Tuesday, March 27, 2007
snacks
I just realised that i've almost ran out of emergency snacks and meals for those bad moments and late nights in the office.
Am down to my last few packs of su-da biscuits and some dried figs, filling but barely fulfilling.
Gotta remember to buy and stock up tomorrow.
Only all the HOT, spicy, salty, and sinful stuff.
tom yom noodle, chili potato chips, curry noodle, cheese balls, chocolates, bee chen hiong gourmet barkwa (which had gone up by $0.20 per 100g)...
lets go see what else they have
i might have to get some drinks too
.
.
.
oh wait, i've already stashed beer in the executive fridge.
Labels: to Eat Drink Party, to Work
the CC-ing disease
oh good grief, i'm working with moronic postboxes who are unable to understand, analyze and come to decisions on uncommon and unpleasant situations, and most sinisterly: afraid of letting people know so.
So instead of trying harder to understand, analyze and come to decisions by thinking, asking questions and generally working harder, they CC mail.
From one to all, and all to all.
So that it would appear that they are working (just postboxing, really) and by cc-ing the WHOLE WORLD, their responsibility is miracurously SHARED!
Because ANY and ALL who were in the CC list SURELY MUST share some of the responsibility, whether by merely reading or even to hope against hope that someone might actually SOLVE WHOLE DAMN THING, no matter they are just by-standers! They are culpable for just being in the CC list. In fact, even the chap who didnt read but binned the email must take some responsibility too for not reading the email and binning it!
In the end the only logical conclusion must be, if you CC enough people enough times, you are going to be FREE!
right.
So instead of trying harder to understand, analyze and come to decisions by thinking, asking questions and generally working harder, they CC mail.
From one to all, and all to all.
So that it would appear that they are working (just postboxing, really) and by cc-ing the WHOLE WORLD, their responsibility is miracurously SHARED!
Because ANY and ALL who were in the CC list SURELY MUST share some of the responsibility, whether by merely reading or even to hope against hope that someone might actually SOLVE WHOLE DAMN THING, no matter they are just by-standers! They are culpable for just being in the CC list. In fact, even the chap who didnt read but binned the email must take some responsibility too for not reading the email and binning it!
In the end the only logical conclusion must be, if you CC enough people enough times, you are going to be FREE!
right.
Labels: to Despair, to Work
Monday, March 26, 2007
Imperial Herbal Restaurant @ Vivocity
Ok, it has been months (a year? you're kidding. right?) since Vivocity opened, and last night was the first i've stepped into the building.
Brought the kiddies to the harbor view facing sentosa when waiting for my parents to arrive, where the younger was spooked by the tall snow man, and the elder was fascinated by the huge "flower tree" at the other end.
Had wanted to try tunglok (modernistic white uncomfortable looking deco), simply becos i had some money in my tunglok first card, and wanted to treat my parents, but Dad wanted to go to the Imperial Herbal Restuarant.
Ooohkay. i didnt mind, seriously. i mean, who can resist trying out a restuarant featured by Anthony Bourdain in No Reservations, abeit 2 seasons ago?
Corny seats aside, they had an al fresco "sports bar" area outside the restuarant (but within the air conditioned confines of the shopping mall, which means it was at the corridor) with seats cut out of giant basketballs and footballs AND a man hammering piano tunes out of an electronic organ. The whole area being surrounded by a low wall with built-in fish tanks. WEIRD? you have to be there.
Once passed, you are confronted with neon hued velvet seats made into hands showing an OK-sign in the front half of the restuarant. We settled for the normal round tables with normal wooden chairs further in, but the kiddies were slightly disappointed. I was glad that my eyes were spared the assault of colors.
We didnt consult the physician to ask for food recommendation since there were too many of us, Dad ordered since he's been there before.
Unfortunately, Dad wasnt the adventurous sort (or he had enough of the weird stuff the first and previous time he was there with his customers) and we ordered:
- tian qi soup (not tian ji soup, i know my hanyu pinying ok?)
- one-sided fried toufu
- beggar's chicken
- fried eel with crispy seaweed
- scalloop
- steamed cord fish
- asparagus
The soup was too bitter, the chicken was too dry, the eel was too soggy, scalloop too sweet and asparagus too old. Only the cord fish and toufu were ok. Let down.
