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Resending: 💸😭💳 This Simple Mistake Cost US $2000...
We're in the middle of a 16-day housesit here, juggling our explorations between the tropical afternoon downpours.
And I've got a confession – there's a sneaky downside to housesitting that we're battling right now.
When the weather's rough outside, it's all too easy to get cozy and forget you're meant to be out exploring!
Doubly so when you're revisiting a familiar place like we are with Yogya.
So, rather than trying to do everything and getting drenched in the process, we’ve become strategic.
Besides enjoying all the comforts of home while it rains, we’re combining revisits to the most famous sites with new indoor adventures, like batik-making and cooking classes.
We've scored fantastic deals on these activities through GetYourGuide and discovered a promising new ticketing platform for Indonesia called GOER, which we think you'll want to know about.
Borobudur - UNESCO World Heritage-listed - The largest Buddhist Temple in the World
Speaking of getting too comfortable, this week's story and long-term travel tip are based on an expensive lesson we just learned.
How did we manage to miss out on $2000 in free benefits?
We'll share our somewhat embarrassing story so you can avoid making the same mistake (whether you're a long-term traveler or not).
In other travel news, Italy is targeting fake reviews with some interesting proposals that might surprise you.
And for those following our typically fluid travel plans, hold onto your seats—they've remained unchanged for an entire week! (I know; I'm shocked, too!)
If you're planning ahead, there are a few Valentine's deals still floating around. But keep your eyes peeled in the next couple of editions as Easter offers are about to start popping up.
Oh, and don't forget to check out this week's travel competitions – there are some good ones!
*Note: Some of the links in this email are from our partners, including AMAZON. If you purchase a product or service using those links, we get a SMALL commission to help pay for the website and this newsletter. But we promise - you won't pay any more than you would if purchasing directly. You can read our full disclosure here.
The proposed law addresses a problem we've all encountered: How can you know if a review is genuine?
Under the new legislation, reviewers must prove they visited establishments within two weeks of posting a review. This move could fundamentally change how platforms like TripAdvisor operate.
Perhaps more controversially, business owners would have the right to request the removal of negative reviews after two years if they can demonstrate the issues have been addressed.
This resonates deeply with our own experiences. During our extensive travels, particularly in India, we've encountered countless suspicious reviews, both glowingly positive (paid for by the owner) and devastatingly negative (paid for by the competition.)
While pinpointing precisely what gives away a fake review is often tricky, you develop a sixth sense for spotting them after a while.
The dark side of review culture hit particularly close to home when a friend who owns a bar in Quy Nhon, Vietnam, faced extortion from customers threatening negative reviews unless they were paid off.
The new Italian legislation explicitly targets this type of fraud, requiring proof of patronage to prevent such scams. Unfortunately, this wouldn't have helped our friend, as the people were there, but their complaints (and subsequent demands) were totally over the top and quite dishonest.
The scale of the problem is significant - Italy's Ministry of Enterprises estimates that fake reviews impact between 6-30% of tourism revenue in the country. That's a staggering figure that underscores why action is needed.
However, we can't help but wonder about potential unintended consequences.
Will requiring proof of visit discourage honest reviewers from sharing their experiences?
It’s possible that only those with very positive or very negative experiences (likely more of the latter) will make an effort to jump through these verification hoops, making average scores meaningless.
Interestingly, some Italian consumer groups argue the law doesn't go far enough. They're pushing for these regulations to extend to social media influencers who review establishments based on undisclosed commercial agreements or gifts.
The proposed law requires review site operators like Trip Advisor to verify reviews. It requires that they be "relevant and detailed," though the exact mechanism for determining this has not been specified.
While fake reviews are already illegal under Italian law, this new legislation aims to strengthen the enforcement framework.
We just hope the eventual solution doesn't create more problems than it solves.
Similar laws in the United States, for comparison, primarily focus on traditional advertising channels and social media influencers. The FTC already requires disclosure of paid endorsements.
However, they don't regulate review sites like TripAdvisor, and attempting to do so might be challenged constitutionally under free speech protections.
What do you think about these proposed changes?
Would you be more or less likely to leave reviews if you had to prove your visit?
How do you currently spot fake reviews when planning your travels?
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this critical issue that affects all travelers.
