#661 – The Expat Files: Air Travel, Tipping, and Life in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Wow, can't believe it. This is show number 661 that means if you loaded all the shows together since day one put them in your iPhone iPod or mp3 player and listen to them Continuously, you'd probably get a brain tumor. I mean hey, that's over 300 continuous hours of my

[00:50] Bloviations now what's in a great way? I get an email from someone saying John. You're repeating yourself Hey, you get what you pay for right? Well, I don't know if anybody could talk for three hundred hours and not repeat themselves a little bit But that's no excuse if I'm repeating myself At least I know I'm updating it for the moment because you know What happened three four five or six years ago here in Latin America can't remain static things are ever-changing Especially in the arena of getting your permanent and temporary residency in whatever Latin country Oh, and yeah I got a flurry of emails just recently since I've been laying out the news about Ecuador and how I've kind of taken it off My list. Well, it turns out the emails I'm getting from people who live in Ecuador Most are pissed off to infuriated as to what's been happening there to the tune of about five to one

[01:36] That's five awfully pissed off to one whose author says it's still a pretty good idea to move to Ecuador and not to add insult to injury here But I will just got this link from an expat living in Ecuador He says forget it if you have to travel to Ecuador back and forth for whatever reason He says pick any other Latin country, but Ecuador unless you have a lot of money and don't really care what it costs Then he sends this article entitled air travel declines in Ecuador Which is exactly the opposite of what's happening in almost every other Latin country Except Venezuela and you know, it's a good time to mention air travel here in Latin America because I get that question all the time What's it cost? How long does it take? What are the layovers like? As for Central America, you can get flights

[02:21] I looked them up just yesterday anywhere from 400 bucks round trip to a major hub in the United States to maybe seven or eight hundred averaging around 550 to 600 and changing all the time Of course, the real cheap ones the four hundred dollar round trip jobs You'll always have a layover somewhere and could take you a better part of a half a day to get it worked out But you know, it all depends on what your time's worth to you If you're flying from a big USA hub to a big Latin America hub, you can get a non-stop direct flight It's gonna cost you more usually at least 600 bucks And I guess for some people it's worth the extra 200 bucks to skip hanging around for a few hours in an airport Now as far as airfare for people on a tight budget who are thinking about having their plan B in South America

[03:07] You know, it's inevitable that you'll be making a few trips back and forth at least at the beginning and every flight It's gonna cost you at least twice What it will cost you for a round trip to Central America plus it'll almost always take you a whole day to complete that trip Often you'll have to get a hotel in a layover city Meaning you'll have to add a couple extra travel days on to each trip And for example, if you're taking a non-stop flight from a big hub Let's say O'Hare field in Chicago to Buenos Aires a one-shot deal like that unless there's a promotion It'll run you 1500 bucks easy almost more than it would cost you on a round trip to Europe So unless you're moving to South America permanently that is you're not gonna go tripping around It'll cost you a big chunk of dough every time you want to fly back to the first world But let me paraphrase this article about flying to Ecuador and this is very recent May 13th

[03:56] It starts out Ecuadorian businesses that depend on air travel say they cannot compete with other South American countries due to high taxes and airport User fees that are driving up the prices of tickets dramatically It says airport officials and the tourist industry in Ecuador say they are being crippled by taxes and fees that amount to up to a half of the price of the tickets oftentimes more and in the cases of discount and promotional fares Taxes and government fees can be up to 90% of the cost of the ticket Airlines also complain about the high airport usage fees the first round of which came online in 2015 then it says unlike the general trend upwards in the rest of Latin America All of Ecuador's larger airports report declines in air travel for three years running

[04:43] The Quito and Guayaquil airports say their international travel is down at 30% While domestic flights are showing even bigger declines all struggling to balance their books as passenger numbers continue to decline then it says to add insult to injury the Ecuadorian government added higher sales taxes on international tickets a $50 tourist fee was added in 2016 along with higher landing fees of an additional $50 in Quito and Guayaquil the government tax rates on domestic flights were increased at the same time by 60% now get this an airline spokesman says often airlines will provide low heavily Discounted promotional fees to help attract new customers. These are loss leaders as a real example

