Travel With Kids - Five Stuff-Free Games For Long Car Trips
It’s almost the end of the school year, and, despite the soaring cost of gas, you likely have some travel in store for you and the family during the coming months. Here are five ideas you can keep at the back of your mind when the “how much longer?” questions start coming fast and furious.
1. Twins and triplets - Use “twins” to have everyone name one thing that comes in twins. Think “mom and dad,” “soup and salad,” “stop and go.” When it’s your turn, you can shout out an answer. If the next person doesn’t have an answer in three seconds, the following person can fill in. Players keep score by how many they have come up with. It’s obviously easy at first, but gets harder after a few times around. “Triplets” is even more challenging.
2. Horse - The first player says a letter and the following players have to add letters until a word is formed. The player who adds a letter that forms any word loses. The trick is that players must have a word in mind that could be created as they add a letter. So spelling H-O-R and adding an S might lead to forming “Horse” for the next player unless they could form a word that starts with H-O-R-S but does not have an E next.
3. Which would you rather be? - Choose odd combinations of things to quiz people on their inner selves and true desires. “What would you rather be: a whale or a shark? A theater usher or a candy counter attendant? A professional singer or a librarian? A dog or a cat?” The list goes on and on, only limited by your imagination and curiosity. You might actually learn something about your kids or spouse!
4. License plates - This is an old chestnut, but can keep kids busy for a few minutes at least while they realize that license plates come on cars from all over the country. Some kids wait years before seeing one from Hawaii or Alaska.
5. Alphabet soup - I almost hit a truck looking for an R during a recent car trip so I’m cautious about this game. In this game, each player has to find letters of the alphabet in alphabetical order starting with A. Each player keeps track and tries to avoid cheating. Little kids love to hunt for letters while they ride, and this game can be safely played from the back seat.
Increase Business With Travel Incentives
Are you looking for a way to increase your customer base and market share? Have you ever considered utilizing travel incentives? Travel incentives like the name implies can be used to motivate both customer and employee behavior. Utilizing travel incentives to attract, motivate, convert, appreciate, and retain customers and employees just makes good business sense.
Many people will tell you that “cash is king”. However, studies have shown that over time offering cash discounts eventually becomes part of the expected price. For example, who ever expects to pay full price for a car anymore? No one. We all know that the sticker price is negotiable. How many of us also know that if we find a suit or dress we like, we can wait a couple of months and it will go on sale? We will pay less than the original price tag for the same item. Likewise with employee bonus programs, over time bonuses become an expected part of pay. Every December or March, employees come to expect a bonus as part of their compensation.
Therefore, another more cost effective way to motivate customers and employees without dipping into your profits is to offer travel incentives. Travel incentives are a win/win opportunity for businesses and hotels. Hotels on any given night will have about 30% of their rooms vacant. That is lost revenue to the hotel that they cannot get back. One night’s room is not a product that sits on the shelf and can be sold tomorrow. Therefore, hotels want their property to be as full as possible. Consequently, they will take a cut on the room rate in order to attract more people to stay in their hotel. Once at the hotel, families will be spending dollars in the hotel restaurants, shops, and may even tack on a few extra days to their stay. In addition, when the family returns from their vacation they will give a glowing word of mouth advertisement of the hotel. Guess who gets credit for sending them on this great vacation? You and your business!
You may be wondering though, how can this be cost effective for me as a business owner? Well, for the cost of taking two people to lunch, you can send them on a 3Day/ 2Night Getaway with over 24 destinations of their choice. In addition, for the cost of taking two people to dinner, you could send them on a 5Day/ 4 Night Getaway including locations such as Florida, St. Thomas, and Hawaii. Think about what you are currently spending to attract, motivate, convert, appreciate, and retain customers and employees? Does it have the same effect on them as telling them you want to send them on vacation? People remember their vacations because they take their loved ones with them, make memories, and take pictures. Therefore, when you are the one responsible for allowing them to take that vacation, they also have great thoughts and memories of you and your business.
As a business owner or manager it just makes sense to utilize travel incentives for your next customer promotion or employee incentive program. Everyone loves to travel. Ask 100 people what they would do if time and money were no object and 98% would say they would TRAVEL!