Seven nights’ accommodation aboard a Riviera River Cruise ship, based on two people sharing a standard cabin
Return travel between the UK and the ship’s port
All meals on board, from dinner on the day of arrival to breakfast on the day of departure
All excursions included as advertised in the cruise itinerary
Complimentary on-board tea and coffee
Complimentary on-board Wi-Fi
Drinks package – Local wine, beer, and soft drinks during lunch, then from 6 pm until midnight: Includes regional wine (other brands can be purchased) beers, spirits, port, brandy, sherry, cocktail of the day, soft drinks and juices (2025) and available from 10 am until midnight in 2026
Port charges and airport taxes
Services of Riviera Cruise director
Closes: 28th February, 2025
Complacency Can Cost You Big Time (How We Learned the Hard Way)
As experienced long-term travelers, we recently learned a $2000 lesson the hard way. (As in just this month!!!)
Before leaving Australia in 2010, we did our homework on bank accounts and cards and switched things up over the years if we stumbled across better options.
However, unlike our annual financial and tax reviews, we never established a regular, rigorous review process to determine whether our banking setup was still the best fit.
This oversight recently cost us free travel insurance! And that cost us just over $2000!
Not only that, we’ve missed out on significant amounts in interest on our savings.
If you’d like to know all the details of my screw-up, read on…
Our Credit Cards ‘set up’ (before the discovery)
For years, we’ve happily used our Latitude 28 degrees card as our primary credit facility. It has no foreign transaction fees and competitive foreign exchange fees. It was pretty basic, with no points scheme or add-ons, but until recently, it was free.
However, late last year, they introduced an $8/month fee with a bunch of ‘benefits’ to convince you to stay. I started investigating alternatives but slacked off when they gave us a 12-month amnesty on the fee.
Our backup Platinum Reward credit cards are from our primary bank in Australia, CBA.
We rarely use them overseas because they have foreign transaction fees. However, we do switch back when we return to Australia.
We are not charged an annual fee, as we have a special package with our bank that eliminates fees and gives us preferential interest rates.
We never bothered with the ‘complimentary’ travel insurance that came with them, as it was only valid for a maximum of three months.
It does have a points program, but I generally convert the points to cashback and apply them to the balance rather than buying unnecessary items.
Sounds reasonable, right?
Nope…I should have checked.
Credit card benefits from Australian banks have changed A LOT in recent years, and only by chance did I discover how much.
When Cover-More recently had their 15% off travel insurance special, I shared the offer and how much we’ve saved on our latest 12-month policy.
One of our friends, Judy, agreed that they were excellent insurers but mentioned that she got her coverage for free with her ANZ Black credit card.
I dismissed her comment because credit cards rarely offer the 12-month coverage we need.
I’ve looked at it since, and while I was right - It doesn’t cover you for 12 months - it will cover you for up to 6 months, which is longer than any other credit card insurance I’ve seen in the past.
At that point I should have twigged that if one Aussie bank was doing it, the others probably had similar or better products.
Then, while chatting with another friend, Wanda, about getting a WISE card for their upcoming Vietnam trip, she mentioned the CBA Ultimate credit card had no foreign exchange or international ATM fees.
That surprised me, as I thought our Platinum Cards were the best they offered.
I read all bank correspondence, and I’d be prepared to swear they never told us there was a better option.
So, I investigated.
And what I discovered was quite ‘enlightening.’
Our Platinum Rewards Credit Card isn’t even available to new customers. It’s an old product that has been discontinued. However, the bank automatically renews ours.
In fact, we picked up new ones while we were back home!
First, I discovered it offers 3 times the points of our current card. Interesting, but points aren't really our thing. (Although I think they could be now if I can work through all the details and optimize our spending habits without spending more!)
Then, I confirmed Wanda’s advice that there were no overseas transaction fees. Now, that got my attention. Our current CBA cards are 3.5%!
But here's the kicker: It includes up to 12 months of travel insurance with Cover-More. You only need to spend $500 on your trip before leaving.
Too easy. That’s less than an airfare for one of us!
At this point, I thought, "Well, this sounds great, but there must be a catch." And there was—a $35 monthly fee unless you spend $4,000 AUD monthly. We’d rarely reach that limit, so we would likely pay the fee most months.
But wait...
Remember that special CBA banking package we have? The one that waives our current card fees?
Yep. You guessed it.
ALL THOSE FEES WOULD BE WAIVED.
DAMMIT!!!
