How to fly free forever

NEW YORK (AP) — Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian, who doesn't exactly struggle to afford a plane ticket, can now likely fly free, in first class, with his whole family, anywhere in the world, for the rest of his life.
All because he bought a painting.
Liu was the winning bidder for Amedeo Modigliani's "Reclining Nude" at a Christie's auction earlier this month— offering $170.4 million— and when the sale closes he'll be putting it on his American Express card.
Liu, a high-profile collector of Chinese antiquities and art, usually uses his AmEx when he wins art auctions. He put a $36 million tea cup from the Ming Dynasty on his AmEx in 2014, according to reports, and put other artifacts on his card earlier this year. He and his wife said they plan to use their American Express card to pay for the Modigliani, according to news reports after the sale.
American Express will not confirm Liu Yiqian's Modigliani purchase, or say if it is the biggest ever on their cards, citing privacy reasons. But it can be done.
"In theory, it's possible to put a $170 million purchase  on an American Express card," said American Express spokeswoman Elizabeth Crosta. "It is based on our relationship with that individual card member and these decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, based on our knowledge of their spending patterns."
Liu has an American Express Centurion Card, also known as the AmEx "black card," an invitation-only card that is given only to AmEx's biggest spending clients. The card has no official credit limit — and it earns points, just like most of the cards non-billionaires carry around.
Each AmEx card issued in each country accrues points differently. But using a baseline of a one point per dollar, what American Express uses for its U.S. Platinum and Centurion Cards, Liu will earn 170,400,000 million Membership Reward points for his painting purchase, which doesn't include tax or the fees Christie's charges. He has likely earned tens of millions of points for his earlier fine art buys, like the expensive tea cup.
If Liu converts his Membership Rewards points into one of a number of airline frequent flier programs, he and his and his family will be able to travel anywhere, in style. He could fly 3,000 times between the U.S. and Europe in the ultra-deluxe first class suites offered by Singapore Airlines (estimated cost: $17,800 round trip), if he converts points to Singapore's program.
If he tires of travel in luxury, Liu could also go on a shopping spree on American Express' online mall. There's a 26-carat platinum diamond tennis bracelet he could buy for 33 million points. How about a 29-light crystal chandelier for 10 million points? And for that special someone, Liu could get a full-length sable fur coat for 8.5 million points.
Lui, who is worth $1.4 billion according to Forbes, probably didn't use his Amex for the points. China allows its citizens to transfer no more than $50,000 out of the country in any year, and using his card could help him get around this limit because he's just paying back American Express or the bank in China who issues his card.
One potential loser here could be Christie's. Every time an American Express card holder uses the card, AmEx charges the merchant a fee. That fee is usually 2 to 3 percent, depending on the merchant. For a $170 million painting, millions of dollars could flow to AmEx instead of Christie's — enough for AmEx to pay for the Liu family's future flights.

Chinese billionaire and art collector Liu Yiqian (right) (Photo: Chinatopix via AP)

edited from USA Today 

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On the road again

FOR well over a century, people have predicted that technology will make business travel obsolete. In 1889 Jules Verne imagined that the “phonotelephote”, or “the transmission of images by means of sensitive mirrors connected by wires,” would replace overseas meetings. In the 21st century far-flung communication is no longer science fiction. Yet far from stowing their suitcases, putting away their passports and signing in to Skype, the corporate world’s “road warriors” are clocking up more miles than ever.

According to a report by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), firms around the world will spend a record $1.25 trillion this year on sending employees on work trips. This largely reflects growing business confidence. In the downturn following the global financial crisis, suspending foreign jaunts was a quick way to cut costs. Now, firms are looking to grow, by sending staff out to hunt for deals.

A recent survey by Morgan Stanley, a bank, found that 63% of American firms increased their travel budgets for 2015. A similar proportion will increase spending again next year. Another survey, by BusinessTravelNews, suggests that management consultants and makers of expensive hardware remain the biggest spenders on travel among American companies. And businesses and other organisations in China will, collectively, soon be spending more than their American counterparts, the GBTA reckons.

Even as they increase their budgets, corporate-travel managers continue to seek ways to pinch pennies on each individual trip. A survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) found that over the past two years firms have become stingier about letting staff upgrade their flights or hotel rooms, and stricter about demanding that all trips go through their centralised booking systems.

Yet one obvious way of cutting costs is going largely unexplored: making use of the “sharing economy”. According to the ACTE, over half of firms have ruled out alternative suppliers of accommodation such as Airbnb, mainly citing their “duty of care” to employees. Carol Neil, a travel manager at Nomura, says the bank vets all the suppliers of travel services before letting staff use them, and so far it has not approved any sharing-economy firms, because of doubts about safety. Indeed, hotel rooms are built to a standard design, with safety in mind, whereas Airbnb hosts’ homes may contain unexpected hazards.

What of the road warriors themselves? As their employers expect them to do more schlepping around the world with fewer perks, life on the road has become tougher. Stricter airport security—business travellers’ biggest gripe—eats up time and patience; and as more airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi, the chance of enjoying a few hours of downtime is evaporating.

Yet despite this, most executives say they enjoy life on the road. According to the GBTA around half are happy with the amount of travelling they do, while over a third says they would like to do more. This may be because the daily grind back at base has got a lot tougher too. An executive from a big professional-services firm, who flies around 20 times a year, says that modern office life has got so unpleasant—“trying to run a business from an open-plan desk, higher levels of expectation and having to inspire the hell out of people merely to stop them from being tempted away”—that he looks forward to foreign trips simply to take a break from it all.

Edited from The Economist

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Mark Zuckerberg's paternity leave

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday he will take two months of paternity leave after his daughter's birth, a strong statement from one of the busiest and most powerful U.S. executives on the importance of family time.
Silicon Valley technology firms have rushed to extend parental leave allowances and other benefits in an attempt to recruit and retain talent, but many workers do not take advantage for fear of falling behind at work or missing out on promotions.
Facebook, the world's biggest online social network, allows its U.S. employees to take up to four months of paid maternity or paternity leave, which can be used all at once or throughout the first year of their child's life, a policy which is generous by U.S. standards. Zuckerberg announced in July that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were expecting a baby girl.
A 2015 study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 21 percent of employers it surveyed offered paid maternity leave, and 17 percent provided paid paternity leave.
"This is a very personal decision," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page, along with a picture of a stroller, a yellow baby carrier and his dog, Beast. "Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families."
Zuckerberg, 31, did not say who would be running the company while he is out. Facebook did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
It is likely that chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who oversees all of Facebook's advertising, will assume leadership. Zuckerberg largely oversees products, but will likely rely on chief product officer Chris Cox while he is out.
Zuckerberg's decision is unusual among high-level tech executives, especially men. Yahoo Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer took two weeks off after her first child's birth in 2012, and when she announced she was pregnant with identical twin girls in September, she said she would be taking limited maternity leave and "working throughout."
Zuckerberg's post generated more than 50,000 'likes' in one hour and nearly 3,000 comments. Many of the comments lauded his decision and said it sent a positive message about U.S. parental leave policies.
Sandberg commented and congratulated Zuckerberg and his wife. Noting the baby's upcoming birth, she wrote in her post: "I can't wait to meet her."






edited from Financial Times and VOA

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