The airlines are at it again.  As if flying isn’t expensive enough already, now the some airlines are adding on fees to what were once given for free seeking to offset higher fuel costs.  You’re likely to find these extra fees tacked on as fuel surcharges, booking a ticket by phone rather than the Internet, handling fees and extra luggage fees. Click here to read the entire article on MSN.

Following US Airway’s (my least favorite airline) lead, Northwest, Delta, United and Continental have started to charge if you want to check more than one bag.  Now expect to pay at least an extra $25 per bag if you’re checking more than one per person.  Look for many new fees to be implemented May 5, 2008.

Be sure to weigh your bags before you leave.  If you even slightly exceed 50 pounds per bag you could be hit with another $80-$100.  And once you’re at the airport ready to leave for your timeshare vacation, they have you over a barrel.

Those of you planning on doing a timeshare exchange to Hawaii should check out airfares before you’re week is confirmed.  Aloha Airlines, Hawaii’s second largest airline that’s been in service for 60 years, filed for bankruptcy and suspended operations.  A few days later, ATA, a low cost provider of air transport to Hawaii, did the same. 

Who knows if this will be good for the traveler or bad but A quick look on the Internet found fares ranging from about $550 to $1700 roundtrip from Phoenix to Maui.  Only Hawaiian Airlines had the fare for $550.  Plus, no charge for the second bag of checked luggage. 

US Airways, not surprisingly, wants $1064 round trip and they don’t even buy you dinner first - unless, that is, you count a bag of pretzels.

So before putting in your request for your timeshare exchange do some homework to find out what you can expect to pay for airfares and luggage. 

Where can you stay in a villa, in one of the best beach front resorts in the world that has its own Penguin colony?

The Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Kalia Tower

The resort in on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. And it sits right on one of the most famous beaches in the world, Waikiki.

The Kalia Tower has been extensively renovated and the studio and one bedroom suites are absolutely beautiful.  The rooms have ocean or mountain views and are part of a 22 acre complex complete with shops, restaurants and Penguin colony.

There are also 60 variety of tropical birds, swimming pools and waterfalls.  All within steps of the beach.

Don’t miss visiting Pearl Harbor Memorial, The Polynesian Cultural Center and a trip to the north shore to see some fabulous surfing.  Also, don’t miss nearby Hanauma Bay to snorkel with thousands of tropical fish.

If you’d like to exchange to this hard to get resort, make sure you pick up my timeshare exchange guide to learn the insider’s secrets few if any timeshare owners know.  It’s called…

“The Insider’s Secrets to Exchanging Your RCI Timeshare -
The Da Vinci Code of Timeshare Exchanging”

You’ll find more about it at

www.TheTimeshareExpert.com/rcisecrets.html.

 In next resort I review you will be skiing on some of the finest slopes in North America.  And once your checked in you can forget your car.

With the popularity of timesharing growing at record rates, and with better and better incentives to entice you, many of you reading this blog may end up at a timeshare presentation this year. 

There are many questions to ask the salesperson or sales manager if you do get interested in purchasing at a timeshare resort, but this one question will get, and keep, the salesperson real very quickly when used early on and often.

 Is that in writing or can you give me that in writing?

First and foremost you must understand that just because the salesperson says something does not mean the company will back it up.  I know that seem obvious but you’re under so much pressure and so much information is thrown at you during the presentation it’s easy to become overwhelmed. 

Some salespeople excel in pitching “fading or fadeable heat”.  Fadeable heat is industry jargon for lies (heat) that you won’t remember (fadeable). So many facts, figures and emotions are thrown at you in a typical timeshare presentation that by the time you decide to purchase you’re too tired and worn out to remember all of the “facts” you were told. 

Plus the person that goes over your contracts, in many instances, will gloss over important points you may have been told that aren’t necessarily true because they are on commission as well and don’t want to blow the sale.

If you get used to asking the salesperson “Is that in writing” from the beginning, it will force the salesperson to be more honest in his presentation.  You want to do this on the important claims by the salesperson and not on every little detail. 

For example, if the salesperson says that the resort is a RCI Gold Crown resort, there’s no need to ask for that in writing since you can look in the current RCI directory or for a plaque on the wall for verification.

If, however, he says that you can buy one week and “it trades two for one” in RCI or Interval International, I’d want to see that in writing were I to buy. 

If true, what you will most likely find in the documents is that for each week you give up to exchange, RCI or Interval International will match with a bonus week.  This is very different than “it trades two for one” and is commonly misused in the timeshare industry.

The difference is that the week you own has a certain trading power that can be enhanced enormously if you know how.  My guide “The Insider’s Secrets to Exchanging Your RCI Timeshare” explains this in detail and is something you must have if you own a timeshare. 

The bonus week comes from the exchange company and has no exchange power.  Big difference!  Bonus weeks are usually at lesser-demanded resorts and during non-peak travel times.  A bonus week at a fantastic beachfront resort in Hawaii or the Caribbean is rare indeed. 

Plus, you pay more than the exchange fee to use a bonus week and there are conditions tied to using it. 

 Many salespeople don’t know this, or prefer not to know it, and simply say your week exchanges two for one.  If you learn how to use a bonus week properly they can be a good value, but to simply imply that they are just like your exchange week is very misleading.

Become a smarter consumer by asking if a promise or claim given by the salesperson is in writing and then take it a step or two further by digging down to what the promise really means.  If you’re considering a purchase, make a list what you were promised in writing and make sure each one is verified in the contract.