[05:28] He says one airline recently offered an introductory fare of 15 bucks for a Quito to Bogota, Colombia flight people thought it was Fantastic and unheard of at the time However, it says once the fees and airport taxes were added the cost of the ticket zoomed to $182 for the consumer So there's something terribly unfair about the fact that the airline who provides the service Gets $15 of that fare and the government gets a hundred and sixty seven dollars of that fee What a mind boggler. Yep. It's me Johnny again in the last couple of weeks I've been getting emails from people since I've been talking about Ecuador saying yes

[06:14] But once you become a resident in Ecuador Especially if you're on a pension or senior citizen and get Social Security you get certain other discounts that are supposed to balance things out Kind of which is part of the incentive to move to Ecuador to get in on that pension auto residency You know a lot of Latin countries have what they call a rent t-store pension auto residency program If you're a certain age and are getting retirement income You get the residency along with certain benefits like bringing a container in duty-free Buying a car in five years without paying Eva discounts on transportation certain restaurants doctors pharmacies the cinema and stuff Well, it all sounds good. If you're really budget-minded and maybe even a coupon clipper You can get a lot of little discounts along the way, but most green goes in expats unless they're former teachers

[07:04] Aren't that picky and they don't go for a five or ten percent discount if it amounts to going out of their way and jumping Through some hoops still pay the normal fee, which is cheap by any means and screw it For example one lady gringa senior citizen living in Ecuador who's on a pension auto residency She says the discount you get from the pension auto program in Ecuador are very minor Especially when you're buying a full-price ticket for airfare the discount doesn't amount to much She says, you know Johnny for some people coupon clipping is a lifestyle The US even has reality cable TV shows based on hoarders savers and coupon clippers She says Johnny we all want to save money But in my experience pinching pennies nickel slot machines bingo parlors and a tight wad lifestyle might be fine for one crowd

[07:55] I find it a bit tedious to hang with people like that She said there used to be a couple I want to coffee with every morning and the topic of conversation would always get around to The two dollars and forty six cents they saved on senior Tuesday night at the bowling alley Nah, that's not my idea of retirement nor fading gently into the sunset Keep it up Johnny. Bye. Listen every week Chantel. Okay, it's me Johnny Thanks for that Chantel and I'm with you on that one By the way, did you know that Latin America is now Airbnb's fastest growing market Latin America has over 250,000 properties listed including Cuba and as mentioned in a past show Latin governments are cracking down Especially Latin countries where tourism is on the decline. Wait, that's wrong

[08:44] I don't mean tourism itself's on the decline, but tourists spending per capita is on the decline In other words people want to get off a little bit cheaper Don't want to pay the regular rack rate hotel prices you get on the internet So countries like Panama Mexico Costa Rica and now Ecuador are doing what governments always do They're looking the gouge the latest new entrance into the market And if they don't play along they'll find them or shut them down. All right pretty much in the same groove I just got this email from Dave. He says Johnny I've been listening to show for five years or more now and I've heard every single episode I went from an expat wannabe to an expat goannabe and now as of May 19th I'll finally be a full-blown expat. There's one subject though I don't think you've ever touched on and that's tipping in Latin America, of course

[09:32] What's the custom when it comes to tipping? Is there a custom? Tomorrow I'll have to pay a private driver from the airport will be dining in various places But do I tip for services like that up in the states? Is it built into the price? What do I do? I don't really want to come off as such a newbie that the locals will take advantage me. Thanks again I can't believe I finally made it down Thanks Dave tipping, huh? How complicated could that be? Well, it's not quite that simple I think the best way to start this out is by giving you the opinion of the many restaurant and hotel owners I know they're pretty unanimous in their opinions about tipping First of all, they say German and Russian tourists are the worst tippers However, Russian mafia guys, they'll tip like it's no tomorrow because sometimes they're right. There is no tomorrow

[10:21] Now they claim French tourists are just as tight as backpackers Expat Eddie says backpackers are as nice as can be and the French aren't but they smell better Next in line for cheapness is your average American school teacher. Oh, they'll tip All right, but somehow Eddie says they never get separate checks and when the bill comes There's a huge meeting of the minds and all the calculators come out And they'll figure everyone's last coffee and dessert down to the last penny And when it comes to the tip everyone's up shuffling around and on their way out the door And you know, there's always a teacher or two who just won't addy up a tip on Principle that principle being they're just cheap ass mother And there's always one or two in the group that disappear into the bathroom or the parking lot when it's time to addy up for

