Greenback surge has yanked me off course

Iam writing from Los Angeles, where we are visiting our son and his family. It’s our first overseas trip for three years, and we are shocked by the horrendous prices, due to the surging Greenback. The United Airlines flight ex-Sydney was uneventful, and it was great to discover that masks are no longer required – neither on the plane nor in the airports.

Travel always has its challenges and the first one was getting travel insurance for me. Once you get to 80 it becomes difficult. I contacted National Seniors, who offered a comprehensive policy for $1449 – that’s after deduction of my 10 per cent member discount. It’s a hefty sum for a three-week journey! So then I phoned RACQ, where I have my home and car insurance, and got a policy for $909. It was less comprehensive, but does cover big-ticket health emergencies, the main reason for travel insurance.

Next, we needed to arrange finance. The days of travellers checks and carrying cash are long gone, and debit/credit cards have become the way to go. I’ve been here for a week now and have never resorted to cash – I just swipe my card when asked. My favourite cards for travelling have long been the ING debit card and the Latitude credit card. They both have useful apps so you can see exactly what something has cost a moment after you swipe the card.

The ING card is a debit card, so there are no nasty shocks when you get home. Furthermore, the ING card refunds all the hidden commissions, which no other card does, to my knowledge. I have spent around $3000 in the last week and they have already refunded $90 in commissions. It’s averaging about 3 per cent of whatever we spend. The Latitude card, on the other hand, is a credit card with a limit. They claim it’s “commission free” – which means they don’t charge you any commissions themselves – but they don’t give you any back. But life is never simple. I was browsing through the ING app on the fourth day of our trip and discovered six consecutive transactions to Microsoft: four were for zero dollars and two were for one dollar. My alarm bells went crazy, and I contacted ING, who confirmed that it was a scam; the card had to be cancelled immediately.

Fortunately, because we also carry Latitude credit cards we still had a working card. It’s a reminder to always have at least two ways to access money overseas. I’d hate to think what would happen to anybody on their own who had only one card. If that gets stopped, which isn’t improbable, they’d be penniless.

We are staggered by the cost of things here. A typical breakfast costs around US$21. That’s $16 for the food and $5 for the coffee. Add a 9.5 per cent state tax and it becomes $23. Now add the 20 per cent tip, which is mandatory, and you’re up to almost $28. In the last week or so the American dollar has surged in value, so the conversion rate to the Australian dollar is now about 1.6. That means a simple breakfast comes to AU$45 a head. And there’s lunch and dinner on top of that.

The lesson for anyone contemplating an overseas trip is to get a handle on what the cost will be in Australian dollars at the destination. Based on these figures it would be hard for a couple to get by on less than AU$1000 a day, including accommodation. When you add airfares, which have doubled since we last travelled, even a trip to visit family becomes an expensive experience.