Are you looking at or possibly looking or staying at a time share?
To better understand the process of a timeshare presentation, I did one.  Upfront I advised that I was in the travel industry and I was limited on time. The presentation was only 2 hours so we set the time at 8:00 AM so that I could make my first session of the conference.  At 11:00 AM I was getting nervous, we finally made it back to the hotel at 12 PM.  I did miss the morning sessions for that day but it was worth it.  Why you might ask?  Because I can advise you what I learned.

The presentation is well scripted out.  They tell you the type of accommodation's you can have and at what pricing when you go on vacation.  How the point system works and how inexpensive it is with a time share when you travel on your dates.  They will even take you on a field trip to show the actual accommodations for that resort.  Don't get me wrong they are very nice accommodations! You too could stay in that room for just say $400.00 a week every year.  Wow that is impressive.  At an all inclusive you could pay $2500 for a week.  This was at about the 2 hour mark.

Then they leave you for a bit so that you can discuss what you liked and did not like.  At this point they come back and discuss the real pricing.  If you are not good with math please note what they are telling you at this point.  You pay a down payment.  In my case they wanted $2000 down and $300 a month for 30 years.  Yes I did say 30 years, if I should die my children would inherit it the time share and payments of coarse.  The other option they would have is to find someone to take over the payments. 
The $300 would give me a studio apartment every year at various locations.  So if you are a numbers person you are looking at $3600 plus the cost of the one week.  So about $4000 for the week.  I did not include the down payment.

There are also various types of time shares.  You have the time share which allow you to stay just at that resort say like the Wisconsin Dells.  The other time share allows you to buy into the organization like Marriott or Hilton in the vacation clubs.  This allows you the flexibility of visiting other locations verses just the Dells or Cancun, etc.

One of the statements that our sales person was very correct about is that you do travel more.  I wonder if it is because you feel I am paying for it I better use it.  In fairness if you are not able to use some of the time.  He did state they do allow roll overs but not a lot.

Don't get me wrong for some people this is a wonderful alternative and definitely worth looking into.  It is a great way to save for a vacation and want to use it. 

If it is not for you be warned nothing is free.  You may get dinner and a show tickets in Las Vegas or Disney passes in Orlando, but do you really want to give up your vacation time?

Have a great week,
Kim

Lately I have been reading a lot on my various Facebook group about travelers making reservations to fly and not giving the correct information.

So here it is: If you would like to visit any international destination you need a passport with at least 6 months remaining and more than likely blank pages along with maybe even a visa. 

To find out the specific needs for your country visit the state department and put your country in it.  You will find exactly what you will need, how long your passport need to be valid, and if you need extra pages they will also tell you.



 

Now how are you going to get to this said international airport?

I am guessing you are going to fly, maybe take a cruise ship or possibly drive.  No matter what you decide get your passport.  Don't wait do it first. 

There is a passport card but in my opinion go for the passport and save yourself time.  It is only valid for land or some cruises.  In either case should something happen that you would have to get on a plane, you are out of luck.

You might say "I need to get my tickets first!"  The answer to this is NO.  Do everything in the proper order.  Passport first, then tickets along with travel insurance.  The reason, if you are not eligible for a passport and you purchased your ticket you forfeit the funds for changes and hope the airlines will let you use the rest of the funds towards a domestic ticket. 

By checking the website for the country you are going to you will also know if you are eligible to enter.  An example if you have been arrested you may not be able to go to Canada.  If you purchased a ticket that goes through Canada they could turn you back to the USA.  Or say you booked a cruise that departs from Canada.  Unfortunately again you could be deigned.

Ok, now you have a passport it is time to make your airline reservations.  When you are confirming the flights get your passport out so that you are looking at it at that time.  You want to make sure that the name on your ticket is in fact the same as it is on your passport.  Also, verify when the passport is expiring especially if you have had it for a while or you have minor children traveling.

The expiration date along with your name are so vital when it comes to your travel plans!  You do not want to find out days before your trip that something is wrong.  If it is expired to get a new passport would cost $110.00 and expedite fee of $60.00 plus $15.00 for express mail.  If you are leaving within 2 weeks you would also need to go to the closest Passport Agency that you can get an appointment at. 

So for this instance I live near Madison WI.  I would have to get an appointment and drive to Chicago 4 hours.  If I could get an appointment at 8:30 AM I would then wait around for it to be processed.  Or pay to have it expressed mailed to me.  If I have to for it to be mailed.  If I could not get Chicago I would then start calling all of the passport agencies to see where I could get in.  That would also include additional airfare.

There are services that will assist with same day or 2 day passports.
One company that I suggest for visa's will also assist with passports.  The fee is $199 for this service and it could very depending on the agency that you use.

Now say you get to the airport and do not realize it until you are checking in.  The airlines will not let you get on their international flight with an expired passport.  Why because they then would have to have the expense to bring you back stateside.  At this point you would incur cancel/change fees from the airlines, hotel, tour, cruise, etc. 

WOW and that is just the passport!

Now let say that you have your passport and it is perfect.  OH NO you put the wrong name when you were booking the tickets.  Some airlines will let you adjust the name if it is spelled wrong.  EX:  Instead of Kimberly K I booked my ticket Kimbely k.  Because it is close normally they could assist.  Do they have too?  NO but some are nice.  However I do know someone that booked her ticket on the airline site, put her last name in the first name and vice versa.  Guess what when she arrived at the airport the airline made her purchase a new ticket at current price $1000 more and she was not able to fly with the group nor out of Madison.  She arrived a day later and returned a day later.  In fairness the original ticket was refunded 14 days later.  But she was out the funds (about $2000) while she was on vacation.