Small extra items equal hundreds of millions for flight companies

The air visitor currently may discover they are feeling nickeled and dimed by all the little “extra” charges. But for the airline market, they’re gold. According to a new report, they add up to hundreds of millions.

What the new study equals

The market was able to make $21.46 billion just last year from luggage expenses, frequent-flier programs, co-branded charge cards and similar non-transportation charges, states the Amadeus Review of Ancillary Revenue Results.

Top dollar earners

About $5 billion was brought in in extras with United Continental Airlines, which was the most non-transportation money an airline brought in. Second was Delta, at $3.7 billion. American Airlines, at $2 billion, was the 3rd largest earner. All of these are United States based corporations.

Low-budget means extras are high percentage of revenue

More money is spent on additional fees for income at bargain airline carriers due to lower ticket costs. If the data is analyzed as a percentage of total income, they do the best. Allegiant Airlines (29.2 percent), Spirit Airlines (22.6 percent), and Ireland-based Ryanair (22.1 percent) were the three big earners.

Increase in charges to be expected

Jay Sorenson is president of IdeaWorks and co-author of the study. He believes that every person should watch out for even more non-transportation expenses. “Oil prices spiked in 2008, which was also the year in which the U.S. industry introduced baggage fees. We’re nearing those historical oil prices again, and I believe we’re going to see another round of new à la carte fees.”

Study done previously

Another study was done earlier this year by the Washington D.C.-based lobby group Consumer Travel Alliance. The study was done with a coalition of travel agencies with Open Airlines for Airfare Transparency. Last year, passengers who flew paid an average, for a round trip flight, in charges of about $36.80. The study was very accurate.

Getting the government involves

The two groups have collected, as of last March, more than 60,000 online signatures in an attempt to urge the federal government to force airline carriers to make their expenses more transparent.

Articles cited

MSNBC

overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/01/6764501-nickeled-and-dimed-for-21-billion

Denver Business Journal

bizjournals.com/denver/news/2011/03/10/airlines-cost-coloradans-1486m-in.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search

Business Week

businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IBOU7G6.htm

House prices go down as foreclosure rates go up

Foreclosure rates are increasing in the United States as house prices continue to decline. Really, this ought to make house buyers happy. However, those seeking to sell a home might want to wait just a little longer.

Drop shown in FHFA report

The Federal Housing Finance Agency states this week that its home-price index fell in the current quarter quicker than at any time since 2008. Prices have fallen 2.5 percent in the last quarter, which is a drop of 5.5 percent from last year. Only homes covered by Fannie Mae or Freddie Macwere in the report. Cash only sales are also not in the list.

Issues brought on by foreclosures

FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco said, “In many local real estate markets, particularly those hit hard by this cycle, foreclosures and other distressed properties are still a key factor in recorded and anticipated future sales and may be delaying price stability or recovery.” There has been a decrease in the price people are willing to pay for foreclosures. It has been going down significantly, RealtyTrac explained. During the first quarter, the average sale price was $168,321 which dropped 1.46 percent from a year ago and 1.89 percent from the quarter before. Foreclosures end up lowering house values in the whole neighborhood. The rest of the index ends up affected by the foreclosures.

Third parties not as involved in foreclosure process

“While foreclosure sales continue to account for an unusually high percentage of all residential home sales, sales volume is well off the peak we saw in the first quarter of 2009, when nearly 350,000 foreclosure properties were sold to third parties,” reported James Saccacio, the CEO of RealtyTrac. There was a 16 percent drop from the last quarter and 36 percent go down from a year ago in the number of homes sold to 3rd parties which was at 158,434 in the first quarter.

How the states differ in foreclosure

Every state has a different number of homes being foreclosed on. Both Ohio and Illinois had the same. It was 41 percent for both. A 45 percent rate was shown in California and Arizona. It was really bad in Nevada. About 53 percent of the industry accounted for foreclosures.

Possible foreclosure scams to look at out for

A lot more foreclosure scams have come about. They are sometimes hard to see. Some corporations promise to protect from foreclosure for an upfront fee. The homeowners end up with nothing. Mortgage reduction plan negotiations can’t have upfront fees anymore with a requirement made in February with the Federal Trade Commission.

