Travel Tips and Facts

Monday, September 21, 2009

Please share some of your unique ideas!

Bring an extra bag for souvenirs.   It’s always handy to pack an empty collapsible suitcase or duffel bag with you. It doesn't take up much room and when returning home you can fill it with souvenirs and even dirty laundry.

One color scheme:  When packing to travel, it's helpful to use one color scheme, like black or brown, and maybe just one accent color.  It’s much easier to coordinate your wardrobe this way.

Preventing Wrinkles: Place individual items of clothing in dry cleaners’ plastic bags. Your clothes won’t wrinkle! It sounds too easy but it really works. If you’re using a hanging garment bag, prevent creasing of suits and garments on hangers by placing a small rolled-up towel on the inside, where the garments fold. This will prevent the horizontal crease caused by the fold.

Save Space: To keep shoes and boots in shape, fill them with socks. Ladies, consider putting your shoes inside your husband's shoes. They'll be protected and won't take up more space.

A dryer fabric softener sheet in your suitcase will keep your clothes smelling fresh while you travel.  Slide a dry fabric softener sheet over your hair to calm down static-electric flyaway hair.

Beauty products that are good for 2 or more uses are great. Elizabeth Arden's 8-hour cream works as a facial moisturizer, lip balm, hair tamer, and sunburn soother all in one. Shampoo can double up as travel wash, and those chubby make up pencils from Clinique can multi-task for lipstick, eye color, and blush. Oil of Olay Daily Facials cleansing cloths are dry, and they remove makeup, cleanse, and moisturize without taking products.

Make-up tricks: Use a stick foundation instead of a liquid. The texture is light, and many of the new sticks are oil-free. The foundation can also double as a concealer and an eyeshadow base. Look for perfume in a solid form as well. The containers are small enough to fit in a purse, yet smell strong. Kiss my Face makes shave lather in a tube – no aerosol cans. Invest in a good lipstick palette with a variety of colors. The palettes are small, and give you a good variety of colors for all skin tones, and cut down on the number of bulky tubes.

Earrings: To bring a selection of earrings on your trip, get an inexpensive felt square at a fabric store (they sell them pre-cut) and simply fasten earrings through the felt and fold. Fasten the roll with a rubber band.

Necklaces: When packing your necklaces, place each one in a straw, by threading one end of the necklace through, and clasping it closed. This prevents the necklace from tangling up. (Use longer straws for longer necklaces, and cut the straw to exactly half the length of the necklace, for shorter ones.)

Creative packing tips from Perillo. 

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Key Information:

- Receive up to a 12%* discount on your Shopping in France !
- Minimum spending amount (VAT included) = 175.01 €
- The VAT rate = 16.38 % 
- The refund amount is the VAT less an administration fee = around 12 %
- Maximum time from check being issued to validation by customs = 3 months

A refund in 3 easy steps

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1. Shopping
Shop where you see the Global Refund Tax-Free sign and simply ask for your Tax Refund check.
2. Through customs
Show your purchases, receipts and passport at the border, then have your Global Refund check stamped.
3. Refunding
Mail back your stamped check to Global Refund for direct crediting to your bank account or credit card. You can also collect your refund in cash at a nearby Refund Office.

For most of goods, you pay a 16.38 % tax on the purchases you make. Some goods, such as books, have only 5.21 % taxes levied, and antiques have a special rate also. As a visitor residing outside the European Union, you are entitled to claim back the tax if you spend more than 175.01 Euros per day in the same shop and export the goods to your home country.

The goods have to be exported within three months plus the month of purchase, and your refund check returned within six months after the purchase. So, for instance, if you buy goods on June 6th, you have to have your export validated no later than September 30th, and returned no later than December 6th.

Your refund is calculated by deducting handling charges from the total VAT amount, which is usually around 12 to 13 % of the total purchase amount.

Global Refund is offering several possibilities to receive your refund.

Questions & answers

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Below you will find the most frequently asked questions and answers. Hopefully they will give you the information you need.

Who is entitled to Tax Free?
As a foreign visitor you can get a VAT/GST refund on purchases you export from the country you are visiting. To be entitled to a VAT refund within the European Union (EU), you have to reside outside of the Union more than six moths a year.

The following countries are members of the EU: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

Do I always need to get my goods export validated?

Yes, in order to obtain refund on purchased goods you have to prove your exportation with a customs stamp on your Global Refund check. Show your purchases, receipts and Global Refund Check to customs officials before leaving the country, and have your form stamped. When travelling within the EU, show your purchases and documents to customs officials in the last EU country you visit before leaving Europe.

When leaving by train, road or sea, show your purchases and documents to customs officials at the border or when you board.

When should I arrive at the airport to have time to get my export validated?
2 hours before you board.

Where should I get my export validated if I leave European Union by car?
Contact customs at the last border point when leaving the EU. For example, atthe border between Poland and Belarus, or Finland/the Baltic states and Russia.

Where can I get my refund?
You will receive your refund in the way that is most convenient for you. We pay out in cash, directly credit a credit card, transfer money to a bank account, or send a bank check.
Cash is paid out immediately at the airport of departure or later by one of Global Refund Offices.

