So what’s your credit score and what does it mean?
Hopefully it corresponds with the JAL airline type I took from San Diego to Tokyo using points.
Basically, if you do not have derogatory marks, and you do not have a lot of debt you should have a high credit score. (A more technical explanation can be found by going to the FICO website.) I say should because a recent 60 Minutes story revealed that millions of Americans have errors on their credit reports and that some lending agencies use different metrics to gauge your creditworthiness beyond your personal FICO score.
Assuming you have cleared all hurdles up to this point regarding your credit score, there is one more question I must ask before you find yourself staying at the top floor of the Conrad Tokyo.
Are you planning on buying a house within the next two years?
30 Days To Maldives: Step 2
30 Days to Maldives: Step 1
To go here:
ThePointsOfLife Infomercial
An excerpt from my book Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong . . . Including Mine:
“The following is a paid advertisement for Enjoy #ThePointsOfLife. It does not represent the views or opinions of your friends and family.”
Cue tropical island music.
How would you like to do the following?
First, you will be picked up from your home in a specially-commissioned Mercedes-Benz by a personal chauffer who will escort you to the private first-class entrance of the airport. Next, you will enjoy upscale dining (enough free peanuts to make up for all those fees you were paying while flying coach) and premium cocktails in a trendy lounge with free Wi-Fi. (Everyone loves free Wi-Fi.) The lounge also includes a spa, sleeping area, and business center to finalize any last minute international deals, i.e., email all your friends images of the lounge for spite.
Mind you, all of this is yours before boarding the plane.
Once on-board, you will travel comfortably throughout your overseas journey wearing cozy pajamas, resting in a seat that lies fully flat. A five course meal with unlimited Dom Pérignon (or Jack Daniels) along with an endless supply of entertainment on your personal 23” LED will have you wishing the flight would last a bit longer. Before landing, do not forget to schedule a hot shower at 30,000 feet and freshen up with the provided designer brand amenities kit. For your convenience, the shower has a maximum capacity of two.
Upon landing, you will again be escorted via an executive car service to the domestic terminal. From there, you will take a private seaplane to a paradise resort right in the heart of the ocean. At check-in, you will be offered more champagne (so make sure you bring your Ibuprofen), receive a complimentary upgrade for a bungalow directly over the tropical, crystal-clear blue water, and be pampered day and night by staff eager to fill all of your wishes and desires (within the confines of the law).
After a week of over-relaxation, you will depart the island but can look forward to enjoying the privileges and amenities of a first-class journey home. You may choose to skip the shower the second time around as the novelty of telling the story is greater than the experience itself.
The points are not.
Pho No
![Image](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/img_1438.jpg?w=650)
Paddle Bored
For most, going on vacation means relaxation, unwinding, and a momentary break from the everyday. Then you arrive and find yourself with nothing to do. While some people unplug from their emails, social media, and all other distractions, I get bored of ‘relaxing’ almost immediately. Searching for something to do both active and entertaining, I came across this ‘sport’ called paddleboarding. My friend in Miami said It was a good workout and a way to get out in the water. So I thought I would give it a shot.
After falling off to a chorus of laughs once again, I decided to park my paddleboard on the shore and do nothing. Watching my friends attempt to windsurf was just as bad as my attempts to cut through the water of the Intracoastal.
I’ve paddleboarded from Mauritius to the Maldives and have concluded I need a new vacation hobby. At least, the experience made for some good pictures.
Watch out for the seaplane!
Swamp Water
![Image](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/image.jpg?w=650)
No One Listens to the Professor
![IMG_0454](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/img_0454.jpg?w=470)
Southwest Airlines’ Flight of the Night . . .
Presented by nobody! So I’m en route to Miami (FLL) from Phoenix on a direct flight that cost me a whopping $2.50 less a free bag of peanuts. They even gave me another for free. Today while many airlines are charging more and providing less, Southwest is doing the opposite. Reward flights are easy to attain and easier still to redeem. This post is a great segue for what is possible when u begin to Enjoy #ThePointsOfLife. In the coming posts in this category I will tell you all you need to know to get to Las Vegas or even better Los Cabos flying Southwest for next to nothing. Oh, and you can bring your companion for free!
All this can be yours if the points are right . . .
![Itinerary](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/itinerary.png?w=470)
Detroit Delicious
Food. Yum.
Need I say more? Travel anywhere, well mostly anywhere and you will encounter amazing food. I’m going to start with the holy grail of food, Coney Islands in the D.
After a late night following a Tigers game, an inevitable Detroit Lions loss, nothing is better than chillyicheese fries, a gyros, and a Detroit style chili dog. I know people stateside and indeed worldwide are scared of Detroit and therefore let that fabricated fear get the best of them.
That unwarranted fear quickly dissipates after having those tasty treats.
Please support American Coney Island when you finally get to Detroit to watch a Lions victory.
Here’s how our global food tour begins:
Hey, at least I had a diet pepsi.