Visa International won World Travels Awards’ top honor for 9th year in a row in the “Worlds Leading Credit Card” category. The award was based on an online poll of travel agencies and travel agents. Numerous criteria were considered including card availability worldwide, convenience, services and features. World Travel Awards was founded in 1993 to award achievements in the travel industry. A full list of award winners may be found here.

Canada dealt foreign tourists a blow yesterday by eliminating the GST rebate for foreign visitors. Though it was among the largest budget cuts a government official defended the move saying that only 939,000 visitors applied for the rebate over a one year period. The Globe and Mail reports:

One of the biggest cuts hits foreign visitors to Canada. The Tories are eliminating the Goods and Services Tax rebate program, which allows foreigners to recoup the GST they pay while in the country.

Mr. McCallum warned that this will discourage tourism, which is already hurting from a stronger Canadian dollar and could be further damaged by pending U.S. border restrictions.

“It’s not the time to give the tourism industry a punch in the nose,” he said.

But the Canada Revenue Agency defended the reduction, saying less than 3 per cent of foreign visitors — 939,000 — applied for rebates in one recent year.

Just days following a move by the British, the United States has announced plans to relax security measures on liquids at air ports.

“We now know enough to say that a total ban is no longer needed from a security point of view,” said Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration, at a news conference at Reagan National Airport.

Important details of the new policies are:

• Liquids bought in “secure” areas at air ports will be allowed on air planes.
• Products like lip gloss and hand lotion will be allowed in volumes less than three ounces.
• Travelers will be able to bring a small amount of toiletries from home. Items must fit in a quart-sized plastic bag and will be screened by security officials.
• The new policy is set to go into effect Tuesday morning.

Read the full CNN article.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is urging online banks to upgrade their security standards by the end of the year. The FFIEC’s reports state that “single-factor authentication” for online transactions is not enough. The FFIEC is encouraging online institutions to adopt two or more of the these authentication methods for high risk transactions:

• Something the user knows (e.g., password, PIN);
• Something the user has (e.g., ATM card, smart card); and
• Something the user is (e.g., biometric characteristic, such as a fingerprint).

Below are the agency’s key points:

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The AP has reported that Britain is set to ease stringent carry-on bag restrictions tomorrow. This will come as relief to passengers who have had to deal with a limited bag allowance and item restrictions. Here are the important details of the new policy:

• Liquids are still banned. Certain medications and baby formula may be carried on if tested in the presence of security officials.
• Larger carry-on bags are now allowed. Maximum dimensions are 18inx14inx6in.
• Musicians will be able to carry musical instruments onboard again.

Read the full AP article.

Converting money while traveling internationally is a task that almost every international traveler faces. The number of ways to convert money are increasing, but so is the number of entities looking to take a fee for the transaction. Several years ago, many travel advisors would indiscriminately advocate using credit cards to make purchases in a foreign currency. This was because many credit card issuers generally charged conversion fees that were much lower than could be achieved at foreign currency exchange booths. Additionally, the fees were near what could have been achieved at a bank, and when using a credit card the traveler would never be left with unneeded foreign currency at the end of a trip. At the end of the day, travelers got decent exchange rates, credit card issuers earned modest fees and nearly everyone was happy.
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