When I saw the new offers on the Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited cards last week, I was pretty excited. We had the ability to add one of these cards in my household and the offer and timing were right for us. The key question for me to answer was Freedom or Freedom Unlimited? […] The post Chase Freedom vs Freedom Unlimited: Which to choose? appeared first on Frequent Miler.

Small-business owners and leaders face unique demands every day. As a self-employed small-business owner myself for the last two years prior to joining TPG, I had to shift my focus hourly from my subject matter — loyalty programs and travel — to worrying about things like taxes, health insurance and family life. And if you’re a small-business owner who doesn’t have the expertise in points and miles you wish you had, it’s hard to find the time and resources to master the craft, save yourself a lot of money and earn rewards.

To help educate and connect small-business owners with a passion for award travel, TPG is proud to launch The Points Guy Small Biz Facebook Group. The community is dedicated to educating small-business owners on how to turn monthly expenses into cash back, points or miles. The group is also designed to connect small-business owners to more seasoned business people to learn about how to maximize loyalty returns. Plus, we want to give small-business owners access to TPG’s networks with our hotel, airline and bank partners, so that you can tell these major players in the travel and banking industries what small businesses need to succeed — on the road or through credit cards and bank products.

A community of vetted small-business owners and leaders

We want to make sure that all members in The Points Guy Small Biz group are in fact small-business owners or leaders. So in order to join, you need to fill out three simple questions (they will auto-populate from Facebook when you ask to join the group.) They are:

A tech startup is getting attention for giving away vacations to its employees. They insist that’s not extravagant because they’re using points. However they’re doing it wrong. Continue reading Internet Startup Gives Free Vacations to Employees Off Credit Card Spend...

I like travel deals, miles, points, etc. primarily because I like to travel and that is a way to make it more comfortably fit in my budget. However, the rush you get when you pull the trigger on a killer deal can be pretty epic all by itself. The adrenaline that seeps through your veins when you book an unexpected trip because the price was right, or the bubbling anticipation of what is to come when you board the plane and… The post Chasing the High of Scoring a Great Travel Deal appeared first on Mommy Points.

There are three relatively inexpensive ways to fly on low fare economy class tickets to Europe. Fly a low cost carrier like Norwegian or Wow. Fly an airline like Aeroflot via Moscow or Turkish Airlines via Istanbul for travel beyond your European destination and backtrack on a connecting flight for another low fare option. The… The post American Airlines Vancouver to Paris $463 USD round trip into May, Air Canada $685 in July appeared first on Loyalty Traveler.

Here are some newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week: New pact means scheduled air service to Cuba likely to start in 2016. Uber can now pick up passengers at Mineta San Jose Airport New York City hotel rates go through the roof for New Year’s Eve. Hilton HHonors offers double points/miles for […] The post Scheduled flights to Cuba + Uber at San Jose + New Year’s Eve in NYC + HHonors double points appeared first on TravelSkills.      Related StoriesScheduled flights to Cuba + Uber at San Jose + New Year’s Eve in NYC + HHonors double points - EnclosureNew hotels in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, NYCNew hotels in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, NYC - Enclosure 

On my recent trip to New York City, I hosted an informal meetup with several readers at a mid-town bar. One of the +1’s so happened to be Francois de Lame, the co-founder of PolicyGenius, a company that provides an easy path to term life insurance policies from dozens of competing insurers through tailored advice and no-pressure sales.

It was fun to talk to Francois about his journey from McKinsey after undergrad to Harvard Business School, back to McKinsey and then to founding PolicyGenius in 2014 with Jennifer Fitzgerald, a fellow McKinsey associate. Entrepreneurs who give up a healthy paycheck always intrigue me because that’s exactly what I did after leaving finance.

PolicyGenius’ main focus is life insurance policies with terms ranging from 5 to 30 years and coverage between $25,000 – $10,000,000. Additionally, they provide consumers with access to several other insurance types, including renters insurance, long-term disability and pet insurance. They do all the legwork involved with making tough insurance decisions on behalf of their customers, and then help them with the application and purchasing process – explaining policies and the entire process in plain English so you know what you’re getting.