Travel without a hitch
WITH A-LEVEL results safely out of the way, many young people will be planning to leave that exam stress far behind and backpack their way around the world for a few months before resuming their studies.
Mum and Dad are likely to insist on some travel insurance to cover the youngsters against illness, accidents or other emergencies. But annual travel policies, designed for mainstream holidaymakers, are useless for trips like this, because they impose a maximum duration of 31 days per trip. Standard single-trip policies can be extended to cover longer stays abroad, but this is an expensive option.
Robert Smith, of travel insurance advisers DCT explains: “Typically, single-trip policies are rated with a duration band of the first 31 days. After that, you pay for an additional week for every week you’re away. If you add that up for six, or even 12 months, it starts to get very expensive indeed.”
Marc Dubin, one of The Rough Guides authors, adds: “Be wary of the bog- standard high-street policies, because they simply won’t be long enough. You have to go to a specialist company which will quote you a premium per year, with no restriction on how much of that time you’re away. That will allow you to travel for 365 days of the year, which has to be made clear at the outset.”
The premiums for plans like these vary dramatically, however. Some world- wide backpackers’ policies charge as little as pounds 199, others go to well over pounds 400 (see table, left).
You can save money on specialist policies by eliminating the type of cover which backpackers, most of whom travel on the cheap, are unlikely ever to need. There is little point in buying a policy which will pay out several thousand pounds if flights should have to be cancelled.
Helen Dwyer is a director with Primary Direct, an insurer which specialises in travel policies. She explains: “Backpackers are going to pay between pounds 500 and pounds 1,000 for their ticket out. They don’t need the pounds 4,000 worth of cancellation cover that you might need if you’re going on a two-week fly-drive to Florida.”
Ms Dwyer also stresses how cover against loss or theft of property can be pared down. “Most younger travellers aren’t taking a lot anyway,” she says. “They’re taking a backpack with minimal clothes. On any travel insurance policy, there’s a single article limit. So, even if they were lucky enough to have things like expensive cameras, those would be excluded anyway.”
Much more important are elements such as medical cover (Which? magazine recommends at least pounds 1m worth of cover for Europe and pounds 2m for the US), and personal liability cover to pay out if your actions should lead to injury to someone else, or damage to their property.
Both these elements of your policy might come into play if you are tempted to try out any dangerous sports while abroad.
Check each policy to see just which sports are covered before deciding which company’s cover is right for you.
Mr Dubin suggests that you also check the small print to see how much help the policy might be if you should find yourself stranded abroad. He says: “What sort of repatriation facilities are available? Will you or your family have to provide the money up-front? Will the consul have to intervene, or will the company just get on with it and do it?”
Most policies will cover your trip home if you face a medical emergency or a member of the family at home has died. But simply running out of money will not be covered, as this is considered to be a result of your own negligence.
Thomas Schaefer Receives Lifetime Achievement Award From Travelers
Thomas Schaefer of Cincinnati, recently received an inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Independent Agents for significant contributions made to the insurance industry and the community. A donation of $10,000 will be made by Travelers to Schaefer’s desired charity, Boys Hope Girls Hope of Cincinnati. The ceremony took place at Travelers’ annual leadership conference for its independent agents and brokers, who sell commercial insurance products around the country.
Travelers selected a Lifetime Achievement Award based on candidates’ demonstrated industry leadership, ability to uphold the trusted position of the independent agent and advance the profession. In addition to being a strong industry leader, candidates had to posses a strong philanthropic track record and have inspired others, through personal example, to meet the needs of the community, whether it be through fundraising or volunteering.
“Thomas Schaefer is a true role model,” said Jay Fishman, chairman and chief executive officer of Travelers. “He has distinguished himself as a leader in the industry, while maintaining upstanding values and keeping in-synch with the needs of his community. Travelers is proud to partner with an agent of such high caliber.”
Schaefer is the managing director of Wells Fargo Insurance Services of Ohio’s Cincinnati office (formerly Acordia). He began his insurance career in 1968. He is a trustee of the Cincinnati Insurance Board, a local trade association dedicated to promoting integrity and ethical practices within the industry, while providing professional development for its members. Schaefer is also an advocate for Cincinnati’s underprivileged, particularly its children. He has been involved with Insuring the Children, an organization committed to abused and neglected children, since its inception, and is currently a trustee and honorary director. Insuring the Children is the beneficiary of Wells Fargo Insurance Services of Ohio’s annual fundraiser. Schaefer is also involved with Boys Hope Girls Hope of Cincinnati; an organization that helps academically gifted children who are in need meet their full potential by providing value-centered, family homes to improve their educational opportunities.