We should have ordered the weird stuff. heck* we didnt even try the strange medicinal drinks...
i guess there's always a next time... or maybe not.
Brought the kiddies to the harbor view facing sentosa when waiting for my parents to arrive, where the younger was spooked by the tall snow man, and the elder was fascinated by the huge "flower tree" at the other end.
Had wanted to try tunglok (modernistic white uncomfortable looking deco), simply becos i had some money in my tunglok first card, and wanted to treat my parents, but Dad wanted to go to the Imperial Herbal Restuarant.
Ooohkay. i didnt mind, seriously. i mean, who can resist trying out a restuarant featured by Anthony Bourdain in No Reservations, abeit 2 seasons ago?
Corny seats aside, they had an al fresco "sports bar" area outside the restuarant (but within the air conditioned confines of the shopping mall, which means it was at the corridor) with seats cut out of giant basketballs and footballs AND a man hammering piano tunes out of an electronic organ. The whole area being surrounded by a low wall with built-in fish tanks. WEIRD? you have to be there.
Once passed, you are confronted with neon hued velvet seats made into hands showing an OK-sign in the front half of the restuarant. We settled for the normal round tables with normal wooden chairs further in, but the kiddies were slightly disappointed. I was glad that my eyes were spared the assault of colors.
We didnt consult the physician to ask for food recommendation since there were too many of us, Dad ordered since he's been there before.
Unfortunately, Dad wasnt the adventurous sort (or he had enough of the weird stuff the first and previous time he was there with his customers) and we ordered:
- tian qi soup (not tian ji soup, i know my hanyu pinying ok?)
- one-sided fried toufu
- beggar's chicken
- fried eel with crispy seaweed
- scalloop
- steamed cord fish
- asparagus
The soup was too bitter, the chicken was too dry, the eel was too soggy, scalloop too sweet and asparagus too old. Only the cord fish and toufu were ok. Let down.
We should have ordered the weird stuff. heck* we didnt even try the strange medicinal drinks...
i guess there's always a next time... or maybe not.
Labels: to Eat Drink Party
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Bangkok 19~21 Mar 07
Work
Another trip to BKK. Full out work trip, unpleasant termination meeting thrown in,
made worst with working with people who are either cowards or ignorant or both. I cant decide.
Is it cowardice if people were given very clear instructions on what and how to do, only for them to hew and haw and spent too little time and effort on the task and declared the task impossible, becos the task was unpleasant and therefore better suited for head-office people (me and my group accountant), no matter how menial the task and the documents were in Thai?
Or were they just ignorant and didnt understand, didnt know where to start, didnt know how to continue, what to get and what questions to ask? I almost gave up when i started having to draw diagrams to explain accounting concepts to dicipher what had been done and therefore what corrective entries to be made.
Food
We were so busy that literally what we saw of the trip was (in sequence) Day 1 Airport - Office - hotel cafe dinner - hotel check in Day 2 condemned office - Office - restuarant dinner - hotel - Day 3 Office - condemned office - Office - Hotel checkout - bank - Office - Airport. Not that i minded, but the 2 trishaw-bought meals that we had while working through lunch over the 2 days gave me a severe bout of food poisioning when i returned to Singapore.
There goes my reputation of iron stomach... ARGH.
Flight & Departure
The only consolation we had was the 45min massage at the airport where 2 massuers simultaneously worked on my legs, and head/shoulders. Even though we had to cut short the session at 545pm since our flight was 6pm, i HAD to nip into Boots to buy 2 bottles of build-up remover shampoo, only to make a mad dash to the departure gate where we had to remove our laptops for xray before running in to the gate.
We made our way to our seats on board, and had barely sat down when the captain announced "all crew to your landing stations please" LOL, not a minute to spare.
There was no movie-on-demand on the return flight, and i wasnt able to finish the last bit of Dream Girls that i had started on the flight out, so i settled to watch Happy Feet WHICH i wasnt able to finish before touch down. Drat. now i have 2 movies with no endings. :(
Another trip to BKK. Full out work trip, unpleasant termination meeting thrown in,
made worst with working with people who are either cowards or ignorant or both. I cant decide.
