Tuesday Is Not The Best Day to Buy Plane Tickets

Best Days to Buy Flight Tickets

For decades, we have been told that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to buy plane tickets. However, recent research shows otherwise. The reason in the past Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the best days because that’s when sale fares came out and airlines were trying to beat each other with manual intervention and flash sales.

New data and research from airfare forecasting company Hopper shows that Thursdays are the best days to buy tickets. The same research mentions that Sundays are the worst day to buy tickets. However, a lot of other research points towards different directions.

Another research from Texas A&M University shows that weekends are the best days to book tickets. The reason behind this is that airlines try to lower fares on the weekend to catch leisure travelers.

Research from the Wall Street Journal mentions that Sundays are the best days to buy tickets. The same research points out that Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays are the most expensive days to plane tickets.

Research from Expedia and the Airlines Reporting Corporation shows that Sundays are the best days to buy plane tickets when you buy at least 21 days in advance. Weekends are also a good time to buy tickets, but not Fridays.

All these findings can be confusing. So the best thing to do is to keep an eye on your fare for longer and usually fares are lower six weeks prior to your departure date. So keep an eye out and grab whenever you feel they are the lowest. And in general, check them often on Saturdays and Sundays.

Some websites you can use to check your fares are Google Flight, Kayak, Hipmunk, and Skyscanner.

Beware Of This New Credit Card Scam

A New Kind of Scam

A new kind of scam is sweeping across the country. This time, the scammers are not calling to get your financial information. They have all the information. However, they are missing one piece of information, and they can't use your credit card without that. The objective of their call is to trick you to get that one piece of information from you. To gain your trust and sound real - the callers will provide you with all the information. Example:

Your Name
Your Date of Birth
Your Credit Card Number
Your Address
Your Issuing Bank
Etc, Etc.

The Piece of Information Scammers Missing

Take out your credit card from your wallet and look on the back of your card; you will see a 3 Digit PIN Number. You need this number to purchase online. This number works as a security shield. Online merchants will ask you this number to verify that you are the real owner. If someone hacked your information and trying to put through online purchases, they will not have this 3 Digit PIN Number as only the actual card holder can get this number by looking at an actual credit card. That's why the con artist on the other side of the phone is desperate to get this number from you.

A Mock Conversation with a Con Artist

Let me construct a mock conversation to give you an example, so you know what to expect from con artists. Remember, each situation is different and scammers will come up with new techniques to trick you. The phone call you will receive may be very different than this example. Always use your common sense as your guide to protect you.

Mr. Con: Hello, my name is John Smith, and I am calling form CITI Bank Master Card Canada
A. Dawn: Oh! Hello there
Mr. Con: Mr. Dawn, the reason of my call is to confirm if you have made a recent online purchase of $767
A. Dawn: Oh no! I haven't used this card for a few months!
Mr. Con: No worries, Mr. Dawn. We have been watching this company for some time, and we will block its transactions and will start a fraud investigation. We will credit your account for this trade and will issue you a new credit card. Let me read your credit card information to you to make sure this is the right card.

Credit Card Name: Citi Bank Master Card
Issuing Bank: Citi Bank Canada
Credit Card Number: 1234567
Expiry Date: January 10, 2011
Is that correct?
A. Dawn: Yes, that's right.
Mr. Con: Now, Mr. Dawn, let me give you my employee ID number at Citi Bank Master Card and also, I will give you a case number for this investigation. You need to write this down. Do you have any questions on anything Mr. Dawn?

A. Dawn: No, thanks. You guys are very active and helpful.
Mr. Con: Thanks for being a loyal customer. Before I go, for security reasons and your own protection, I need to verify that you are in possession of your card. There is a 3 Digit Number on the back of your card. If you could read that number to me.

A. Dawn: Oh! Sure. I see the on the back it shows 6 7 8
Mr. Con: That is absolutely correct. Thank you for you time Mr. Dawn and have a nice day.
A. Dawn: You too

What Happens Next

Mr. Con just got a hold of the missing piece of the puzzle, and he will start placing online purchases without delay.

Award-winning Invest Now covers a broad range of topics including Internet Scams. To purchase a copy, visit Chapters Indigo or click here to buy online - Invest Now: A Canadian's Guide to Investing

How to Protect Yourself

The best course of action to protect yourself from telephone scams would be to subscribe to Caller ID and screen your calls with voice mail or an answering machine. If you don’t recognize the phone number on your Caller ID, don’t pick up. Urgent callers will leave a message.

If you believe you have been a victim or someone has tried to scam you, call your local RCMP Detachment or the police service of jurisdiction in your area.

Report your situation on Reporting Economic Crime On-Line - www.recol.ca

Remember, common sense and vigilance are your best defense.

First Published: ADawnJournal.com May 19, 2008

Keep Your Dot Com Lifestyle Simple and Uncomplicated

Dot Com Lifestyle

Before Google lifted its ban on John Chow, a “dot com lifestyle” search would put my site, A Dawn Journal, as number one on search results on Google’s first page. Once Google lifted the ban, A Dawn Journal began appearing right beneath John’s site on search results pages. The article which is causing the appearance is this one:

What Is A Dot Com Lifestyle?

In the above article, which is a four-part series, I mentioned what a dot come lifestyle means to me. Here are the main five characteristics of a dot com lifestyle:

Work two hours a day and five days a week

Live in a new country for every six months a year (if you have a family, make it two to four months)

The whole world is your office (you can work anywhere as long as you have your laptop and internet connection)

Live on your own terms

Have ridiculously flexible lifestyle choices

These characteristics are not set in stone. You can change or modify them based on your own lifestyle or needs. I get a feeling of living a dot com lifestyle on the weekends only, as I still have to maintain my full time job. Every Saturday, I go to Tim Hortons or Starbucks with my Netbook and Mobile Internet Stick and work 3 – 4 hours writing articles, updating my sites, replying to emails, and so on.