“It is important that Travelers recognized Tom for his significant career and community achievements,” said Kate Preston, executive vice president of Enterprise Development for Travelers. “We are pleased to be a partner with such a driven individual who possesses the entrepreneurial spirit and values shared by our company.”
Wells Fargo Insurance Services is the fifth-largest insurance brokerage and the largest bank-owned insurance brokerage in the United States, with more than 150 offices in 38 states. Its 4,500 insurance professionals place more than $8.5 billion of risk premiums with expertise in property, casualty, benefits, international, personal lines and life products.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $486 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 6,000 stores and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the U.S., and one of only two banks worldwide, to have the highest credit rating from both Moody’s Investors Service, “Aaa,” and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, “AAA.”
joys of insurance cover, The
My generation was bought up on the need to ‘get the strength of the insurance companies around you.’ Times have changed a bit and, although I’m sure that insurance cover is an essential protection, some insurance companies have a strange approach.
I have, for many years, paid the same company an annual premium for travel insurance cover. Fortunately for both of us, I never made a claim. However, after many years of cover, I received a short letter from the insurers noting that I had reached the venerable age of 70. On that basis, they said, they could no longer offer cover! And not even a birthday card!
When we lived in London, we were too close to the Thames to qualify for flood cover. We then moved to the north of England miles from any river, a long way from the coast - to a hill in the highest market town in UK. As you might guess, I was immediately offered flood cover at a very competitive rate!
I was pleased to be able to point out that if we suffered a flood - there would be no one left to pay our claim.
Your Money: Pound notes
PRICEY DRIVING
pounds MEN in their 20s pay twice as much as those in their 30s for car insurance, according to a survey by moneysupermarket.com Last year the average annual car insurance premium for a man in his 20s was pounds 1,123, compared with pounds 543 for a man in his 30s.
SKI AT ANY AGE
pounds AROUND 12 per cent of skiers last season were 55 or older, according to Help the Aged Travel Insurance. It offers the option of winter sports cover with no upper age limit - the oldest skier they insure is 84. For more info call 0800 413 180 or visit www.helptheaged.org.uk/insurance
DODGY LINES
pounds CITIZENS Advice is warning people to be wary of “cash back” mobile phone deals promising refunds that may never materialise. People are tempted by low monthly rates but often miss out on the discount because claiming isn’t as simple as they are led to believe. If you’ve had problems, call the telecoms regulator Ofcom on 020 7981 3040.
DEALS OF THE WEEK: … AND ONE TO AVOID
It sounds attractive, picking up instant travel insurance at the same time as collecting foreign currency at an airport. That is what International Currency Exchange (ICE) is offering at Luton, Birmingham and Manchester airports through a link up with the insurer InsureandGo. The single-trip cover to Europe is a good-value pounds 9.60 for a fortnight, but ICE’s rates and commission charges can cancel the benefit.
And the annual insurance policy has compulsory winter sports cover, whether you ski or not.
2006 Treasurer’s Annual Report
My job as your treasurer is to oversee a financial operations team that consists of the NGAUS Committee on Finance, the Special Building Committee as well as the association’s full-time financial department.
This team helps me to ensure we adequately balance operating expenses with incoming revenue while providing you, our members, with the best bang for your buck. I can assure you that your membership dollars have been well spent during my two terms as treasurer. Our team not only effectively manages the budget but it also safeguards assets and exercises internal controls and processes to ensure that our fidudary responsibilities to you are met.
I hope this brief financial overview reassures you that NGAUS and its affiliates continue to have responsible fiscal guidance and management. Should you desire a more detailed look at the NGAUS financial position, I invite you look at the financial statements on the “Member’s Only” section of the NGAUS Web site at www.ngaus.org.