Is it cowardice if people were given very clear instructions on what and how to do, only for them to hew and haw and spent too little time and effort on the task and declared the task impossible, becos the task was unpleasant and therefore better suited for head-office people (me and my group accountant), no matter how menial the task and the documents were in Thai?
Or were they just ignorant and didnt understand, didnt know where to start, didnt know how to continue, what to get and what questions to ask? I almost gave up when i started having to draw diagrams to explain accounting concepts to dicipher what had been done and therefore what corrective entries to be made.
Food
We were so busy that literally what we saw of the trip was (in sequence) Day 1 Airport - Office - hotel cafe dinner - hotel check in Day 2 condemned office - Office - restuarant dinner - hotel - Day 3 Office - condemned office - Office - Hotel checkout - bank - Office - Airport. Not that i minded, but the 2 trishaw-bought meals that we had while working through lunch over the 2 days gave me a severe bout of food poisioning when i returned to Singapore.
There goes my reputation of iron stomach... ARGH.
Flight & Departure
The only consolation we had was the 45min massage at the airport where 2 massuers simultaneously worked on my legs, and head/shoulders. Even though we had to cut short the session at 545pm since our flight was 6pm, i HAD to nip into Boots to buy 2 bottles of build-up remover shampoo, only to make a mad dash to the departure gate where we had to remove our laptops for xray before running in to the gate.
We made our way to our seats on board, and had barely sat down when the captain announced "all crew to your landing stations please" LOL, not a minute to spare.
There was no movie-on-demand on the return flight, and i wasnt able to finish the last bit of Dream Girls that i had started on the flight out, so i settled to watch Happy Feet WHICH i wasnt able to finish before touch down. Drat. now i have 2 movies with no endings. :(
Labels: to Despair, to Eat Drink Party, to Travel
Friday, March 16, 2007
computer idiot
* edited to add additional episodes 1, 2 , 3, 4*
had a most exasperating experience this morning.
had sent an invitation for a personalised email address (domain created via yahoo small business) to a staff in another office early this week, and he kept telling me that he "cant get in"
turned out he didnt have yahoo id.
told him to sign up for yahoo id.
after several false starts, he finally did, this morning.
but he said he still cant activate the email
turned out he hasnt activated his yahoo id in his alternate email address
told him to activate by following the link
then he said still cant activate the email via the invitation.
told him to go straight to domain mail site and try.
still cannot.
in exasperation, i asked him for his yahoo id and password (thankfully he is not very security concious and i was too far gone to care for HIS security... i dont know if he even knows how to change password after creating one... HA*)
i tried and can what!
orrr... i still trying to activate from invitation.
told him to go to explorer and straight to the domain mail site.
then he said cannot.
why?
cos computer hang.
ARGH!
p-l-e-a-s-e restart computer and restart browser, enter domain mail site
orrrr....
key in here huh?
where is here? i cant see your screen remember? what site are you at?
er... yahoo small business.
huh? did you enter domain mail site at the browser? (better make sure)
yes.
o-k-a-y, p-l-e-a-s-e enter yahoo id "*******" and your password "*****"
okay already.
good grief.
i now wait with bated breath for him to ask me how to use web mail...
...................................................................................................................................
Episode 1
Eh, how to cut and paste from here to yahoo ah? i dont want to retype the things
Er... cut from where? but nevermind. Just copy as usual and paste using the icon with the clipboard. Cannot right-click in yahoo mail.
What icon?
Those icons in a row on top of the message body?
Whats that?
*deep breaths* the space where you type in your message? beat. you need to click on "compose mail first"
orrr... got icons.
.................................................................................................................................
Episode 2
Eh, i cannot open your emails leh. My computer dont have power point.
Huh? Move it to a place with a power point lor
i mean my computer dont have power point programme.
You dont have Power Point software in your office computers?
My laptop have, but cannot print.
Then the old computer can print but dont have Power Point
*crying inside* ok, i convert the ppt file to tif for you...
.....................................................................................................................................
Episode 3
Eh, we already keyed in 1 application already. but they dont have acknowledgement one ah?
er... dont see them so up. beat. did you save?
no.
... ... ... re-log in and check if there is any records there, if dont have call and ask the admin on the other side to check
dont have telephone number
it is on the contact page which i gave to you
only have name and email
dont have any telephone number?
only the COMPANY telephone number.
