Infinite Beauty

In my travels from North to South within the Philippines Island, I have come to accept one of many essential truths. If you come to the Philippines, you are certain to be amused, amazed and impressed with the warmth of the people and the moderate atmosphere that you find yourself. As overwhelming as it is sometimes, one truth is evident. Should you be fortunate to find someone whom shares your interest and is patient enough to explain things to you, only then will you come to know the genuine beauty all around you. I leave you with an excerpt from the writings of Curthom:

"Their is infinite beauty when one grows from within. It is from this inner strength
that gives us character that separates us from others and we call that, individuality.
We are attracted to each other because of this difference and when we fail to show a difference, we cease to be ourselves. If, we deny ourselves to ourselves, then whom are we?"

Earning A Flight

Like so many or perhaps so few who venture off to South East Asia, some planning goes into it, but for me, it was just a matter of just wanting to go. I knew that I would be needing some time out, so that I could rejuvenate and recharge myself. So, about six months or so ago, I got one of those frequent flyer credit cards, so that I could put everything that I paid on it and earn some frequent flyer miles in return. I chose a credit card from Citibank. Specifically, I chose the American Airlines AAdvantage Credit Card and set out to get the miles that I needed to go anywhere in the world, so long as I earned 60,000 AAdvantage miles and gave them about $52.00 for the administrative fee. In return I got a "restricted" coach class ticket to fly pretty much anywhere in the world. I chose to visit the Philippines, by way of Hong Kong.

It wasn't too terribly difficult to earn the miles that I needed to get an award for a roundtrip ticket on American Airlines. They pretty much make it pretty easy for you to get the miles you needed by offering AAdvantage miles for flying on other airlines, like Cathay Pacific, one of my favorite airlines into the Philippines. There are countless AAdvantage miles earning opportunities for just about everything from donating to Charities to purchasing cell phone services to shopping through their AAdvantage Shopping Mall, to purchase the items you would normally buy anyways, such as office supplies, computers and music, but perhaps one of the fastest ways to earn AAdvantage miles is by participating in their Dining Program. In the AAdvantage Dining Program you can earn frequent flyer miles at a rate up to 5 AAdvantage miles for every $1 you spend at a participating member restaurant.

Generally, just about every airlines that flies to the Philippines has a similar business model for their frequent flyer program, but I especially like to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles because I like to fly on one of American Airlines, One World Alliance Partners such as Cathay Pacific, into Hong Kong and the Philippines. There are boundless ways for earning frequent flyer miles both paid, based on you purchasing something and unpaid, usually based on you doing a short survey or something similar. With a little creativity and time each week, generally no more than an hour a week, one could feasibly earn a minimum of 500 frequent flyer miles a week and if, you are paying bills, buying gas, eating out and purchasing your perishables with your frequent flyer credit card, your miles will add up very quickly. There are almost as many ways to earn frequent flyer miles for your next trip, as there are ways to spend your money. Take the extra five or so minutes to explore whether you can earn extra frequent flyer miles, before you make that next purchase. One example that I use frequently, is to use a frequent flyer credit card on another airlines frequent flyer program that I am a member of, such as NorthWest Airlines. I shop their WorldPerks Shopping Mall, so that I get the AAdvantage miles for using the American Airlines credit card, and the Northwest WorldPerk Miles, for shopping on their WorldPerks Mall. You can find additional tips and information at these web sites that I visit frequently to see the latest offerings and strategies: freefrequentflyermiles.com, flyertalk.com and webflyer.com's Mileage Mall. Enjoy your becoming flight!