SURPRISING STATISTICS ABOUT LIFE INSURANCE

Here are some recent statistics about life insurance from research studies conducted by LIMRA that I think everybody should be aware of:

* Nearly 7 out of 10 employees (>90 million Americans) have life insurance benefits through an employer, of which 80% participate.

* 60% of all Americans own life insurance but less than half of middle market consumers (ages 25-64) have coverage.

* 30% of people in the U.S. (70 million people) say they need more life insurance.

* Over 50% of people say the loss of a primary wage earner would become a financial burden within one year and 47% said within six months, including 40% of >$100,000 income households.

* 65% of Americans don’t buy life insurance because they think it’s too expensive. But 80% assume it’s more expensive than reality. Millennials overestimate the cost by 213% and Gen X by 119%.

* 3 major reasons workers own group life insurance policies include burial expenses (49%), lost income (41%) and mortgage payments (30%).

* Age and health are not the only inputs that can affect cost. Your driving record, credit history, activities (think adventure sports) and lifestyle can too.

* 38% of workers with a basic life insurance plan have a flat dollar amount benefit with a median amount of $20,000.

* 57% of workers have a fixed multiple of annual earnings with 1x salary being the most common multiple.

And in case you are wondering, Francois absolutely believes term life insurance is the way to go over whole life insurance due to excessive fees. I agree.

LIFE INSURANCE THE EASY WAY

Here’s the gist of how the process works with PolicyGenius. Answer a few simple questions on PolicyGenius’ website and instantly receive free, personalized and comprehensive life insurance quotes on your own time. It literally only takes a few minutes. Here’s the homepage screenshot.

There is a built in algorithm that takes into account any health issues you may have in order to get you the most accurate quotes possible which means less time juggling quotes from various sites and answering lengthy surveys via phone. And you can rest assured that your information is confidential and won’t be resold as you’ll see in the company’s strict security policy. PolicyGenius is designed to take the hard work out of finding both an affordable and comprehensive policy for your individual needs.

Since PolicyGenius is an independent insurance broker, they are focused on providing unbiased advice on more than two-dozen A-rated top life insurance companies that they have personally researched and vetted. It also means they’ll never sell your information to a third party vendor, so you don’t have to worry about a flurry of calls from brokers eager to make a sale.

What’s great for consumers is any commissions and marketing fees are already baked into the cost of insurance. This means that whether you buy a particular policy through PolicyGenius or directly from the insurer, you’ll always pay the same price. A lot of people don’t realize that working with an insurance broker doesn’t cost extra money.

PolicyGenius’s customer service team – who is there to answer any questions you have over the phone or online – aren’t commission based, so you’ll never have to worry about them pushing one insurer over another. They’re just interested in finding customers the right policy for their needs.

After you find a policy you like and submit your application, you’ll need to schedule a convenient time for a medical technician to complete a free paramedical exam at your home or office. This is standard procedure when applying for any life insurance policy through any company or broker. I had one done when I took out a $1,000,000 term life policy years ago. He took my blood pressure, weighed me, and drew some blood – easy and fast.

Then you wait for the underwriting process to complete and the final rate for your policy to arrive. If your rate ends up changing due to a medical finding, PolicyGenius can help you make sure it’s the best offer out there. Lastly, the final policy arrives for your review. You’re under no obligation to purchase it if you changed your mind.

SAMPLE QUOTES FOR 30-YEAR POLICIES

After you input your basic information and answer a couple minutes of questions, PolicyGenius will highlight the best options for you to review and compare along with about 10-15 other quotes.

The top 3 options they selected for my search were a good fit, but it was nice to have an idea of what all the other companies were offering as well. This is the key value proposition because the prices are regulated. You don’t know whether the quote you are getting directly from one insurer is any good without comparing the prices to others.

