- Is there a different credit charge between one and five star rated establishments?
- Is there a different credit system for B&B's and Self Catering establishments?
- Would B&B's have to provide breakfast when swapping with a self/c establishment?
- What prevents just anyone requesting accommodation who is not a legitimate member?
- Can I allow others(family,friends) to use my credits?
- Do I need to use all my credits at the same time or at one establishment?
- Do I have to agree to accept "guests"for the full 28days?
- Do I need to "reciprocate" the owner/s of the establishments I stay in by having them in my establishment.
- What happens if I wish to terminate my membership or sell my establishment? Are there any refunds available? And should I want to join again in a few years time, would I be given another 28days starting package?
- You said we would start with 28days credit. Once this is used and no-one has requested to stay at my establishment can I apply for another 28days?
- Can I accumulate more than 28days credit and then use them any time, perhaps years later?
- Do children under the age of 12yrs count as adults?
- The unit for bartering shall be
- How can I keep track of my credit/debit status?
- What prevents an unscrupulous person from using my name or establishment in order to get a holiday?
- How much is this going to cost?
- How to register
What prevents just anyone requesting accommodation who is not a legitimate member?
- There are checks and balances built into the system. For example when a request is made you must immediately check with the administrators if the applicant is on the system and that the applicant has enough credit for the number of days he/she has requested.
- The second check of legitimacy is when your "guest" arrives. Again you would E-mail us giving the applicant's details and applying for credit to your name for the amount of days your "guest" is staying. The data base automatically deducts the equivalent days off the applicant's account and notifies him/her accordingly and at the same time credits your account.
Can I allow others (friends or family) to utilize my credits?
- Absolutely, the credits are yours to do with what you like
Do I need to use all my credits at the same time or at one establishment?
- No, you can book into a number of different places for how ever many days you choose.
Do I have to agree to accept "guests"for the full 28days?Isn't this too many? I am not able to take 28 days leave of my business so why should I have to have others stay with me for that amount of days?
- You can have "guests" for as many, or as few days, as you choose. If you choose to (say) have "guests" for only two days, then obviously once your initial starting package has been used you will only have accumulated two days "credits" (you can determine what your own level of participation will be and tailor your portfolio accordingly)
Do I need to "reciprocate" the owner/s of the establishments I stay in by having them in my establishment.
- No, the person you stay with earns "credits" (days) which are then "banked" with the database for his/her use when ever they choose to use them. They can then choose to stay with any other fellow member (including you) at a time convenient and negotiated between themselves.
What happens if I wish to terminate my membership or sell my establishment? Are there any refunds available? And should I want to join again in a few years time, would I be given another 28days starting package?
- You can terminate your membership at any stage
- There are no refunds available - remember that there are no cash transactions. If you have credits to your name, you must use them before you leave the scheme, or you lose them.
- There is no refund on your yearly subscription
- If you sell your establishment and the new owner wants to join the scheme he/she will have to register as a new member
- Should you register again after terminating your membership you will not be given another starting package - you would have to build up "credits" before being able to swap.
You said we would start with 28days credit. Once this is used and no-one has requested to stay at my establishment can I apply for another 28days?
- No, the 28days credit is necessary only to get the system going in order to control the swapping of accommodation.
- Unfortunately if no-one requests to stay at your establishment you will eventually be worked out of the system because there is no way you can build up credits. But hey! you're in business precisely because there ARE people wanting to stay in your area, right? so the likelihood of this happening is slim - and if it DOES, then perhaps you're in the wrong business? :)
Can I accumulate more than 28days credit and then use them any time, perhaps years later?
- Yes, provided you remain a fully paid up member. Should you forfeit or relinquish your membership however you will lose all your credits
We have had a good look at how other schemes charge for swaps and we believe that our method is the fairest for all types of category establishments.
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Most other schemes try to distinguish between establishments by rewarding credits in proportion to the star rating vis a vis if a one star owner stays at a four star establishment they would have to pay more credits than if they had stayed with an equivalent one star rated establishment.
That might work, and would be fair, on a "one on one" swap bases (as clearly the one star owner is getting a far better deal than the three to five star owner) But this is not a one on one swap scheme.
- The emphasis is not on WHO is swapping with you - that, really,
is irrelevant. The reason for you accepting a swap is to accumulate
"credits" to be utilized when swapping with whatever
establishment you choose.
We believe that a "proportionate" credit system would be an inhibiting factor which would impact negatively on the higher star establishments ability to earn "credits" Most owners would be reluctant to spend more credits on swapping with a higher rating establishment than themselves.This would mean that members would end up swapping, more or less, on a linear bases, to the detriment of all for earning maximum "credits"
Is there a different credit system for B&B's and Self Catering establishments?
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No, this system is based on trading and swapping credits. It doesn't matter who stays at your establishment you still earn the same amount of credits, which you can then utilize to stay where ever YOU choose.Someone who owns a Bed & Breakfast might very well want to stay at a self-catering establishment and vice versa.
- In order to "level the playing field" however, those who own establishments other than self-catering would not be expected to provide meals.(this does not mean that this could not be negotiated or paid for separately) and:
- The unit for bartering shall be: 0.5 credits
per person per night/day except if an individual uses the scheme he/she
shall count as 1 credit.
1 person on their own = 1 credit(day)
2 persons (2x0.5) = 1 credit(day)
3 persons (3x0.5) = 1.5 credit(days) etc
Example:
At the end of the stay the credits earned shall be rounded off to the nearest highest whole number if you are a "host" and if you are a "guest" the credits shall be rounded off to the nearest lowest whole number (both parties benefit from the deal).In the example above say you have three persons staying for three nights - credits earned would be as follows:
3 nights at 1.5credits per night = 4.5 credits - rounded off to 5 credits earned (host)
3 nights at 1.5credits per night = 4.5 credits - rounded off to 4 credits spent (guest)
Do children under the age of 12yrs also count as 0.5 credits per day?
This is quite a difficult one to set a policy on as some establishments charge for kids and others don't. We have decided to give the benefit to both parties vis a vis:-
GUESTS - two adults plus two children under 12yrs of age your account will be debited for only two adults at 0.5 = 1 credit used.
HOSTS - same as above but the hosts receive 4 x 0.5 = 2 credits ( 4 adults charged)
In this way both parties benefit.
How can I keep track of my credit/debit status?
On request we will send you an up to date status report at any time.
There are stringent security checks made on anyone logging in. You will be given a unique reference number for your exclusive use.
If you've seen enough and want to participate, go to the (press here)Registration form , fill this in and submit it along with your joining fee. Once the form has been processed and the joining fee validated you will be sent an e-mail confirming your registration. This E-mail will also contain your personal, unique reference/registration number which should be kept in a safe place for all future contacts/queries you might make.You will then receive 28days credit with which you can immediately start trading.
Don't forget to first read the membership terms and conditions as laid out in the (press here) Agreement and code of practice that all members must accept and pledge to abide by.
NB if for any reason the registration form is not functioning correctly on your browser you can also use the above E-mail address mikekie@global.co.za to manually register and subscribe.
How much is this going to cost?
As we anticipate this scheme eventually growing world wide we have tried to "compare apples with apples" by charging approximately half a days takings, for two people, in an average class, self catering establishment. This computes to South African participants - R280,00 per annum
On registration there is an initial R280,00 joining fee, thereafter an annual membership renewal fee of R280,00 payable end of June
For half a days takings can anyone not afford to join?
If you would like to take a sneak preview of participating members press here:-
