"She was initially going to NYU but was in 12th grade when 9/11 happened and most of the NYU housing was contaminated and neither my (ex) husband or I wanted her to be in New York City. "
Wow, really? I had no idea NYU had housing in and around the Battery Park area - all the housing I knew of was in the East Village, (extending into Ave.s A, B and C, yikesville when I lived there!) some in the West Village. GREAT school but SPENDY - one of the top ten spendiest in the country. Sounds like she did great none the less, you must be so proud!
As far as credit cards it seems they are almost a "rite of passage". Some of us (and I include myself in "us"
have had credit card meltdown at some point, swearing them off forever. When I started flying a lot for business I bit the bullet and got my first AA Mastercard. My reason for living sometimes is to pay that thing OFF every month. I refuse to carry a balance. My rewards come in the mileage I get - my purchases account for roughly 75% of the miles I rack up.
My crew and assistant have an Amex Gold card each - so what they put on there for the business racks up in those points. Its not that much but I'm sporting around 45,000 at the moment. I generally use those for emergencies (if I need to get out of town quick due to a death or illness and the compassion airfares are just not that compassionate) or if a friend needs them (I gave 30,000 to a friend to get out of JA to go home to her dying mother).
I think I'm signing up for Southwest miles now. Its crazy how American can't get me to Denver without going to Dallas or Chicago first and for a sh*tload of money. SW is the airline we choose now to send our photographers to anywhere on the West Coast (when reasonable) since they have a GREAT policy regarding boarding and professional media.
