Between Papal betrayal and the animosity toward Catholic orders yet to come in England, perhaps the Templars would move the treasure (any treasure) even farther afield. It was readily apparent that the governments of Europe were not to be trusted as benign, and there may be something to all the legends of transport to the New World after all.
As for reaping the rewards of discovery of the New World, the Vikings already had noted that. The best hiding places are those no one else even knows about.
@Smokin Joe I don't think any of that is right. I think that's all spun off the grail legends, just like the Merovingian king line (supposedly nee Magdalene).
I think the thing the Templars found was the Shroud of Turin - See the similarity between gra'al and gra'el in French.
The story placing the ark in Ethiopia has a lot of weight (by far the oldest tale), and aligns with a future event corresponding to Isaiah 18 (the word 'standard' in Is 18 and 'ark' are pretty interchangeable).
But by far, I like Ron Wyatt's tale, placing the ark directly under the cross, hidden in Jeremiah's grotto.
That jibes with the actual record in the Bible - Jeremiah is likely the guy who knew where it went. And the significance of the blood of Messiah flowing down through a crack caused by the quake, to fall upon the right side of the Mercy Seat (where the sprinkled blood of bulls and lambs never fell).
Legally, Prophetically, poetically, that is exactly where that blood has got to be...