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Transfer Smart reports on employers who no longer have to complete all background security checks before hiring a new worker. Many U.S. airports are now relaxing on the background checks because of the backlog in the screening process. The new relief was first reported in Atlanta by WSB-TV who was able to obtain a memo from the airport officials. The memo was received from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport officials. In the memo there was a note that said “workers can be granted access to certain parts of the airport before their checks are finished”.

The spokesman for TSA, Jon Allen, commented, “To allow for a continuity of operations, TSA has provided airports and airlines with interim regulatory relief. At no time was security at risk, and all new employees will still undergo identity verification and be subject to watch-list matching.”

Those this memo was revealed, the agency did not state the number of airlines who would take advantage of this change by giving preliminary clearance. In addition, the agency did not state how long the employees would be able to work without full security clearance. The memo did state that all employees must undergo full clearance and those who fail to do so will have their clearance revoked. Employees are allowed to work as long as they submitted information for background checks and have been fingerprinted.

However, TSA does require “threat assessments to be conducted for all airport and airline employees who require access to secure areas in airports, including baggage workers, ground maintenance workers, and restaurant and retail employees”.

To those who wish to be freed from their timeshare contact Transfer Smart right now!

Timeshare scams have spread all over the nation as governments and attorney generals warn the public. The latest area that has been experiencing this scam is Palm Beach County. The clerk and comptroller for the county recently released a statement warning timeshare owners to “beware of people posing as court clerk employees seeking fees related to timeshare resales”.

The latest victim was a senior citizen who received a call from a person identifying themselves as Rebecca Reynolds from the clerk’s Division of Affidavits and Fraud. She called to inform the timeshare owner that he was responsible in paying the fees associated with the lawsuit against fraudulent timeshare resale companies.

The clerk’s office warns timeshare owners that no one from that office would ever call asking for payments. If you receive a call asking for payments hang up and report them.

If you are tired of your timeshare and want to get out, contact Transfer Smart today.

In a twist on the classic timeshare resale scheme, a resale company has been offering in-writing contracts to customers that were worthless.

Timeshare contract holders thought they were getting a contract of sale. The couple who ran Timeshare Mega Media, Pasquale Pappalardo and Lisa Tumminia-Pappalardo, have been stopped by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from taking more money from victims. The company was around for just over a year and a half, yet made $2.7 million. Unlike other timeshare resale frauds, the couple put a flat price on all timeshare resales: $1996.00. In other cases, the defendant had gotten away with some of the money. But the judgement here against them was $2.65 million. They have also incurred a lifetime ban on doing any business concerning the sale or resale of timeshares. They will serve no prison time.

The basic fraud consisted of telling contract holders they would sell the timeshare and to sign over $1996.00 and sign a contract. But the contract said the timeshare in question would only be listed on a website and accompanied by very little marketing. Upset victims could not get their money back or even a company representative to talk to when they wanted help or had questions about the service.

Only Transfer Smart gets you out of your timeshare contract with an IN-WRITING guarantee.

Don't Let Them Con You.

Wade Capital Management, of Des Moines, Iowa, has been labeled a libelous business by the BBB. Their purpose was to hold money in escrow for timeshare owners who wanted to sell their timeshare through a listing agency. The Iowa Secretary of State has said they have no listing of this company either. The BBB went to their “address” at 668 19^th Street in Des Moines and found a three-story apartment building there. The manager of that building stated he had no idea what Wade Capital Management was and that no business by that name was at that location.

The company claimed to work with a “vacation ownership closing company.” They utilized the common scam of calling up prospective victims from a list of timeshare owners. Once on the phone, they promised they could have the timeshare sold at a profit, but in order to do so would need money upfront. They did not offer a written contract of services, and asked for the money to be wired to them. Wiring money is like handing over cash; once the transaction is made, that money is irretrievable. At the conclusion of their investigation, the BBB immediately took away Wade Capital Management’s rating.

Old British Postcard featuring the St. Andrews Clubhouse.

Here at Transfer Smart we love golfing, so I did a little research on my top three golfing dream vacations.

I picked the steeped-in-history Augusta National, Pebble Beach and the birthplace of golf, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club Of St Andrews. I’ve included the price for a round trip ticket leaving Los Angeles tomorrow and coming back in a week.