[11:07] The tip and you'll find the ones that do tip and tip generously had in a past life a job as a waiter or a waitress Alright tipping how much how often this is how it works in most Latin countries when you're way out in the boonies in small Towns of a thousand to let's say 20,000 people There'll be all kinds of little restaurants and tienes and bed and breakfasts owned by the locals And many of them off the gringo tourist trail will be off the books too Most often the tip will not be included. So you tip appropriately 10 or 15 percent But remember if the food sucks or there's a hair in the drink or something It's not the waiter or waitresses fault. They did not cook the meal. It just presented it to you Unfortunately, though, you'll find that in Latin America. Anyway, almost all places share tips between the cooks and the waiters, etc

[11:57] So if you have a real great waitress in your tipper heavy and the food sucked She's sharing the tips. So you're giving positive reinforcement to a bad cook now expat Eddie Who owns a lot of restaurants or did anyway till he starts selling them off just lately He says to solve that problems easy you get a really good waitress or one you really like Yeah, shove the dough in her hand. You say this is for you not to be shared with anyone else Of course, you'll have to know a little Spanish to pull that one off when you're off the gringo tourist trail But do give it a shot now, of course in the bigger cities and when you're on the gringo tourist trail You'll be getting a receipt or a bill or a check. They call it fact to it Oh by the way now on the gringo tourist trail, the restaurants are more organized and liable to be on the books

[12:45] So they're paying taxes. That's why on the gringo tourist trail and at larger restaurants elsewhere You'll almost always see the tips included on the bill. It's called propena by the way So when you look on your bill and it says propena be arrow pina, that means the tips included It's generally 10 to 15 percent added to the bill By the way, you'll see that word propena down the bill aways right above the grand total So how frequently is the tip included? I'd say about 80% of the time I'm a little irritated by that because you know If you look up the word tip in the dictionary, nothing is said about it being mandatory But when it's automatically added to your bill, it is mandatory or is it? Well, there have been a few times and just a few

[13:30] Where the waiter or waitress has has been kind of a jerk highly unusual but possible Especially on the gringo tourist trail where gringos can be jerks, too So anyway, there have been a few times when I've tested that mandatory tip system Believe me when you say you're not gonna pay the tip you get the deer in the headlights Look, they don't see that every day and it causes a big backroom ruckus, too Now the average Latin he could have a fly in his soup or a pube in his punch And he's still gonna tip because Latins are very forgiving and non-confrontational In fact in all my years down here I've never seen a Latin refused to pay the tip though I've done it and it really makes the Latin people you're with uptight make some squirm You ought to try it sometime. No, not for kicks, but only if you get bad service

[14:16] now I gotta say most Latin waiters and waitresses will bend over backwards to please and gringos, especially Gringas can be less forgiving and will push them to the limit sometimes you long-time listeners might remember I mentioned my own mother and sisters are hard cases at restaurants They'll always send something back to the kitchen guaranteed to hot cold underdone overdone Too spicy to blend too salty too sweet too sour too heavy too light too rich too good to be true Yes, I've heard it all whereas us guys. We just go with the flow and eat What's on the plate not to say I haven't sent a few things back when they've been underdone, but man I'll tell you an expat Eddie will bear this out a hundred percent He'll admit it's those gringa tourists

[15:02] Not the gringos who show no mercy to the poor waitress when the dish isn't exactly as they expected it Not all gringas, of course, but he says he's never seen a gringo do that only gringas now knowing the extremely picky females in my own family I always thought if I was a cook or a chef put in a spot like that a little stealthy Sabotage could go a long way. I mean, you know when that plate gets sent back two or three times He does have the power of payback. You know to do something evil you get the idea In fact many years ago when I was in high school back in Chicago I had a friend who was a night manager at a fast food restaurant And he told me of some of the evil games the cooks would play on Overly demanding clients and sloppy drunks now don't get the idea that Latin cooks are evil minded or not

