BillyBaloney

Really? Are the wait times for a hip or knee replacement in Canada less than 6-months now? Why do so many of them fly to Phoenix to get a new knee? They may not have all the problems we have, but they also don't have all the benefits we have.

mahasamatman

No, but they're free.

YoungSoloTraveler

Nothing is free. Might as well fly to a 3rd world country and get a discounted medical procedure then pay 6 figures more in taxes over your lifetime if not more.

HMPS

Now Whois "judgemental"? Third world countries ? Have looked at India for knee, hip etc replacements there ? State of the art equipment and to assuage your fears, US, UK trained surgeons. Ditto for dentists.

YoungSoloTraveler

Why you make take offense to the term 3rd world countries, you made my exact point. 1st world medical help at 3rd world prices.

FTR 787

that is not a socio-economic problem. thats a management of healthcare problem as far as CAN is concerned. and there's a reason the US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, and even then its not #1 in terms of quality -- actually tied with CAN in terms of quality. because for the convenience of time, money talks. so essentially Americans pay a crapton more for the same quality of healthcare as folks get in CAN. but is that good from an overall societal standpoint? def not esp when one serious health injury can and does force many Americans to file for bankruptcy.

paul4040

British Airways has a particularly generous FF programme. Even someone on a modest income like me, with a thorough knowledge of the programme and how to obtain Avios and Tier Points, I can get an F round trip to the States every year. I'll also be BA Gold (OneWorld Emerald) by the new year. This is entirely on my own money.

BA is unusually generous and it is easy for leisure flyers like me to obtain status. Many other programmes concentrate solely on the business flyer.

sedubby

Yeah but not with their UK-issued Amex, right? I remember going to LHR and seeing an ad for a card that came with something like 15k avios with a £149 annual fee, not waived.

That is laughable when the Chase-issued BA card occasionally offers 100k sign-up bonus for $95...

Also you only earn 1.5 avios per pound spent. Given the exchange rate is 1 pound = 1.6 USD, you're comparably only earning .9375 avios per $1 spent...

BillyBaloney

@FTRox87 Same quality? Surely you jest.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_...ealthcare.html

But maybe up there if they like their doctor, they can KEEP their doctor, and if they like their plan, they can KEEP their plan.

iluvcruising2

Oh, this is interesting.

Can you elaborate a bit more? How do you obtain Avios and points so quickly? Yes, most programs concentrate on the business flyer.

Currently i am chalking up miles using my own credit card spend and I can choose which frequent flyer programme to transfer the miles to.

oliver2002

Fo M&M you can get miles at or slightly below 10EUR/1000 miles by signing up for newspaper subscriptions. Everyday groceries at two large retail chains give 1mile per 2€ via Payback and one of the chains has very generous bonus systems that should net you 500-1000 each week with your regular purchases, which can be bumped up a bit if you put your brain in it. Add the regular 1mile/EUR spend and I'm at about 100k/year from such activities that cover just my grocery needs and regular/acceptable newspaper reading (I actually try to subscribe to stuff I would like to read).

If subscribe to anything thats below 10EUR/1000 miles, and buy grocery items with 10-15x (to resell via ebay etc) then you can easily get to 200-300k/year.

Then there is the 'Überweisungsservice' of the German M&M credit card, which gives you 1 mile for each EUR you wire transfer from your CC to a German bank account. Used t cost 12.50EUR/1000 mile, then increase to 25EUR. Capped at 20k per month. Been around for more than a decade.

Also lucrative were T-Mobile (or previously Vodafone) cell phone contracts at 15k each. If you have a cheap corporate rate contract (aprox 3€/month) thats pretty easy and cheap. You get 5k for adding components like data plans etc

tangey

Avios has not been a frequent flyer program for some time now.

It is formally described as "...travel rewards points that turn your everyday spending into flights and other travel rewards".

So it's about rewarding everyday spend,which includes flying.

BA provides its frequent flyers with Avios, but also with tier points, and it is tier points that get you the various levels of recognition, such as bronze, silver etc.

In the UK, Avios can be collected directly or indirectly at petrol stations, supermarkets, on-line video streaming, credit cards, wine purchases, ink cartridge recycling etc.

People that fly BA or their partners a lot can gather up significant Avios. However it is possible to amass 7 digit avios balances without ever getting a single avios from flying.

iceblueshoes

Nah, OP isn't delusional.... it really is tough as a Canadian to get points short of the shop.ca 15x bonus or sign up bonus.
I guess save your pennies or aeropeso points in our case...

juergenritz

corporate travel, 1-2 business trips oversees a month in paid C-class so that helps a lot ......
additional I still have a us credit rating and an address in the USA so I still have about 10 US credit cards that changes frequently ...
did also the trick with subscriptions for Miles & More
JR

SIA747Megatop

Standard mileage earning rates on my credit card is 2.5 miles per SGD. 3.5 miles per $ overseas.

My landlord is a property developer that has an option to pay rent by CC (semi serviced apartment).

Many stores, supermarkets, restaurants, auto dealerships that I frequent offer 10x or 20x points.

Cars are expensive in Singapore, paid the downpayment with CC.

Paid income tax with CC.