Augusta National Golf Club

Leaving tomorrow airfare from LAX: $938 – $1636

Cost per round: Only members and invited members are allowed to play.

The Augusta Country Club hosts the only PGA major that is played every year; the other three locations are always changed.

You have to be a member or a guest to golf here though. The exclusive club includes two of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Part of the allure of playing this course comes with its history and exclusivity.

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Leaving tomorrow airfare from LAX: $264 – $1122

Cost per round: $500

Pebble Beach is actually a collection of golf courses found on the Monterey Peninsula of Pebble Beach, California. It is the first ever public course to take the title of No. 1 course in America by Golf Digest.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club Of St Andrews

Leaving tomorrow airfare from LAX: $910 – $9035

Cost per round: $1800

The Old Course in Scotland is the birthplace of golf, and offers a very different slant on what constitutes “great golfing” here in the United States. Scotland is rainy and windy, and the course itself is full of traps not commonly seen in the United States, such as numerous sloped hills.

Like the Links at Pebble Beach, the course is public but expensive. A cheaper round can be had in a number of ways: plan your trip a year in advance, win the onsite lottery or travel solo and sign up to be part of an already paid two or threesome. If money is no option, this should be your first choice in golf vacations.

As China’s economy grows and its government accepts greater amounts of its people to leave its shores and explore the world, Chinese-born tourists are causing hotel rates to rise across Europe.

“Where you’re seeing a big pickup in (revenue per available room) is in cities where the Chinese have an influence and are traveling, because they fill the lower end of hotels and then the whole toothpaste tube fills – from the bottom up,” according to Starwood Property Trust CEO Barry Sternlicht.

Chinese travelers’ favorite destinations include Rome, Barcelona and London. They are driving all lodging business upwards; not staying at budget places either, increasingly choosing 5-star hotel rooms.

The recent recession hit Americans and Europeans hard, but not so much the Chinese. They are buying cars at record rates, and traveling the world like never before. China’s emergence as an economic superpower is “changing the dynamics of this market,” Sternlicht continued.

Santiago, Chile, with the Andes in the background.

Renaissance Hotel Group, the luxury brand of Marriott International, has announced the building of a new resort in Chile.

The new hotel will have almost 200 rooms and be located on Avenida Kennedy in Vitacura district, Santiago. It will feature a restaurant affiliated with one of Chile’s most prominent chefs and a coffee bar and lounge. As expected with the renaissance brand, there will be a gym, a pool, conference rooms, a gift shop and a ballroom.

Renaissance brands are tailored to the local markets in which they are located. In Chile, authentic Chilean beef will be served in the restaurant, and the rooms will be appointed with classic Chilean décor. “We are thrilled to be bringing the Renaissance lifestyle brand to Santiago,” said Julio Salvador, President of Altamira Grupo Inmobiliario, the group entrusted with developing the property. “With its prime location in the prestigious Vitacura district and proximity to major businesses and attractions, we know that it will be a very successful property.”

Marriott expects the Renaissance Santiago location to rival the luxury found at other famous Renaissance hotels, such as the St. Pancras Renaissance in London and the Renaissance Sao Paulo. If timeshares are sold at this resort, Transfer Smart can get you out of your contract.

They have absolutely NO value. A search on Ebay for “timeshare” yielded many results of a single dollar, in places like the Caribbean and Mexico.

Timeshares are sold by scam artists, and then resold by… scam artists. If you own a timeshare, chances were you were given free stuff and wined and dined like a celebrity. Then you were verbally assaulted by a group or chain (or both) of timeshare salespeople who only had one goal in mind: get you to sign a timeshare contract. More free gifts were offered. Prices were cut. Grandiose promises were made. Even more free gifts were offered. And you were forced to deal with anger or an imposed guilt trip by one of the sales people if you didn’t sign.

They are a black hole for money. Rising HOA fees, maintenance fees and mysterious “Special Assessment” fees and, they cost money whether you use them or not!

In most cases, you can’t change your weeks. Everything in your life changes, including schedules, jobs, where you want to vacation, and of course, your financial situation. Most timeshares are sold as value purchases because you “would save money” over the course of your lifetime by buying into one. But who wants to vacation in the exact same spot every year? Cancun is great once or twice, but every year for the rest of your life? Orlando, Aspen are the same way. Even the world’s most exotic vacations like Paris and Moscow aren’t worth a visit every year.

