- I Attended a Timeshare Sales Presentation at the Maui Hyatt Residence Club by Will Run For Miles. I love a good timeshare story. One thing I’ll note is never accept the first deal offered.
- Starting in 2021, Americans Will Need Visas to Visit Europe by Danny Deal Guru.
- Marriott Bonvoy Not Honoring Points Advance Reservations! by Travel Update. Another day another negative Marriott story.
- 8 Americans among 157 dead after Ethiopian Airlines flight crashes after takeoff by USA Today. Very sad.
Deals expiring at the end of today or starting today (view the full deal calendar here):
- Paypal Business Debit Card can only be Funded with Bank Account Starting in March
- [Targeted] Get 30%-50% off Uber, 10 Rides, $6 Max Discount Per Ride
- Seattle American Centurion Lounge To Close In March For ‘Short Period’ (March 11th)
Deals expiring at end of tomorrow:
- [CA only] Provident Credit Union $200 Checking Bonus + $200 Money Market Bonus
- Publix: Spend $50 On Groceries & Get $10 Off Gas Giftcard
Here are some of the most popular posts from yesterday:
RE: 737-MAX crash over weekend.
AA & SW being the main carriers and amongst largest in US that have 737MAX 737MAX thier fleets.
Considering this plane and the Lion air both crashed shortly after takeoff.
It could be quite problematic (for Boeing and AA/SW) if another 737MAX goes down in next 75-180 days (prior two were in 5 month period).
Even more so if near a major US hub or in dense populated area of the EU.
Trying to remember a single model commercial aircraft appearing to have a problem.
I think a 3rd incident involving a US carrier no crash but difficulty after take off as well. (IIRC) that occured since the Lion air crash.
Been on planes that have lost an engine, had horrible turbulence, even experienced a tire blowout on landing.
Yet these are events that pilots practice and are trained to deal with. This just seems far more prone to be failure with little hope of recovery.
That said it’s still the safest form of transportation.
There is a comment on the OMAAT article from “josh” that says that the Marriott Lurker got back to them and said if they got a rep that was unfamiliar to have them pull up KM article 6115 — seems potentially very useful.
Nooooo, Americans won’t need a visa to visit Europe starting in 2021. They’ll just need to register online and pay a 7 euro fee that will last 3 years.
Raj is correct. News outlets/blogs should report this more accurately. Then again, “Registration needed to visit Europe” doesn’t have the type of clickbait potential as “Visa needed to visit Europe”.
Sad and it is a little more than a Money Grab.
What’s the difference between that and a Visa? It’s a distinction without a difference.
“The ETIAS authorization is not a visa,” the European Commission said in an information sheet last summer after it finalized the new rules. “Nationals of visa liberalization countries will continue to travel the EU without a visa but will simply be required to obtain a travel authorization via ETIAS prior to their travel. ETIAS will be a simple, fast and visitor-friendly system, which will, in more than 95% of cases, result in a positive answer within a few minutes.”
That doesn’t explain why it’s not a visa. As I said it’s a distinction without a difference.
Check out all that goes into applying for a Visa to Spain, link below. Calling the ETIAS a Visa suggests, if not explicitly then subliminally, a laborious application process. Once the word “Visa” was used in the article headlines circulating the web the past week, many people clicked on the links because of the connotation of the word “Visa”. Clever, if misleading, copywriting by the headline writers.
https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/spain-visa/
Lots of countries have Visas that are trivial to apply for, some can even be done on arrival. You’re cherry picking Spain because it suits your argument.
I agree with
William Charles. We (Europeans) have been doing ESTA for several years to enter the U.S. You can say that it’s not a Visa, but it would be semantics. Esta is done online in 5 minutes just like Etias – – still, it gives an immigration status just like any other Visa.
I chose Spain because I had to apply for their Visa when I studied abroad in Sevilla many years ago. Needless to say the process sucked. When I saw all of the “Visa needed to travel to Europe” headlines I cringed at the memory of applying for the Spanish Visa, and clicked a couple of the links. Had the headlines been written in a less sensational way, I (and many others) probably would not have clicked.
I don’t think they are sensational at all, when I saw that a Visa was required I thought the process would be exactly like it is. Most Visas aren’t difficult to complete and in most countries the Visa requirements are more or less the same that Europe want to introduce. It seems like you had a bad experience with one Visa before and then just assumed the new Europe process would be the same.
The European Commison has stated Etias Authorization is not a visa in their statement. The US State Department has also stated ETIAS Authorization is not a visa in their statement.
Interesting how both the US and EU departments felt it necessary to clarify that ETIAS Authorization is not a visa after those headlines came out last week. Would they do that if the news sources and bloggers who were reporting on ETIAS hadn’t mislead the public with their clickbait copywriting?
What do you define a visa as? Of course they don’t want it called a Visa, it has a negative connotation. That doesn’t mean what they are offering isn’t a Visa. Just because they say something isn’t a Visa, doesn’t make it so.
Go to timeshare presentation for freebies but DO NOT SIGN ANY PAPERS. Do not feel guilty, once you sign the papers you are doomed.
If you are really interested in owning one, go to TUG users group, you will find many repenting owners trying to sell theirs for free or half price.
There is $1000 plus maintenance fee every year or alternate year and you have to book one year ahead for peak times for a fee again.
And yes there is no rental income.
At TUG you can also find ads to rent their timeshare for cheap.
Do your research and read reviews.
Hotels are converting their aging properties into timeshare rentals.
My parents have done timeshare presentations for the freebies. But they almost always sign papers. Usually for 1 week to use up by some time frame. They pay no maintenance fees and basically pay less than a hotel would cost for a week. Works out for them. And they have a kitchen so they can cook some for extra cost savings. I think everyone needs to decide for themselves what might be worth it.
“Here are the basics, though I’m sure there are more charges and details. For a two bedroom, for one week per year, the price was about $74,000, and you paid an annual fee for maintenance and other charges (much like an HOA fee) of $2,700.”
Over 75 grand a year for 1 week…lol Id rather BUY a studio condo on a philippine island fro less…these rich ppl need better things to spend their bread on…another reason to dislike hawaii is having to congregate with these type of fools.