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From the Blogs

The Sum of All Pitches: Travel Give-aways Judged.

Not all that is golden...or plastic....is gold.

Not worth the plastic it was printed on.

What of the product the company was selling? Was the company legitimate? Is anything they sell worth anything to anybody? Is it a scam? Researching the company and details reveals several things. First, in the strictest legal definition the company and its product are not a scam. It is the very precise way everything is presented and how the contracts are written that keep this company from straying into legal trouble. For some people who can afford to buy and deal with the limitations and complications that seem systemic to this sort of product it can be a favorable arrangement. However for many people these situations can be problematic commitments of money which they are never able to gain the promised travel.

The most telling thing to my mind was that the walls of the office are coated in pictures of people when they buy the memberships. Yet there are none of people at any of the travel options the membership provide. Indeed, we were told repeatedly that we could not and would not be able to review a sampling of the travel options. I can find nobody online blogging about their latest travel club trip. And in truth I can find virtually nobody who will openly admit they have such a membership. Likewise, in reading about those who bought and later attempted to get out of their contracts, virtually nobody does.

Are there alternatives to these clubs that provide the sort of travel options and value but without the financial strain and obligation? Absolutely. The entire premise of this companies product was that it gathered endless options for travel at prices only possible for the reasons they explain to you. Yet most travel agencies and agents can book through wholesale companies and through industry promotions that give you every means to travel when you want and the way you want too.

My own advice? Avoid these booths like the plague. You should not have to pay money just to hear a sales presentation. You should not have to sit through a sales presentation to receive an actual “prize.” No prize should be so rigged as to seem intended to be more hassle than it is worth. You should never have to commit so much money for a membership for products or services you cannot review in detail.

Do I have a horse in this race? Certainly, but so do you. These companies have a choice to present things professionally and without pressure or masking the insanity of their self-serving contracts and financial systems. Shop carefully, ask questions.

Have you dealt with timeshare pitches? Share with us in the Travelers Dominion forums!

Jones Act Waiver for Puerto Rico

With the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico lagging badly behind that seen in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and after growing public calls for action, the U.S. finally waived the Jones Act for a time. This will allow a wider range of ships to transit directly between ports in the U.S. and the Caribbean island territory. The Jones Act is an example of "cabotage law," meaning regulation of trade between domestic ports. Laws like it exist in most countries and the intent originally was to protect fleets of merchant marine ships and personnel from competition from other countries. The fear was that if other countries could push domestic ship building out of business and reduce the number of native sailors. In the event of a war such a weakness could have been disastrous for most countries dependent on trade over water.

The law forces trade (passenger travel or goods and services) traveling from one U.S. port to another must be built in the U.S., crewed by Americans, and owned by Americans. The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1920 is very similar and applies to passenger vessels specifically. The PVSA however states that no ship failing any of the three mandates in the Jones Act can pick passengers up in one U.S. port, then debark them at a different U.S. port without visiting a second country first. In this case the Jones Act prevents fleets of ships that fail any of the three mandates to travel directly from American ports to Puerto Rico. This had the effect of crippling shipments of needed supplies and materials needed to aid hurricane recover efforts. Within the cruise industry and beyond there is strong sentiment to update and change the Jones Act and the PVSA to reflect modern times. Such would allow for radical growth in cruises that travel entire itineraries of U.S. and Canadian ports, boost tourism in said ports and certainly create new jobs. However the Jones Act and PVSA have staggeringly well funded, determined and organized union and business interests who have successfully defended the laws for nearly a hundred years. Some think the hurricanes might finally lead to some changes but there seems little momentum given the current political climate in the U.S.