Aeroplan 101– Tips, Tricks, and the Basics

Aeroplan – What You Need to Know

Today, I will give you an overview of the Aeroplan frequent flyer program. Keep in mind this is just some brief basics on the surface and there is a lot more to know if you really want to fly business class, pay very little, and make the most out of this program. In the section “Travel Miles | Points” I will discuss various hotel and airline rewards programs in the future.

What Is Aeroplan – Aeroplan is the loyalty program created by Air Canada and now owned by Aimia.

Aeroplan Value – There is no definite answer. It totally depends on how knowledgeable you are about the program and how you use it. The Points Guy values Aeroplan at 1.5 cent. Aeroplan sells each mile at 3 cents when you are short and need to buy from Aeroplan. Aimia CEO Rupert Duchesne mentions it can be worth 7 to 8 cents in some cases and nearly 30 cents for a business class trip. This is somewhat true; it all depends how you use it.

Star Alliance – Air Canada is a part of Star Alliance, which has 28 members, including Air Canada. In general, you earn and redeem miles within any airline alliance with any frequent flyer miles belonging to any member of that alliance. For example, you can earn/redeem Aeroplan on Swiss Air or you can earn/redeem Miles & More on Air Canada. Also, Aeroplan has some non-alliance partners and numerous retailers, banking and other partners.

How to Search for Flights – This is where you have to know your stuff. I will give you some basic tips. Start with Aeroplan’s website. However, not all rewards flights will be available on Aeroplan. There are some paid sites solely for search purposes. However, you can search on other alliance websites such as United.com (Saver Awards only, Standard Awards appearing on United may not be booked for Aeroplan) and Ana.co.jp for flights that won’t appear on appear on Aeroplan’s site. To book these flights found on other alliance member sites, you have to call Aeroplan to book over the phone and there is a $30 fee.

Avoiding Fuel Surcharges – Air Canada (and some other airlines) is notorious for charging hefty fuel surcharges when you use Aeroplan. Avoid these airlines and the unnecessary charges by simply flying with other airlines that don’t feature these charges. I will not go into details, as I have a video explaining this. View it here: How Not to Get Dinged by Air Canada on Aeroplan Rewards Flights

Do Not Fly Cash Free – Aeroplan encourages you to fly cash free by paying taxes and fees using Aeroplan. However, you will end up being the loser if you choose this option, as your extraction rate for paying fees will be only 1 cent per mile, whether your goal should be to redeem Aeroplan for higher value such as 5 cents or beyond. So when you have small taxes and fees to pay (if you can manage to avoid paying fuel surcharges by not taking those airlines as I mentioned in the video), use cash and save your miles from redeeming them for 1 cent each.

One-Way or Round-Trip – Aeroplan (and most other frequent flyer programs) offer booking a one-way trip for exactly half of the points required for a round-trip. One-way trip booking provides better flexibility, as you may want to book the other leg of your trip with another program or even cash if you get a good deal.

Stopover and Open-Jaw – One of the best kept secrets of Aeroplan is that it allows you to book a stopover in a different city along the way on a round-trip at no additional costs. Open-Jaw allows you to fly to one place and leave from another place (the arrival and departure cities are different) on a round-trip. If you know how to utilize this, you can actually visit 4 places on one round-trip flight on Aeroplan.

Cancel, Change, and Last-Minute Booking – Aeroplan allows you to cancel or change up to 2 hours before departure for a C$90 fee and you can also book up to 2 hours before departure.

What I discussed above is just the basics about Aeroplan. With any hotel or airline loyalty programs, you need to know the ins and outs to become successful. I will be discussing more on AhmedDawn.com about many programs in the future.

How to Make Money Online

Make Money Online

The Internet in its way has had as profound an effect on the world as any invention before it. As profound as television, electricity, the telephone and all the other world-changing developments without which it is hard to imagine life. The Internet is definitely right up there among all of the others, because not only are you sitting reading this on a computer, where it is available specifically due to the Internet, but also the information that makes the writing possible was researched using the World Wide Web. The speed of transmission of information these days is something that the average human could not have conceived of back in the 1980s. Now, it is taken for granted.

Using the Internet to make money is still a relatively new thing, certainly in comparison with how businesses have operated without it. It is now possible to make money, spend it and save it without ever leaving your home. Recognizing an opportunity to make money, then realizing it by putting your idea into cyberspace and watching the cash roll in is something that more and more people are finding to be a surprisingly manageable solutionto money worries, and a worthwhile income stream for people who are already doing OK. Like many ways of making money, people look at the Internet and the business opportunities it offers and think “There has to be more to it than that.” They scorn that it might just be a matter of getting an idea and putting it into practise. But they are not quite right to do so.

Sure, if you are looking for a “get rich quick” scheme, you will generally find that your options are at best limited. If there was a way of everybody making money just by doing nothing, then the global financial crisis would be easily solved. Things do not work that way, and you need to have something to offer if you are looking to get anywhere. It may not be easy, and it certainly will not just happen. But one thing that is for certain is that the Internet has opened the way for many people to make a tidy sum of money without having to spend a lot or travel very far. It hasn’t made making money easy, but it has presented people with opportunities. These opportunities have made a lot of people rich, and anyone with an idea, the work ethic to make it happen and a cool head can do very well for themselves.

If you have a PayPal account, a website and an idea, you can make money online. The PayPal account is available to everyone, the website is too. Even if you don’t have the ability to create websites yourself, blogging platforms make it possible for you to simply take care of the text and the images, and leave the technical stuff to someone else. The idea? Well, that has to come from you. But many of the people who are billionaires today had an idea that may not have been anything more complicated or revolutionary than an idea you have had. What has made them rich and successful is their desire to make that idea a reality. That is something that is not beyond any of us.
First Published: April 18, 2009 entrepreneurjourney.com

Let Your Credit Card Company Pay Your Interest

Credit Card Pays Interest

By paying your balance every month in full, you are actually using your card company’s money for free for your full billing period. Your card company always wants you to carry a balance so they can charge you interest and that’s how card companies make money.

