Good morning everyone, I have another quick deal that might interest you if you have plans to visit Orlando, Florida in the next few months. I just received an email from Holiday Inn Club Vacations (the timeshare division of IHG) for an offer of 4 days / 3 nights at the Orange Lake Resort for $349 + tax. If you want an extra night, book by March 10, 2017 and pay an extra $100.
Good morning everyone. This post only affects people who have plans to visit Argentina, but there was a new rule/policy passed recently that if you use a foreign credit card (any credit card issued outside Argentina), you do not pay the hotel VAT (value added tax) for your stay. I’m not sure when the new rule/policy went into effect, but when I was staying at the Sheraton Libertador Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2 weeks ago, the front desk agent mentioned that if you pay with a credit card, you do not have to pay the hotel tax. This caught us off guard, but we didn’t ask any questions.
According to the Latin America Tourism Association:
Tourists will receive a refund for the VAT, which today stands at 21%, when they pay for their accommodation. To receive the refund, they must pay with a foreign credit or debit card, provide their passport number and confirm their address. Tour operators and travel agents who take bookings must provide this information on their behalf.
“We anticipate that the move to reimburse foreign tourists for the VAT on their hotel stays will boost tourism to the destination, increase the number of foreign tourists in the country and reinforce Argentina’s status as one of the must-see destinations in Latin America.”
“The new law not only emphasises the importance of tourism to the Argentine economy but will also improve the competitiveness of the destination’s tourism industry, which will inevitably have a long term positive effect on tourism numbers.”
“This new law, combined with the development of tourism infrastructure and the launch of new direct flights from Europe to the region, reflect the efforts being made by governments to open up Latin America to international tourism and to better promote the destination.”
There you have it, visit Argentina and avoid the 21% hotel VAT when you pay with a credit card. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
Good afternoon everyone. A reader sent me an email with a link to fast track to Southwest Airlines A-List elite status. Sign into your Southwest Airlines account and click here. Your Southwest Airlines account number should pre-populate into the boxes below. The terms and conditions say that the offer is only available for members who received the email, so YMMV if this will work for you. If you are accepted into the fast track, you must complete 3 round trip flights before April 30, 2017 to keep the status for the entire year.
Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start. By the time you read this post, I will be snowboarding in Tahoe/Reno (Northern California). On Friday night, my brother and I stopped in Roseville, CA (a suburb outside Sacramento) and visited Topgolf. I have heard about Topgolf before and I wanted to check it out. The first thing I noticed about Topgolf is its size. It towers over the surrounding houses and buildings and you can see the side netting from miles away. Here is the front entrance.
Good morning everyone, happy Friday! Thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway yesterday for 10 Award Wallet Plus 1 year upgrade codes. I asked you to tell me what feature would make Award Wallet even better. I carefully reviewed every comment and I had a very hard time narrowing down the list to my top 10 favorite comments. Several comments mentioned the same feature, so in fairness, I went with the comment that was posted first. Here are the 10 winners, based in order of posting.
1 – Itineraries to share with friends/family members without prices, points used & reservation codes.
| José Luis Domingo Fuster | It would be nice to have the possibility of generating a, let’s say “sterile” itinerary, to give to your family or friends, with timetable, and all contact data but without paid/due amounts nor reserve codes. |
2 – Transaction history showing recent miles/points/cash back changes (most popular response).
| SL | It would be great if awardwallet could also include transactional history (kinda like mint) to provide greater context of the balances. |