Why are you worried if the border patrol takes you passport out of sight? The US CBP is unlikely to confiscate your passport, but all border control agencies of all countries can do what ever they want. If a foreign government agent takes your passport or holds it for more than a few minutes, your only recourse is to report the incident to your government.

I really like the Tilley money belts. They look like regular belts and are worn as regular belts (i.e., they hold up your pants). I have one in black and one in brown. You can fit about $1500 in each belt if you are so inclined.

...which does absolutely nothing to safeguard your money in a TSA checkpoint where they require you to remove the belt so as to get their hands in your pants.

Which is why I would never carry any amount that would cause me pain if I lost it.

There is NO LIMIT for carrying cash within or from the USA - if you depart the USA, you must fill out a declaration form, but there is still no limit on how much you want to transport.

The only risk is a bunch of TSA clowns seeing it, and:

1) Stealing it, or

2) Calling the police to report it

Issue 1) gives you a big problem. Issue 2) gives you a big hassle, since you may need to hire a lawyer to sue the police to get it back if they confiscate it as "criminal proceeds" - but if you're up for that, you can slap lawsuits around willy nilly and make a whole bunch of people's lives quite miserable as punishment.

Tossing aside the confiscation issue, I'd be most concerned with theft - either bury it in your CARRY-ON bag, or get a cash card (still untraceable) to transport it.

I'm not a lawyer, but I do not believe a debit/cash card is a "cash equivalent" in the same genre as cash, bullion, bearer bonds or other cash-like instruments. You could load a stack of untraceable debit/cash cards with more than 10K of value and take them abroad to be used at ATMs for retrieving the cash (except for value loss depending on the local currency).

I don't think it is the act of carrying the cash, but you will get reported, so you have to have a legal explanation. Because carrying cash for certain purposes is illegal.

Carrying cash for what purpose is illegal??
:confused:

Drug business, fraud, terrorism, and I can't complete the list.

IIRC there was a case where the TSA hassled someone over cash (domestic flight) which was discussed at length - see http://www.gadling.com/2009/04/02/ts...carrying-cash/

From the TSA's website it appears they claim not to be bothered about cash for domestic flights. However, there have been cases of money confiscated and people having to spend a lot on lawyer's fees to prove the cash was not drug money or the like...
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/custome...rial_1029.shtm

Personally, I believe a money pouch is the best option.

The TSA has no authority to confiscate cash - all they can do is call the police over. If I had a huge wad of cash and saw a delay between their calling the cops and the cops arriving, I'd grab my bags and be on my way out the door in 30 seconds....if I didn't have the time to run, I'd certainly get my cell phone's voice memo function running and record the entire interaction.


Carrying cash *for* those purposes is not illegal. It is the commission of the crime which is illegal. The government must prove the cash in your possession was a PROCEED of a drug sale or act of fraud in order to be permanently forfeited - not intended FOR such a purpose.

You cannot be arrested for a crime you haven't committed yet.

I'm not sure what gene I'm missing here, with all these suggestions and practices. When I travel, I carry a big wad of EUR and USD notes, and usually one or two other currencies depending on where I am going. I try to put most of it in my wallet, but sometimes it doesn't all fit, since so many countries are being pressured by the credit card companies to eliminate high value notes so that people will be forced to use credit cards instead (of course, the credit card companies it's all "anti-terrorism" measures). In those cases I separate the notes by country, put them in zip loc bags and put them in my pocket.

Money belts, as others have noted, get separated from you at the check point -- unless you loudly announce to everyone that there is cash inside, hence defeating the whole purpose. The cash cards, etc. are great, but they all cost money. I just carry cash -- everyone accepts it!

Never had a problem worse than having to insist on having it in my sight at all times at the airport -- sometimes you have to insist, but no one has succeeded in separating me from it yet.

I think the only problem with cash is TSA's sticking their nose into our personal business are just trying to steal what we have.

If it needs to be declared then do so, end of problem.

This really is the best answer. I travel internationally - I'm in Prague now. I use an ATM card and advise my bank I'm traveling.

I usually use ATMs but sometimes I go to places where I need cash (Ethiopia comes to mind). I have two bags with padded bottoms that velcro on to the true bottom. I put my cash in an envelope under the padded bottom. So far, no one has noticed. I usually have camera equipment in the bag, which is worth more than the 4-5 thou I might have underneath it. So, I get really nervous when the TSO nonchalantly picks up the camera equipment to rerun through the scanners.

I'd have to consult a criminal lawyer before I'd agree or disagree. But I do know this that anyone in law enforcement will view you as a suspect in one of those rackets if you are found with a large sum of cash on you. If you enjoy that kind of attention, knock yourself out. Personally, I've never seen the need to incur the risk involved in carrying piles of cash. It is not as if getting more cash as needed is a big problem anymore. I got all I needed in a mountain village in Bulgaria. So I'm guessing that the more-traveled destinations can serve a traveler's cash needs even better.