How do I know if the store provides Global Refund Tax-Free service?
Please look for our well known “TAX FREE” logo in the window or ask the staff in the store for help and information.

Don’t forget to have your Check stamped by Customs at the final point of departure from the European Union (EU)!

About Global Refund

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Online Check Tracking
Global Refund Check Tracking allows you to track your mail-returned VAT refund during the payment process. The refund check is traceable in the system 4 weeks after arrival at Global Refund. You can track your payment at www.globalrefund.com.

There are more than 10,000 stores affiliated with the Tax Free service throughout France. These stores display the Tax Free logo, and their staffs have been trained to offer you the best tax free service. In Paris, you can also find affiliated shops in our unique Shopping Guide, distributed in many places.

To receive the guide, please contact: taxfree@globalrefund.com
For any other information visit: www.globalrefund.com

Information obtained from the FranceGuide Official website of the French Tourist Office

Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Seine River divides Paris into two halves, the right and left bank. The Right Bank conjures up an image of bourgeois respectability. Historically the stronghold of merchants and royalty, it remains today the home of commerce and government. Faubourg Saint Honoré offers the luxury of 'haute couture' and jewellery shops, also the authority of the President’s palace, whilst the Champs Elysées claims the shops, film and advertising and airline companies.

The Left Bank, in complete contrast, has always had a bohemian and intellectual image dating back to the founding of the university and the monasteries. Today, the Sorbonne, the Académie Francaise, the publishing houses and a myriad of book shops continue to exude an intellectual magnetism. Left Bank theatres typically prefer avant-garde drama.

The River Seine is by far the best place to begin an exploration of Paris. The Seine provides a spectacular vantage point for city landmarks: the Palais de Chaillot and Trocadéro Gardens, the Grand and Petit Palais, the Palais Bourbon, Louvre Museum and Notre Dame all take on a dream-like quality when seen from a Bateau Mouche or river boat.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Imagining Paris without the Eiffel Tower is like London without Big Ben or San Francisco without the Golden Gate Bridge. But no sooner had the architect Gustav Eiffel beaten his 700 competitors in the design competition for the 1889 Centennial Exposition, celebrating a century since the French Revolution, than a vocal outcry began to halt construction of the edifice. Three hundred famous French artists and writers signed a petition in the newspaper “Le Temps” denouncing Eiffel’s radically modern design as “useless and monstrous,” a blight upon the elegant fabric of the City of Light. Others critics were even more vicious, describing the proposed tower as a “tragic street lamp,” a gymnasium apparatus…incomplete, confused and deformed,” “a giant ungainly skeleton,” “a half-built factory pipe,” “a carcass” and even “a hole-riddled suppository.” Nature-lovers argued that it would disturb the flight patterns of Parisian birds. Even as the iron lattice began to rise, Parisians continued to refer to it by the less-than-flattering nickname, “the metal asparagus.” Of course, no sooner had the tower opened in 1889 than the rabid criticism evaporated.

"THE EIFFEL TOWER TURNS 120 “Tales of the Eiffel Tower” from May 15 to December 31, 2009. An exhibit on the first floor and the stairs of the Tower, celebrating the 120 years of existence of this amazing monument.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

From the beautiful Dordogne to the Chateaux of the Loire, or the romance of Paris to the grandeur of the Alps, France is one of the worlds truly must-see-destinations. A country steeped in history, you will experience medieval castles, incredible food and wine and some of the best mountain scenery in Europe. A visit to France will fill amaze and delight in equal measure, and provide memories for a lifetime.

Weather:

Northern France enjoys a temperate summertime climate. In the Northeast, the Auvergne, Burgundy and Rhone Valley the climate is more ‘continental’, with warm summers and colder winters. The southern half of the country enjoys a Mediterranean climate all year round, with hot to very hot summers and mild winters. Very strong winds (such as the Mistral) can occur throughout the entire region. The Atlantic influences the climate of the western coastal areas from the Loire to the Basque region; the weather is temperate and relatively mild with rainfall distributed throughout the year. The French slopes of the Pyrenees are warm and sunny in the height of spring to late summer.

Best Time to Travel:

France is at its best time in spring and autumn, weather-wise. Peak season is July and August, when many French citizens go on holidays to beach resorts in France and the rest of Europe, businesses close, including museums and restaurants during this period. 

Additional Tips:

An adaptor is recommended...plus with 2 round pins are the most common @ 220 volts.

You can get around in France by taxi, bicycle, train, and it is a great city for walking.

Email is easily found in Paris in various internet cafes and shops. In smaller towns throughout France, each post office has a terminal available to the public.

Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle is located 14 miles northest of Paris. Because of traffic, a taxi to the ity center will take around 45 minutes, and will cost approximately 32 Euro.

Bordeaux Airport is located 7.5 miles from Bordeaux. Over 50 taxis are always available at the airport. The airport can also be reached via shuttle bus. Jet Bus operates a service from Bordeaux city center to the airport (about 40 minutes with stops).

The International dialing code for France is +33