2005 Financial Report
At the close of every year, the association’s financial records and statements undergo a strenuous, multilayered audit and review. The independent accounting firm of Argy, Wiltse and Robinson of McLean, Va., conducted the audit. The NGAUS Committee on Audit, chaired by Lt. Col. Darrell Loyd of Kansas, reviewed the 2005 audited financial statements and recommended their approval to the board of directors, which accepted and approved the audit. Below is a synopsis of the 2005 audited financial statements.
Consolidated Operations
As NGAUS treasurer, 1 not only oversee the financial affairs of the association, which includes the operation of The National Guard Memorial building, I also oversee financial affairs for NGAUS affiliates: the National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF) and NGAUS Insurance Trust (NGAUS-IT).
Each entity has its own identity, operating budget and governing board. However, for financial reporting purposes and because of the relationship NGAUS shares with these entities, the operations are incorporated into one set of financial statements, which are referred to as “consolidated operations.”
The 2005 audited financial statements reflect a collective boost in revenue of $105,731 over 2004. This increase is mainly attributable to higher experience rating refunds, contributions, and building (e.g., tenant lease payments) and magazine advertising revenue. Although overall revenue increased, annual membership dues, investment earnings, conference booth sales and affinity/insurance royalties decreased.
Consolidated operating expenses increased $314,303 over 2004. Significant contributors to this increase included the funding of all staff positions, Web site redesign, special contributions to hurricane relief funds, investment fees, NGEF general operating and museum-related expenses, state affinity payouts, overdue computer modernization, the legislative action plan, magazine production and travel expenses.
NGAUS
The “Statement of Activities” on page 96 reflects the 2005 NGAUS audited financial data, inclusive of building operations. It shows a $3.15 million change in net assets, otherwise known as a net gain. The association’s 2005 revenue totaled $12.48 million, an increase of $101,000 over 2004. Significant revenue changes in 2005 included increased building, magazine advertising, corporate associate and insurance revenue netted against decreased annual membership dues, exhibit booth sales and overall investment earnings.
Association general operating expenses totaled $9.33 million in 2005, an increase of $341,000 when compared to 2004. Increased expenses were realized in Web site redesign, hurricane relief fund contributions, investment fees, magazine production, travel and salaries.
The NGAUS 2005 “Statement of Financial Position” on page 96, otherwise known as a balance sheet, reflects total assets and/or liabilities and net assets (equity) of $40.35 million-the worth of our building after depreciation represents a little more than half of this total.
Revenue and expenses from The National Guard Memorial building are included in the association’s figures above. The board of directors reappointed the Special Building Committee to work with the finance committee to keep the NGAUS leadership advised of building issues and to recommend ways to ensure its continued optimal performance as the foundation of NGAUS fiscal viability. A key facet of its job is ensuring building operations are funded only with building revenues.
Brig. Gen. Herman “Butch” Kervin of South Carolina, building committee chairman, reported at the July board meeting that the building and the land it occupies on Capitol Hill have a book value of $31.9 million, before depreciation, as reflected in the 2005 annual audit.
“When the market value for the building is calculated,” he said in his report, “the worth of the building escalates substantially to close to $58 million. With such a valuable asset, NGAUS is well positioned on its asset side to weather economic turbulence in the foreseeable future. As our real estate management experts from Donohoe (a private Washington, D.C. property-management firm that handles the building’s day-to-day management) will confirm, the building is performing as well as can be expected, and the prospects for continued solid performance in the D.C. market are very good.”
for the book mark: - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s RECON - Brief Article
www2.fdic.gov/recon If you’re looking for economic data, this is the site for you. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s RECON: Regional Economic Conditions site - once the domain of bank examiners to help them track changes in local economies - is now available to the public. With this user-friendly site, just point and click to find tables and charts of data on employment, income, wages, and home sales, among other variables. Data is available for states, metro areas, and counties. For example, you can get information on Philadelphia’s total payroll and government employment growth for the past 20 years and compare it to the state of Pennsylvania and the U.S. You can use the drop-down menus to take a gander at graphs, tables, and maps depicting economic conditions and how they have changed over time. This site also computes location quotients and offers an annual state-level measure of economic diversity. An added attraction: A “shopping cart” feature lets you assemble a series of charts and tables, and then print these out at the end of your session.