*ready to die*
................................................................................................................................
Episode 4
how come i print the web-site already i cannot see ah?
huh?
did you adjust the print resolution?
no, nothing to do with it. i can see the website but when print, cannot see.
HUH?
yeah, when i print, it is like i cannot see the whole screen. Like copying a A3 document and print on a A4 paper.
ohhhh... you mean the page is truncated, on the right side? (educated guess)
yeah yeah yeah. how ah?
What is your explorer version? if you have explorer 7 you change choose a print setting to shrink the web page to suit the paper size.
explorer 6. Cannot upgrade lah. later more trouble.
*i decided to leave it as that*
Then you print in landscape lor
but not nice leh.
you got CHOICE meh?
had a most exasperating experience this morning.
had sent an invitation for a personalised email address (domain created via yahoo small business) to a staff in another office early this week, and he kept telling me that he "cant get in"
turned out he didnt have yahoo id.
told him to sign up for yahoo id.
after several false starts, he finally did, this morning.
but he said he still cant activate the email
turned out he hasnt activated his yahoo id in his alternate email address
told him to activate by following the link
then he said still cant activate the email via the invitation.
told him to go straight to domain mail site and try.
still cannot.
in exasperation, i asked him for his yahoo id and password (thankfully he is not very security concious and i was too far gone to care for HIS security... i dont know if he even knows how to change password after creating one... HA*)
i tried and can what!
orrr... i still trying to activate from invitation.
told him to go to explorer and straight to the domain mail site.
then he said cannot.
why?
cos computer hang.
ARGH!
p-l-e-a-s-e restart computer and restart browser, enter domain mail site
orrrr....
key in here huh?
where is here? i cant see your screen remember? what site are you at?
er... yahoo small business.
huh? did you enter domain mail site at the browser? (better make sure)
yes.
o-k-a-y, p-l-e-a-s-e enter yahoo id "*******" and your password "*****"
okay already.
good grief.
i now wait with bated breath for him to ask me how to use web mail...
...................................................................................................................................
Episode 1
Eh, how to cut and paste from here to yahoo ah? i dont want to retype the things
Er... cut from where? but nevermind. Just copy as usual and paste using the icon with the clipboard. Cannot right-click in yahoo mail.
What icon?
Those icons in a row on top of the message body?
Whats that?
*deep breaths* the space where you type in your message? beat. you need to click on "compose mail first"
orrr... got icons.
.................................................................................................................................
Episode 2
Eh, i cannot open your emails leh. My computer dont have power point.
Huh? Move it to a place with a power point lor
i mean my computer dont have power point programme.
You dont have Power Point software in your office computers?
My laptop have, but cannot print.
Then the old computer can print but dont have Power Point
*crying inside* ok, i convert the ppt file to tif for you...
.....................................................................................................................................
Episode 3
Eh, we already keyed in 1 application already. but they dont have acknowledgement one ah?
er... dont see them so up. beat. did you save?
no.
... ... ... re-log in and check if there is any records there, if dont have call and ask the admin on the other side to check
dont have telephone number
it is on the contact page which i gave to you
only have name and email
dont have any telephone number?
only the COMPANY telephone number.
*ready to die*
................................................................................................................................
Episode 4
how come i print the web-site already i cannot see ah?
huh?
did you adjust the print resolution?
no, nothing to do with it. i can see the website but when print, cannot see.
HUH?
yeah, when i print, it is like i cannot see the whole screen. Like copying a A3 document and print on a A4 paper.
ohhhh... you mean the page is truncated, on the right side? (educated guess)
yeah yeah yeah. how ah?
What is your explorer version? if you have explorer 7 you change choose a print setting to shrink the web page to suit the paper size.
explorer 6. Cannot upgrade lah. later more trouble.
*i decided to leave it as that*
Then you print in landscape lor
but not nice leh.
you got CHOICE meh?
Labels: to Despair, to Work
Friday, March 09, 2007
PANIC!
oh god oh god oh god
i cant remember the password to my treo
oh no oh no oh no
******** nope
******** nope
**** nope
******** nope
er....
***** nope
**** nope
***** nope
*** nope
******** nope
oh ^&$%@~!