Citations

Wall Street Journal

blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/05/25/home-prices-fall-at-fastest-pace-since-late-2008/?mod=google_news_blog

DS News

dsnews.com/articles/home-prices-post-biggest-drop-in-two-years-as-foreclosures-depress-market-2011-05-26

DS News

dsnews.com/articles/home-prices-post-biggest-drop-in-two-years-as-foreclosures-depress-market-2011-05-26

Daily Finance

dailyfinance.com/2011/05/27/foreclosure-prices-fall-again-how-your-state-stacks-up/

Debt relief and consolidation frauds still uncontrolled after the downturn

The variety of debt reduction and debt consolidation companies has increased during the last few years. There surely have been more commercials promoting them on the television. Though several of these corporations are reliable, there are a number that are scams. Not all of these debt relief businesses seem to have gotten the memo.

Not paying attention to Federal Trade Commission rules

More than half a year ago, the Federal Trade Commission created new regulations to help deal with the growing number of complaints about ineffective or fraudulent debt settlement and debt settlement businesses. KNDU is a Washington state NBC affiliate. According to KNDU, debt servicing businesses are not allowed to misrepresent themselves, have to make information available at first and aren’t allowed to ask for advance fees. Businesses have to give customers realistic estimates of how much money they could conserve and disclose exactly what fees are involved in the service. Companies aren’t following the laws right now.

Fine for a business

Laws for debt services weren’t being followed by Freedom Debt Relief. This is what the states of New York and Washington found in a sting, WalletPop explains. Consumers in those states were misled by the California firm. In both cases, the business settled. It settled for $2 million in payments in consumers. The company is dealing with a class action lawsuit right now. It also made comparable settlements with four other states. Two companies were illegally “robocalling” and leaving messages for customers that were automated, report the Wall Street Journal. This won the Federal Trade Commission two large settlements against the businesses. Dynamic Financial Group and Advanced Management Services NW were robocalling customers and said that with an upfront fee, they could reduce a debt. The corporations both would send a card telling customers that they simply need to pay their bills on time. Advanced Management Services did offer a refund if it did no! t work though.

Don’t ever expect it to be that simple

With debt settlement companies, “if it looks too good to be true, it most likely is” works really well. Any company that claims it will take bad things off your credit for “pennies on the dollar” is a scam, according to both the Federal Deposit Insurance Business and Federal Trade Commission. All of the debt settlement companies aren’t allowed to ask for upfront cash. They have to change or reduce your debt before they ask for cash. There are also a lot of nonprofit debts counselors who can help customers come up with a debt reduction plan. The FDIC advises consumers look at a not-for-profit credit counseling service before looking at any for-profit debt reduction service. You can get help from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. This will be where financial advisors in your area could be found.

Citations

Walletpop

walletpop.com/2011/03/08/freedom-debt-relief-agrees-to-pay-back-consumers-after-accusatio/

KNDUO/p>

kndo.com/story/14696586/how-new-federal-debt-relief-rules-protect-consumers

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110526-711657.html

FDIC

fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnfall10/debtoverload.html

FTC

ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/moneymatters/dealing-with-debt-relief-services.shtml

NFCC

nfcc.org/

Lawsuit accuses rent-to-own company of spying on customers

A Wyoming couple is suing the Atlanta-based rent-to-own business Aaron’s over confidentiality issues. The couple says that they were watched with a computer they were able to rent last year. The lawsuit has brought back some on-going debates about privacy and ethics in the cyber-age.

Taking a photograph from the computer

Everybody realized the problem on December 22 of last year when at the home of Brian Byrd, 26, and wife Chrystal, 24. The Casper, Wyo., store manager went to their home to try and repossess and computer they supposedly were having problems with. The rent-to-own payment hadn’t been made, the manager thought. Brian Byrd produced a receipt, but not before the manager showed them a picture, taken from the computer’s webcam, of Byrd using the computer in his home.

The lawsuit has a comment from the manager. He said he was “not supposed to disclose that Aaron’s had the photograph.”

Computer equipped with spyware

According to the suit, there was spyware loaded onto the computer that took pictures, recorded keystrokes and took screenshots.

”It feels like we were pretty much invaded, like somebody else was in our house,” Byrd said. “Crystal gets online before she gets a shower and checks her grades. Who knows? They could print that stuff off there and take it home.”

More and more ‘Kill switch’ scenarios popping up

Ohio State professor Petere Swire said that using a “kill switch” is a legal and common fraud-prevention practice in the industry, protected under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In an emergency, it would be essential to use a kill switch to turn off the system. “But this action sounds like it’s stretching the self-defense exception pretty far,” Swire said.

