I have a 2017 Hyundai Elantra that I do not drive very often, so after seeing an ad for the Getaround car sharing platform I decided it might be a good option to earn back some money on my unused car. In short, it turns around I was wrong to expect to earn much since after having my car on the platform for a month, there isn’t really much demand in my area to drive someone else’s car. This sort of makes sense since I live in suburb where either you likely already have a car.

Regardless, since I had a chance to try out the platform (and am still on it – check out my car if you want to rent a Hyundai Elantra) I figured it might be helpful for others to review the platform and experience.

Onboarding

I created an account to list my car on Getaround, but then I discovered that my car couldn’t go live until it was “activated”. It actually took a surprisingly long time for anyone to call me, so long I forgot I had signed up. Once someone did call, he qualified me and passed me onto a sales rep. The sales rep walked me through all the logistics around insurance, the app, fees (there’s a $20 fee for the device), tolls and parking. He then scheduled me to have a device installed in my car that tracks the car and can remotely lock/unlock it for renters.

The device installation was pretty simple. Someone came to pick up my car, cleaned it, installed the device and then took pictures. There’s a 24 -holding period before the car goes live and then it’s on the platform.

Technology

There is an app for the car owner which basically allows the owner to lock and unlock the car. That’s about it. All actions like setting a price, updating pictures and descriptions, setting a calendar all needs to be done from the website.

The app seems to be a bit glitchy that even when it supposedly has the car locked, the car is not really locked.

Rental experience

During my month on Getaround, I only had one renter. I was informed of the rental by email, text and an app notification. The rental went as I had hoped and was completely seamless. I did not have to meet the renter, and my car was returned in the same condition it was rented in. However, this rental only generated $16 for me – not really worth all the effort.

Summary

The concept of renting an unused car to strangers to make extra money seems like an interesting idea, but in practice there may not be product market fit. Oddly, there seem to be more cars than renters or Getaround is just doing something wrong. Also, the technology and experience of Getaround do seem a bit hacky and beta-like so it may be sometime before it all comes together.

If you are planning a trip to Europe this summer, you might want to avoid SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) if you are travelling with kids in tow. While we fortunately did not use SAS to cross the Atlantic, we did have the unfortunate experience of flying on SAS for four flights within Europe.

The SAS experience was overall quite negative, but the lack of family-friendliness was truly shocking. Here are all the issues we had with this airline:

First, families with children were not able to board early so by the time we boarded with our boarding pass priority the flight attendants were getting antsy that it was taking us so long to get settled. Other airlines help themselves avoid the stress by just letting families on with the elite fliers.

 

Once we were on the plane, we served our children a snack. The flight attendants came by and were very upset that children were eating a snack that could potentially make crumbs. They remarked multiple times about the “mess” and before landing they came by with a garbage bag and instructions to clean the “mess”. Have a look at this picture and see if you can spot an extraordinary mess outside of some napkins.

Once we landed we discovered that SAS had conveniently decided not to bring our stroller along for the journey. Upon expressing to the baggage service how problematic it might be to be on vacation without a stroller, he just shrugged and said too bad. We did finally receive the stroller two days later, it was quite worse for the wear as a result of its trip without us.

When we arrived at the airport to check in for our next flight, we discovered how much SAS hates strollers. They consider a stroller to be a checked bag not be taken past security and they charge 70 EUR to check it in. Yes, that’s correct. Unlike every other airline in the world which allows you to gate check a stroller and have it returned at the arrival gate, SAS charges for it as if it’s a full bag! When we complained at the check-in counter and said we were going to tweet our disapproval, the ticket agent threatened to rip up our boarding passes unless we deleted the tweet.

As you can see, for a family with children this is not an airline you want to choose. Even for those traveling without kids there are some things you want to be aware of.

Drinks are not free even on inter-continental flights. You get one free soft drink with your meal, but after that it’s 3 EUR a drink.

If you need customer service, good luck. Hold times are ridiculously long and  customer support is incredibly unhelpful.

If you do call customer service, prepare to pay a $40 fee.

On paper, SAS is a Star Alliance airline, but they seem to want to pretend to be like their budget airline competitors. With service such as we received we should have opted for a budget airline, and spared ourselves the disappointment.

