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ACCORDING TO HOMELAND SECURITY
Duty-Free Exemption Joint Declaration Children and infants are allowed the same exemption as adults, except for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
(08/21/2009)
The duty-free exemption, also called the personal exemption, is the total value of merchandise you may bring back to the United States without having to pay duty. You may bring back more than your exemption, but you will have to pay duty on it. In most cases, the personal exemption is $800, but there are some exceptions to this rule, which are explained below.
Family members who live in the same home and return together to the United States may combine their personal exemptions. This is called a joint declaration. For example, if Mr. and Mrs. Smith travel overseas and Mrs. Smith brings home a $1,000 piece of glassware, and Mr. Smith buys $600 worth of clothing, they can combine their individual $800 exemptions on a joint declaration and not have to pay duty.
Don't forget that the best way to travel is to contact your professional travel consultant before you make your plans so that you can be aware of all of the changes that are coming your way. Our agents are constantly in training to keep up with the industry trends, so call us today.
Patricia Bannister, owner of Bannister Travel
Exemptions
Depending on the countries you have visited, your personal exemption will be $200, $800, or $1,600. There are limits on the amount of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products you may include in your duty-free personal exemption. The differences are explained in the following section.
The duty-free exemptions ($200, $800, or $1,600) apply if:
- The items are for your personal or household use or intended to be given as gifts.
- They are in your possession, that is, they accompany you when you return to the United States. Items to be sent later may not be included in your $800 duty-free exemption. (Exceptions apply for goods sent from Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
- They are declared to CBP. If you do not declare something that should have been declared, you risk forfeiting it. If in doubt, declare it.
- You are returning from an overseas stay of at least 48 hours. For example, if you leave the United States at 1:30 p.m. on June 1, you would complete the 48-hour period at 1:30 p.m. on June 3. This time limit does not apply if you are returning from Mexico or from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- You have not used all of your exemption allowance, or used any part of it, in the past 30 days. For example, if you go to England and bring back $150 worth of items, you must wait another 30 days before you are allowed another $800 exemption.
- The items are not prohibited or restricted as discussed in the section on Prohibited and Restricted Items. Note the embargo prohibitions on products of Cuba.
Bannister Travel's ideas about Travel Insurance
4/24/20085:41:00 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment
Vacation Protection
Does your travel consultant talk to you about vacation protection or travel insurance when you plan a trip with them? They should. It is an important part of any trip that you choose to take.
For travel within the borders of the United States, you will "probably" be ok as far as health insurance goes. If you fall, break a leg, or God forbid, worse, your insurance carrier will "probably" pay your medical bills. What if your plane is late and/or you miss a connection? What if you have a member of your family fall ill and you can't take your trip? What if your luggage is lost? What if your hotel lost your reservation? If any of these things happen, you could be out a lot of money for no reason.
What if you are out of the country? Will your health insurance company cover you then? Some do, but most insurance companies will not cover you if you are on vacation outside the "Continental" United States. In 95% of the cases, if you are hurt in a foreign country, your health insurance carrier will not cover your medical expenses.
What happens if you must cancel or interrupt your trip because a family memeber is sick or injured or dies? What if your travel supplier declares bankruptcy? What about terrorist acts? What if you lose your baggage and personal possessions while on your trip, or they are stolen or damaged? Do you really want to be stuck in a foreign country because you didn't want to pay less than $150 per person for insurance coverage?
Travel Protection Policies cover many things, including but not limited to cancel for any reason, medical, lost or damaged luggage, medical expenses including flights back to the USA, even in the case of death, lost, damaged, delayed or stolen luggage, and accidental death and dismemberment.
If you travel with Bannister Travel, we are sure to tell you all of the benefits of travel insurance because we know how important it is to you, our client. We have heard the horror stories of others, and we don't want our clients to have to suffer the horrors of the lack of medical attention if they need it.
Do you drive a car without insurance? Do you own a home without insurance? Do you have life insurance? Then please think about insuring your next trip. You are spending your hard earned cash on your trip, so insure that trip and yourself and be sure that you can go on your next trip secure in the knowledge that if anything does happen, you have a way to get up to 75% of your travel expenses back.
Larry and I never travel without trip insurance. We hope that you won't either. We have a choice of Insurance Companies to offer you. We use Travel Safe or Travel Insured. They are both great companies and have great coverage. Feel secure the next time you travel.
Call one of our travel consultants listed on the "About Us" section of our home page for more information about travel insurance.
Patricia Bannister, owner, Bannister Travel, 662-560-6085
The airline industry
4/12/20083:23:37 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment
American Airlines cancelled over 3,000 flights last week
What do you think about the recent closings of 5 airlines last week, and the fact that American Air Lines has cancelled over 3,000 flights in all?
Were you caught in the mess? Did you miss a flight?
If you did, we would like to hear from you, and know what you went through. Let us hear from you.
Airlines are closing their doors
This is not a good week for the airline industry - Aloha airlines announced at the first of the week that they were going to shut their doors, and now ATA airlines has followed suit this morning after they filed for bankruptcy and discontinued all scheduled flights. Also in the news is United Airlines who on Wednesday abruptly grounded all of it's Boeing 777 jets and canceled dozens of flights after discovering that mechanics failed to test a fire-suppression device as required. Are you worried about what is going on with the airline industry? You should be. At least we can be assured that United is taking care of it's situation "before" it became a problem.
Frontier Airlines also has filed for bankruptcy, but is continuing to fly their planes. Their partner airline, AirTran is in the black and is in no danger of money issues.
Go to Sea With Bannister Travel
Bannister Travel Takes a group to the Caribbean and you can be a part of it.
Larry and Patricia are taking a group to the Caribbean on a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Fantasy out of New Orleans on February 2, 2009. The prices are fantastic, and they just cannot be beat. See below:
Interior stateroom - $382 ppdo Oceanview Stateroom - $432 ppdo Balcony Suite - $892 ppdo
$100 is due now with $150 being due in September and final payment being in November. If you are interested, contact Patricia at 662-288-9052 and go with Bannister Travel on a cruise and have a great time.
Let us know what you think about our blog.
