»»Chase Extends Continental OnePass Miles Bonus Through June 30 Chase has extended its 25,000 Continental OnePass miles bonus through June 30. With this bonus you get up 25,000 Continental OnePass miles plus free first checked bag for opening up a Chase personal or business checking account with debit card. Here’s the link to print your coupon. 
»»Travel Expenses Small-Businesses Can Deduct from Their TaxesWhat business travel and entertainment expenses business owners or self-employed people can deduct? Basically everything about your business trip expenses can be deducted as long as you have the records to back it up. Record keeping is critical when it comes travel and entertainment expenses you can write off.  The USA Today quoted Frank Degen, an agent licensed by the IRS to work with taxpayers, as saying: “You need to have records of the four ‘P’s’ and a ‘D,’ and the four ‘P’s’ are the person, the place, the purpose and the price, and the ‘D’ is the date. That’s an easy way for business owners or self-employed people to remember what they need to do.” (Source). Ordinary and necessary expenses can be deducted when away from home overnight for work, including 100% of domestic travel costs — air, train or bus fare. Business owners can write off 50% of business meals and entertainment, or — when away from home overnight on business — they can opt for a daily meal allowance — $39 from Jan. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, increased to $46 from Oct. 1. About the mileage you put on your personal car when conducting business, you must keep a written log to keep it separate from the miles you drive that are business related. Even when there’s no max amount of the single business trip expenses you can deduct, you have to use some common sense. Luxury or extravagant expenses can’t be deducted, or to better say, you have to relate the expenses you plan to write off to the kind of income your business does. Resources and expert advice can be found on IRS website or on hrblock.com (you get real answers from tax professionals).
»»Busiest U.S. Airports in 2009 – Data from Bureau of Transportation StatisticsAccording the data released by the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) the number of total passengers on U.S. airlines and on foreign airlines to and from the United States declined in 2009 by 5.3 percent from 2008. U.S. airlines carried 5.2 percent fewer domestic passengers in 2009 and 6.3 percent fewer international passengers than in 2008. More total system passengers boarded planes in 2009 at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport; more international passengers boarded planes at New York John F. Kennedy than at any other U.S. airport. Top 10 U.S. Airports, ranked by January- December 2009 System* Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines**
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market Top 10 U.S. Airports, ranked by January- December 2009 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market - Top Airlines in 2009 Southwest Airlines carried more total system passengers in 2009 than any other U.S. airline for the third consecutive year.
»»Singapore Changi Named Best Airport in 2010 by Skytrax Airport of the Year SurveySingapore Changi Airport was named “Airport of the Year 2010″ at the Skytrax World Airport Awards.  30 different airport awards were announced at the ceremony for the “Skytrax Airport of the Year 2010 Survey Report” held in Brussels, Belgium last March 23. Incheon International Airport, No 2 in Airport of the Year 2010 ranking, was named as Best International Transit Airport. Skytrax says the study is based on over 9.8 million completed survey interviews: “The Airport of the Year 2010 Survey Report analyses survey data collected from a variety of input sources, including: The world’s top 22 airports according to the Skytrax Airport of the Year 2010 Survey Report: 1 Singapore, 2 Seoul Incheon , 3 Hong Kong, 4 Munich, 5 Kuala Lumpur, 6 Zurich, 7 Amsterdam, 8 Beijing, 9 Auckland, 10 Bangkok, 11 Vancouver , 12 Kansai, 13 Centrair Nagoya, 14 Helsinki, 15 Copenhagen, 16 Frankfurt Main, 17 Tokyo Narita, 18 Brisbane, 19 Cape Town, 20 San Francisco, 21 London Heathrow, 22 Istanbul. (source)
»»Improving Cooperation on Security and Ease of Travel – New Open Skies Agreement A new aviation agreement between the U.S. and European Union expands the Open Skies accord signed in 2007. It will allow airlines to operate flights more freely between the United States and Europe as well as improve cooperation on safety and competition. The new agreement will provide greater protections for U.S. carriers by easing local restrictions on night flights at European airports.
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