www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/stats-home.htm The Lone Star State’s Department of Criminal Justice Web site provides visitors with all sorts of stats on its criminals and incarceration rates. This includes data on death row inmates, probation, prisons, financial and health services, substance abuse, felony punishment, and risk management in the prison population. You can also click to view scheduled executions, and even gender and racial statistics for death row offenders. Curious about who’s on death row? Read the profiles of current and executed inmates, documenting their crimes and vital statistics.
www.africa.com If you’re looking for resources on all things African, this site is the mother lode. Need stats on Kenya’s population and employment rates? Search by country or continent to find information on this and much more, including daily news articles and colorful relief maps that you can click for a closer look into geography, climate, health, religion, history, business, government, sports, and travel and tourism. The site also provides a wealth of links to African embassies; political, conservation, and health organizations; business and education sites; and media, among others. As a bonus, Afri-facts provides quick and interesting tidbits on the continent and individual territories. For your memory bank, Africa forms nearly a quarter (22 percent) of the world’s total land area.
26th Annual Franchise 500
Maybe you’ve already read about it in the media, heard about others capitalizing on it or watched it happen firsthand–but will this finally be the year you get in on the franchising boom yourself? If so, you’re in the right place. Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500[R] is the world’s first, best and most comprehensive listing of franchises–or, as we like to think of it, a great place to start on your path toward franchise success.
To help you in this important quest, we’ve polished and perfected our ranking procedure over the past 26 years to come up with a top-secret formula for identifying the top franchise opportunities on the market. This year alone, we’ve spent countless hours of research and analysis for a singular purpose: to arm you with the best, most up-to-date franchise information possible.
Only franchise companies that submitted full Uniform Franchise Offering Circulars (UFOCs) or Alberta, Canada, disdosure documents were eligible to receive a listing in the magazine. And only those companies whose information Entrepreneur verified from these disclosure documents are eligible to be ranked–giving us the top 500 franchises.
Franchisors ranked in the Franchise 5000 are listed in red. Rankings are to the left of their names. Companies whose information was verified by Entrepreneur, but which were not ranked in the top 500, are listed in descending order under those that received a ranking in the top 500. Companies not eligible to be ranked–because they’re too small (franchises must have a minimum of 10 units, with at least one being a U.S.-based franchise), are not seeking new franchisees in the United States, or were in Chapter 11 at the time the rankings were compiled–are listed alphabetically.
We consider numerous factors in our ranking, some of which are weighed more heavily than others. The most important ones include financial strength and stability, growth rate, and size of the system. We also consider the number of years in business and length of time franchising, startup costs, litigation, percentage of terminations, and whether the company provides financing. Financial data was audited by an independent CPA firm. Every company with verifiable data receives a cumulative score. The franchises with the highest score become the Franchise 500[R].
These factors are objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation. We do not measure subjective elements such as franchisee satisfaction or management style, since these are judgments only you can make based on your own needs and experiences. All companies, regardless of size, are judged by the same criteria.
The franchisor’s growth over the past three years is shown by the number of both franchise and company-owned units for 2002, 2003 and 2004. Another key column lists the total startup costs necessary to open the franchise (including the initial franchise fee). This figure is affected by real estate and construction costs (if applicable), inventory, location, type of business and many other variables. For easy reference, the initial franchise fee is listed separately. Additional costs such as royalty fees, usually expressed as a percentage of monthly gross sales, are also listed separately. The remaining information is self-explanatory. The category “Where Registered” shows where a franchisor has either registered to sell, or plans to register this year, in states where it is required (California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington). “Available U.S. Regions” and “Seeking Foreign?” show where franchisors are planning to expand.
Some companies provide financing of their franchise fees or their total startup costs, or even offer equipment-leasing options for franchisees. The “Type of Financing”‘ category details the kind of financing provided by each franchise company. We’ve also noted whether the franchise can be operated from home, whether it offers a kiosk/ express option, and which companies are seeking multiple units only.
Remember that the Franchise 500[R] is not intended to endorse, advertise or recommend any particular franchise(s). It is solely a research tool you can use to compare franchise operations. Entrepreneur stresses that you should always conduct your own independent investigation before you invest money in a franchise. Read the UFOC and related materials carefully, get help from attorney and CPA in reviewing any legal documents, talk to as many existing (and former) franchisees as possible, and visit their outlets. The best way to protect yourself is to do your homework.