Within the quotes window you can also adjust your coverage and term, to see the variations in pricing, kind of like how you’d shift your dates and times when searching for a flight.

From there, you can select your preferred quote and PolicyGenius will help you through the rest of the application process, which takes between 1-3 months depending on your health and availability for the medical exam.

Here’s a look at sample 30-year policy quotes for an average male living in San Francisco.

• Male, 5’10” height, 165 weight
• Age 35
• Salary $150,000
• No pre-existing health conditions
• Clean driving record

PolicyGenius keeps customers updated throughout the application process so you’re never left wondering where you stand. Once you’ve been approved and purchase your insurance policy, check out their blog and information centers for key advice on things like how to store and share your insurance policy details with loved ones.

LIFE INSURANCE FOR PEACE OF MIND

Getting life insurance is imperative if you have dependents who rely on your income to survive e.g. stay at home spouse, kids, elderly parents. Many families with children smartly get a term policy that lasts at least through when all their children graduate from college. Life insurance is also important if you have debt that will be difficult to cover by someone else or your estate in case of your death.

Unlike the estate tax, where the government gets to take almost half of every dollar you leave after ~$5.4 million after you die, beneficiaries of life insurance don’t have to pay a cent in taxes.

Getting life insurance is an act of kindness for those you love the most. It makes me happy knowing that if I die, several people will get an additional income boost beyond the assets I will already be leaving them. They can use the money to pay for any estate taxes, escape from the world until they feel mentally fit to return, or buy them time to figure out what to do with the assets.

If you’re looking for a term life insurance policy, check out PolicyGenius to get a free quote. And if you’re looking to read a comprehensive article on when to take out life insurance and how much life insurance to take out, I’ve got you covered here using my own example of a $1M, 20 year term policy.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Reader MikeSmith asked the following question in the "Ask Lucky" forum: "I have a Capital One Venture Card that earns 2x miles per dollar. My girlfriend has a Gold Delta Skymiles credit card. We live in Atlanta, GA. These two credit cards are airline miles cards, not fixed or flexible points cards, right? Should my girlfriend get rid of her Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and try to get a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (which is a flexible points card)? We do some domestic travel, but we really like to save up for international flights to East Asia or Southeast Asia (we also might like to travel to Europe occasionally)." In general I think this is the "standard" realization people come to when they start to look into credit cards in more detail. And there's oh-so-much potential for people in the above situation to maximize their points. The post Which Flexible Points Cards To Get? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

Ah, yes. We all know the old cliche about breakfast being the most important meal of the day. Somehow it just seemed appropriate to start out the new year as we would a new day, with a good breakfast. At first glance based on the “peanut butter” and “chocolate” in the title, this may seem more like a dessert being passed off as breakfast fare. However, I’m happy to say that these are indeed a breakfast you can feel good about!

The original version of these is topped with a traditional (i.e. not healthy) sweetened whipped cream. Instead I topped them with greek yogurt sweetened with honey, sliced bananas and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar. The waffles are whole grain, providing a boost in fiber and protein. Some might take issue with chocolate in a so-called healthy recipe but I say, let’s just use dark chocolate and call it good on the antioxidant front.

I hope everyone’s new year is off to a wonderful start so far. As always, I have lots of ideas in the works but please let me know if there are specific recipes, types of recipes or other posts you would like to see this year. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

In early 2015 I wrote a tutorial on how to select seats on Etihad when booking through other airlines (like when redeeming American AAdvantage miles for travel on Etihad). While Etihad will allow you to select seats on their website if you booked your ticket directly through them, they don't allow you to do so if you booked through another airline or frequent flyer program. For a long time there was a workaround, though, which involved modifying the URL on Etihad's website. Unfortunately that trick no longer works, though thanks to reader Mitch for pointing out a new workaround for selecting Etihad seats when you booked your ticket through another airline. Specifically, Etihad allows you to select seats online on partner tickets, but only if you use their mobile website. As before, if you use Etihad's website and try to select a seat, you'll get a message saying "we are sorry but this booking cannot be changed online."

