The rest of Q&A

Q –  Your travel advice is spot on with one rather glaring exception. We don’t subscribe to your theory that the earth is getting hotter and that travel to places like Europe should be reconsidered in the summer months. We just returned from a ten-day package in Germany and we found the July temperatures to be quite comfortable. This site is getting popular but it will get even bigger if you refrain from citing all of the faulty democrat climate change BS. 

A –  Gotcha. Now we understand why we are not popular. And we so desperately want to be popular. Actually, Scientific American, a well-known right-wing rag, has just released new NASA  figures showing that last March was the hottest on record and it was the 11th month in a row to break the  global high temperature record. It is likely that April through September will, rather easily sustain that record making fifteen consecutive months of the highest-ever temperatures worldwide. The magazine quotes leading climatologists as saying that this new data is “shocking” and that it signals a “climate emergency.”

But we know you will agree that this entire fabrication started when Hillary was explaining why she does not spend much time out in the sun.

Q –  Most of my  friends use and depend on TripAdvisor to develop their travel “expertise”. They mostly use it to justify the hotel they selected based on price. But I have learned, partly from this informative site, that these online reviews are often fake. So I wonder if you might share some ways that will help me know if what I am reading in a travel review is actually written by a traveler who stayed at the hotel? 

A – There is some good news on the fake review front. Researchers at the famed Cornell School of Hotel Management have created a website called Review Skeptic.com that will tell you, with 90% accuracy if a posted review is real or not. The staff at Cornell has created a series of  algorithm’s that analyze opinion spam using psychological and linguistic components.

All you need to do is copy the review and paste it on the ReviewSkeptic site. Then click on  the “Test It” button and the results will be revealed. The test even shows you why it has concluded that a review is fake or real.

Of course what is wrong with this technology is that we must now have several groups set up to defeat the algorithms. They will try to develop linguistic patterns that can beat the system. But, for now, this is the best tool we have to detect the high percentage of fake reviews flooding the major travel and restaurant sites. And as this science progresses, it is well to note that the folks at Cornell will be getting better at spotting the fakes.

Always remember that you do not have to have been a guest at a hotel to post a review of the property on TripAdvisor. Sort of like writing a restaurant review without actually dining at the restaurant. But this is all in keeping with the business ethics practiced by many of our travel web site designers.

Q – We’ve booked a hotel in London  for five nights and are currently in penalty. There is no agent involved and I did not take out insurance for this trip. We’re due to leave in 11 days. Is there any way to sell the room in London or to re-sell it in the States so I can recover some of what I paid (I booked a top suite at well over $1,000 USD per night) Not looking for anything illegal – just a secret strategy to get some of my money back. 

A – There are now two web sites that resell booked hotel space. Try RoomerTravel.com and Cancelon.com Your listings will immediately appear on sites such as Kayak and Trivago. The average fee to these sites is 10-15% and you should expect to recoup about 50% of what you paid for the room. Do be careful when transferring confirmation numbers. And don’t change your mind and just show up as the bed may feel crowded – unless you are from Marin County.

Q –  You probably get this question quite often but we’re rather new to the idea of international travel as my husband is about to take a comfortable retirement next month. Although we live outside of Charleston and could just enjoy the city we love so much, the world seems to be calling. At your suggestion to previous writers, we’ve established a relationship with a travel agent we think will take good care of us. But we keep hearing about hotel upgrades and we would appreciate it so much if you would just list a few steps we might take to be in the best position for these hotel upgrades when we travel. We certainly will be staying at the very finest hotels. Thanks so much for all your kind advice.

A – Well thank you. A case of your best sweet tea from time to time is all we ask in return.

Here is our quick list to secure the best upgrades:

01 – Become a Rewards Club Member with all the top chains and particularly Starwood through Marriott and the Ritz Carlton.

02 – Make certain that your travel consultant is a member of Travel Leaders, Signature, Virtuoso, Ensemble, or American Express to receive complimentary upgrades not available to those who book directly with the hotel or online. This is your single best strategy.

03 – Guests who arrive later in the day and who are only staying for one or two nights are often upgraded. Let the hotel know you are in their loyalty club.

04 – When you are upgraded always send a thank you note to the General Manager and, possibly, the reservations room manager. Very few guests do this and it means a lot.

05 – Never loudly complain about any issue or try to make the problem seem more than it is to get an upgrade (I know your southern temperament would never allow that) Hotels can easily mark your profile. Most guests do not realize that hotels write behavioral comments about their guests and that information can be viewed the next time you check in.

Q – I lived in San Francisco for may years where I was a modest collector of watercolors I would buy at street fairs. I was particularly struck by these incredible mountain scenes, always covered by fog in the paintings and seeming quite mystical. Now, my wife and I are in a financial position where we can go in search of these mountains. I realize the tourist board will help me but thought I would check to see if this might ring a bell in terms of the destination I need to visit?