****
home screen
oh god
thank god
.
.
.
.
.
must have been the migraine medication...
right?
must be ...
i cant remember the password to my treo
oh no oh no oh no
******** nope
******** nope
**** nope
******** nope
er....
***** nope
**** nope
***** nope
*** nope
******** nope
oh ^&$%@~!
****
home screen
oh god
thank god
.
.
.
.
.
must have been the migraine medication...
right?
must be ...
Labels: to Despair
Thursday, March 08, 2007
I did come down with something
Went for a day trip up to KL on 6-Mar-07, missing all the fun / scare of the building shaking from the earthquake in Indonesia.
Felt progressively worst after getting into the MH flight to KL (Argh), and slowly throttled by the oppressive heat and bumpy roads in KL.
The only thing good being the yummy sirlion steak zen lunch from Genki at PJ Hilton and the very fresh thick slices of sashimi from the sashimi moriwase, toro YUM, tuna GOOD, salmon OK (at least i ate it, i've since become a salmon snob, never eating it in commoner places, whether smoked, raw or however cooked)
Reached home late in the evening and crashed out.
Splitting headache when I finally woke up on morning of 7-Mar-07 and went to the doc.
In the end, i did come down with something...
MIGRAINE and lots of medication to knock me out.
Felt progressively worst after getting into the MH flight to KL (Argh), and slowly throttled by the oppressive heat and bumpy roads in KL.
The only thing good being the yummy sirlion steak zen lunch from Genki at PJ Hilton and the very fresh thick slices of sashimi from the sashimi moriwase, toro YUM, tuna GOOD, salmon OK (at least i ate it, i've since become a salmon snob, never eating it in commoner places, whether smoked, raw or however cooked)
Reached home late in the evening and crashed out.
Splitting headache when I finally woke up on morning of 7-Mar-07 and went to the doc.
In the end, i did come down with something...
MIGRAINE and lots of medication to knock me out.
Labels: to Despair, to Eat Drink Party, to Travel
Monday, March 05, 2007
Toasted Marshmallows
On some days, I feel like and work like superwoman. Multi-tasking, planning, delegating, checking, reporting, emailing, filing, scheduling, blogging, surfing, forumming, msning etc... with so much things crammed in my head and fits of productivity bursting forth in various performed! Done! Finito! Thoughts and ideas! Action!
.
.
.
Today is not one of those days.
It just feels like i've marshmallow stuffed in my head.
I could barely string 2 thoughts together, let alone string together the affairs of the 4-5 companies that I'm juggling.
Just managing to send a couple of emails out, scout out 2 business opportunities, prepared some payments, and I'm already nursing a mega headache and bleary eyes.
Either I'm coming down with something, or my weary old bones are dreading the travels that are starting soon (KL tomorrow, BKK next week).
Or both.
ARGH.
Labels: to Despair, to Work
Friday, March 02, 2007
Things I've learnt about driving - Part 2
More Things I've Learnt about Driving
Part 2 to Things I've earlier learnt about driving in Dec 06
- Almost hitting the 7k km mark with about 4 months of driving. crazy.
- Driving has become more intuitive and sub-concious as the km and hours piled up.
- It is no longer necessary to stare into the mirrors or road ahead to know what is going on. Glances of the surrounding cars'
- Experience counts. And if you dont learn from every day driving, you are bound to have to learn from costly mistakes, sooner or later.
- i am sometimes easily seduced by the sight of my car "eating up" the road as it travels, the flash of headlights from the opposite direction, the blur of things i pass.
- i like the thrill of leaning into right curves, like those joining different highways...
- More sinisterly, the seduction of high speed, my most comfortable speed being 100km/hr on highways and between 80 to 120 most days. I'm just glad that i havent got a more speedster ride, I might just go EVEN faster on them.
- Additional carparks conquered
* Changi Airport (it is so liberating to not have to queue for cabs and pay for the crazy surcharges on day trips. Max whole day parking is $17.33)
* Tong Eng Plaza (scary old building with lanes built for small cars of old)
* OCBC Center
* Capital Tower (scary tight and steep entrance and exit turns)
* Holiday Inn Atrium
* Ngee Ann City Shopping Center
* Tangs/ Marriott Hotel
* Oriental Hotel/ Marina Square
* Pioneer Mall
Part 2 to Things I've earlier learnt about driving in Dec 06
- Almost hitting the 7k km mark with about 4 months of driving. crazy.