Flying to Abu Dhabi with Emirates in Economy class? Emirates Airways offers free coach bus tansfer to two of the other Emirates. Find out the details here. The post Flying Etihad to Abu Dhabi? Get A FREE Ride To… appeared first on Michael W Travels....

If you’re going to travel on this amazing fare to Abu Dhabi, India, Africa or Asia you may wonder whom to credit the flight miles to? The key thing to know is that this deal has been booking into E class. Knowing the fare basis of your ticket will tell you what kind of miles […] The post For Those Of You Who Are Booking The Etihad $178 Fares… appeared first on View from the Wing.

This is about as close to an as-it-happens recipe post as it gets here on The Pioneer Woman Cooks, because I made the casserole last night, covered it, popped it in the fridge, and am baking it right now as I type up this post.

The important thing you need to know about me is that I am a planner. I plan ahead, weeks—sometimes months—in advance, the posts I’m going to write here on my website. I never do things last minute. And I always have plenty of lead time between my cooking and my posting it here.

On Opposite Day.

This is a delicious side dish! Perfect for Thanksgiving for those of you who just want a veggie dish without all the rice and potatoes to carb it up. Here’s how to make it!

 
Start with a head of broccoli: Break it into small florets, cutting the stalks off as you go…

 
 
 
And do the same with the cauliflower.

 
 
 
In other news, I made this casserole while watching “For Love of the Game” with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. I can’t handle how much I love that movie. It’s beautiful and emotional, and the final kissing scene is one of my top three favorite movie kisses of all time. In fact, I think I’m going to kiss Marlboro Man like that when he gets home from working cattle later this morning and see where it gets me.

“I love you, Jane.”

“I never believed!”

“Believe it.”

UGH! IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!

Okay, I’m back now. Thank you for listening.

 
 
 
Put the veggies in a steamer basket and steam ‘em for 3 to 4 minutes or so, just until they’re nice and bright.

 
 
 
Now it’s time to make the sauce, which is lovely! Start by dicing some onion…

 
 
 
And mincing some garlic.

 
 
 
Throw ‘em into a skillet with a good amount of butter…

 
 
 
And saute it for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onions start to soften.

 
 
 
Then, to make it saucy (say with a Jersey accent), sprinkle some flour over the top…

 
 
 
Then stir it together and cook it for a minute or so…

 
 
 
Then pour in the chicken broth. Definitely use low sodium if you have it; you can always add more salt if it needs it.

 
 
 
Stir in the broth…

 
 
 
And cook it over medium heat until it thickens, about 3-4 minutes or so.

 
 
 
And now? And now. And now! Things are about to get serious: Add 4 ounces of softened cream cheese. It should be room temperature, that way it’ll mix into the sauce really well, so if you’re pulling it straight out of the fridge, remove it from the foil wrapper and warm it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

 
 
 
Stir it around until it’s smooth…

 
 
 
Then stir in salt and pepper…

 
 
 
Seasoned salt and paprika.

 
 
 
Tremendously yummy! Now taste it and make sure it’s plenty flavorful, and add a little more of whatever it needs.

 
 
 
Another thing you need for the casserole is cheese! I used Monterey Jack, but you can use cheddar, cheddar-jack, even Parmesan or Romano…anything goes.

 
 
 
And finally, put some seasoned breadcrumbs into a bowl, add some melted butter…

 
 
 
And stir it with a fork until they’re all coated.

 
 
 
To assemble the casserole, add half the broccoli and cauliflower to a small casserole dish…

 
 
 
Then pour on half the sauce.

 
 
 
Actually used a little less than half, as I wanted the sauce to coat the veggies but not just totally take over.

 
 
 
Next comes a layer of cheese…

 
 
 
And, just for kicks, a sprinkling of paprika.

