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While renting the Hangover II is probably the closest most of us have come to visiting Thailand recently, thousands of people from the United States visit the country each year for a variety of reasons, which, interestingly enough, include the increasingly popular trend of medical tourism. The fact that people are willing to travel clear across the world for anything from cosmetic surgery to dental services is surprising enough in its own right, but that’s nothing compared to the fact that one may be able to use airline miles to not only book travel, but also to pay for the procedures themselves. In other words, the right credit card could conceivably be your ticket to free health care.
You see, Thai Airways – the 5th best international airline in the world, according to CNBC – recently offered a promotion that allowed members of its loyalty rewards program, Royal Orchid Plus, to use their miles for a wide array of medical procedures, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Breast augmentation
- Eyelid surgery
- Liposuction
- Botox
- Hair transplants
- Laser hair removal
- Teeth whitening
- Kidney cleaning
- Non-surgical facelifts
- Check-ups
All you had to do was go online and book your flight as well as the procedures you planned to undergo at one of Thailand’s hospitals or specialty clinics. While t
Corporate Blog – Blogging for your Business
What is a corporate Blog ? The term blog was coined somewhere around 1999, and at present Webster’s describe a blog as a diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts available on a Web page. More notably, it says that blogs are normally updated daily and that blogs often mirror the personality of the author. But think seriously about recurrent blogging or corporate blogging for your business. According to a verified source focused on blogs, whether personal blogs or a corporate blog, only a very tiny percentage are updated regularly. What matters the most these days is what you write not the quantity or frequency of posting
For a company or a trade or a business, there are several potential reasons to have a functioning blog, but, what you really need to mull over before blogging, is: What are your reasons for having a corporate blog?
Is it an opportunity for you to have a more personal relationship between yourself and your clients?
Is the blog just a place where members can communicate and keep each other updated without wasting time?
Are you using a corporate blog to establish your business as a thought leader to make the right people pay attention?
Or are you just using your corporate blog to test ideas or products, a place where people can comment, and provide you with a measure of value or interest?
News, opinions and information can be published widely using the blogging tools available on the internet. A
Whatever Happened to All Those Expiring Tax Breaks?
In two days, 53 targeted tax breaks will, officially at least, die.
By the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation’s count, that’s the number of temporary tax subsidies that are due to expire on December 31. They’ve become known as the extenders, which sounds like the name of a wonky rock band but isn’t. They got the name because every year or so, like clockwork, Congress mindlessly continues them for another year or so. But this month, in the last–minute kerfuffle over the payroll tax, the extenders never quite got into the conversation.
This doesn’t mean they’ve been killed, however. It is more like they are being held hostage.
Most of these special interest baubles are hardly worth keeping. They include a menagerie of alternative energy credits, special depreciation rules (including the ever-popular tax break for NASCAR race tracks), extraordinary deductions for certain charitable gifts, and various investment incentives for developers in tax-favored communities (enterprise zones, Gulf coast opportunity zones and lower Manhattan–a distressed neighborhood if ever there was one).
Congress would do the nation and the budget a great favor if it let most of these goodies quietly fade away. But the list al
Don’t Let That Summer Getaway Get Away
Is summer is passing you by this year, turning your stay-cation into blah-cation? With Labor Day right around the corner, it’s not too late to put some adventure into your summer by taking a last minute trip or vacation.
Last-minute getaways may sound expensive, but cheap deals are there for the taking if you are willing to be flexible. Here are some tips.
Go with the flow. Whether you are flying, taking the train, or shipping out on a cruise, the more flexible you are with your travel plans, the better. Leave late at night or on a different day to get the cheapest flight. And if you are willing to go standby, or fly into a less popular city or airport, you can score big time. The same is true of cruises – if you cruise the web to find ads for last-minute vacancies, or travel “shoulder” times, before or after traditional summer and Christmastime rushes, you may find a vacation deal that costs less than staying home.
Embrace the web. Check your favorite internet travel sites, and check them often. Prices fluctuate from day to day and from city to city. But do your research and watch out for pitfalls. Sites like PriceLine.com and SkyAuction.com let you name your own price, but know the range available elsewhere so you don’t end up overpaying. On AirBnB.com, find a place to rent for just one night from a real person, for less.
Tweet for a sweet deal. Use Twitter’s search box to look for special discounts and coupons. Just enter a hashtag followed by your destination and the word discount to locate deals near you. Also, follow travel deals sites like @TravelZoo on Twitter for up-to-the-minute deals.
Travel solo. If you are looking for a single ticket on an airline or to an event, you’ll find it easier to nab a deal. You can make arrangements to meet your friends at the destination, even though you won’t be sitting together.
Call ahead. You’ll find some good hotel deals by calling ahead and calling around. Don’t just arrive with your baggage in the hotel lobby, since clerks will quote you higher prices since they know you don’t want to schlep those bags all over town.
Go off-season and off-beat. Visiting a summer attraction in the winter or a ski resort in the summer will save big bucks in lodging and meals. Or stay nearby your destination, not right in town. Camping out will trim your costs, and you can save on meals by packing a lunch and enjoying a picnic. If you splurge on a meal at a well-known restaurant, go for lunch instead of dinner or enjoy the early bird special to cut the tab by up to 40%.
