for one year, and if unused, they expire.  Most of these elite passengers who are granted the upgrade vouchers do not use all of them, and in order to make a few extra bucks, they post them for sale on eBay or Craigslist.

The average price range is around $200, which covers the cost of a 1-way upgrade to business class from economy.

Here’s how you do it (this works for American Airlines but other airlines have similar programs):

1) Find a potential supplier on eBay or Craigslist; you can even google “American Airlines upgrade site:craigslist.org [or ebay.com]”  You will have to search around for a bit, but they’re out there, especially towards the end of the year.

2) Once you find a willing seller, plan your itinerary online… say you want to go from Chicago to Mumbai and back. Pick a few dates, then put the itineraries on HOLD. Do not purchase yet.

3) CALL the airline (1-800-433-7300) and ask the agent the following question: “I have a friend who wants to let me use his VIP upgrade—is there upgrade availability for my flight?”

If the answer is yes, buy the ticket that you have on hold and write down the 6-character confirmation number.

4) Notify the person that you purchased the upgrade from to call the airline immediately and request the upgrade on your behalf. You will have to supply him with the confirmation number.

It’s important to note that this tactic is technically a violation of airline policy.  Frankly I don’t really care, just be sure that you don’t call the airline and say something like “Hey I just bought an upgrade from some guy I never met on eBay…” because they will not honor the upgrade.

So… for the additional price of about $400 roundtrip, you can be up front in the lay-flat seat snoozing away the entire trip.  To me, that’s well worth the price of admission.

** Disclaimer: the last time I did this was several months ago, and as airlines are constantly changing their policies, make sure you execute step 3 before you buy.

I’ll be sharing more specific tactics I use to travel well (and inexpensively) in future articles, but I’d really like to hear from you.   If you like this topic, let me know and share your personal tactics to high quality, low cost travel.

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