Lexy has been a member of Love Home Swap for over six years and has been swapping her scenic family home in Scotland for other people’s homes in Sardinia, Paris, Berlin and Holland. With half-term just around the corner, this could be a cost-efficient way for families to still go on holiday and make savings despite the rising cost of living.
Home swapping isn’t for everyone but Lexy encourages people to give it a try before they rule it out completely.
The secondary school teacher advised: “If you want to try it, have a go at the free trial. You have nothing to lose and maybe a whole new travel lifestyle to gain!”
As with any opportunity to make money, there are downsides – the main one being that it can take a few hours to clean one’s house before guests arrive.
However, there’s no reason why homeswappers couldn’t hire a cleaning company to do the work and deduct it from their profits.
Because the accommodation is free, travelling this way could save people £20,000 or more over the course of a year Inge claims.
Looking after someone’s home – often with pets in situ – could be the perfect side hustle for pensioners as the working time doesn’t usually exceed 1.75 hours per day.
People employed by Homesitters in the UK typically earn around £170 as a couple for a two-week homesit, plus they get reimbursed for mileage at 45p per mile.
Homesitters can also make huge savings on energy bills when they are staying in someone else’s home.
Heather Massey is the Vice President of Communications of the Better Business Bureau in the Permian Basin. Check out www.bbb.org or call 563-1880.
As another Texas summer with record-breaking heat ends and the beginning of the fall season approaches, many people will be looking to get out and enjoy themselves at various events across the state. Residents may be planning on watching their favorite sports team compete this season or attending a concert featuring a famous musician. With the prices of tickets to major events increasing and the ever-present threat of con artists capitalizing on marketplace trends, BBB recommends consumers exercise caution when searching for and purchasing tickets to their next event.
While most people know to be careful when purchasing tickets off a third-party website or reseller, recent reports to BBB Scam Tracker show a concerning trend of scammers disguising themselves as reputable ticket sellers when interacting with the victim. These schemes often leverage the credibility of companies such as Ticketmaster to convince victims to provide payment for tickets that are either fake, for the wrong event or priced significantly higher than the going rate. Some may also advertise discounted tickets for high-priced seats or sections, which turns out to be false once the tickets are received, or the purchaser arrives at the venue.
In many worst-case scenarios, a consumer who is provided a fake ticket plans an entire weekend around the event, including travel costs and a hotel room, only to be turned away at the entrance. Victims may also find that the credit or debit card used to pay for the tickets has a series of charges they do not recognize, resulting in them having to cancel the card and dispute those transactions with their bank to varying degrees of success.
To help prevent fraudulent sellers from interrupting your event plans, Better Business Bureau provides the following tips:
Purchase directly from the venue whenever possible. Many consumers automatically go to a secondary resale market to purchase tickets for an upcoming event before first checking with the venue. Going directly to the venue may not only save money, but it also is a way to ensure that a purchase is for a valid ticket. Venues also often include what secondary resale organization they are listing their tickets on, giving consumers an additional layer of protection from purchasing fake tickets.
Consider your source. There is a significant difference between purchasing a ticket from a professional ticket broker and a ticket scalper. While dealing with the latter may result in obtaining valid tickets, the risk of encountering a scammer is significantly greater. Always exercise caution when purchasing from sources that are not members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) or the Better Business Bureau.
Research the seller/broker. Brokers who are members of NATB offer a 200% purchase guarantee on tickets, protecting consumers that use their services. Visit NATB.org to confirm you are interacting with a NATB-member resale company.
Check for website encryption. It is good practice to always check for the lock symbol in the website address, indicating a secured system is enabled on the site. BBB strongly recommends against giving any banking information to websites that are not secured.
Know the refund policy. Only purchase tickets from a ticket reseller that clearly details the purchase terms. Avoid sellers who do not disclose where the seats are located or where purchasers can pick up tickets. If the deal seems “too good to be true,” trust your instincts and thoroughly investigate the seller before purchasing tickets.
Use protected payment options. Debit or gift cards, mobile banking apps and cash transactions are risky due to difficulties recovering money if the tickets are fake. BBB recommends using credit cards for all online purchases due to the additional protections they offer consumers to obtain a refund.
Verify tickets. If you doubt the authenticity of a purchased ticket, present it to the “Will Call” or customer service center of the event venue. They will inform you if it is legitimate or explain how a legitimate ticket for their venue should look.
Summer stories is 9Honey’s latest series where Nine reporters reflect on their favourite holiday memories over the years.
9News Brisbane Reporter Alison Ariotti’s advice for new parents travelling with children is simple: “You have to halve the expectations and double the amount of time it takes to do anything.”
The mum of three learnt the lesson the long way during her first overseas trip to Hawaii.
“You have to halve the expectations and double the amount of time it takes to do anything.” (Supplied)
During a summer holiday in January last year, Ariotti gave her kids the dream holiday of their young lifetime — a stay at the Disney report, filled with entertainment activities, water slides and visits from their favourite cartoon characters.
“It was everything you needed for a family and they had the most beautiful time,” Ariotti tells 9Honey.
“But of course, it wasn’t without it’s disaster moments.”
Ariotti, husband Gerry, and their three children aged five, three and six months during the trip, decided to embark on a half-day long catamaran trip around the coast of Hawaii.
“It was my husband and middle child’s birthday and it sounded so good in theory — turns out, it wasn’t the smartest of ideas.”
Within moments of setting foot onto the vessel, Arriotti discovered her eldest child suffers from severe seasickness, forcing her to remain stationary and curled up below deck during the entire ride.
