Double your money? A brief history of border crossings as post-Brexit rules hit travellers

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( July 29, 2022 [The Independent]( Can you imagine pretending to lose something to gain entry into a different country? It used to happen. And it did not involve a passport with an unhelpful visa stamp, but a form of currency. Insufficient funds? British travellers must prove they can support themselves when entering the EU Older readers may remember travellers cheques. In the 20th century, these interesting forms of payment were standard for many people heading abroad. They were issued in a wide range of sterling denominations, typically from £10 to £100, as well as in a myriad of foreign currencies. Backed by big institutions such as American Express and Thomas Cook, the principle was that they were as good as cash. In the US, indeed you could pay for a meal or fuel with a travellers cheque and get cash dollars in change. Hoteliers in France, Italy, and Spain were happy to be paid with travellers cheques in francs, lire or pesetas. And in the event that the traveller lost their cheques, they could get immediate replacements to the same value, free of charge, by going to the nearest branch of American Express or Thomas Cook. So what has this to do with border crossings? Well, many countries stipulate that arriving travellers must have sufficient funds for their stay. Each nation (and sometimes individual frontier officials) decides what constitutes “sufficient”. And that could act as a barrier to backpackers. Budget travellers quickly realised that travellers’ cheques presented the opportunity to fraudulently double their money for the purposes of crossing a frontier. Suppose you had $250-worth. By reporting the initial stash stolen when they hadn’t been, and getting replacements, you could present to the officials apparent resources of $500 – making you a much more attractive bet. Once over the border, a wise backpacker would cover their tracks and destroy the originals. Inevitably, though, some were tempted, when funds ran low, to dip into the apparently lost travellers cheques – often triggering their arrest. I was reminded of this illegal strategy by media coverage of the [tariff that Spain applies to British holidaymakers after Brexit](. Some accounts speak of new rules, when in fact they are old rules that the UK helped to devise during its membership of the European Union. All third-country nationals, as we chose to become, must be able to provide “evidence of sufficient means of subsistence”. The European Commission has long quantified this as “average prices in the member state(s) concerned for board and lodging in budget accommodation, multiplied by the number of days stayed”. The claim in one pro-Brexit newspaper that “Spain has announced new restrictions on UK tourists” is ridiculous. As mentioned in the travel question here last week, we asked to become subject to these EU-wide controls. Just don't bend financial rules to meet them. [Get inspired...](   Explore Paris's coolest neighbourhood]( How to spend a day in trendy-as-they-come Quartier de la Roquette [I'm an image]( [Japan fantasy trip]( Still off-limits: Why we can't wait to get back to the land of onsen, ryokan and sushi [I'm an image]( //link.e.independent.co.uk/click/28542394.24416/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuY28udWsvdHJhdmVsL3N1c3RhaW5hYmxlLXRyYXZlbC9zcGFpbi1mZXJyeS10cmFpbi10cmF2ZWwtc2FuLXNlYmFzdGlhbi12YWxlbmNpYS1iMjEyMTUyNy5odG1s/583d2887487ccd777a8b7489Ba5d32825/email[Loch Lomond hotels]( The best places to stay on and around southern Scotland's famous lake Tip of the week: Eurostar check-in gets longer   Minimum check-in for Eurostar passengers in standard and standard premier class always used to be 30 minutes. It remains so at London St Pancras International, Disneyland Paris and Lille Europe. But, as Chris Woodcock of the European Rail Timetable points out, at Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Rotterdam you must be at the ticket checkpoint at least 45 minutes ahead. Business premier check-in remains at 15 minutes at the key business stations of London, Brussels and Paris. But at Amsterdam and Rotterdam, even passengers who have paid handsomely for their tickets must arrive half-an-hour ahead. At Lille and Disneyland Paris, it’s 20 minutes before departure for those in the posh seats. Recommended arrival times, as opposed to minima, are printed on tickets and are typically 90-120 minutes. [Head of travel Helen Coffey and I have different views on Eurostar: read more here]( Pick of the week: Visit Saudi Create a fully customized day-by-day itinerary and discover the hidden gems of Saudi. Plan your trip [here]( Deal of the week: The deep south of France   Want to spend the first week in August abroad? The best deal right now for a flight-only trip is £88 return on Ryanair from Edinburgh to Nimes in southern France. The flight times – out at lunchtime on Monday 1 August, back at teatime a week later – are civilised, and given the heat in the deep south of France you won’t need more than the basic 40x20x25cm cabin baggage. [Read our guide to Nimes, one of the most alluring cities in France]( Travel voucher of the week [Save £150 on holidays over £800 with this TUI voucher code]( Question of the week: Day trips from Lisbon   Q Your recommendations for some day trips from Lisbon? A The easiest is the short hop by rail along the north shore of the Tagus out to the Atlantic at Estoril and Cascais. Estoril feels like a throwback to holiday glamour in the 1930s, while Cascais is chic but with a wild side. From Cais do Sodré station at the southwest of Lisbon city centre, trains to Estoril take barely half-an-hour, a few minutes longer to Cascais. If you choose to rent a car for a day, head south over the 25 April Bridge (Lisbon’s take on California’s Golden Gate) to the Setubal peninsula. Sample the gorgeous corrugated coastline; the drama of Cabo Espichel, location for a vast, windswept monastery; and the city of Setubal itself, a relaxed fishing and ferry port with an atmospheric old quarter full of faded grandeur. The highlight: the old Camara Municipal (town hall) with a bar on the top floor overlooking the main square. [Read our guide to spending 48 hours in Cascais]( Stat of the week 34,000 The number of passengers who transited outbound through the Port of Dover last Friday, with the CEO [blaming a lack of French staff for four-hour queues](. What you might have missed   - Passport palaver: Family holiday ruined after mum tripped up by Brexit rules]( - Tube trouble: [London Underground staff to walk out on 19 August]( - In the red: [UK taxpayers spent over £1m per day subsidising hotel quarantine – with no evidence that it worked]( Simon’s diary   Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder]( Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. 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