[15:55] That kind of sabotage would be much more prevalent up in the first world where people tend to dislike or even hate when they have Jobs like that. Whereas down here in Latin America people are proud and happy to have a job No matter how lowly we might think it is At least it seems that way based on the fun and the smiles you see even with the garbage men and ditch digging crowd now one more very important thing about Tipping and I didn't believe this when I first came down and it took me a couple of years for it to sink in People would say johnny don't tip too much. Don't over tip. You'll upset the balance of things Say what upset the balance of things other expat gringos I'd met would say even if the people look like they're poor and they're living way below your standards Don't give them five or ten bucks just to haul one bag from the airport gate to the taxi

[16:44] But you know all us clueless gringos are guilty of that We see someone with ragged shoes and ragged clothes and they help you out a little bit pump your gas give you directions Wipe your windshield with a big old sincere smile The kind you know is real and you never really see that much up in the states anymore Suddenly you're fishing in your pocket and out comes five bucks Those are feel-good situations and you'll get a big smile for that But those are exactly the kind of things that ruined costa rica and well panama acapulco Cancun and so many places where gringos have piled in We throw money around like that because five bucks tosses Maybe five ten fifteen or twenty minutes worth of work for the average guy up in the states Whereas here in latin america five bucks could mean a half a day's work for the average guy

[17:33] That's why so many latins living out in the boonies start relocating to where the gringos are settling They know gringos on vacation tip like drunken sailors and they know their fellow latins even when on vacation don't tip much Oh, they tip, you know ten dollar meal ten percent a buck and your average gringo on vacation He'd be embarrassed to give a dollar tip to anyone You know the drill up in the states if you get bad service, you leave a handful of change. That's the insult Down here a handful of us money change is a nice tip So in the end who's to blame for destroying costa rica as a nice pleasant inexpensive plan b destination? We did it. We jaded that population We over-tipped everyone they watch us as we buy vastly overpriced useless cheap tourist junk

[18:24] Most of it made in china So that's why I definitely prefer to live off the gringo tourist or at least not too close to the gringo tourist trail because when you're one gringo in a hundred or a thousand or 10,000 you're a valued guest and an oddity that everyone appreciates and wants to be friends with But when gringos pile in and create their little gringo landias when the whole economy starts depending on the gringo dollar Well, that's when a country turns into a place like costa rica And you know, I don't want to be part of that And you shouldn't either now i'm not saying that if your spanish really sucks You shouldn't hang around some of those gringo infested areas at least when you first get down So you can make some contacts and some friends get some advice get your sea legs so to speak but my advice

[19:13] Once you get settled and feel pretty good in your new country Start exploring get away from the gringoize centers. You'll be a lot happier. You'll blend in better You'll find yourself among some great unpretentious latin people and your cost of living. Well, you just won't believe it So in the end one of the fastest ways to drive up the cost of living And create a society that's jaded and dependent on gringos and the gringo dollar Just start tipping everyone exactly like you do up in the states Now this might rub you wrong or seem a bit harsh too But you should pay your maids and nannies and cooks and gardeners the prevailing rate Sure, it's too low by our standards way too low So reward them in other ways give them things Buy their kids bikes or send them to a better school. Give them your old tv and computer. They better work though

[20:04] But don't mess with the wage structure. In fact, I know one gringo real nice guy He pays his cleaning lady double whatever what else gets and now he's got a prima donna cleaning lady on his hands She's the envy of all the maids and cleaning ladies in the subdivision He'd kind of upset the apple cart in a lot of ways The other cleaning ladies are jealous and she's made a few enemies now too. I could give you some examples But that's a show for another time. All right change in gears a second You know the other day I was talking to a 20 something latin guy who'd gone to university up in the states He was a middle class kid That means his parents made four five hundred bucks a month and you'd call that the working poor up in the states So how'd this kid get that lucky break?

