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Do you need dual citizenship?

By Annette Cagle

Passports are one way of traveling around the world, but the United States is hardly the only country that offers passports. A second passport from a different country could get you places that you’d need a U.S. passport and a visa to get to otherwise. How, you may ask, could you get a passport from another country? Simple (sometimes): Dual citizenship. 

Dual citizenship has existed for a while, but in short it means that you have the same legal privileges a native Canadian would, if you were a dual citizen of Canada. This may seem redundant. Why would you need to be a citizen of two countries? First, since each country has different worldwide agreements, dual citizenship paired with a passport could grant you visa-free entry into numerous countries. For example, U.S. passport-holders need a visa to visit Australia, India, China, or Egypt. Other citizenships may get you into those countries easier (New Zealand to Australia). 

How do you get dual citizenship? Several countries offer avenues through which you can become a citizen via lineage. Ireland is one such country. If your grandparents were native Irish, you could use their Foreign Births Register to apply for dual citizenship. Italy, Israel, and Hungary all offer similar programs. 

Another way to get dual citizenship is through Citizenship by Investment. Some countries offer foreign nationals citizenship if they invest in their economies or governments. These programs tend to be rather expensive, but others such as Argentina and Paraguay have lower-cost requirements. 

The benefits of being a dual citizen can include a permanent residence outside the country, freer travel, and a lower tax burden. Having another passport also gives you an out should instability in one country make moving abroad increasingly attractive. If you’re an entrepreneurial traveler, you might also consider investing in new markets as a gain of dual citizenship. Being the citizen of a rising country can pay off for both you and your new residence.  

Of course, dual citizenship isn’t a walk in the park. It requires time and effort, especially if you are not applying through a lineage process. I’d recommend talking to experts on the subject, like legal and financial advisors, before starting the process. However, dual citizenship can unlock doors that nothing else can, and that adventure could be well worth the effort. 

Annette Cagle is the president of Brandywine Travel Agency, Inc. She has worked in the travel industry for over four decades and is a Certified Travel Counselor and a South Pacific and Europe Destination Specialist.
 

Should you bother hiring a travel agent?

By Annette Cagle

Most Americans don’t prepare their own tax returns. In fact, 90 percent of us prefer to hire a tax professional. While taxes can be relatively simple at times, many of us dislike the idea of messing something up and don’t want to get in trouble with the IRS. 

So if we dislike filing our own taxes, why do we plan our own vacations? After all, only 20 percent of Americans will use a travel advisor for their next adventure. Many of us would probably answer that vacations are easy or that travel advisors are unnecessary, but such sentiments are misplaced. For example, the average vacation takes 10-20 hours to plan. Expedia believes Americans spend about 23 hours visiting over 140 websites to book flights and hotels for their trip. 

Cost, which is high on the list of concerns people have about travel, can be significantly lower when people consult with a travel advisor. The average American may spend between $4,400 and $6,600 on vacationing in a given year. Travel advisors have demonstrated their ability to save people money on their trips. One 2016 study found that consumers who used a travel advisor saved an average of $452 on their vacations, compared to those who used an online booking agency or simply booked themselves. 

Perhaps the biggest reason to consult with a travel advisor is the threat of an emergency, whether it be financial or health-related. A majority of travelers agreed, with 66 percent saying that a travel advisor helped them avoid a costly mistake. At Brandywine Travel, we’ve worked with people who ran into tumultuous situations. The COVID-19 pandemic is a case in point. In the last year, we’ve assisted many of our clients with vacations cut short and helped them navigate travel restrictions. 

Larry Olmsted, a travel and food writer and New York Times best-selling author, noted five major benefits of consulting with a travel advisor: 

> Emergencies. Having a travel advisor working with you can mean hours (and money) saved in the event of a flight or cruise difficulty. 
> Expertise. Travel advisors often have been where you are going or know someone who has, so they know which sights to see and which to avoid.
> VIP Connections. Olmsted noted that one piano enthusiast visiting Russia had the privilege of seeing the house of the composer Nicolai Rimsky Korsakov, thanks to the specialist knowledge of his travel agent.   
> Extras. Having a vacationer staying in a deluxe suite may cost the cruise line no more than having them stay in a normal room. So if the deluxe suite is empty, the cruise line may let someone book it for less than the normal cost. “But who gets these upgrades?” Olmsted asks. “Advisors.”
> Air (AKA, price). Again, travel advisors know the landscape of the industry and can usually find deals that you would never find online. 

Brandywine Travel has been around for over 34 years, and we can attest that these situations arise. A travel advisor can remove much of the turbulence from your trip, letting you have your own personalized dream vacation. 

So, what is 23 hours worth to you? 
 

Safe travels in 2021?

“Safe travels.” 

What does that saying mean to you? For a lot of us, 2020 upended vacations, making them uncertain and unsafe. In cruise ships, COVID spread like wildfire early in the year. Lockdowns ensued and people stayed home. 

“Safe travels” weren’t happening. You never knew when a border would close or a flight would cancel. 

Some of us got to travel abroad in 2020 but it was nothing like normal. Masks, COVID tests, etc. It was more like “uncertain travels” or “risky travels.”

For 2021, then, will “safe travels” exist?  I think so. Here’s why. 