You can never get out of them – wait, this one is incorrect! Only Transfer Smart gets you OUT OF YOUR TIMESHARE guaranteed. That’s right; we’re the only ones with an IN-WRITING GUARANTEE! Go to one of our presentations to learn more, we travel ALL OVER THE COUNTRY! We will discuss with you ALL of the options: timeshare sales, donation, and transfer. I think you can tell what we think the best choice is by our name.

The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has issued a consumer alert about the rise of timeshare resale sales fraud in California.

“Given the economic strain many families are facing, timeshare ownership is a luxury some families can no longer afford”, DRE Acting Commissioner Barbara Bigby said. “And with so many owners wanting to divest themselves of their timeshares, it has created an opportunity for fraudsters.”

According to the DRE, these are the top three timeshare scams in California:

1. Con-artists who claim they will buy timeshares, but ask for an over-the-phone fee.
2. Con-artists who claim that they are an agent who has a “ready-and-able” buyer for their timeshare, but want a paperwork fee for the transaction.
3. Con-artists who pose as legitimate, licensed real-estate brokers, who then say they will list their timeshare, and ask for a fee to do so. They never list the timeshare and pocket the money made from the consumer

All of these con-artists ask for money up front and once payment is secured, the victim never hears from them again.

The DRE has several tips for timeshare contract holders to avoid being a victim of a resale telemarketing scam.

1. Research the company’s reviews on Trustlink and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
2. Never pay upfront. DRE advises you contact them to see if the business is a reputable one.
3. Only licensed real estate brokers may list and sell timeshares. Ask for their license paperwork before you pay for suspicious or “too-good-to-be-true” services.
4. Ask for the agent’s contract in writing. Of course, all in writing contracts have to be agreed to. Transfer Smart offers an In-Writing Resale contract of their services.
5. Check them out on Google. A sign of a great timeshare transfer company is the amount of blogs they have.

Visit their website if you feel you’ve been a victim of a timeshare resale scam or for a copy of the Consumer Alert.

Turning the Priceline/Orbitz model on its head, Backbid.com allows hotels to bid on you.

Priceline.com was the name-your-own-price innovator, launching in 1998. Many travel agents have said it changed the very nature of travel, taking the personal trip advisor and cutting them out, offering bare-bones deals for the consumer. The role of travel agent has greatly decreased, something I wrote about here. It’s one of the top ten “Dying Professions,” decreasing in number by 41% over the last six years. Unfortunately, this doesn’t also apply to timeshare sales.

It also changed the industry by sheer amount of information offered alone. The casual traveler didn’t know what the rates were for different hotels, especially upscale ones. Priceline not only made the consumer knowledgeable but expanded their options with everything from car rentals to the flights themselves.

Such power in the hands of the consumer is borderline dangerous to the hotel industry.  “What if every time you bought an item from the grocery store, an article of clothing or a piece of furniture, once you got home you had competing stores offering to sell you the same item for a cheaper price?” asks Jason Q Freed, editor of Hotelnewsnow.com.

Backbid.com works like this. Tell the site you are going to a certain locale, and name your dates and price range. You have to have an existing hotel reservation. This is why hoteliers don’t like it. You have to break your reservation with one hotel, and accept a reservation from a new hotel. In many cases, you can get a room that’s nicer and less expensive than what you originally found.

This business model can extend to everything travel related, from car rental to flights as well. The industry may turn back the tide by not offering refunds on reservations. This in turn can lead to consumers only using hotels that offer the ability to break reservations, increasing their business but also potentially damaging it- after all, if they offer a hotel for $200 and get out-bid post-reservation for $199 every time, and the consumer must take the cheapest price, it can be damaging for all hotels.

The only cure would be for businesses to all agree not to use Backbid. This is a nearly impossible task. Businesses will do anything to make money, especially hotels and timeshare resorts in a down economy that has seen the vacation industry tank over the last five years. Oddly enough, one consumer actually got a Backbid discount bid from the hotel he had actually made the reservation with and saved $39.