There is currently (9-15-2011) a thread asking what U.S. form is required for carrying large amounts of cash out of the country.

My question is (not to hijack the above referenced thread) (ONLY FOR THOSE THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL PROBLEMS)HOW MUCH EXTRA IN U.S. $'s did it cost you to get to your destination?

What was the money used for?

Additional airfare, hotel/housing money, ground transportation, meals, bribes (oops I mean persuasion tips). etc.

Excellent travel insurance is a must but how timely is the insurance carriers response when you are knee deep in a natural/political disaster?

its called a credit card

but just remember to notify the card company that you are out of the country and going to wherever or they will probably refuse the charge

Butch makes an excellent point. Notify your credit card companies (yes, you need more than one cc) of your dates of travel and countries you will be visiting. Give yourself a few extra days on the backend in case you run into a delay.

I went to Spain a year ago and advised my cc company of dates and countries and got a call from them notifying me someone was buying a 1st class RT ticket at the Barcelona airport and was it me. NO! Charge denied and they delivered me a new card the next am.

Overseas there are some very clever identity thieves. I would even call the cc company the day after I returned to let them know I am in the US.

Never had any international problems, but in the past, I have traveled with $5-600 in an Eagle Creek money belt along with a color copy of my passport and AMEX acct numbers.

That much should get me a hotel for a night or two and keep me fed until the closest AMEX office or US Embassy can get me out of the mess I may be in.

Global Rescue and a sat phone added to the above may be the best bet.

The one thing I have used to get me out of a jam was (in the US) my smart phone. I got on the internet and booked a car online when my flight was canceled. Nice thing was getting one of the few remaining cars, while those physically standing in line didn't.

Lesson for me is 'online' beats 'in line'.


Sorry, no James Bond stories of bribing border guards with gold Sovereigns sewn in my luggage.

The answer depends entirely on the type of "international problems" you are talking about. Some "problems" mean that the local banks will be closed and that the ATMs will be down. Good luck using a credit card. Also, and I have said this before, I would not rely on any embassy to get you out. Do you really want to ride to the airport in a big blacked-out van that screams "TARGET!" Further, US State Department flights have annoying restrictions (no pets, for example) and they take you where THEY want (one of three or four destinations nearby that are randomly selected as each individual passenger arrives.) not where YOU necessarily want to go. Yes, it is RANDOM with no exceptions! You may wind up in Turkey, Cyprus, Athens, or Frankfurt.....no choice in the matter and you won't find out until you get to the airport. Given that, even if you go the State Dept. evac. route, you still need to get home and cover hotel for a while in whatever country they evac you to!

So, given my own strong preferences for independence, I carry enough cash on me at all times to fly myself and family home and also enough cash to cover one week of food and hotel at an intermediate destination just in case I don't feel like going all the way home for some reason. I refuse to be a frantic refugee and would much rather sit by the pool for a week or so while things shake out.

Given a family of four, I think the above dictates carrying at least $10K on you just for emergencies. $1500 per plane ticket = $6000, a week of hotel (two rooms or a suite) = 7 night x $250 per night = about $1800, and then food at an absolute bare minimum of $100 per day (and that is probably not too much eating out and more than a bit of grocery shopping) = $700. That totals around $8500 and unless you want to be scrimping and counting pennies and worrying about trivial details, an extra $1500 is probably prudent. Oh, and another use for that $1500....while you probably can't get away with bribing border guards, I'll bet a c-note goes far with a third world airline ticket agent when you are trying to get on a "full" flight. This all means that one should probably never travel anywhere really without $10,000 in cash in my humble opinion. Am I paranoid? Yes, but as a friend of mine is fond of saying, "Statistically speaking, paranoid people live longer".

And as mentioned above, a few sovereigns and a sat phone are pretty good ideas too! The first thing that happened during the Arab Spring was the governments shut down mobile phone networks. Sovereigns....well, that's just for the CDI factor.

Thanks all for the responses; some good to know info & practices for emergency planning.

Tendrams the breakdown of expenses is exactly what I was hoping for. One can make adjustments to the amount of money in planning for something other than a family of four as you do.

In April of 2010 when returning from Africa I met people at the airport In Joburg that had been travelling the globe for two (2) weeks attempting to get home in the U.S. after the volcano eruption in Iceland that shutdown many air routes due to volcanic ash.