 

Cuba is a fascinating place for anyone to visit, but its lack of connectivity to the rest of world due to political realities makes it somewhat of a challenging place to visit. If you are planning a trip to Cuba here’s everything you need to know:

1. Do whatever you can to not check bags on the plane. Once you arrive in Cuba you could be stuck waiting for awhile while they find a truck to unload the suitcases from the plane.
2. Don’t bother staying in a hotel. They are overpriced and even the fancy ones are in poor condition. Arrange to stay in a private apartment through Airbnb or Booking.com
3. Classic cars are not a cliché. Most of the cars on the road are American or Soviet cars from the 1950’s and somehow are still on the road. When you land at the Havana airport, don’t feel pressured to take only a classic car as you will have plenty of opportunity to take on later.
4. On that note, if you are wondering how much a taxi costs to the city, as of December 2017 it is 25 CUC.
5. Cuba has an odd money system as they use 2 sets of currency at the same time. The primary currency for tourists are Cuban convertible notes called CUC and each one is roughly equivalent to 1 USD. At the same time they have a Cuban Peso 25 Cuban Pesos equal a single CUC. Money exchangers only give out CUC and the rate for non-US currency is whatever the current USD exchange rate is minus a 3% commission. Exchanges from USD to CUC incur a 10% tax in addition to a 3% commission so 100 USD will only get 87 CUC.
6. Internet in Cuba is unrestricted; however, that is the only good thing about it. Internet is only available in Wifi hotspots and access is obtained by purchasing blocks of time on a prepaid card. The internet is very slow and not really fast enough for a video call.
7. Just because there is no internet doesn’t mean that you need to forgo Google Maps. Before you depart for Cuba, download the offline maps of Havana and any other city you will be visiting. You will not have walking directions, but at least you will be able to find yourself by GPS anywhere you need.
8. On the same note, if you don’t speak Spanish download the offline language pack for Spanish in the Google translate app.
9. Cuba is not really an economy of abundance. There are lots of little shops which sell things like water, beer and soft drinks, but they run out of things. Don’t count on a shop having what you  need: buy before you run out. If possible bring water with you into Cuba, so at least you have a head start.
10. If you like sugary soft drinks, Coca-Cola is not readily available as Coke is restricted by the embargo from setting up operations in Cuba. There are stores with Coke imported from Mexico, but be prepared to pay more.
11. Toilet paper is a convenience that is not freely available even in supposedly high end hotels. It would be wise to travel with tissues or toilet paper in a backpack.
12. While visiting Old Havana or Havana Viejo as it is called, make sure to go a couple streets off the main tourist sites to see how real Cubans live. It is nothing at all like the clean manicured streets and squares.
13. While most guides don’t mention it, there are some amazing beaches right near Havana. You can take a taxi for 15 CUC each way to Santa Maria which is just a 25 minute ride from Havana. This beach has lifeguards, convenience stores and chairs for rent
14. Cuba is very safe and even in the poor areas there are plenty of police. You should be as cautious as you would be in any major city.
15. When you leave Cuba, be careful what you try to bring in your carryon. Cuban security is more restrictive than most countries and even cigarette lighters are not allowed. They also restrict anything that can be construed to be a weapon like a mini-baseball bat, pots and sticks. When in doubt, just check it.

Cuba is an amazing country and you will definitely enjoy your time there. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us!

 

 

With some family in town from the East Coast, we decided to take a quick trip to South Lake Tahoe. As it is deep into the high season of the summer it was not so easy to find a hotel that fulfilled all of our needs. By chance we stumbled upon the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel (formerly Embassy Suites) and on paper it seemed to meet all of our needs. The reviews and the hotel website itself were a bit unclear, so we were pleasantly surprised once we arrived to see how perfect it was.

Room

All rooms in the property are suites with a bedroom separated from living room with a door that closes. The bedroom was quite large and it included a sink and a TV. Surprisingly for a hotel of this caliber there were no robes or slippers, but otherwise the room was well equipped. The only downside was that the bed was somewhat uncomfortable and the mattress was lumpy.

Main Room

The main hotel room / living room was equipped with a sofa that pulled out into a bed, a couple arm chairs and a full dining room table with four chairs. In the corner there was a small coffee making station and a fridge. The furniture was a bit old and tired, but it completely met all of our needs.

 

Facilities

The hotel had an indoor pool, a plus in the winter, but a negative in the summer. There was an afternoon happy hour between 4:30 and 6:30 which was a nice touch. A full buffet breakfast was included in the $19 mandatory resort fee. Parking is valet only and costs an additional $19 per day, but we parked in the Harrah’s next door as it seemed many other guests did.

Location

The location was absolutely perfect. Heavenly and all of its shopping and activities were right next door. The hotel is right across the driveway from Harrah’s and a short 10 minute walk to the lakefront. For a better beach, we went to Nevada Beach which was just an 8 minute drive away.

Overall review

As a hotel for families with children, this place was perfect. It had large rooms that are perfect for families and even came with enough towels to serve a family of 4.