Between managing one sick child, a baby in a carrier and another child, Ariotti and her husband were surrounded by a crowd that consisted of backpackers and people in bikinis knocking back champagne.
“It probably wasn’t the best moment or idea, but we got some hilarious photos of it.”
When the shores settled and the family were back on land, Ariotti was determined to make sure her husband’s birthday wish of surfing on Waikiki’s spectacular beaches came true.
Within moments of setting foot onto the vessel, Arriotti discovered her eldest child suffers from severe seasickness. (Supplied)
“We had one night in Waikiki and after all the things we had to deal with, I wanted to make sure he got in at least one surf,” Ariotti explains.
“And right as he was about to head out, one of our kids was ready to vomit in the pool.”
The couple spent the rest of the afternoon on their final night on the tropical island looking after their daughtering and “attempting”, as Ariotti puts it, “to keep the kids entertained.”
“It was a mission to say the least,” she laughs.
“We’re so glad we made those memories, and the kids have not stopped talking about it since.” (Supplied)
While the sun set and Ariotti’s husband wasn’t able to get his single surf in on the trip, the family look back on their first overseas summer together as the “memory of a lifetime.”
“Even though it was a challenge with three children under the age of five, stuck on a plane, sick, and whatever else we dealt with, you do get a sense of real achievement when you manage to have a fun time!” Ariotti shares.
“We’re so glad we made those memories, and the kids have not stopped talking about it since.”
BEIJING — A city in northern China is offering rewards of 500 yuan ($77) for anyone who reports on a resident who has not taken a recent coronavirus test.
The offer from the government of Nangong comes as millions in the city and its surrounding province of Hebei are being tested as part of efforts to control China’s most serious recent outbreak of COVID-19.
The offering of cash or other rewards for information on political or social nonconformists has a long history in China, but the pandemic is putting a new face on the practice. Those found noncompliant will be forced to undergo testing and a two-week quarantine at their own expense.
China has largely controlled local transmission through the use of measures considered by some to be extreme and highly intrusive, including lockdowns of entire cities and close electronic monitoring of bans on traveling to and from parts of the country.
With next month’s Lunar New Year travel rush looming, the government is telling people to stay put as much as possible and not travel to or from the capital Beijing, disrupting the country’s most important time for family gatherings. Schools are also being let out a week early, although many, including those in Hebei, have already reverted to online learning.
China on Friday reported 53 new cases, including 33 in Hebei. Of those, 31 were in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang, host to some events for next year’s Winter Olympics.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
— Thailand reported 205 new virus cases, a slight dip from previous days as it tightened controls on domestic travel. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, a spokesperson for the COVID-19 coordinating center, said Friday that 131 of the new cases were local transmissions, 58 were migrant workers and 16 international arrivals. That brought the country’s total to 9,841, including 67 deaths. Of that total, 5,367 cases have been found since the start of the new surge on Dec. 15. Infections have surged following months that saw only a handful of cases. Most of the new cases have been migrant workers from neighboring Myanmar employed in seafood markets and factories in a province next to Bangkok. Most were quarantined in their dormitories and in quickly established field hospitals. Many of the remaining cases have been blamed on itinerant gamblers, most of them stemming from a single hotspot outside Bangkok last month.
— Australia is nearly halving the number of passengers allowed to arrive by plane in a bid to prevent the spread of a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain. A cleaner at a Brisbane quarantine hotel diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday is the first person infected with the variant found in the Australian community. Other cases have been detected among travelers while in hotel quarantine, where there is little risk of community spread. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said state leaders had agreed that international arrivals to New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia state airports would be halved until Feb. 15. Arrivals at Victoria were already relatively low and would remain unchanged. Quarantine workers would be tested for the virus daily. Authorities in Brisbane are locking Australia’s third-most populous city down for three days beginning Friday evening to contain the spread. Australian Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said anyone who had been in Brisbane since Jan. 2 should also isolate.
— Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received a vaccine against the coronavirus on Friday as the island nation started immunizing its small population. It took delivery of the first vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, on Dec. 23 and hopes to cover its entire population of about 4.5 million and its foreign residents. The vaccine will be free. It has not said how many it has purchased but hopes to inoculate everyone by the third quarter of 2021. Health workers and the elderly will be among the first to receive the vaccine.
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Having a new kitten means that I’m taking a lot more photos. But trying to get a good photo of a subject that continually moves and squirms (even when sleeping) is tricky.
And it was made all the harder because Apple hid a handy Camera app feature.
Prior to iOS 14, if you held down the shutter button in the Camera app, the iPhone would go into “burst mode,” taking a bunch of photos that allowed the user to go back and find the best one.
But now in iOS 14, pressing and holding down the shutter button switches to video recording mode. That itself is a nice feature, but I want the old “burst mode” feature back.
It’s there, but again it’s hidden. And it’s also changed how it works.
Head over to Settings > Camera and you’ll see a setting called Use Volume Up for Burst.
Here’s the setting you are looking for: Use Volume Up for Burst
Now, rather than holding down the shutter button, I have to remember to hold down the volume up button.
But it’s nice to be able to quickly choose between shooting a burst of photos or shooting a quick video.
It’s a nice change. And I really like having a physical button to press on. It’s easier to find and gives me proper tactile feedback, unlike a button on a screen.
UPDATE: A reader sent me a note via Twitter (thanks, Wolfgang!) to point out that there’s another way to access “burst mode,” and that’s by pressing and holding down while simultaneously sliding the onscreen shutter button to the left if in portrait mode or down if in landscape.
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