Foreign tourist planning to visit the United States? Here is how to avoid the $14 ESTA fee for the next two years!

by Scott Carmichael on

As you’ve read here on Gadling, tourists planning to visit the U.S. will soon have to start paying a $14 fee. $10 of that fee goes into a fund to help promote tourism to the U.S. – and yes, we totally understand how insane it is to ask tourists coming here to pay to promote coming here.

That said, there is a way to avoid this fee for the next 24 months – simply apply for an ESTA visa before September 8, and leave the “travel information” fields empty. These fields are not required and your form will be processed just fine without them.

This will get you approval (assuming you are not a terrorist) and a 24 month ESTA authorization, without having to pay any fees. The only requirement is that your passport needs to be valid for the entire 24 month period. Once it expires, you’ll need to re-apply (and pay the fee.)

If you wait till after September 8, you’ll be charged the $14 fee. So, even if you are not sure you are coming to the United States, apply anyway, and in the worst case, you’ll have lost ten minutes of your time. Then, when you get here, use the $14 you saved to buy something nice.

[Photo from: Getty Images]

Eat Cheerios, win a dream trip

by Kraig Becker on

Would you like the chance to do what you love? If so, then Cheerios is here to help. The iconic breakfast cereal, which touts itself as being good for your ticker, has launched their “Do What You Love” sweepstakes, offering us a chance to win one of ten spectacular vacations, and all you have to do is pledge to love your heart.

The ten trips are designed to offer a little something for everyone. For instance, sports fans will have the opportunity to win a trip to a NASCAR event in Florida, including VIP access to racers, cars and other behind the scenes activities. But if stock car races aren’t your thing, then perhaps you’d be more interested in visiting the set of This Old House, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet the show’s star, Roger Cook. The outdoor crowd will be interested in the trip to the Grand Canyon, which includes a $500 shopping spree to your favorite gear shop, not to mention jeep tours, whitewater rafting, and more.

Entering the contest is easy. You simply go to the official site, select the trip that most interests you, take the pledge to love your heart, and fill out the entry form with your contact info. That’s all there is to it, and best of all, you can enter once per day, giving yourself plenty of chances to win or go for multiple trips that appeal to your sense of wanderlust.

To check out all of the available trips, and to enter head over to Cheerios.com/love.

[Photo credit: chensiyuan via WikiMedia]

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk – White Water Rafting on the Tuolumne!

by Stephen Greenwood on

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk, episode 27 – Click above to watch video after the jump

Suit up, strap in, and get ready for this week’s Travel Talk! We’re going white water rafting down California’s mighty Tuolumne River on an action packed 2-day adventure. We’ll show you what it takes to navigate Class IV+ rapids and teach you all of the vocabulary that you’ll need in order to stay dry.

In this episode’s couch talk, we’ll delve into a little bit of the history behind America’s National Park System; what the first established park was, what the most frequently visited park is, and what terms the NPS uses to classify our many protected lands.

Think you’re ready? Click the link below to watch.

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Travel Talk feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

Links
Appetite wet for a real rafting trip? Then check out Oars.com for some of the best guided expeditions around the world.
Tuolumn-what? Get familiar with the mighty T!
Want more info on a National Park near you? Check out NPS.gov for information.

All images used under a Creative Commons license. All music used courtesy of Nonstop Music.

Daily Pampering: Little Palm Island’s vacation of a lifetime

by Melanie Nayer on

There once was a man from Nantucket, whose dreams were a list for the bucket. He saved and he saved and plans he made, until it came time to toss his budget. How much did he save? $25,900. Where did he go? He left Nantucket… and headed straight down the Atlantic to Little Palm Island.

The little island that could just off the coast of the Florida Keys put together a “Carpe Diem” getaway that recognizes the empowerment of bucket lists, and offers travelers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that includes:

  • Five nights in the Island Grand Suite
  • Roundtrip private jet service to Marathon airport
  • Sky Diving trip where guests will make a tandem skydive from two miles high over the incredible Florida Keys
  • Four-hour Shark Fishing adventure where guests will primarily target lemon, blacktip, spinner and bull sharks of up to eight feet.
  • In-water Madrugada massage where guests wade through the Caribbean waters to a private area where they receive a customized massage surrounded by the ocean.
  • Private Island picnic where guests will be flown on a Cessna 206 Amphibious Seaplane to a private island for the ultimate three hour getaway.
  • One Day SCUBA Resort Course where guests will experience a two-hour pool-side lesson with a certified SCUBA instructor followed by an underwater exploration of Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary with the instructor guiding the way.
  • Private Chef’s Table dinner where Chef Luis Pous attends personally to the couple, preparing and presenting a five-course tasting menu paired with the chef’s selection of wine
  • Full gourmet breakfast, up to three courses for lunch, up to four courses for dinner and non alcoholic beverages daily.

This “Carpe Diem” package is priced starting at $25,900, double occupancy, from now until December 20, 2010 and is inclusive of tax and service.

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.

Ask Gadling: Where do all our TSA checkpoint confiscated knives and corkscrews end up?

by Scott Carmichael on

A reader asked an interesting question on our Facebook page – what does the TSA do with all our knives, tools and corkscrews after they confiscate them at the checkpoint? We did a bit of homework and found out that the final destination is different for each state.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

In Illinois for example, the TSA delivers all their loot to the state surplus facility, where it is put it up for sale on their auction site. Think Ebay, but with bigger stuff and fewer silly fees for sellers. Small items like knives, kitchenware and tools are sold in bulk, which means you can’t go online to buy a single Swiss Army Knife – you need to settle for 90lbs of them, or 80lbs of assorted corkscrews.

In some other states with lower amounts of confiscated items, the knives are destroyed. In all states, guns are given to local police agencies.

So, unless you want your $100 Swiss Army Knife to end up at the bottom of a bulk lot of knives being sold for $50, leave it at home or keep it in your checked luggage.

Remember, the TSA checkpoint does not provide mailing envelopes for sending items home, so once they find a restricted item, you’ll need to surrender it or leave the checkpoint and find a way to get it sent home. Also, if you show up with an illegal item, you will lose it and will most likely need to answer to an airport police officer.

A list of all state and federal surplus sites can be found here: USA Government sales

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