Free works for me. There are many free attractions wherever you go, and many inexpensive ones as well. A hootenanny or a free concert in the park, a walking tour or nature walk, all can make for a pleasant afternoon. At historic destinations such as Washington DC, Philadelphia and Boston you’ll find that many of the great attractions are free.
Above all, enjoy the hunt. Traveling cheap is a game, so take pleasure in the experience. If you miss one deal, don’t fret, there’s another one around the corner.
The Battle of the Black Cards: American Express’ Centurion Card vs. Barclays’ Visa Black Card
In one corner, we have the Black Card. In the other, we have, uh, the Black Card. Confused? Most likely, and that’s exactly why American Express recently engaged in a legal battle for the right to use the name that has come to signify wealth and status not only in the credit card industry, but throughout society and pop culture as well. Rappers routinely crow about their Black Cards in songs, athletes and movie stars are spotted using them by the paparazzi, and they’re even employed in shows like “The OC” and “Entourage” to signal things like prosperity, greed, or overspending to viewers. While Amex was successful in nullifying the Black Card LLC’s trademark on the term “Blackcard,” several trademark infringement and false advertising claims remain unsettled, as does the ultimate question: Which is the better Black Card?
American Express Centurion CardThough the American Express Centurion Card has long been shrouded in secrecy – an Amex representative responded to a request for comment by saying, We actually can’t confirm much about the Centurion Card as we don’t talk about its services or benefits – a few things are substantiated, including its fee structure and the fact that it is available by invitation only. The rest we can only glea
Corporate Recruitment: What Resumes Won’t Reveal
As corporate recruitment practices go, resumes are pretty much the primary contact between the company and a potential candidate. From the candidate’s point-of-view, the resume is the main tool that they use search for jobs and introduce themselves to would-be interviewers, if it comes to that stage. The candidate, on the other hand, would easily find a lot of information on the company. Theres the website and the corporate blog, there are industry news reports, and a plethora of data out there on the WWW.
After all, if the old adage about just how long first impressions last is true, the amount work that goes into making and refining a resume is hardly surprising. However, this opportunity for repeated refinement is what makes the resume an unreliable tool for assessing a candidate, something that the managers in charge of corporate recruitment understand well. It presents an incompleted, and all too often, overtly embellished picture of the person.
Yes, it does bring the folks in corporate recruitment up to date with the salient points of an applicant’s education and work details. The
A Good Credit Report is Vital
When you are trying to make a major purchase of any kind you will more than likely need to take out a loan. In fact, when buying a car or home most people require some kind of financing to actually make the purchase. Credit is one of the main things that lenders bear in mind when they are considering a perspective loan applicant. If you do not have a good credit report then you could potentially be turned down for the loan and not be able to complete the task that you set out to, or you may have to settle for something less desirable.
Obviously, keeping a clean credit report is very important if you are going to be a productive, functional and most importantly, successful member of society. If you have managed to fall into debt you may feel as though there is no end in sight and some people have even described the feeling as though there is no light at the end of the tunnel. However, it is not necessary to be so bleak. Getting out of debt is possible no matter how far into debt you have fallen.
The objective for most people in regards to getting out of debt is to also avoid bankruptcy. Read more…
Congress is now shadow boxing about the payroll tax holiday that is set to expire at the end of this year. Currently, workers are getting a break equal to 2% of earnings up to the Social Security taxable maximum of $106,800. The temporary tax cut was part of a deal struck last year to extend the Bush tax cuts for two years. The payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed were extended for only one year, presumably based on (unwarranted) optimism about the economic recovery, but the implosion of the Eurozone and the continuing overhang from the housing market collapse have kept the economy very weak. There clearly is need for continuing economic stimulus.
The president has upped the ante, proposing that the Social Security payroll tax rate be cut in half (from 6.2 to 3.1 percent) for 2012 and also for a similar payroll tax break for employers on the first $5 million of payroll. And he has also urged extension of unemployment benefits.
As Howard Gleckman points out, this is far from optimal policy. Hi Read more…
After three months of waiting and the creation of the congressional Super Committee, made up of six democrats and six republicans, the Super Committee and Congress could not come up with a deficit reduction agreement of 1.2 trillion in spending cuts and possible tax increases by the November 23 deadline.
What Does This Mean for Taxpayers?
Tax implications of the decision remains uncertain at this point. What is certain are automatic budget cuts of 1.2 trillion, will commence in the beginning of 2013, unless Congress and the Super Committee can agree on a bipartisan plan before January 2013.
The last resort, mandatory reductions, will cut evenly from both domestic and defense programs. The automatic Budget Control Act, passed in August, already mandated $450 billion in defense spending cuts over 10 years.
We also know that the credit rating agency, Standard and Poors issued a statement, that failure to reach an agreement would not downgrade the United States credit rating as long as the automatic spending cuts remained in place.
We will continue to update you on tax implications of the automatic budget cuts. W