- Driving has become more intuitive and sub-concious as the km and hours piled up.
- It is no longer necessary to stare into the mirrors or road ahead to know what is going on. Glances of the surrounding cars'
* position : how far are they from mine,
* movement : what are they planning to do, obstacles? traffic lights? changing lanes?
* speed : overtaking? very old driver to avoid? manual car to avoid stopping too near behind it?
* type : heavily laden vehicles, trucks etc have slow pick up and easily overtaken; heavily modded flashy vehicles are more likely to speed/ tailgate/ weave...
* driver : some drivers are more hazardous than others...
is enough information to aid me in my driving from point A to point B.
- Experience counts. And if you dont learn from every day driving, you are bound to have to learn from costly mistakes, sooner or later.
- i am sometimes easily seduced by the sight of my car "eating up" the road as it travels, the flash of headlights from the opposite direction, the blur of things i pass.
- i like the thrill of leaning into right curves, like those joining different highways...
- More sinisterly, the seduction of high speed, my most comfortable speed being 100km/hr on highways and between 80 to 120 most days. I'm just glad that i havent got a more speedster ride, I might just go EVEN faster on them.
- Additional carparks conquered
* Changi Airport (it is so liberating to not have to queue for cabs and pay for the crazy surcharges on day trips. Max whole day parking is $17.33)
* Tong Eng Plaza (scary old building with lanes built for small cars of old)
* OCBC Center
* Capital Tower (scary tight and steep entrance and exit turns)
* Holiday Inn Atrium
* Ngee Ann City Shopping Center
* Tangs/ Marriott Hotel
* Oriental Hotel/ Marina Square
* Pioneer Mall
Labels: to Drive
About Credit Cards (PART 2) - Point Exchange Stragegy
..................................................................................................................
Good : You get discount/ earn points / rewards for using your Credit Card (part 1)
Better : You exchange a good strategic amount of vouchers with your points (part 2)
Best : You use the vouchers when the shops are having a SALE! (part 3)
..................................................................................................................
So you've used your favourite credit card with best discounts and best rewards programme (while using the other cards only for the store discounts) and have accumulated millions of points.
Now what?
Card Member Fee
First of all, DONT use the points to offset your annual card subscription fee.
The credit card company will automatically deduct your points for the subscription fee if you have more than enough to do so.
Most people will raise hue and cry and threaten to cancel the card if they are billed for the subscription fee (if you dont, you should) , but will strangely allow the points to be deducted.
Dont. Call them and ask them nicely to reinstate the points.
They will agree most of the time, to pacify you, the biggish spender who has accumulated millions of points.
And the best bit? The reinstated points has a new expiry date, starting from the date of reinstatement!
Points Exchange Stategy
1. Vouchers or Gifts
a. Choose voucher instead of gift if possible. This is because gifts are usually valued at their listed recommended price, so you are likely to be able to get the same item at cheaper rates outside, by paying for it and still earn points.
b. You get more freedom of buying exactly what you want with vouchers, while there are limited gifts options.
2. Voucher
a. Do check the number of points required for each voucher dollar, eg. 2500 points for $20 in Shop A gives $1 for every 125 points, and 4800 for $40 in Shop B gives $1 for every 120 points.
If you can buy the same item at about the same price, why use the more expensive vouchers?
b. Make sure you are allowed to combine vouchers, and there is no lower spending limits.
c. Do try to maximize your points by mixing up the rewards, instead of using all the points on vouchers from 1 shop, you should try combinations of vouchers from different shops to use up all the expiry points. For example, instead of $270 from Shop C with balance of useless 1890 points, try $240 fron Shop C, $20 from Shop D, $20 from Shop E, with balance of useless 40 points. Yup, i've tried it. You just need to sit down, study the catalog and do some calculations.
d. You can do even better by using the vouchers when there is a SALE!!!
e. Exchange for vouchers from Shops where you already shop in. DUH!
3. Gift
a. Check the market selling price of each gift against number of points required. Go for the one which is most value-for-points.
b. Do exchange for gifts that you will actually use or be able to give away. DUH!