If you are paying your balance in full, you are actually using your card company’s money at their high interest rate for free. Let me give you an example. In Sep 2006, I bought five British Airways return tickets for my trip at approximately $2000 each. My total cost was $2000 * 5 = $10,000. Most of the card companies charge 20% annual interest rate. If I do an approximate calculation for $10,000 at 20%, my one month interest charge would be $165. Yes, that’s right.

My one month interest charge would have been $165. But I avoided this charge by paying my balance in full and definitely my card company did not like it because they lost $165. If you look at this little differently, you can say that I borrowed money for one month at 20% interest rate but I have not paid any interest because my credit card company paid it for me.

What do all these translate into? Know how you are being charged and what your interest rate is. Pay your balance in full. It’s like using your card company’s money at their expense.

Credit Cards Can Save You Foreign Transaction Fees

No Foreign Currency Fee Credit Card

Most Canadian credit cards charge nasty foreign transaction fees when you shop in a non-Canadian currency. However, with these 4 cards you can save 2.5 percent, as that’s the standard fee other cards charge.

Amazon Canada Rewards Visa Card – A no-annual fee credit card that offers no foreign currency fee as well. Does not have many perks and features, but a good one to keep for foreign travel and online shopping in foreign currency. Issued by Chase Canada. This card will not work in Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Libya.

Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card - Also issued by Chase Canada and will not work in Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Libya. This one has a $120 annual fee. A Marriott hotel chain co-branded credit card earns Marriott reward points and comes with other benefits.

Rogers Platinum MasterCard – This one works a little differently. You pay the 2.5 percent foreign transaction fee, but Rogers offers 4 percent cash back on foreign transactions, making it 1.5 percent return in foreign purchases. The annual fee is $29, but waived for the first year. If you pay your Rogers bills by pre-authorized payment, the annual fee is waived each year.

CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Visa PrePaid Card – Although it’s a prepaid card, it’s marketed as a no-foreign currency transaction fee cards as long as you are transacting in one of the 10 supported currencies it offers. However, when you load foreign currency, it seems to factor this in and charge a foreign currency fee. Still, I like this card because it lets you withdraw from one ATM per month for free in foreign locations in supported currency and it’s safer when you travel, as you are the one to decide how much you want to load.

Tangerine MoneyBack MasterCard – This one charges 1.5 percent foreign transaction fees, instead of 2.5 percent.

How Safe Are Your Cosmetics

Safe and Toxic Cosmetics

How to Check the Toxic Chemicals in Your Cosmetics

Whether you are in Canada or in USA, the cosmetics you are using most likely have a few toxic ingredients in them and they did not require any approval from any authorities to hit the market. Worse yet, Canadian law does not mandate listing all ingredients in your cosmetics and manufacturers can easily hide harmful ingredients. Today, I will list some common toxic ingredients and show you how you can check your cosmetics before using them to ensure you and your family’s safety.

HereAre Some:

DBP/Dibutyl Phthalate - The European Union has banned using this in cosmetics. Potential reproductive, immune system, liver, kidney, and neurotoxin. A hazardous air and water pollutant and harmful to wildlife.

Paraben - Used in many cosmetics. Possible endocrine disruptor and can cause cancer.

BHA and BHT - Used in moisturizers. Possible endocrine disruptor and can cause cancer.

Phthalate - Used in nail products and many cosmetics. Possible endocrine disruptor and can cause cancer. Harmful to wildlife.

DEA/MEA/TEA - Used in moisturizers and shampoos. A respiratory, neurotoxicity, and immunotoxicity hazard. Harmful to wildlife and can cause cancer.

Petrolatum/Petroleum Jelly - The European Union has banned this using in cosmetics. Used in moisturizers, hair products, lipsticks, lip balms, etc. Can cause cancer.

Parfum - Some fragrance ingredients are harmful and can cause asthma, cancer, etc.

The above are only a few to mention. There are so many more harmful ingredients are hidden in our daily cosmetics. To find out more, check the links mentioned below or search online for “toxic or harmful chemicals in cosmetics.”

How to Check How Toxic Your Cosmetics Are

The Environmental Working Group, or EWG, provides a database to check more than 78,000 products on their website here: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/. You will find most of the known brands here and many not-so-known brands that manufacture low toxicity cosmetics. I recently switched from most of the well-known brands to not-so-common brands after finding out that most of the brands I trusted since I was born are actually very toxic.

The David Suzuki Foundation, a Canadian environmental organization, provides helpful publications to detect dirty ingredients in your cosmetics. Here are some links:
12 Ingredients to Avoid in Your Cosmetics and
What’s Inside? That Counts: A Survey of Toxic Ingredients in Our Cosmetics
Natural Skincare Authority provides an A to Z list of toxins here:
The "A" to "Z" Of Toxins in Skin Care

And Don’t Forget

Natural - If you see “Natural” on the level, it does not really mean anything. Only one (or more than one) ingredient has to be derived from a natural source and the rest can be full of toxic ingredients.

Organic - If you see “Organic” on a cosmetic level, 95 percent of the ingredients must be organic and the rest can still be non-organic or toxic ingredients.

Made with Organic Ingredients - If you see “Made with Organic Ingredients” on a cosmetic level, 70 percent of the ingredients must be organic and the rest can still be non-organic or toxic ingredients.
First Punished: Jan 26, 2013 simplepersonaldevelopment.com