http://www.nycgo.com/mix-n-match

Costco is on the list along with Banana Republic so it won’t be too hard for me to earn the credit.

Here are some interesting numbers from SPG:

• 22 – Most countries visited by one member
• 75 – Most hotels experienced by one member
• 91 – Most nights redeemed by one member
• 10,862,000 – Most SPG points redeemed by one member
• 19,670,583 – Most SPG points earned by one member

I’m really interested to see how the 19 million points was earned by one person. Some personal guesses are probably something involving convention planner or really heavy credit card usage.

The service charges a flat fee of 2.75% for all major card types. The fee structure is simple but rather expensive and makes it great for small volume users who will use the device on the rare occasion.

In my test trials with 10 transactions it takes about 2 swipes to get the card to read. Once the charge is authorized the customer can then sign right on the touchscreen using a stylus or their finger. The application also uses your device’s location services to log where the transaction is taking place.

All in all the Square setup is executed pretty well but then I get an e-mail from a Square’s risk/fraud staffer asking me about the nature of my transactions. I explain to them what I’ve been doing and the transactions are 0% risk in terms of chargebacks or fraud.

I then get an e-mail back stating that they are terminating my account and cite a clause in their user agreement that allows them cancels user accounts at their discretion for no reason.

I understand and respect their right to cancel any account at any time for any or no reason at all but doing so without any warning or any real reason means that people who intend to use this for real business purposes should stay far away. They also state the funds in the account will be held for 30 days which is fine by me as the amounts aren’t that much but could have serious implications for anyone doing major sales and counting on the funds.

Square at the moment is too small of a company with very rash risk personnel  to take seriously. Up next I’ll be reviewing their competitor ChargeSmart Mobile.

I got 213 questions correct and passed with an 85%.

According to wikipedia, the average score of test-takers is around 73%, with around 66% of test-takers achieving a passing score.

I didn’t think the exam was as hard as people made it out to be. I studied on/off for about 3-4 weeks using the Kaplan materials provided by my employer. The Kaplan practice questions were extremely helpful in that they are very similar to the way questions are posed on the exam.

My biggest tip to people taking the exam is to bring soft ear plugs as there are other people in the room taking their GREs and misc other tests so there is a lot of typing noise in the background. The testing center does supply headsets but they weren’t too comfortable or effective in my experience.

The test is split into two parts and there is a mandatory half hour break in the middle. My exam started at 8 AM and I finished the first half by 9:30 AM so I bought some coffee and spent half an hour pacing back and forth. I finished the second part even quicker because I was too anxious to get my score so I didn’t go back and review any questions.

One of the best parts about the computerized exam is that you get your score instantly. You’ll also get a print out of how you scored in different topics of the exam.

You get 5 different portfolios to try out various strategies.

The contest starts tomorrow so register already if you haven’t.

• Write down important phone contacts. A lot of people who regularly use cell phones don’t memorize a lot of important numbers. If you lost power and your cell phone died you’d have problems contacting people even if you had access to anther phone.
• Don’t forget to get a water filter. Lots of people just focus on getting bottled water but you’d be surprised how fast you go through bottled water. If you have a Brita filter or equivalent you can even start storing water in various containers in preparation beforehand. You’re also able to do things like fill your bathtub with water in anticipation of bring cutoff from water and safely filter that water for consumption.
• Keep some cash on hand. It can be useful for buying things not only from other people but from stores where the power might be out.
• Have plans on where to meet up in case of evacuation. In the case of an evacuation have multiple plans on where to meet up.
• Have a backup method of cooking food and boiling water. For most people with a backyard grill this can easily be done by a bag of charcoal or gas of propane. If your gas is cutoff you might be stuck eating cold food.
• Get portable flashlights for walking outdoors. When my power went out the street lights went with it. I noticed some people walking around outside without any flashlights in hand. This is extremely dangerous as drivers may not see you.

I was fortunate to not have any food spoilage because when my power went out I was able to hook up a portable generator my father uses for camping to the refrigerators. The Verizon FiOS device in my house had a battery backup unit which allowed it to continue working despite the blackout. I was able to get internet by plugging the router into the backup generator. Having a laptop and access to the internet made the blackout easily bearable.

People who passed the first million mile mark were given lifetime Gold status and Platinum status at the second million mile mark. What made AA different from other airlines was that miles from any source counted towards the million mile program even miles from credit card spending. That’s all about to change.

Here’s a snippet of the announcement from AA.

We are announcing a new AAdvantage^® Million Miler^SM program which recognizes and rewards AAdvantage members when Million Miler thresholds are reached. Starting December 1, 2011, AAdvantage base miles earned by flying on American Airlines, American Eagle^® or the AmericanConnection^® carrier or any eligible AAdvantage program participating airline will count towards Million Miler status.

Check out aa.com/millionmiler for more info.

Starting Dec 1st, 2011 only base miles earned from flying American Airlines will count towards the million mile status. There’s a limited time offer for those with the new Citi Executive card to continue earning miles that count through December 2012 but that card comes with a $450 annual fee.

So if you’re interested in million miler status then the race is on to accumulate non-flying miles until December 1st.

According to ING Direct the checks will come with some extra features:

• Email Notifications to let you know when your checks are cashed.
• Online Check Registry to keep track of all your checks online.
• Enhanced Security so your checks can only be used after you activate them.

The checkbook come in packs of 50 for $5 each. This is great for those rare occasions when I might write a check in person. If I ever need to send a check I generally use the free paper check mailing option.

TD Bank
Pros – Convenient hours, open 7 days a week. Free coin counting services to account holders.
Cons – Very regional bank and limited number of branches. Interest rates on deposit accounts are not competitive. Online interface is very lacking.

Bank of America
Pros – Lots of branches nationwide. Easy to find an ATM in a variety of places.
Cons – Interest rates on deposit accounts are not competitive.

ING Direct
Pros – Interest rates are competitive. Online interface is intuitive and innovative. Bill pay is very straightforward along with person to person payments.
Cons – No brick and mortar branches. Limited options in terms of depositing funds into account.

So what I do is keep enough funds in the brick and mortar accounts (TD and Bank of America) to avoid fees. I then use their accounts for cash and check deposits. I’ll then transfer the funds from those accounts over to ING Direct. By utilizing a combo of these banks I get all the advantages of a nationwide network, convenient hours and competitive interest rates. The flow chart below illustrates how the accounts are linked.

I also highly recommend using Yodlee Moneycenter to keep track of all your financial accounts.

For the online code for $50 in concert cash register here:
https://www.spgpromos.com/livenationopencash/

For a pair of General Admission tickets register here:
https://www.spgpromos.com/livenationopencodes/

Hurry, it’s first come first serve for the codes but you do have some time to redeem them. The e-mail confirmation states the codes expire towards the end of December 2011. The $50 concert cash is good towards concerts OR merchandise.