A – We can’t be sure but we are betting that the scenes you remember were of the Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve in Wulingyuan, China. See if this photo brings back the right kind of memories.

Q – I am a frequent flyer in the front of the plane who loves your site(s). The problem is I read traveltruth whenever I fly and sometimes the conversation about cleanliness makes me itchy. I know I’m a germaphobe and I don’t have any problem coming out of the closet. So I would ask one favor – if I’m going to be cleaning anyway, and I am, what are the five things I should clean first and foremost?

A –  Sorry for the delay. We had to take a shower after reading your question. OK – here is the list based on the latest research we’ve seen:

The Filthiest Piece of Aircraft Equipment Award goes to the tray table. The fact that it is so darn close to your body must not be comforting. Clean it immediately after being seated.

The Second Filthiest Piece of Aircraft Equipment Award  goes to the water fountain – although they are being phased out. Only flyers with a death wish should avoid touching one of these. Even terrorists in the midst of a hijacking avoid using the on-board water fountain.

The Most Surprising Germ-Infested Piece of Equipment with an amazingly high “colong forming units of bacteria” rating is the overhead air vent. They are never cleaned and have a higher bactyeria count than the bathroom flush button which is the Fourth Filthiest item on your plane.

Finally, the really filthy 5th place winner is your seat belt buckle. The pros clean this first after boarding.

Hope this helps. Happy Flying!

Q –  I’ve been keeping track – in the last three months, I’ve found four low airfares, tried to sell it to my husband, and each time when I got back the price was gone. Do these fares really change like that every  fifteen or twenty minutes?

A – We are thinking that you have been victimized by a little known but frequent online practice involving internet air searches. As you are searching specific flight combinations, these web sites can quickly raise the price once you return to the screen to make your purchase. This is highly unethical but it is not yet, illegal. You can fight the practice by going in and deleting your search history, and your cookies (we hope you know what cookies are or you will think we’re insane). You can then go on the site with a fresh search and the original fares will reappear. Airlines do not change their fares every fifteen minutes although the software will automatically raise the fare once a pre-determined number of seats  are sold at the lower price. That is why families booking online are often shocked to discover that the entire family is not traveling at the same price despite booking the same seats at the same time.

Q – We have been once – 25 years ago – to the Caribbean (friends house on Antigua) and fell totally in love with the island’s quietness, the vibrant and friendly people, the sound of the sea, and especially the steel drum music.

We are now approaching retirement age (58 and 53) and we want to re-discover the Caribbean and perhaps even scout out a place we might consider moving to when we are done working. But we sense that the “old Caribbean” that we visited many years ago, may have given way to crowds and cruise ships. We want to get away from the getaways …….would you have any suggestions? We have read wonderful things about Bequia (Grenadines) but have not yet visited. Is the Zika fear creating any notable bargains for travel and real estate? Many thanks. We have really enjoyed reading this site and listening to you on the Financial Sense show.

A –  Generally speaking, purchasing before you retire is a good idea as you can build up equity while you are still working. We would suggest that you skip entirely any Caribbean island with a strong budget cruise ship presence.

You should be subscribing to International Living – a newsletter for future ex-pats. Be careful about books on the subject – they are notoriously out-of-date.

Look over the CIA Country Report for any island you are considering. It will give you a breakdown of the population as well as crime and cost of living statistics. Also read the British government foreign office reports on each island.

Some of the better retirement islands are St. John, Anguilla, The Turks & Caicos, and out islands in the Bahamas. We would suggest that you go for a month and spend a week on four islands with the best real estate agent on each island. Have a visitation schedule sent to you in advance with photos and pricing so you can rule out clunkers.

Buying commercial real estate can get very tricky, if you are not well versed in the real estate business. Do no t attempt to do it by yourself – seek the help of professionals who can help you through the process of finding the perfect property, taking care of the paperwork and closing the deal.

A professional commercial real estate brokers are specially trained to handle commercial real estate transactions that are very different from regular real estate deals. A professional commercial real estate broker can also inform you of prime commercial real estate that are for sale. Institutional and private investors often ‘secretly’ sell off parts of their commercial property portfolios, and a commercial property broker can let you in on this insider information. Click here if you want to get more about the commercial space for rent.

Because real estate prices have dropped quite a bit, the potential commissions that real estate agents and brokers could earn have also dropped. But the drop in commissions can be more than offset by the amount of properties that can be sold.

And getting quality real estate leads is one of the keys to making this a reality for real estate professionals. This is because there are so many more properties on the market now than there were before the bubble burst.