 
 
 
Now, another layer! Veggies…

 
 
 
Sauce…

 
 
 
And cheese, baby.

Amen.

 
 
 
Now, this is where I stopped (and this is where you can stop, too, if you want to make it ahead of time), covered the dish, and popped it in the fridge overnight.

 
 
 
I also popped the breadcrumbs in the fridge overnight, and this morning, I just sprinkled them right over the cheese.

 
 
 
Then I baked it at 375 for about 35 minutes! If you make it straight through, it won’t have to bake quite that long; since this was cold, it took a little more time.

 
 
 
Hot, bubbly, delicious. The house smells so darn good right now.

 
 
 
The veggies are nice—I like the small florets.

 
 
 
And the sauce is creamy and rich, but not heavy and gloopy.

 
 
 
Delicious! I’m eating it as I type this.

 
 
 
A dreamy side dish for Thanksgiving…or for any night of the week.

Here’s the handy dandy printable.

 

Washington, D.C. is a city internationally known as being the hub of American politics as opposed to it being the home of Country music but the home-grown Morrison Brothers Band has made D.C. their Nashville. Seven years ago, the current lineup of D.C.’s own Southern Rock band was set and now they’re headlining the 9:30 Club for the second time on Friday, July 11.

As their moniker points out, The Morrison Brothers Band does actually consist of two sets of brothers from D.C. including lead vocalist Willie Morrison and his older brother/guitar player Truman as well as drummer Matt Nolan and his younger brother/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Nolan. Then, to round out the group, there’s multi-instrumentalist Dave Benson and vocals from Alyson Gilbert.

Willie and Truman were college students away from home in Los Angeles at the same time when they originally started the band. They even ended up playing the group’s first show at the infamous Roxy. Upon graduation, Truman moved back to D.C. and started the migration of the band from California to its current D.C. home. During that summer, Willie and his big brother were introduced to drummer Matt Nolan (who was attending school in New Orleans) out of necessity and he seemingly passed the audition to fill a much needed void before casually mentioning that he knew a bass player and would bring him next time. That bass player ended up being Matt’s 12-year-old brother Kevin.

When asked what drew him to the initial meet-up and eventual collaboration as a band member, Matt said, “I knew the attraction immediately to playing with Willie and Truman was like, ‘Wow, this is my first opportunity to play with people that are actually writing songs, [and] good ones at that.’”

The Morrison Brothers Band spent a majority of their formative D.C. years rehearsing more than they played live. Their big breakout gig was in the summer of 2009 when they headlined and sold out The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va. “I guess the tone of everything sort of changed at that point,” Matt said. “At first it was a Summer thing [but] then, after [The Birchmere show] it kind of became a 365 thing, another year after that it became a touring thing, and now we [want to] go all those different directions as thoroughly as we can.”

The good news is, the guys are well on their way to that.

Within the past year alone, the band has opened for Country legend Merle Haggard as well as Country stars Frankie Ballard and Maggie Rose and have found success among those diverse crowds of fans. At the Merle show and even Frankie’s, the band observed that it was a mostly over 50 crowd. But when it comes to shows like the ones they play at the 9:30 Club and subsequent equivalents, it’s an under 50 crowd turning up to rock live. They’ve got a diverse appeal and are grateful for the support.

For example – when they opened for Frankie Ballard, a mother of two young girls approached the band after the show and said, “You know, I brought my two daughters out to see Frankie and I loved the way you guys played, you reminded me so much of Little Feat.” That comment in and of itself pretty much made Matt and the band’s life that much better. Why? While the band’s a huge fan of Little Feat, Matt admitted that Little Feat has been his “favorite band with no exceptions basically forever.” The fact that somebody could hear that influence in their music just knocked him over.

In just seven years together, the band has worked to co-write all of their material as a group with each member spearheading their own song projects. As a result of that hard work, the tunes have a commercial appeal that leaves listeners feeling reminiscent of groups like the Zac Brown Band (who just happens to be a band The Morrison Brothers crew would love to play a show with one day). Their tracks have found airplay on D.C.’s Country station WMZQ and has are even in rotation at smaller stations in the South and Midwest.