Spyware designer also named in suit

The spyware was manufactured by one business based in PA. Designerware LLC is the company. In the lawsuit, Designerware was named. This is another part of the suit. Aaron’s was not a customer according to technical support Chief Tim Kelly.

Aaron’s denies it all

Aaron’s is a nationwide corporation with more than 1,140 company-owned stores and several hundred personally owned franchise stores. The company claims that the Byrds rented their computer from one of the independent franchisees and that none of the business stores use Designerware goods.

Cyber surveillance raises ethics issues

More people have noticed cyber surveillance happening. It is a much more common practice now. Computer tracking and video cameras are common in modern offices. Highways and public places almost always have cameras. Almost every cellphone has a GPS device in it. That way, we can always be monitored. And with this loss of privacy comes several questions of ethics.

“We’re already concerned that Americans are tracked, followed and spied on as never before,” said Jay Stanley of the ACLU.

Where lawmakers stand on it

Just like the do-not-call list, the Do not Track Me Online Act was just introduced. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., introduced it. The proposed legislation would stop companies from trading stored user information if the user chooses.

Articles cited

Bloomberg

bit.ly/jimOOk

News Tribune

newstribune.com/news/2011/may/04/suit-against-pc-renter-aarons-raises-privacy-quest/

PC Pitstop

techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2011/05/24/i-can-see-you-in-your-home/

Teen spending impacted by the downturn

The tough economy is now being felt even in the most youthful group of consumers. The 2011 Teens & Money Survey was just introduced by Charles Schwab & Co. The study says that teen spending is down quite a bit.

Pinch felt by every person

Traditionally, teens ignore economic trends and spend impulsively no matter the crunch on the purse strings at home. There was a 14 percent decrease in teenager purchasing this year. That is new. The impact is significant. As a group, teens spend an average of $125 billion in the U.S. each year.

No budge on home entertainment

Teen purchasing has dropped in nearly all the markets which they traditionally impact probably the most: apparel, beauty products and entertainment activities like restaurants, concerts and movies. Home entertainment seems to be the only place teens continue to spend lots of money. Music, DVD and video games rose from 7 percent to 8 percent of teen purchasing.

Paying attention to what is going on

About 90 percent of surveyed teenagers said the downturn impacted them in some way, as shown in the Schwab study. Schwab believes that teenagers have become more aware of finances. This is compared to four years back. Most said they were more appreciative of the things they have and are less likely to spend impulsively.

Calling them the ‘Recession Generation’

Senior vice president of Schwab Community Services is Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz. She said, “It seems clear that the great recession has changed the mindset of teens. It has given these ‘Recession Generation’ youth(s) a deeper appreciation for what they have and how hard their parents work. This may be the silver lining to the economic downturn.”

Educate at home

“To help quench their thirst for material goods, teens appear to have opened up to the idea that learning about money management is a potential solution to the problem,” said Bryan Sommer, founder of Kids Money Management.

The majority of the teens surveyed cited their parents as their main educators on money matters. About 82 percent of adolescents in the survey said they knew basic financial management. They said their parents taught them this. Even 77 percent said that their parents were role models when it came to finances.

Unemployment a factor

Joblessness accounts for some of this trend in teenager purchasing. The teen joblessness rate, at 22 percent, is the lowest it has been in 10 years.

Articles cited

Newser

newser.com/story/57269/recession-wary-teens-cut-back-on-spending.html

Commoncensus

commoncensus.blogs.nuwireinvestor.com/2008/04/recession-forces-teens-to-curb-spending.html

Daily Finance

dailyfinance.com/2011/05/31/recession-sobers-americas-once-free-spending-teens/

SWAT team killed Jose Guerena who did not shoot

SWAT officers who are from Arizona entered the house Jose Guerena, shooting and killing the 26 year old former Marine in front of his spouse and kids earlier this month, and found nothing illegal in his house. The law enforcement were not fired upon, but sent a wall of bullets in Guerena, a veteran of 2 tours in Iraq. Police conduct is being questioned by a lot of people.v

Marine veteran shot by SWAT team

Guerena had some unwanted visitors on May 5 from the Pima County Sheriff’s office. The SWAT officers had a search warrant they were using. When the officers entered the house, according to CNN, they found him holding an AR-15 rifle and they opened fire. There has been some debate on how many times he was shot as ABC reported he was shot 60 times. CNN states he was shot 22 times though. Guerena hadn’t fired a shot and the safety on his rifle was on. His wife, Vanessa Guerena, called the paramedics so they could help. The police wanted him to die before paramedics came in still.