First, the tourism industry is partnering to implement strict cleanliness standards. For example, the World Economic Forum has partnered with The Commons Project Foundation to create a health passport. This document will hold health-related info (such as COVID test results) while ensuring that personal info is not leaked. It’s currently on a trial run. 

In other areas, I’ve seen the industry come together. Webinars, which we’re all now very familiar with, have proliferated. Suppliers, travel agents, travel writers, and a host of other industry representatives are partnering to spread news about how the global attitude towards travel is reacting. 

Second, flexibility is the norm. Faced with unprecedented border closures, travel operators have tried to consider travelers’ worries. Wanting to spur demand for air travel, airlines have done away with certain fees. For most major airlines, change fees for domestic flights are gone! International change fees, too, have been waived. 

This type of flexibility is likely to continue. Both travelers and travel operators need each other. The industry knows this and will be constantly reviewing their safety service to accommodate vacationers. 

Third, and finally, I believe transportation is growing safer. Cruise lines, airlines, train operators and others are all beefing up their health policies. German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd screened passengers before setting sail, conducted daily health checks, and cut down on the maximum occupancy. While cruising hasn’t quite started up in the U.S. just yet, you can expect similar protocols. 

As far as airports go, more than 8 in 10 travelers said they’d feel safer with contactless boarding. With this in mind, the TSA has taken advantage of the pandemic to implement some much-needed upgrades. Their credential authentication technology (CAT) scans flyers’ IDs to verify their authenticity. CAT usage has jumped, and dozens more airports now use new 3D scanning technology, Robert Silk writes. The end goal is to make screening as touchless as possible, while also speeding it up. 

So there you have it. The industry is partnering, boosting flexibility, and growing safer. Of course, even with these positive changes, COVID won’t disappear overnight. I know my clients have concerns about travel. If you’re a traveler yourself, you’re familiar with the uncertainty of booking an international flight. 

But travel will return. Don’t worry. Soon, we’ll be saying “safe travels” again. And we’ll believe it.

 

 

Looking Back: Reflecting on Travel in 2020

This year was unlikely any other for the travel industry and tourists alike.

By Annette Cagle 

 

Most of us will remember 2020 for the disease and the masks and the lockdowns, the things that happened to us. 

Most of us won’t remember the things that didn’t happen to us—the seniors who missed their final semester or senior trip, the holiday gatherings we couldn’t attend, or the loved ones we haven’t seen. 

For travel, then, 2020 was unlike any other year.

I’ve been in the travel business for decades and 2021 will mark Brandywine Travel’s 35th year of business. But nothing prepared us for 2020. Looking forward to next year, I can tell you the travel scene will be nothing like what it was last January. 

Open, close

Back in March, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health emergency, everything began shutting down in earnest. Cruises were cancelled as concerns arose about some of the ships where COVID spread rapidly. 

The lockdowns quickly froze travel and most other industries. Borders closed and travelers stayed home. No one was exactly sure what to expect. 

By July, though, people were starting to chafe for normality. Travelers renewed interest in salvaging a summer vacation. Locations like Jamaica, Cancun, and the Maldives—all dependent on tourism revenues—began reopening. The results were mixed, but generally positive. 

And travelers adapted to the new normal: masks, COVID tests, and smaller groups. Some changes, like the airplane’s empty middle seat, will be missed. 

Now, in December, with the vaccine starting to be administered, people are renewing interest in travel, especially for summer 2021. While holiday gatherings won’t look the same, I get the sense that people are becoming eager to see the world again. 

Looking to 2021

Next year, those bucket list dreams may come to fruition. The travel industry is facing several new realities. Vacationers are increasingly health conscious and airlines and cruise companies are updating their protocols. One Viking cruise ship even has its own COVID testing lab.  

But even these trends open new opportunities for travel. Hawaii, Barbados, Bermuda and other tourism-dependent locales have offered people the chance to live in a tropical paradise while working from home. 

These realities are here to stay, at least for the time being. 

On the other hand, “conventional” travel options are proliferating. U.S. river cruise lines, like American Cruise Lines and American Queen Steamboat Co., are putting new, state-of-the-art vessels into service on the Mississippi and several other U.S. rivers. This comes as Viking plans to set sail in U.S. rivers in the next few years. 

Domestically, river cruises won’t be the only attraction. The Rocky Mountaineer, a glass-domed luxury train, will be winding its way through Colorado and Utah. Canadians already have their own Rocky Mountaineer, but this will be the first experience for many Americans. 

A thankful country 

Throughout the pandemic, one thing has struck me: our country’s beauty. Most of us take for granted the diverse landscapes and scenery the United States of America has to offer—mountains, beaches, deserts, and forests. We have lakeside villas and road trips through the canyonlands. 

Too often, we forget that most other countries don’t have such a spectacular array of scenery. Their citizens need to travel abroad to see a tropical beach or a snow-capped peak. This year, I think many Americans realized how much there was to see in their very own backyards. 

So whether you’re planning that bucket list trip to Antarctica or you’re content to wait and see, don’t worry. Travel will be back, and better than ever. In the meantime, don’t forget to take a look at your own, big, beautiful backyard.  

Annette Cagle is the president of Brandywine Travel Agency, Inc. She has worked in the travel industry for over four decades and is a Certified Travel Counselor and a South Pacific and Europe Destination Specialist.This article was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse on December 29, 2020.