Inside Travel Tips From a Reservation Agent

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over at Reddit.com they are having a Q & A with a airline travel booking agent. Lots of questions are being asked and the answers are interesting and informative. Lots of questions like working for an airline, the flight benefits, using miles, earning miles, avoiding stupid airline fees, low fares, partner airlines, Skyteam vs Oneworld vs Star Alliance and a slew of other things.

Here are a few of the best ones:

Can you help me figure out the best way to get a seat with legroom?
Go with Economy Comfort or Exit Row. That may cost you a bit though. Also take a look on Seatguru.com to determine with seats have the most leg room. Unethically, you could call the reservations agents and say you have a medical disability that requires a bulkhead seat (you don't have to state exactly what it is and Delta agents are forbidden to ask).

Any tips on how to get any freebies/upgrades/benefits?
Yes, after your flight you should call or email (preferably the later) and let them know about every single thing you didn't enjoy about your flight (food, movie selection, rude flight attendant, tray table didn't work, wifi didn't work etc). The airlines have a specific department to deal with complaints and they'll give you tens of thousands of miles, free business lounge passes, travel vouchers, drink tickets etc.

Is there any way I can get an upgrade or something?
A doctor on my flight to Japan got upgraded mid-flight for helping out. that's not an official policy but I've seen nice flight attendants do it.

What are some of the best airlines to fly within the United States?
You mean best as in service quality? I haven't flown any other airlines within the US in years because Delta flies just about everywhere and it's free for me. However, I've heard great things about Alaska Airlines, Jetblue, and Virgin.

What is the fastest way to rack up miles? Credit Cards? Special promos or secret deals?
Credit Cards are the best. Some people run their businesses off their credit cards and rack up millions of miles pretty easily. Suntrust Bank also has a checking account with a Skymiles debit card. that account is nice because the electronic bill pay also earns miles. So you can pay your rent/mortgage via bill pay and get miles for it. And if the person or org you're paying doesn't accept electronic payments it mails them a check.

This is only a small sample of the questions being asked. Also the discussion and war stories the commentors are posting are very interesting. If you have a travel related question go over to Reddit.com and ask it. Also search on Reddit for other subjects your interested in. You will find liked minded people having an intelligent discussion.

Retirement Options Are Changing for the 50 plus Employee

 Mexican businessman Carlos Slim (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Billionaire Carlos Slim said that boosting the retirement age to 70 would help to prop up the world’s struggling economies, according to a Mexican press report, cited by Forbes. He says the current retirement age was selected because at that time people worked more physical jobs.

Slim suggested the cure for our economic ills would be raising the retirement age in all countries to 70 thus taking the pressure off budget shortfalls. But for half of all Americans the idea is moot because they do not have the resources for retirement even with Social Security helping.

The normal job tradition of retirement at 65 is obsolete. So you must make sure you are a valuable asset to your employer so you can keep on working. One way to increase your value is continued education. You should consider going back to school but if you cannot attend day classes then an online line degree is your other option. There are online mba degrees that can provide you with the necessary education.

In the 1930's the age of eligibility for Social Security was 65 while the life expectancy was just under 60. Social Security was essentially old age insurance if you outlived your useful working years. Today the life expectancy is close to 73 and the eligibility age is 67.

In my own situation I also do not have enough saved for a retirement at 65 years old. The perfect storm of a divorce, 3 in college, and a 25% cut in business income have blessed me with working well into my seventies. Luckily, I'm fine with this future but what's OK for me is a real damper for others who were counting on retiring at 65 or earlier.

How will a company react to having mostly older employees? Just because an employee is older, does business have the right to judge your overall capacity to perform your job? In today's economy, business should integrate up to date policies concerning older workers. If a good employee has served a company well, their knowledge and experience must be utilized for training or supervising new blood that’s joining the team.

Society is used to having the old replaced with the new. Not because it's better but because there is a perception of improvement. But, new blood in a company can be good for the vitality and growth potential needs. Separately, they each can contribute something good, but together they offer a sum greater than the parts.

Being a valuable employee is hard work. Ask yourself, would you hire you? If the answer is no, maybe it's time to evaluate things. Here's a list of tips to consider:

1. Further your education. Just because you over 50, why do you think you think you shouldn't have continuing education? Your younger team members have more recent educational opportunities. These are the people you’re competing with for your job security. You may be knowledgeable but many employers look at youth and energy as positive attributes. Make sure you are staying up to date education wise. It couldn't hurt to take some online courses and maybe add a degree to your resume. When you are continually trying to better yourself you stay sharper and it shows the team leader you are trying to make yourself a more valuable asset to the organization.

2. Enhance your critical skills. Having a handle on your time management skills make you an asset to an organization. Being an organized team member by planning your days and weeks by priorities will give you peace of mind and allow you to have your goal on a clear track. Continued education with a masters degree organizational leadership could support this goal. A life in order will benefit you and your work production. Having good organization skills will be noticed by the organization.

3. Network outside of your company. Networking with people in other companies in your industry will keep you connected and it will benefit you and your company. Do not just network at your level; seek others above and below your level. Join clubs and organizations. Volunteer wherever you can make an impact. You will be enhancing yourself and showing the public that your company cares and wants to give back to the community.