A dot come lifestyle does not have to be complicated and out of the ordinary. I like keeping things simple and hope to live a simple and an ordinary life once I reach my goal of living a full-time dot com lifestyle. This is what the Entrepreneur Journey website is all about and I invite you to be a part of it.
First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com May 8, 2010

President’s Choice to CIBC – Are You on Board?

PC Financial Free Banking Ends

On August 16, 2017 the news broke that CIBC is ending its almost 20-year relationship with President’s Choice Financial and will offer free banking through its own Simplii Financial. This news put 2 million PC Financial (PCF) customers in limbo as everyone is trying to make sense of this breakup.

The main reason people signed up with online banking provider PCF was to avoid big banks like CIBC (and pay no banking fees for basic banking) and now customers are all back under the same giant. CIBC mentioned there will be no change in anything such as account information or fees and business will be as usual under CIBC’s new free banking division Simplii, but confusion and uncertainty remain palpable.

There are talks about CIBC’s cutting some features customers have been enjoying for free with PCF and also declining in customer service satisfaction. PCF offered excellent customer service provided by call centres located in Canada. So it will be interesting to see if it starts to move over to India or somewhere else. A PCF representative mentioned to me that CIBC is moving over all PCF reps under its wing and customer service will be provided by the same group of people as before.

For now, customers remain cautious and will wait and see how the transformation plays out. There are other free online banking providers out there and if things go downhill, CIBC will definitely lose a good chunk of loyal customers who have been with PCF for years.

I have a video on this and you can watch by clicking the link below or on the picture at the top right.

The End of President’s Choice Financial

West African Letter Fraud - A Perfect Example

West African Letter Scam

In my book Invest Now I dedicated a whole chapter to Internet Scams. West African letter Fraud is a common form of Internet scam. You receive a letter in the mail convincing you to give out your personal information, and then scammers empty out your bank account. This type of scam can come from anywhere, in any form. It does not have to come from West Africa. Today I have a perfect example of West African Scam to post. I just got this email and picture in my mail box. First, I am going to give you an excerpt from Invest Now, and then I will show you the letter and picture I received.

The following is an Excerpt from my first book Invest Now. Invest Now is jam-packed with timely information and timeless advice for the beginning Canadian investor. Invest Now covers a broad range of topics including Internet Scams. To purchase a copy, visit Chapters Indigo or click here to buy online - Invest Now: A Canadian's Guide to Investing

The Excerpt

West African letter fraud: You meet a 20-something-year-old girl in a chat room. She sends you a few hot pictures. Then she mentions that her dad was a high-ranking government official or industrialist who left her millions of dollars. She explains that she is not able to move this fund from her dad’s account due to regulations, and she needs your help. All you have to do is to give her your bank-account information to transfer her money out of the country; in return, she will give you 40 or 50% of her 10 or 20 million dollars. Wait, even more incentives remain. Since you are such a nice guy, she even would not mind spending a couple of months in a resort with you. You don’t waste a second to grab this lifetime opportunity, handing over your banking information. A few days later, you find out that your bank account was emptied out. Your dream of spending quality time with a beautiful girl as a freshly minted millionaire is gone—and so is all the money in your bank account. Sometimes, the scammer claims to be from Nigeria, but it’s always the same scam. Be aware.

A Perfect Example

from Angie Keong <giveslife@yahoo.com>

reply-to giveslife02@yahoo.com,

to giveslife@yahoo.com,

date Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 3:37 PM

subject FROM MRS.ANGIE KK

mailed-by yahoo.com

signed-by yahoo.com

Images from this sender are always displayed. Don't display from now on.

hide details 3:37 PM (4 hours ago)

Reply

FROM MRS.ANGIE KK
THE CRY OF A WIDOW
Do accept my sincere apology if contacting you through this medium goes against your moral values and code of conduct. My name is Mrs. Angie KK, the wife of late Mr. Sherif Keong who happen to be an international business man dealing mainly in contracting.There is something I personally need your urgent attention and assistance in, hoping that you are living well with your family over there in your country. I want you to personal assist me to safeguard a reasonable sum to your country or any other place where you are familiar with for a productive investment. The fund were generated through a legal means by my late husband but due to some issue between my late husband and few foes, I am mandated to make this transfer and the onward investment on my own.

The fund in question is the sum of Twenty One Million United State of American Dollars which was deposited on a vault by late husband in a Financial Institute, and it is due to be transferred, but the major problem I was facing for quite a long time now is finding a capable person who will help me to make the transfer, and also negotiate some areas of lucrative investment down on-behalf of my son Franklin

Due to my medical condition(Cancer of the large Intestine which was not noticed at the early stage) and situation of things around me, I can't effect the conveying of the project on my own and for the safety of my son without an aid of someone. This was the major reason that drew my attention to contact you personally for an assistant regarding the execution of this project. I am in a critical position since the doctors have confirmed that the cancer was not noticed at the early stage and it is only a miracle that can heal me. Thus, I am doing all this because I want my son to have a future incase if anything happens to me.
I will give you all the necessary information you would require to know about this project when I read from you. I will be expecting to hear from you any moment from now
Regards
Mrs. Angie Keong

The Lesson

Do not give out any financial or personal information in an e-mail or chat room.

First Published: ADawnJournal.com Apr 24, 2008