Thе rise іn thе number оf homeowners whо аrе underwater оn thеіr mortgages hаѕ increased ѕо muсh thаt a vеrу large number оf thеm hаvе decided thаt thеу саnnоt afford tо stay іn thеіr homes. Thе lender оf a mortgage wіll receive monthly іntеrеѕt payments аnd wіll kеер a lien оn thе property аѕ security thаt thе loan wіll bе repaid. Well this site will provide you better guidance for mortgage. Thе borrower wіll receive thе mortgage loan аnd uѕе thе money tо purchase thе property аnd receive ownership rights tо thе property. Whеn thе mortgage іѕ paid іn full, thе lien іѕ removed. If thе borrower fails tо repay thе mortgage thе lender mау tаkе possession оf thе property. we have a great selection of lending options for your home loan.

They would rather sell their home and buy a comparable home for a much lower price, and take the loss so that they can improve their cash flow situation by having a lower mortgage payment each month. And since there is no shortage of properties to buy, these people had no problem finding a suitable home for a good price.

And another result of the rise in available properties is that more and more people are becoming first-time homeowners. Since prices on homes are falling, more and more people are able to afford a home for the same amount they are currently paying in rent. So the logical choice for these people is to buy a house rather than continuing to rent.

Skip the guidebooks and get in on ex-pat chat rooms. Do detective work and keep a binder of the issues/problems on each island under consideration. Don’t be naive. On many of the islands there is resentment toward Americans who drive up real estate prices. Many Americans commit only to discover they have made a terrible mistake.

Generally speaking, you will get far more for your money in Central America than you will in the Caribbean. Try looking at both Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Oh, and one more thing. If you have to worry about finding a cheap airfare to the Caribbean, you may  not have the income to retire there.

Finally, do choose your island carefully. The Caribbean is home to some of the highest overall crime rates in the world.

Q – I received an e-mail from Travel Zoo. I have never traveled with them. There were two bargains that would enable me to take my three daughters with me:

01 – Portugal, which includes airfare, well under #1,000 per person.

02 – Tuscany, about the same as above. How do I get an answer on the legitimacy of this company and some information for me to have a comfort level? Thank you.

A – TravelZoo is a global media company that accepts paid advertising from tour operators to put their deals on its site. They claim to investigate the deals to assure they are real. Since Travelzoo is providing information on so-called deals, rather than operating the tours themselves, there is not a great deal of information about the company. They are large and they have been around for years. They appeal to bottom-feeding deal seekers who aren’t particularly interested in the financial history of the company they are working with, the safety record of the airlines used in some of the shadier package deals, or the quality of the hotels. And there are almost always additional costs.

Since a round-trip flight to Lisbon from the United States on a reputable carrier is, all by itself, more than the cost of the entire trip you are quoting, we have to assume there might be some concerns about quality. You should check out the company operating the tour packages carefully and to look at anything posted on the Better Business Bureau site. Unfortunately, there is no proper source within the travel industry that honestly rates and evaluates the quality of top-tier tour operators. Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure do list the top tour companies annually. We do suggest you utilize companies on these lists.

Here’s a secret. The best way to determine the quality of a tour operator is to find out if they belong to any of the major travel agent consortium groups as a preferred supplier. If they don’t, we would advise you to walk away.

Finally, don’t try to figure this all out yourself. See if you can find a struggling travel agent with few clients who is willing to take you on.

Q – We have been planning a trip to England and Wales next May, hoping to be gone for two weeks. We’re thinking we may rent a car but driving on the wrong side of the road might do us in so we are considering a tour or even private guides. Our question has to do with taking advantage of the drop in the value of the Pound. For travel next year, how do we lock in the best rate. Any strategical advice would be appreciated. There is lots of talk about this on the news but no one tells Americans the best way to play this in terms of  getting the best rates. 

A – We have received a wide range of questions on this topic. Since no one knows where England’s exit strategy will lead them, it is a bit premature to predict pricing for next year. But we would be shocked if prices didn’t reflect a British pound that was severely devalued against the dollar. Here are a few suggestions:

Don’t buy a brochure program. Anything out in print will be using last year’s exchange rate.

Do not book online. It is too soon for recalibrated rates to show up on web sites.

Do book everything in British pounds whenever possible. Leave it to your credit card company to use the conversion rate that reflects current valuations.

Do book directly with hotels and pay in British Pounds.

Do book with a consultant who is a member of one of the larger consortiums. They will have overseas affiliated offices in the U.K. that will quote arrangements on a net basis in BP. This is what the savvy players will be doing during financial chaos of the next several months – or years.

If you are booking an escorted tour, ask your consultant if the operator has a track record of adjusting pricing, after deposit, downward when there is a major shift in the value of the local currency. Some do – many don’t.

For now, we are targeting travel within Great Britain next year at a price reduction in the range of 30%.

But do be aware that some analysts are predicting that the exit will bring a surge of tourism to Great Britain  from China, Europe, and Russia . The demand could actually slow the kinds of pricing discounts we are anticipating.