4. Cultivate your work ethic. It may be a shocking thing to do but showing up on time for work and staying a full day is a radical thing to do in a company. Caring about your job and maybe coming in to work early and staying later will get you noticed by your boss. Start this habit and at least do it once a week. You will get noticed and if the day ever comes when your boss has to fire someone, the person giving a 150% to the company will not be at the top of the list.

5. Learn a new language. If your company deals with companies that are global, a foreign language will make you more valuable. Learn a language of a country your company deals with. When the day comes a translator is need you will be ready. When a promotion comes where a foreign language is needed you will be the top choice for it.

Its common sense that a company is going to only keep employees that are producing and an asset to increasing the bottom line. If you are contributing to that, then you are a valuable commodity to the company and you will have your job for a long time.

5 First Time Home Buyer Mistakes

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Buying your first home can be a great time if you are prepared. Finding the right home in the right place at the right price is sometimes an impossible task. On one of these points you may have to give in on. But the first time home buyer needs to look at more than these three criteria. There are many things to consider, that if not planned out well will turn a happy time into a disaster.

1. How much house can you afford. The biggest mistake many first time home buyers make is not knowing how much house they can afford. Knowing the true amount of house you can afford is not easy. Your mortgage company tells you one figure, the builder tells you another, and Uncle George tells you another. 

An easy way to get a quick and dirty figure is take your monthly expenses (excluding rent), including vehicle costs, student loan payments, credit card payments, groceries, health insurance, retirement savings and so on. Don’t forget major expenses that occur only once a year, like any insurance premiums you pay annually or annual vacations. Subtract this total from your take-home pay and you’ll know how much you can spend on your new home each month.

2. Getting pre-qualified for a mortgage. A first time buyer mortgage qualification consists of going to your lender and making an application to see if your credit and income are good enough to have a mortgage. No sense in wasting everyones time if you do not have the credit or income for a mortgage.

3. Consider additional home expenses. As a renter you had none of the expenses your going to have as a home owner. You have to add to your budget items like property taxes, insurance, roof repairs, furnace repairs, and a slew of other expenses seen and unseen. Some communities have homeowner associations with monthly maintenance costs.

4. Not having the home inspected before purchase. You need to know the true condition of the home before purchase. Suprises like a broken furnace, leaky roof, or termite damage is going to cost plenty to repair. These types of problems should be caught before purchasing a home. You may get a discount on the purchase price because of these defects. Having a good home inspection will give you the knowledge of the condition of your future home and definitely save you money.

5. Hire your own agent. This is the same as going to court and using your opponents lawyer. Having your own agent on your side helping you pay the lowest amount for the house will offset any fees you will have to pay. Agents are held to an ethical rule of acting in the best interest of their clients.

Buying your first home can be stressful and exhausting. Being aware of its pitfalls is half the battle. If you are aware of them ahead of time you are able to protect yourself and you won't make dumb mistakes.

A Successful Business Starts With A Good Accountant

Accountants (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

Entrepreneurs are fascinating people. They eat, live and sleep business. They live to create and build businesses. Their mind is always in gear with ideas to make money. They have a new idea about every five minutes on how to make money in a new and different way. They're our front line soldiers in growing the economy and getting the economy going again.

The one thing entrepreneurs are not good at is financial record keeping. They don't have the training needed to file complicated tax returns or the time to be familiar with tax law. That's where a good accountant can be of vital help.

Here are five ways an accountant can help your business:

1. Accountants can interpret and make sense out of your financial information. Your business generates huge amounts of data. Your invoices and accounts receivables can tell a lot about your business and its possible future. An accountant can interpret and organize this data. They can tell you if your business is growing or heading off a cliff. An accountant can give you the necessary information for you to make critical decisions in an intelligent way.

2. Accountants can see things clearer than the business owner. The business owner is stuck out in the field running the day-to-day operations of the business. They are not able to see the whole picture. An accountant can see things from a different perspective that would otherwise be missed. Accountants see the big picture and when you see the big picture you see new horizons and opportunities that can be taken advantage of.

3. Accountants have experience in the business world. Accountants are not only doing work for your business but they are doing work for many other businesses. They see the intricate workings of other types of industries and are able to use this knowledge to help your business. Not being locked into just one business as the entrepreneur is gives them a broad perspective. This perspective makes them a valuable asset to your company. Their experience lends itself to being a help in planning your business growth.

4. Accountants understand taxes. Taxes are not a simple problem for a company. The laws change almost every year and keeping up on them is a job unto itself. Rules and regulations having to do with payroll and government departments need to be kept up on. Your accountant can do this for you. Using an accountants knowledge of tax law will guarantee, you will be paying the minimum in taxes.

5. Accountants will see you through tax audits. When the tax man sends you a letter that you owe back taxes, there is no more frustrating and daunting experience. Clients of an accounting firm like www.liptrottandwoosey.co.uk are glad they are there to help them through all there accounting needs.

Can you survive without an outside accounting service? Maybe. But the help, guidance and knowledge given by a good accountant can be the catalyst that will make your business thrive.