“I think we’re really coming into ourselves and people are starting to recognize that,” Willie Morrison said.

What’s next for The Morrison Brothers Band after their celebratory 9:30 Club show on Friday? Two shows in Dewey Beach, Delaware and then it’s off to the recording studio in Beltsville, Maryland to lay down 2-3 tracks for their next EP.

“We just want to get to a place where we can be touring more,” Willie said. “We don’t get to tour as much as I think we’d all like to.” That’s a definite goal for the band moving forward and releasing more material is part of how they’d like to go about it. Travel from city to city and town to town and make new fans as much as they can, that’s the plan.

The Morrison Brothers Band will be playing live with Amy Wilcox at the 9:30 Club on Friday, July 11 in Washington, D.C. Tickets are still available for $20.

Now that American Express has opened a new lounge in Dallas that puts the offerings of US domestic airlines to shame, and opened up complimentary access to Platinum cardholders, there’s real anticipation of what the next lounge to join Dallas and Las Vegas will be.

ShrewdTravel says that it’s going to be San Francisco.

According to the construction managers working on the Boarding Area as well as numerous United and SFO employees, there is also work being done on a new American Express Centurion Lounge at SFO. This new lounge will not be on the new boarding pier (the lounge being built there is a United Club), but the new Centurion Lounge is currently under construction.

Here’s what I was able to learn about the upcoming American Express Centurion Lounge at SFO.

• The lounge is currently under construction
• The estimated time of completion is early summer 2014.
• The architect is Gensler, the same company that designed the new LAX TBIT Star Alliance Lounge

Developing…

---

You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!

The post Where Will the Next American Express Centurion Lounge Be? appeared first on View from the Wing.

There are several different variations on the American Express Platinum card, some of which are targeted at specific consumers and others that are available to everyone. I’ve been recommending the American Express Platinum card for years, and have carried one for about a decade. In February...

©View From The Wing, a BoardingArea Blog

Great video counting down the top ten busiest airports in the world. I have been to all but two of them. How many have you been to?! Related Posts 2012 Airport Top Twenty Some anomalies at Skytrax Best Airports Best and Worst Airports of 2010

©Wild About Travel, a BoardingArea Blog

 
I have a thing for Frank’s Red Hot sauce, so when I saw this Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza from TK member (and fellow TK Blog contributor) Laurie, I knew this was a recipe for me. The combination of roasted chicken and salty tangy blue cheese along with this special sauce was heavenly. You really want to try this one! Especially if you have leftover roasted chicken or any other meat on hand.

 
 
 

To make it you will need: garlic naan, green onion, roasted chicken, butter, cayenne, Frank’s Red Hot, blue cheese and pepper jack cheese.

 
 
 

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the Frank’s, butter, cayenne, salt and pepper. Whisk until combined and slightly bubbling and remove from the heat.

 
 
 

Meanwhile, shred your cheese!

 
 
 

And dice your green onion.

 
 
 

Preheat the oven to 425ºF and lay the naan on a baking sheet covered in foil or sprayed with cooking spray.

 
 
 

Spoon the Buffalo sauce all over the naan …

 
 
 

Pile on the roasted chicken …

 
 
 

Then the blue cheese and pepper jack. Pop it in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the naan is browned and crispy.

 
 
 

Top it with green onions and slice it into pieces. Small sizes make it a great appetizer!

 
 
 

These delicious bites will not last; the salt and tang and crunch are oh-so-addictive. Thank you Laurie for another winner. Visit her website Simply Scratch for more delicious treats!

 
 

Recipe

 
 
_______________________________________

There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

 
 

就在短短一周之前，哥伦比亚航空的里程兑换表格悄悄的涨价，  ...

©TMtravelworld (in Mandarin), a BoardingArea Blog