4. Flyer miles.
a. If you are a frequent flyer and like free travel. Do enrol for the flyer program with the appropriate credit card to maximise your miles.
b. Priority of Exchange
- i) Upgrade
By paying for a economy ticket, and upgrading to business (of first!) with your points, you actually earn miles from your miles, and better yet, MORE miles as higher flight classes give better miles compared to economy.
- ii) Companion Ticket
It is cheaper to exchange for companion ticket compared to a single ticket in the same class, especially if you are paying for a more expensive ticket in business (or first!) while exchanging miles for free companion ticket in economy.
Do note that both must travel together on same flight. Thats why it is called "companion" right?
- iii) Free ticket
Free ticket. 'nuff said. no more no less. But do try to exchange for the furthest or most expensive location within the same sector, provided if you actually do want to go there. DUH!
Good : You get discount/ earn points / rewards for using your Credit Card (part 1)
Better : You exchange a good strategic amount of vouchers with your points (part 2)
Best : You use the vouchers when the shops are having a SALE! (part 3)
..................................................................................................................
So you've used your favourite credit card with best discounts and best rewards programme (while using the other cards only for the store discounts) and have accumulated millions of points.
Now what?
Card Member Fee
First of all, DONT use the points to offset your annual card subscription fee.
The credit card company will automatically deduct your points for the subscription fee if you have more than enough to do so.
Most people will raise hue and cry and threaten to cancel the card if they are billed for the subscription fee (if you dont, you should) , but will strangely allow the points to be deducted.
Dont. Call them and ask them nicely to reinstate the points.
They will agree most of the time, to pacify you, the biggish spender who has accumulated millions of points.
And the best bit? The reinstated points has a new expiry date, starting from the date of reinstatement!
Timing
Do use your rewards only near their expiry, because most reward programs have a lowest tier for exchange. By accumulating your points, you gain more flexibility and better vouchers/ gifts, not the mention less wastage of balance points.
Points Exchange Stategy
1. Vouchers or Gifts
a. Choose voucher instead of gift if possible. This is because gifts are usually valued at their listed recommended price, so you are likely to be able to get the same item at cheaper rates outside, by paying for it and still earn points.
b. You get more freedom of buying exactly what you want with vouchers, while there are limited gifts options.
2. Voucher
a. Do check the number of points required for each voucher dollar, eg. 2500 points for $20 in Shop A gives $1 for every 125 points, and 4800 for $40 in Shop B gives $1 for every 120 points.
If you can buy the same item at about the same price, why use the more expensive vouchers?
b. Make sure you are allowed to combine vouchers, and there is no lower spending limits.
c. Do try to maximize your points by mixing up the rewards, instead of using all the points on vouchers from 1 shop, you should try combinations of vouchers from different shops to use up all the expiry points. For example, instead of $270 from Shop C with balance of useless 1890 points, try $240 fron Shop C, $20 from Shop D, $20 from Shop E, with balance of useless 40 points. Yup, i've tried it. You just need to sit down, study the catalog and do some calculations.
d. You can do even better by using the vouchers when there is a SALE!!!
e. Exchange for vouchers from Shops where you already shop in. DUH!
3. Gift
a. Check the market selling price of each gift against number of points required. Go for the one which is most value-for-points.
b. Do exchange for gifts that you will actually use or be able to give away. DUH!
4. Flyer miles.
a. If you are a frequent flyer and like free travel. Do enrol for the flyer program with the appropriate credit card to maximise your miles.
b. Priority of Exchange
- i) Upgrade
By paying for a economy ticket, and upgrading to business (of first!) with your points, you actually earn miles from your miles, and better yet, MORE miles as higher flight classes give better miles compared to economy.
- ii) Companion Ticket
It is cheaper to exchange for companion ticket compared to a single ticket in the same class, especially if you are paying for a more expensive ticket in business (or first!) while exchanging miles for free companion ticket in economy.
Do note that both must travel together on same flight. Thats why it is called "companion" right?
- iii) Free ticket
Free ticket. 'nuff said. no more no less. But do try to exchange for the furthest or most expensive location within the same sector, provided if you actually do want to go there. DUH!
Labels: to Read Think, to Shop Buy
