Does anyone else think it's misleading that the company says it will charge you a dollar and then when you get your confirmation it ends up being free? "Free" means you have to end up paying taxes on it at the end of the year if it's over 600 bucks...I wonder why they don't change the promotional rules to reflect that it's free so people know ahead of time that they probably will be charged tax.
Yes, I am am alright. Just a westcoaster trying to get a deal. Have rooms booked on East Coast for this summer in New York, Boston, and DC on SPG points, but am trying to buy a cheap room in one of those cities so that I can use SPG points elsewhere.
I am about to give up on LMT for all eternity. I hope they have a lot of cash reserves to pay for all of these $1 rooms or I could see alot of unhappy people trying to check into hotels that have canceled their rez. because LMT went belly up like so many other companies are doing right now.
What is the official stance on the "gift or prize" issue?
If they don't have your Tax Id number, how are they going to get it from you?
Are there any CPAs or Tax Attorneys monitoring this thread?
What are the advantages to LMT to give them away rather than charge a dollar per night? Do they gain tax advantages?
I would think that what ever they pay for the room would simply be a marketing expense, but maybe setting this up as a sweepstakes with a prize gains them some advantage?
Or, do they have an insurance company like Lloyds that covers any amount over a fixed $ cost for the promotion, and for it the policy to pay off does it have to be listed as a contest (like a half-court shot for a million $)?
Overall, the promotion page, as well as the pages throughout the ordering process lead you to believe you are paying $1 per night for a hotel room. You enter your info, CC, etc. and then at the end it says $0 for a hotel room. Oh, and, BTW here's a 1099 for your hotel which you had no way knowing how much it cost because it was "undercover".
I doubt they have insurance on something like this since there isn't any major unexpected payout. The 1/2 court shot for 1/2 a million is insured because there is a 99.9% shot the guy will miss and nothing will be paid out. The insurance covers the 0.1% the guy makes the shot.
However the is a 99.9% sure a lot of people will book hotel rooms.
On a different note do they actually email 1099 forms?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheapskate Travels
Are there any CPAs or Tax Attorneys monitoring this thread?
What are the advantages to LMT to give them away rather than charge a dollar per night? Do they gain tax advantages?
I would think that what ever they pay for the room would simply be a marketing expense, but maybe setting this up as a sweepstakes with a prize gains them some advantage?
Or, do they have an insurance company like Lloyds that covers any amount over a fixed $ cost for the promotion, and for it the policy to pay off does it have to be listed as a contest (like a half-court shot for a million $)?
Overall, the promotion page, as well as the pages throughout the ordering process lead you to believe you are paying $1 per night for a hotel room. You enter your info, CC, etc. and then at the end it says $0 for a hotel room. Oh, and, BTW here's a 1099 for your hotel which you had no way knowing how much it cost because it was "undercover".
I doubt they have insurance on something like this since there isn't any major unexpected payout. The 1/2 court shot for 1/2 a million is insured because there is a 99.9% shot the guy will miss and nothing will be paid out. The insurance covers the 0.1% the guy makes the shot.
However the is a 99.9% sure a lot of people will book hotel rooms.
I agree, but they don't know how many and how much. Every room sold is a crapshoot. By reducing the time to 5 minute windows, they reduce their exposure (obviously if they only had something like 628 winners over the first 3 days when they allotted 1500 over that timeframe) somewhat, but they don't know how much those rooms are going to cost.
They probably budgeted based on an "average" (a person books 4 nights in a 3* for example), but by turning it into a sweepstakes and getting insured against extreme redemptions they could reduced their liability if everyone happens to get 7 days in a presidential suite in a 5*.
Many of the sports contests I have seen go something like this:
Free throw: $100 to winner paid by sponsor
3 pt. shot: $1000 to winner paid by sponsor
half court: $100k to winner paid by insurance and sponsor
full court: $1mm to winner paid by insurance (+ deductible)
The insurance pays the extreme event, but there is often some kind of co-insurance for intermediate events.
i suppose it is possible that today's 500 allottment has already been met. as each day passes, entrants are getting educated as to what to expect, and therefor more likely to succeed. it would be absolutely maddening if nothing else happens today
i suppose it is possible that today's 500 allottment has already been met. as each day passes, entrants are getting educated as to what to expect, and therefor more likely to succeed. it would be absolutely maddening if nothing else happens today
If nothing else happened wouldn't that violate their self imposed rules to the promotion?
i suppose it is possible that today's 500 allottment has already been met. as each day passes, entrants are getting educated as to what to expect, and therefor more likely to succeed. it would be absolutely maddening if nothing else happens today
well i very seriously doubt anyone will get a 1099, first they need your ssn, then they need know the price of the room and let you know before you can accept it. i guess depending on what your receipts said, if states $0 price paid and then the value of the room is $xxx, it still requires them to get your ssn. And just because the value of the room is less then $600 and you dont get a 1099 doesnt mean you are not require to pay the taxes, it just means the company is not require to issue a 1099 unless its over $600. so you might get a 1099 from LMT, then it will be on the honor system for you to report the value of the room on your 1040, due to the fact LMT does not have a SSN on you
the 500 thing was posted here by someone. can't recall who/when or how that person knew it. if i recall correctly, the post had some sort of legitimacy about it. of course, we all sure hope it was not accurate, and that there are no limits to the number of wins. but, limits makes more sense, from a "contest" standpoint, anyway.
Are there any CPAs or Tax Attorneys monitoring this thread?
What are the advantages to LMT to give them away rather than charge a dollar per night? Do they gain tax advantages?
I would think that what ever they pay for the room would simply be a marketing expense, but maybe setting this up as a sweepstakes with a prize gains them some advantage?
Or, do they have an insurance company like Lloyds that covers any amount over a fixed $ cost for the promotion, and for it the policy to pay off does it have to be listed as a contest (like a half-court shot for a million $)?
Overall, the promotion page, as well as the pages throughout the ordering process lead you to believe you are paying $1 per night for a hotel room. You enter your info, CC, etc. and then at the end it says $0 for a hotel room. Oh, and, BTW here's a 1099 for your hotel which you had no way knowing how much it cost because it was "undercover".
How about this as a thought. With the world economy going to crap, maybe LMT is working with certain hotel chains to offer the $1 rooms. That would explain why some hotels drop off when the dollar promotion starts. Some hotels are participating, some are not.
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