The trouble you can get into by having 10K on you far exceeds the benefits IMO.

While I am sure it is possible, it is hard to imagine commercial airlines running without working credit card machines.

A thousand or so in cash, a rented sat phone, and the Global Rescue plan with the security upgrade seems to be a better plan to me.

https://www.globalrescue.com/plans.cfm

I just take a Visa Master Card and an American Express Card. I front load them At least 1000 dollars on the Plus side of the balance sheet. The reason I do that is that I once was out of the country and my American Express card was frozen due to a charge of 6.00 that was not paid. that bill came in while I was out of the country and became over due, didn't know a thing till I got stuck and needed to get a ticket back to the states. I was working a contract. Now with internet and mobile banking its might be a moot point. Thou having 5K in your money belt can be comforting. As they say Cash money Rides and BS walks.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
While I am sure it is possible, it is hard to imagine commercial airlines running without working credit card machines.

Except this is exactly what happened during the Arab Spring and would probably happen during any anti-govt protests anywhere in Africa. The internet was immediately cut and banks could not operate. They outright closed for this reason (and security) which meant there was no way to make a cash withdrawal at a branch and no way to pull cash from an ATM (no internet and no employees filling them). Credit cards (absent internet) were also useless and flights out had to be paid for in cash until the internet came back up and then people could book through Expedia or the like (banks stayed closed)....but the Expedia user had effectively waited until the security situation actually deteriorated further to use the internet to book.

As for Global Rescue, everyone has their own opinion on these things and I think it is a really great backup but it still means WAITING for someone to come get you at a time when situations tend to be very fluid and unpredictable. I am not painting myself as an expert by any means, but windows close and open quickly in the world we are talking about. An early opportunity to get out requiring cash might be your only one or much safer than a rescue taking place a day or even half day later.

Of course, the risk of theft with 10K in cash is very real and something to be concerned and careful about. Customs risk in the developed world is solved by simply declaring it. I would obviously not declare the funds in a third world country though.

Ultimately, all options probably have their own costs and benefits. We pay our money and take our chances in one way or another.

JMHO

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:

Ultimately, all options probably have their own costs and benefits. We pay our money and take our chances in one way or another.

JMHO

Yup

No matter when I travel I always take a bunch of cash just in case.

Only needed it a couple o ftimes but when I needed it I needed it BADLY.

this year in SA i took about 8k with me. Only needed 20 to get my guns "found" at the Joberg airport and some money for a tip for the PH and staff. Most of the rest I used to settle my bill as we were at the airport and on the way home.

I was stuck in Vienna and Ms AZW was in London during the volcanic eruption. Neither of us had any cash, local or US. A credit card and an ATM worked fine.

In fact, in Africa, I can't recall a credit card not being accepted. Most guys now let you settle the bill after the hunt. Now that Traveler's Checks are no longer carried by banks, anyone hosting me can either take a business check or let me wire the balance when I get home. I wouldn't dream of taking 10K in cash.

I have great faith in Mr. Franklin. He has saved my bacon on numerous occassions. Traveling alone, I like to have him with me about 50 times. Fresh bills. Worn bills are suspect in most countries.

Check with your PH you can wire money to him and if he is fortunate to have a bank account in USA even easier to deposit money in his account. Definately notify CC company you will be flying thru Netherlands and Tanzania and will be out of country for amonth or whatever.

Mike

I can only inform you as far as Namibia is concerned.
Credit card is important that it is open and covered.problem comes in with a vehicle accident. Then the cards are lost and ...!Rather have a limit put on the cards on travelling days and a pin is not a bad idea.
Get a good travelinsurance that you are sure that they fly you out after the problem.
Road accidents in Namibia. Here the MVA fund, we all contibute to the fund when we purchase gas, takes care of the first critical hours/days.They pay for hospitalisation,operations and any thing during the first criticle period until you are stable.
Our medicle personal is excellent especially in the private hospitals (important)!Flying out home and all the rest is your baby! All oter accidents you have to pay out front cash and then you claim it back. Good place to ask is the US Embassy in the country you are wanting to visit. Hope the info helps a bit. Enjoy your trip.