We could have:
Had this card before our latest trip.
Saved over $2000 on travel insurance.
Still avoided foreign transaction fees.
Earned a bunch of points on all the transactions we’ve made since we left in January. I estimate that we could have earned around 250,000 points—or about $90$ back.
There are other benefits, too—like two free lounge passes per year. (If Tim can comfortably relax on a more extended layover for free, that could help me convince him to take even cheaper flights.)
And it wouldn't have cost us a cent more than what we're already paying.
I've since ordered the new cards, which are being mailed to our Australian mailing address for forwarding.
But that doesn't make me feel any better about missing out on all those benefits for our current trip.
But wait, there’s more…
Debit Cards
We used to have three debit cards:
Our Wise Card - no foreign transaction fees, excellent exchange rates, ability to hold, receive and transfer multiple currencies, and limited fee-free ATM withdrawals.
I had a quick look, and at first glance, it met our needs: high security, non-SMS 2FA, no international transaction fees, and free international ATM withdrawals.
Bonus: they pay a reasonable interest rate on this account, which the WISE account doesn't.
While doing that research, I also discovered that they offer a savings account with better rates and fewer conditions than our existing CBA Savings accounts and term deposits.
But I didn’t do anything about it then. And I should have!!!
Instead, I delayed opening the accounts until we returned to Australia in late December.
Then, due to a data entry mistake I made, and all the Christmas/New Year holidays, we didn’t get our new cards before we had to fly out.
It’s not the end of the world.
We can still use the card and account online, and we even managed to connect Tim to Alipay while in China.
But now I have to find a secure place for my sister to mail them to us. That won’t happen until we get to Malaysia in April at the earliest.
Had I just sorted things when Ziggy first told me about it, we would have earned significant extra interest AND had the new cards.
So, what did I learn from this expensive mistake?
1. Don't get complacent because your current setup "works." The banking world moves fast, and better options always pop up.
2. When friends mention their banking perks, don't dismiss them! If Judy's comment about free insurance had made me dig deeper, we might have discovered these options sooner.
3. Your existing bank might have better products than you currently use. However, they won't necessarily tell you about them. You might have to go searching.
4. Most importantly, what worked for you when you started traveling might not be the best option now. A proper annual review would have caught all of this.
So, bearing our sorry tale in mind, read on for this week’s tip for long-term travelers…
Or anyone, for that matter!
Travel Tips for Long-Term Trips - Smart Travelers Do an Annual Banking Review
If you've just joined our Travel Bug Community, you can find previous tips on getting ready for long-term travel on the newsletter archives page.
So far in our long-term travel tips series, we've covered the fundamentals:
How to:
Define your travel goals and bucket lists,
Set your baseline,
Create and refine your budget
Find extra income streams while traveling, and
Identify your support crew.
But even with all those basics in place, there's one regular task that even experienced travelers like us can overlook—and as you just read, it cost us $2000.
So here’s this week’s tip…
Travel Tip N6 - Perform an Annual Banking Review
While vacation travelers might naturally review their banking options before each trip, long-term travelers often stick with what's working without regular reviews.
However, the banking landscape constantly evolves:
Banks merge or get acquired
New fees are introduced
Better products enter the market
Existing banking relationships may offer unknown benefits
Travel insurance needs and coverage change
What to Review Annually
1. Account and Card Fees
Monthly/annual account fees and interest rates
Foreign transaction fees
ATM withdrawal charges
Currency conversion rates
2. Card Benefits and Coverage
Complimentary Travel insurance details, including coverage periods
Points programs relevance
Emergency services
Global Acceptance
3. Security Features
Two-factor authentication options
Card freeze/unfreeze capabilities
Emergency replacement services
4. Bank Relationships and Packages
Special fee waivers through existing relationships
Bundle benefits
Negotiation opportunities
When to Conduct Your Review
Schedule your annual banking audit at least a month before returning to your home country. This timing allows sufficient time to:
Research new products
Apply for new cards or accounts
Receive physical cards before departing again
Identify any automatic payments or subscriptions you need to transfer.
Remember: Even experienced travelers can miss opportunities by not regularly reviewing their banking setup.
Don't let complacency cost you money or benefits that could enhance your long-term travel experience.
Travel Partners That Saved Us Money This Week
The award for ‘kind of’ saving us a ton of money this week goes to 🏆Cover-More, our current travel insurer.
