Monthly Archives: March 2023

Trip

Why Planning Your Trip in Advance Saves You Money

If you are a frequent traveller, I’ll be betting that you are a fan of flight deals and promos. That’s because they are cheaper, if not more than a half cheaper! This is because flights that are on sale are usually the dead flights which most people do not buy because it’s either a midnight flight or an off-peak season in that particular area. But there are actually, more perks of booking, and planning your trip earlier than most of the back packers out there.

The longer you plan for your trip the more time to save money

This is given, because you know you will be travelling gives you more reason to cut your habitual Starbucks and brew your own coffee instead. The longer you wait for your trip also enables you to review the place and plan your activities. Just avoid being too excited by planning to visit each and every tourist spot in the area, or you’ll end up spending more than saving. Most hotels also offer reasonable discounts by booking early, but keep in mind that reservation fees aren’t refundable.

Making travel decisions earlier than usual saves you your time and money

Planning your trip in advance not only saves you from emotional stress the moment you forgot to pack your valuable essentials, because you lack time preparing for it. You can also pub your budget in a detail given that you have ample of time to plan for that trip. By booking earlier, you will be able to save yourself from worrying about the peak season rates in the airline or hotels.

Planning your trip early makes you manage your money and your schedule better

By scheduling your trip early, you can plan your schedule better and file a leave for work more prepared. You can also align your vacations on a holiday so you get an extra day off. If you are planning your trip early you get to choose from multiple options, be it from a hotel or an airline. In an airline, booking 90 days earlier would mean that you are entitled to enjoy the lucrative inventory of seats available. You can save as much as 50% from booking just 2-7 days earlier. If you plan to travel for not more than three days, then the more that you need to plan earlier, because 2013 holiday surveys shows that more and more people preferred to travel on a long weekend which has an average of 2.8 days.

Travel

Travel Reward Credit Cards – Are You Making These Mistakes?

By using a travel reward credit card, many smart travellers are maximizing points and getting a lot of free travel as a result. The benefits of a travel reward credit card are many, from free travel to discounts on hotels and rental cars. But there are some clear disadvantages too, and it is important for the consumer to know what to look for before jumping on board with a travel reward program.

So What Is A Travel Reward Credit Card Anyway?

Simply put, a travel reward credit card is one which issues points for the amount of financing it is used for, and these points can be used as travel credits with various airlines. Many credit card companies offer such point programs, generally redeemable for things like groceries and gas, or consumer products. A travel reward credit card is only redeemable for travel points, so obviously the first thing is to be sure that travel points are what you are hoping to achieve by using the card, otherwise it is better to go with a card that offers rewards more in line with what you would like.

Before enrolling in a travel reward credit card program, it is important to be aware that:

  • There is usually a yearly membership fee for the card
  • The interest rates are often higher than other cards
  • The points are redeemable only with the airline with which the card is affiliated
  • There is often a large purchase to points ratio involved with the card.

Many people sign up for a travel reward credit card dreaming of winter escapes or European adventures, only to realise too late that they now they simply have another credit card that is more expensive than the others, and that any points they achieve are negated by the interest rates they have to pay. Some cards give only one point for every two dollars spent, and most travel rewards programs require about 25,000 points for one domestic flight. That means you are spending anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 to get a flight whose average cost might be $400! If you are carrying a balance month to month, the interest paid out could easily amount to more than the flight is worth.

Getting The Most Out of a Travel Reward Credit Card

To avoid making the most common mistakes and get the most benefit out of your travel reward credit card, follow these four steps:

  1. Be sure that travel reward points are what you want from the card in the first place.
  2. Determine which airlines’ travel rewards program most fits your travel plans, then find out if they offer a card.
  3. Investigate the membership fee, and the purchase to points ratio to make sure it is realistic with the amount you will use the card.
  4. Most importantly, after you begin using the card: pay off the balance in full every month!

Following these steps, particularly paying off your monthly balance, will ensure that you get the most out of your travel reward credit card and can start saving points for the trip of your dreams today.