Nothing in the home merited arrest

The suspicion that Jose Guerena was part of a drug smuggling and robbery ring got the law enforcement a warrant to go to his house. He was allegedly a part of home invasions. He would wear paramilitary clothing and had assault weapons. The Arizona Daily Star states that a “piece of law enforcement-style clothing,” guns and body armor were all found in the home. Mike Storie, the attorney for the SWAT officers, according to KGUN Tucson, has been quoted as saying that Guerena had nothing in his home that would have been cause to arrest him. The Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, has been critical of the press for asking questions about the shooting and whether it was legal. Right away after the shooting occurred, Dupnik said that Guerena had fired at officers, but he later admitted that Guerena hadn’t.

No paramedics allowed in the home

Jose Guerena’s shooting occurred with paramedics arriving fairly easily. They got there within two minutes of shots. However, the officers at the scene prevented emergency medical personnel from entering the house and observing Guerena for more than an hour, long after he was dead. The house also had a portrait of Jesus Malverde, considered a “patron saint” of drug runners. Just like American outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James, Malverde has become a hero of sorts even though he may have never really existed, states Wikipedia. Whether or not there were drugs in the house is unknown. The first search didn’t find any. Guerena had two kids, who were ages 6 and 4, and worked for the Asarco copper mine.

Information from

CNN

cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/27/arizona.marine.death/index.html?hpt=T2

Arizona Daily Star

azstarnet.com/news/local/article_47d3b9b2-8345-11e0-a48d-001cc4c03286.html

KGUN Tuscon

kgun9.com/story/14682200/guerena-family-attorney-responds-to-swat-lawyer

ABC

abcnews.go.com/US/tucson-swat-team-defends-shooting-iraq-marine-veteran/story?id=13640112

Toronto parents choose to keep newborn's gender a secret

Father and mother Kathy Witterick and David Stocker of Toronto, Canada, became the proud mother and father of their third child, Storm, on Jan first of 2011. What makes their story unique is the belief that they have made the decision to keep their baby’s sex a secret until such time as Storm he or she decides to reveal it.

Stand for freedom, parents say

“We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex for now – a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime (a more progressive place? …),” wrote Witterick, 38.

Only a few know newborn’s sex

Not even the grandparents know. It is a true secret. Only a few individuals know Storm’s sex. Those who know are two midwives who helped deliver the baby and one close family friend. Storm’s two older brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, also know the sex. Nobody has said what it is yet though.

Everyone asks ‘Is it a girl or a boy’

”When the baby comes out, even the individuals who love you probably the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it a girl or a boy?’” Witterick said. Her husband Stocker, 39, an educator at an alternative school, added: “If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.”

The choice for a kid to make

”What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It’s obnoxious,” Stocker said.

When really young, children are able to make decisions. Both Stocker and Witterick believe this. Already, Jazz and Kio decide when they get haircuts. They pick out their own clothes too.

Calling their children ‘unschooled’

The kids are “unschooled” by their father and mother. The father and mother use their children’s natural curiosity to home school. It is “not something that happens by rote from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays in a building with a group of same-age people, planned, implemented and assessed by someone else.” This is what Witterick claims.

How these mother and father decided

Witterick said that Jazz was having “intense” gender issues which brought on them to keep this child’s sex a secret. Louis Gould’s “X: A Fabulous Child’s Store” from 1978 was read by Stocker. A child was raised gender neutral and had a fantastic life in the book.

“It became so compelling it was almost like, how could we not?” Witterick said.

Some people don’t approve

Witterick said that when asked about resistance from other people on the decision, they say “We always turn the question back. Yeah, when will this end? When will we live in a world where people can make choices to be whoever they are?”

Information from

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/is-raising-a-gender-neutral-child-a-fantasy/2011/05/25/AGr1mPBH_blog.html

Yahoo News

news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110524/ts_yblog_thelookout/parents-keep-childs-gender-under-wraps

Daily Mail

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389593/Kathy-Witterick-David-Stocker-raising-genderless-baby.html