I say ‘kind of’ because it wasn’t a saving but a payout of our claim for Tim’s root canal in Shanghai. (You can read about that episode in the Feb 6th edition.)
I submitted the Claim to Covermore on February 5th, noting that the documentation for the crown will be followed up after he has it done in Vietnam.
All the documentation (invoice, treatment detail, and receipt) was in Chinese.
We were notified on February 18th that it had been accepted.
I was ecstatic that they didn’t want any further explanation. (I may have played up the Lunar New Year candy, cracking his tooth story a bit enthusiastically!)
The money is already in our account.
Minus the 250 excess (that I chose when purchasing the policy), we got 680 back.
I have reminded them that the claim is not yet closed, so we’ll see what happens when I submit the next bill.
We have already received almost a third of our annual premium back with just this one claim.
(Imagine how far ahead we’d been if I’d switched those damn credit cards early enough to have got the insurance for free!!!)
In our experience, the ease with which we made the claim is the norm with Cover-More. For me, that’s the tell-tale sign of a good insurer.
For once, our plans have remained relatively stable! We've actually been turning down sits in Malaysia, Portugal, and the UK that don't align with our route.
Though it pains me to pass on some fabulous opportunities, we're trying to stay focused on our planned path. (A moment of silence for the northern summer pet parents who might struggle to find sitters - it's always a challenging season!)
The only notable change? Our Tbilisi housesit has expanded from two to three weeks (finalizing details today).
Here's our confirmed itinerary for the next few months:
Yogyakarta (1 week remaining): Enjoying Ricky the Cat's Pool Villa while exploring Prambanan, learning batik-making, taking cooking classes, and visiting palaces
Vietnam: Nearly 6 weeks of adventures
Kuala Lumpur: 10 nights in a modern condo with a gym, pool, and three easy-care cats
Carvoeiro, Portugal: 11 days of beach life with a lovely cat in the Algarve
Fuengirola, Spain: Caring for a sweet cat in a well-equipped 3-bedroom apartment near Malaga
Spanish Coast: Catching up with friends around Alicante and Valencia
London: Potential sit in the works (if not, plenty more options constantly appearing)
Caucasus Adventure: A month exploring Armenia and Azerbaijan
Tbilisi, Georgia: Our newly extended 3-week sit
UK Return: Quick 5-day stopover
Cambridge: 2 weeks in the city center
And here's an exciting possibility: Remember Algeria on our wishlist? A fantastic new listing just popped up in central Algiers!
While we couldn't make their March dates work, I shared some sitter-finding tips with them and planted the seed for potential future sits.
Fingers crossed, our paths align later this year—it would be incredible to explore this fascinating country properly.
Pro tip: The accommodation prices are absolutely eye-watering for those eyeing a European trip this year. Even a modest hotel will set you back multiple three figures/night in most places. So, unless you want to take out a second mortgage, housesitting might be your best bet for staying in the best locations in comfort. We’ve saved over 21K already this year!
Travel Bloggers, Websites and Newsletters You Might Like
I haven’t signed up for any new newsletters this week.
This week, while planning our visit to Borobudur, I stumbled upon a game-changing booking platform.
GOERS was the only online platform offering direct ticket bookings for this iconic temple. The tickets were the same price as those sold at the on-site ticket office.
Why does this matter?
Getting early morning slots at Borobudur is crucial (trust me, the Indonesian heat after mid-morning is no joke), and relying on the physical ticket office can mean missing out on prime times.
The alternative? Expensive tours that bundle in tickets at a significant markup.
GOERS covers most major Indonesian destinations, from Bali and Lombok to Kalimantan and Jakarta, and offers tickets for attractions, events, and activities unavailable on other booking sites.
Pro tip: If you're planning an Indonesian adventure, bookmark GOERS (www.goers.co). It could save you both money and hassle compared to booking packaged tours or risking on-site ticket availability.
That's all for now.
We have a couple of outings planned over the next few days and it's my birthday today, so we're headed out to celebrate.
More of that next week..
Happy Travels!
Tim and Sharyn
PS. If you enjoy receiving this newsletter, please feel free toBUY US A BEVERAGE. 😉 ☕🫖🍻🍷
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We're long-term travelers sharing our passion for independent, budget travel. Every newsletter gives you travel tips from experts, lessons from the road, great deals, and carefully curated travel products & services.
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