Tips

Ten Tips For No Longer Hating Those Who Hurt You

I know who my enemy is: the individual who maliciously damages my property: tramps all over the flower-bed in the garden: scratches the car with a key: trashes the home during a burglary. I feel angered by anyone who threatens to harm my sense of well-being. These are the people I want to complain about and get my own back on. So how on earth does one stop hating such people. How do you ‘love’ your enemy? Here are some tips I find useful.

Tip 1

Step back from a situation. Then you can start to observe your angry thoughts. Begin to reflect on where they are getting you. When you are feeling angry remember that bitterness will inwardly eat away at your sense of contentment. On the other hand a less negative attitude to the person who has offended you hinders this horrible emotion staying with you. You can’t be positive and negative at the same time. One attitude removes its opposite.

Tip 2

Consider whether becoming calm about your enemy helps your loved ones and friends around you remain calm. They would be affected by your anger, having to listen to your moaning about the person you resent. However, unless you stop your enemy hurting you, your family will feel you are a pushover and feel frustrated with you for this reason.

Tip 3

Understand the harm you could cause to the children in your life by voicing contempt for someone. Children copy the role models provided by the adults around them. A child can readily imitate the idea it is okay to adopt a hate-filled contemptuous attitude. And you will have harmed their sense of right and wrong.

Tip 4

When reflecting on some injustice done to you, bear in mind that we get a more fractured and divided society the more people there are who are filled with feelings of hate; a society where conflict and social disorder are more likely to emerge. And the opposite is true – if we all can overcome enmity, and learn to forgive those whom have hurt us, then society is better off in so many ways. Reconciliation that involves compensation for injury can be extremely powerful and important. Getting on better with an enemy would improve the lives of two people at the same time.

Tip 5

Make a fair assessment of your enemy’s actions. Try to hate the wrong-doing rather than the wrong-doer, the action rather than the perpetrator. This will help you to focus on trying to prevent any repeat of the behaviour that made you so angry.

Tip 6

See times of hate within yourself as a challenge to your growing maturity. Don’t take the Gospel phrase about turning the other cheek in a literal way. The message is not about masochism but rather about not automatically fighting back when injured. Do what you can to stop the enemy behaving badly towards you whilst remembering that a heavenly state of mind is to take no delight in any act of retaliation or revenge. Our spiritual challenge is to adopt a charitable attitude to everyone including those who behave badly towards us.

Tip 7

Try to establish lines of communication with your enemy. Look for some common ground. Reach out to them. Instead of fighting what has happened and who this person is, and wanting them to be different, try to accept them for who they are – warts and all. You won’t be able to change them only hope to affect their actions. Resign yourself to what has happened as a part of life. Put up with the fact that things can’t be different, because they have already happened.

Tip 8

Get to know their perspective. Are you jumping to any conclusions? What is he or she really like? Try to understand why someone might have got to where they are and why they did what they did. Perhaps they have some mitigating circumstances – school failure, broken home, drugged parent, unemployment, being easily led, having a sense of frustration at feeling undervalued. None of these factors of course excuses criminal behaviour but might help to explain it and make you feel better about the person. Of course no mitigating circumstances may be found although bear in mind that any may be possible until you get to know the person better. Give the enemy the benefit of any doubt.

Tip 9

Look for something in the person that is likeable. Everyone has a good side somewhere if you look hard enough to find it.

Tip 10

Show them how hurt you have been by what they have done, pointing out the consequences of their misdeeds in a non-condemning way. You will feel better about them if they show some degree of acknowledgment of what you are saying. It is less difficult to have a charitable attitude to those who acknowledge they were in the wrong. Don’t be too quick to forgive someone who has done you great harm if they show no remorse: at least don’t try to forgive such a person in your own strength alone.

If these tips are not enough try attending an anger management class, professional therapy or ask for spiritual help. Many people say that prayer is an important component in their dealing with the difficult individuals in their lives.

Copyright 2011 Stephen Russell-Lacy