Tag Archives: United States

Avoiding The Most Expensive Car Rental Cities

Figuring out what a decent price for a rental car is versus a complete rip-off is not nearly as easy to determine as one might initially think. Rates vary depending on which company, which city, and which day it is. Strangely enough, it is not unheard of to get four different quotes on how much it would cost to rent a car on four consecutive days. One of the things that kills car renters wallets, is not doing the research to learn what the local fees and taxes on car rentals are.

In fact, local and state taxes make up an extremely high amount of the total car rental cost. In the 100 most heavily trafficked U.S. airports, the airport itself, and demanded rent was often a problem. Such add-ons averaged nearly 26 percent of the entire cost, compared with a 14 percent average for off-airport locations. In some cities the gap between on-airport and off-airport costs is nearly unbelievable. In Dallas, for example, 61.4 percent of the total cost of renting a car at the airport came from taxes, while taxes at nearby neighborhood locations only made up 17 percent of the total. Like most taxes, these just continue to grow.

The most expensive cities in the United States to rent a car (the taxes are so high that it actually is an absurd idea for most people to even think about renting a vehicle here) are Boston, New York, and Houston. In all three cities rates can easily almost double over what was advertised. At Houston’s Intercontinental Airport, if you rent a car for two days at $50 per day, you’d expect your bill to be about $100. Once taxes and fees are added in, watch out, because you will owe a minimum of $171. Aside from the big three, some of the other worst rental rates from airports include Austin, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth and New Orleans. No matter what city you are in, it is often a good idea to rent from centers away from the airport. They will always be cheaper.

Taxes and fees (which are often much higher in cities that need funds for construction of convention centers or stadiums) can increase your final bill by up to 70 percent. Watch out for these cities, watch out for the taxes. While it may be uavoidable, really weigh your options. Is it really worth this much to rent a car instead of using public transportation? At the very least, find a rental center away from the airport. It might be a little inconvienent, but at least you save yourself something, which in high tax cities, migh end up being more than just a few pennies; it might be a small bundle.

Donations Of Wheelchair Accessible Vans And Tax Deductions

The Special Kids Fund is one of many non-profit organizations who dedicate their time and efforts to the welfare of kids with disabilities, special needs, and at-risk youth. Donations, particularly vehicle and wheelchair van donations, are just one of the many methods SKF uses to help support families, schools, hospitals, and programs for kids with special needs. The very dedicated people who are associated with The Special Kids Fund do their best to find ways to raise money, gather volunteers, and assist these programs in any way they can. However, their efforts alone often arent enough to maintain the expenses that are required to support the schools, hospitals, camps, programs, treatments, and individual care these children need. As a result, charity and donations are asked of the rest of the community to assist them in making their goals of helping disabled children, their families, and communities, possible.

There are approximately 4 million children under the age of 18 in the United States who have some type of disability. Some of these disabilities leave children unable to walk without some support, like a walker or crutches, and others who rely on the use of a wheelchair because they cannot walk at all. Wheelchairs obviously have certain requirements that people who can walk tend to overlook. Wheelchair vans, are a significant help when it comes to transporting a person in a wheelchair. Accommodating a wheelchair in a typical vehicle isnt easy, and the use of a wheelchair accessible vans allow these kids to be mobile, get to doctors appointments, and most importantly, to participate in other activities that their family and friends attend. There are some fortunate situations where an insurance company will cover at least a portion of the cost of a wheelchair accessible van, or the conversion of a van, enabling it to accommodate a wheelchair and lift. But most situations leave the cost of the van or conversion on the shoulders of the family alone. That is why vehicle donations and van donations are at the top of the most wanted list of SKF charitable contributions.

Many people have a van, SUV or RV that has been modified to be wheelchair accessible in order to accommodate their handicapped ore elderly family member and make transportation to the doctor, school, activities, and family trips easier on everyone. In the unfortunate event that your family experiences the loss of the family member who needed the wheelchair accessible van, or if circumstances simply change and you no longer need the van because youre getting a new one, making a vehicle donation can be beneficial to both you and the recipient. You can use the donation as a way to commemorate the passing of your loved one, and give another family the opportunity to make their life a little less difficult by giving them the gift of transportation. Another way you can benefit from a vehicle donation is the year end tax deduction. Vehicles that are already adapted and are accepted into SKFs vehicle donation program make the donor eligible for a full fair market value tax deduction.

In 2005, IRS Vehicle Donation Laws changed to only allow up to a $500 deduction based on the fair market value and requires that the owner determine its value based on its actual condition. Vehicle Donation Programs like SKFS allow you to get the best IRS deduction since the donated wheelchair vehicle is a gift to a needy family rather than sold or auctioned. If the vehicle appraises over $5000, the IRS requires a certified appraisal, but this does allow you to get the highest deduction, even under the new IRS rules.

SKF and other non-profit organizations like them, whose mission and dedication to giving a better life to kids with special needs and their families is so important to our communities and their children who may be considerable restricted otherwise. By vehicle donations you become a part of their quest to improve the lives of those with special needs and the people responsible for caring for them. By making a vehicle donation, you become a part of the combined efforts that are already in place striving to help out one person or family at a time. Wheelchair vans allow families to spend time together as a family, to go out to dinner, family outings, on vacations, and even the simple everyday trips. Remember that your donations and charity not only benefit those on the receiving end, but you too, both in the form of tax deductions as well as a greater feeling of self-worth, knowing that you have made a dramatic difference in the lives of others.

Different Forms Of Tourism

With the introduction of e-commerce or online business, tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet. Today, it is easy as ever to buy an airline ticket, a tourism package or even planning your own trip from where you sleep to where you eat and shop. There are even websites that help you plan your own tour or you can buy directly from the separate hotels and airlines to do it without the intermediaries. As it has grown more convenient to plan and go on a tour, there has been an up market trend in the tourism all over the world over the last decade.

Most of the top visited countries are on the European continent along with the United States and China. Since most of the tourists are people with high level of disposable income, having a popular tourist site greatly benefits the country’s economy. With this fact know, many countries offer cheaper and simpler way of travel within their country and even a set policy for tourists. Along with that, the development of technology in transportation, such as making a bigger and faster airplane, resulting in many low-cost airlines along with easier access to buying tickets online made many different types of tourism more affordable and more accessible. Though there has been set backs at certain tourist attraction sites due to terrorist threats and environmental issues, the tourism market still stands as one of the strongest market in the world.

Today, with the easier access to travel, many different types and forms of travel emerged. Though it still carries the traditional form of traveling to a different place, the usual purpose of site seeing has become more specialized. There is something called an Eco-tourism where people travel to seek out a new way of life, mostly pro-nature type of life, where they will be more helpful towards the environment. Another type of tourism is Medical tourism. There are many different reasons behind this type of tourism.
Most of the medical tourists travel because they are seeking a cheaper medical treatment along with some sightseeing as well. Most of this is due to the different medical insurance policy around the globe. People from countries that offer public health care insurance go to countries without public health care since they get what they pay for, but people from countries without health care travel to get a cheaper and affordable treatment along with a better regulatory system.

Other tourism trends include celebrity tourism, where tourists will do leisure activities which involve showbiz events and some popular film sites, educational tourism, where people travel to gain knowledge overseas about the different cultures and ideas to gain more insight. Some people go on what is called an adventure tourism where they hire a local citizen to see how the locals view the tourist sites. With all the different types and methods of travel, it seems like it only gets better for the travelers each day, so why not go online and check out what is offered to you. You might find something just for you.