[20:51] Well, every first world university offers full scholarships to deserving latin kids And you do run into them on occasion and this guy was not one of those two percenters The entitled kids are the rich that can be pretty repulsive without even realizing it You know racist classes Sexist just like their parents not all of them of course, but a good percentage of them And you do meet some regular intelligent nice guy college grads Whose parents could never afford to send them to college yet They went to university in the states and now they're back down in their home country either working or looking for a job By the way in almost all cases when a kid gets a scholarship to uh school up in the states They don't get permanent residency They're on a student visa and have to come back to their home country when they're finished

[21:40] Although it's true almost every one of them would rather be working up in the states because you know They can make five times as much money doing the same kind of work That is if they can get a job in their field Because they like the vast majority of regular us college students. They get useless degrees. That is Useless in today's economy. Anyway, the other day I was talking to a latin guy who graduated from a us college Discussing what always comes up trump the wall the first world and the so-called american dream Oh, yeah, and my jammy and this guy said something quite interesting He said, you know The difference between the latin americans that swarm into the states and the european immigrants that came in during the last century He said the european immigrants came chasing an american dream

[22:29] Not for themselves, but for their children where the byword back then was self-sacrifice They'd suffer do whatever crap job that was available so that their kids could get an education and you know this latin kid I shouldn't call him a kid. He's like 26 years old He said in truth the latins up in the united states are an embarrassment to him And so many people like him Because he said they're not swarming in to get that american dream for their children. They're doing it for themselves They've got a selfish american dream versus that noble So-called american dream or cause that was a big part if not the major part of the european influx of the past century He said I saw it with the common latin people on the streets up there the latins that come to the states

[23:18] They'll abandon their own kids for years even decades at a time leaving back home in salvador, costa rica, whatever He said there's something wrong with those kinds of values and it's a bad example to set for the kids And when he said that man, I was shocked This guy had a brain and when I complimented him on that analysis and said how'd you get so smart? He said he was a history and sociology major All right, so he wasn't so smart after all He said he'd been out of school a year and a half already and couldn't get a job in his field here in latin america He was working though making about 700 bucks a month as a call center trainer Because his english was very good man. That said it all Now this guy had two big advantages. His english was very good

[24:06] And he'd graduated from a us university though. He had two crap degrees Then what he said next in my opinion drove the final nail into the coffin for this guy He said with great pride. He's getting his master's he's taking an mba course on the weekends So what do you say to a guy like that? Well guy unless you marry a rich girl win the lottery or get very lucky You're sort of screwed. I know you're thinking johnny. How could you be so pessimistic? Well, how about this article from el nuevo diario, nicaragua? jennis perez Manager of serper a large human resources company in nicaragua with almost 20 years in the country Says there's a negative balance between supply and demand of people with master's degrees

[24:53] Like mba's he says without extensive work experience An mba itself can be meaningless He goes on to say companies that demand professionals with master's degrees always look at work experience first Whereas students think it's enough to just have that diploma the piece of paper the article says one of the hidden educational problems in latin america a problem that educational professionals just don't want to address Is the excessive number of people with graduate and undergraduate degrees with no professional work experience? Worse yet. Most universities advertise their mba and master's programs as the key to the future Man, doesn't that sound familiar? You can't get a job in your chosen career

[25:39] So you go heading for a master's and then you get out and you're working at costco Walmart or starbucks and not in the office either Yes, and it's true. Every latin newspaper. I pick up has ads for master's degree programs And in big latin cities, you see those ads on billboards as you're driving around too. Oh and get this throughout latin. America There's a huge brick and mortar University construction boom Talk about a doomed prognosis Yet another reason why so many young latin professionals end up living with mommy daddy and grandma But man those diplomas look nice on the wall and the families busting their buttons with pride, too If only hulio the educated one would clean his room and make his bed once in a while

[26:26] All right. Let me see if I can get my information out to you in one minute flat Remember i've got some spots open from my july 2017 expat insider seminar Just go to www.thenewexpet.com and click on the seminar link And if you sign up by june 1st you get in on the early bird discount And while you're at the newexpet.com website You'll find out how to kill two birds with one stone That is apply for your guatemalan temporary or permanent residency at the very same time saving you The extra expense of time off and another trip in the near future You'll also find out about those fabulous john gulp pre and post seminar trips And if you just can't swing get boots on the ground right now Be sure to take my expat essentials course That's www.expetplanb.com and don't forget to put the www in there

[27:14] And finally if you want me to help you out personally with your own plan b We can do a phone or skype consult and work out your particular details again Go to www.thenewexpet.com to check out my phone consult questionnaire Have a look it'll stimulate your neurons south of the border This is the expat files living in latin america If you want me to help you out with your own plan b just schedule a one-on-one consult Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan b from right up there in the states Go to www.expetplanb.com and check out my three videos. See you nos vemos No, spanish