How to power grade your passport

BERLIN  If you had a choice, having a Sweden passport would be the ultimate privilege, according to the latest GoEuro Ultimate Passport Ranking released last week.
Lucky Swedes can travel to 174 nations without having to apply for a visa, their passport costs just USD29 and they need work just one hour at a minimum daily wage to pay for it.
Of all Asian nations among the 50 country ranked, Singapore came in at 18th, one place ahead of Switzerland. A Singapore passport offers 170 visa-free countries and costs USD60 to obtain. A Singaporean has to work just eight hours to pay for it.
In contrast a Swiss passport costs USD169 and gives you visa free travel to 170 countries. Nine hours of work will cover the cost.
inside no 1Malaysia was the second best nationality in Asia for a passport ranked at 23. Its passport is valid for 166 visa-free countries, costs USD55 and requires 46 working hours to pay for it.
In 45th place, Thailand was ahead of both India and China. A Thai passport is valid for just 69 visa-free countries, costs USD31 and requires 27 working hours to buy.
Despite being the number one source of outbound travel in Asia, China’s passport power ranking was 47th with just 52 visa-free countries. The passport costs USD32 and takes 17 working hours to buy.
India followed in 48th place with its passport, allowing visa-free travel to 52 countries. It costs USD24, but takes 87 working hours to buy.
GoEuro in its preamble to its second annual ranking says it has undertaken the task of analysing passports from 50 countries, worldwide, to identify which passports are the most useful and powerful.
inside no 1.1The findings were based on three simple criteria: The number of countries that can be visited without needing to apply for a visa in advance; price and validity period; the amount of work hours required to pay for a passport based on minimum wage levels.
GoEuro asked respondents what factors contributed to a passport being powerful and 75% said it was visa-free entry to countries, while just 25% said it was the cost of the passport.
While visa free access was considered a top power tool, the ability of a citizen to obtain a passport and data such as pricing, length of validity and the amount of hours a citizen would need to work to obtain their passport were all weighted and scored to complete the list.
The working hours needed to pay for a passport caused a shuffle in the ranking with Sweden overtaking last year’s list leader, Finland. Swedes need to work just one hour at minimum wage in comparison to Finnish citizens who have to work an estimated 5 hours.
The ranking also showed the five nationalities’ with the most powerful passports were Sweden, Finland, Germany, UK, and USA with 174 visa-free countries.
GoEuro is a comparison travel search website for air, rail and coach transport across Europe.

sourced:ttrweekly.com