Students Of Success

If you’re in the market for a new cellphone, now is a great time
to go shopping. Cellular carriers and resellers are constantly
offering special offers. Some companies offer free cellphones
(after rebates), calling plans with thousands of minutes, etc.

With all these ads, where do you start? You can go to a local
wireless store and see the latest makes and models. You can also
research a variety of cellphones on the Internet. If you go to a
wireless store, be prepared to spend some time, energy, and gas.

If you want to shop from home or the office, and avoid any sales
hassles, you can shop for a new cellphone on the Internet.
You’ll save time, money, and gas, and possibly get a better deal
on a new cellphone.

Three factors will determine how much you will pay for a new
cellphone: 1.) PRICE, 2.) FEATURES, and 3.) CALLING PLAN.

If you’re on a tight budget and don’t want to pay anything up
front for a cellphone, look for cellphone offers with instant
rebates. The instant rebate amount is deducted from the
cellphone’s purchase price when you order.

If the cellphone you want costs some money up front, look for
cellphone offers with mail-in rebates. You’ll pay the purchase
price of the cellphone when you order, and receive a mail-in
rebate coupon.

Some cellphone offers promote rebates as much as $100.00 or
more. Mail-in rebate checks can take several weeks to arrive,
and they’re great if you don’t mind waiting for them. If and
when you get a rebate check, it’s like getting cash back. For
example, if your cellphone’s purchase price was $100.00, and you
receive a $100.00 rebate check, your cost after the rebate is
zero.

Cellphones with few features cost less than cellphones with
advanced features. If you just want to make calls, you don’t
need a cellphone with advanced features. If you’re going to take
pictures, download videos, music, and e-mails, you’ll need a
high-end model with advanced features like a QWERTY keyboard,
camera, large video display, MP3 player, and more.

The last and most important factor is the calling plan. Plans
differ from carrier to carrier and you have to decide which plan
is best for you. Think how you will be using the phone regularly
before choosing a plan. You should estimate how many minutes you
will use each day during peak hours, which are typically from
6am-9pm, Monday to Friday. For example, if you can limit your
talk time to 30 minutes a day, that comes out to approximately
600 minutes per month.

To get the best deal, look for a plan with the lowest monthly
rate and the most minutes per month. Get a plan with more
minutes than you’ll need to avoid costly overage charges.
Monthly rates of some plans offering the same number of minutes
per month could vary. Make sure to look for a plan that offers
free long distance, weeknight, and weekend calls. This plan
allows you to talk nationwide for a long time at night and on
weekends.

If your relatives, friends, and co-workers use the same carrier,
you might want to select that carrier. Some carriers offer
unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to other people on the same
network or other money-saving features for free or a flat fee.

Some plans don’t offer certain cellphone models, and not all
plans are available in all areas. If the plan you choose doesn’t
offer the cellphone model you want, search for other cellphones
that are offered by the plan. The cellphone you want may be
offered by another plan from the same carrier or by a plan from
a different carrier.

Great cellphone deals are out there, if you take the time and
effort to look for them.

Pick up any newspaper or watch any news channel and many times you will find something about the airline industry. Popular topics range in how gas prices affect airline prices, the latest merger or bankruptcy claim, an airline crash or problem with a flight and even terrorist attempts. Airlines even capture our attention by running airfare specials in the newspaper and on TV. The funny thing is, you don’t even pay attention to these advertisements unless you travel often or are planning a trip. So which airline is the best anyway?

There are a lot of things to take into consideration when deciding which airline is the best for you. Price is usually a big factor for most travelers. There are a few things to consider when thinking about price. If you live near a hub for an airline you are certain to be able to get better fares. Think about if it is worth it for you to travel to a larger airport rather than taking a flight out of the airport that you live 10 minutes away from. If you are only saving about $50.00 it is probably better to just take a flight from the airport you live closest to. Remember, you need to think of gas prices and traffic - both of which are on the rise.

Consider being flexible in your travel days to receive the best prices. If you can leave mid-week, then you are more likely to receive a better deal than if you were to fly Thursday - Sunday. These are the busiest travel days so the airlines take full advantage of this fact. Airlines also run special deals if you are more flexible with your departure schedule. This includes the time that you want to leave too. Early morning flights - very early morning flights - are often less expensive than mid-morning or evening flights. Think about rush hour traffic. If you leave before rush hour in the morning, or after rush hour in the evening you’ll most likely land a better deal.

The best time to book your own flight online is Tuesday evenings between 12 and 1 a.m. Airline’s computers change their fares at this point and this is when they are available to the public to be purchased. If you catch an airline just right, then anyone of them can be the “best” when it comes to pricing. There isn’t any one airline that consistently has the best prices. Although, the discount airlines like Air Tran and Jet Blue tend to be cheaper. But these flights are only available in select areas so many times you cannot fly these airlines.

Another factor to look at when deciding which airline is the best is the percent of flights that they have on time. These are the results of one survey that was conducted:

Hawaiian Air
Jet Blue
Southwest
ATA
United
Sometimes it’s better to drive than to be stuck on a flight that is delayed. Consider this on shorter distance flights.

Carry on luggage has become more popular with travelers because nobody wants to be caught without their clothes and people want to get off a flight and go - not wait around for their bag to come round the corner of the luggage carousel. This is how airlines ranked for lost baggage:

1) Hawaiian Air

2) Jet Blue

3) Southwest

4) Alaska Air

5) Continental

It’s also pretty frustrating when you have booked a flight and you aren’t allowed to get on it because someone overbooked the flight. How does that happen anyway? Here’s how the airlines ranked on passengers that were denied boarding:

Jet Blue
Hawaiian Air
United
American Airlines
US Airways
So which airline is the best? Everyone is going to have their personal opinions. But according to this, you should book a trip to Hawaii right away or else fly Jet Blue whenever possible.

Find more information about airlines, quotes, last minute booking and more at www.airlineb.com

Webster’s dictionary defines stress as: “a physical, chemical,
or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may
be a factor in disease causation”.

It’s important to realize that this “physical, chemical, or
emotional” tension is a part of life, and is essential to the
workings of the human body.

Stress occurs whenever we encounter something in our lives to
which we must react. This may be a small event, like swatting at
a fly that has landed on our arm, or something more significant,
like dealing with the death of a loved one.

When we run into stress, our body reacts by producing adrenaline
and cortisol. These hormones do good things for our body:
cortisol by improving our memory, and adrenaline by enhancing
our immune system and supplying us with energy. It’s when we
allow this stress to remain with us for extended periods of time
that bad things begin happening. When cortisone builds up it can
actually cause our brain cells to shrink and hinder our short
term memory. Unused adrenaline can eventually lower our immune
system and cause depression.

The healthy way to deal with stress is to allow it to take its
course the way nature intended. The adrenaline that your body
produces needs to be used-up, and the best way to do this is by
exercising. These hormones are meant to help out with short term
situations, so we need to find stress reducing activities to
deal with ongoing stress (like work or finances). Some ideal
relaxation and stress-reduction activities are yoga, tai-chi,
and meditation.