Tuesday, June 26, 2012

PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card – Get a 5% (+1%) rebate on your Highway spend




Highways are such blessings, are they not? They have bigger lanes than the average roads, and make “balik kampung” trips so much easier. Unfortunately, with every convenience made there’s a price to pay, and for highways, it’s the ever-increasing-toll-prices. But here’s a little bit of good news! Projek Lebuhraya Usahama Berhad or most commonly known as PLUS Berhad have come up with PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card and PLUSMiles Program to help frequent travellers to Save Money! Are you intrigued yet?

PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go Card – What is it? 

So what is so special about the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card? Well this card has one important feature that can help you Save Money : its 5% toll rebate if your monthly toll usage at selected highways is RM 100 and above. The full benefits that you will get by using this card are:
  • 5% Toll Rebate if your monthly toll usage selected Tolled highways (see below) is RM 100 and above
  • Point Rewards if your monthly usage is less than RM 100, every RM 1 spent using the card at selected Tolled highways will still give you 1 PLUSMiles Point. Accumulated points can be used to redeem free top ups! (1,000 points = RM 10 top up) This effectively equates to an extra 1% rebate.
  • Discounts up to 30% at participating PLUSMiles merchant outlets (list of merchants)
  • Can be used in conjuction with the current 20% rebate for Frequent Toll Users (for more on this, see our Touch ‘n Go article)
  • Can be used on cash lanes at the toll plaza: You can tap this card and pay the remaining balance to the cashier at times of insufficient credit (or if you’re unsure of the balance).
Sounds good so far! But don’t start the highway cruising just yet, the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card toll rebate and its other point rewards will only be calculated on toll transactions done at these highways:
  • PLUS
  • ELITE
  • BKE (Butterworth-Kulim Expressway)
  • LINKEDUA (Second Link Expressway)

And the toll plazas that are not included in the 5% Rebate and Point Rewards are : Bukit Kayu Hitam, Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Tanjung Kupang and Jambatan Pulau Pinang.

* Download toll fares across Malaysia


PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card : Where and How?

Where, How, Who, and other questions on the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card answered, right here! 


PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card – Where Can I Get One?

You can purchase the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card for only RM 10 per card at these places:
  • PLUS Customer Service Centre along PLUS highway
  • Selected Esso and Mobil stations


PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card - Terms & Conditions

Before you go to the nearest PLUS centre or Esso / Mobil station, make sure you read these terms and conditions:
Eligibility of Person(s)
All 18 years old and above who reside in Malaysia, Singapore & Thailand.

Reward Eligibility of Vehicle(s)
All motorists above the age of 18 years old are allowed to use the card, but entitlement for 5% PLUSMiles Toll Rebate and Points Rewards are only applicable to drivers of Private Vehicle Class 1 only (Vehicles with 2 axles and 3 or 4 wheels excluding taxis.

Warranty Period
All PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card have a one year warranty period. So should your card turns faulty within the warranty period, make sure you make a claim for a new card!

Card Registration
Here’s the boring administrative part of the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card : In order to enjoy the 5% PLUSMiles Toll Rebate and Points Rewards mentioned above, you must first register your card here. However, this only applies to cards purchased at places other than the PLUS centres. If you purchase your card at any PLUS centres, just double check if your card has been registered by them and get your login ID and password.

Upon registration, you can start using the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card at PLUS, ELITE, BKE and LINKEDUA highways and start collecting your points / rebates. To know your rebate amount or if you want to know how many points you have collected, PLUS have designed the PLUSMiles Portal for registered members to get access on their account information, toll rebate entitlements and point rewards and an e-statement for all their toll transactions done at PLUS highways.

Note: You can register up to four cards under the same name!

The 5% Rebate

Toll rebate is calculated based on toll payments at these highways only:
  • PLUS (North-South Expressway, E1 and E2)
  • ELITE (North-South Expressway Central Link, E6)
  • BKE (Butterworth-Kulim Expressway, E15)
  • LINKEDUA (Second Link Expressway, E3)

Toll plazas that are not included: Bukit Kayu Hitam, Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Tanjung Kupang and Jambatan Pulau Pinang.

PLUSMiles monthly rebate and reward points calculation process starts on the 5th of every month. If your monthly usage exceeds RM100.00, you are entitled for 5% toll rebate in the following month.

Example: Roger’s usage for October is RM 101.00. So he can collect his rebate of RM5.02 and 101 PLUSMiles points in November.


Where Can I Redeem My 5% Rebate?

You can redeem 5% PLUSMiles Toll Rebate at any PLUS Customer Service Centre. And make sure that you collect them while you can because PLUSMiles 5% Toll Rebate is only valid for 12 months from the date of issuance of the Toll Rebate to the eligible members. Similarly, you can redeem your Points Rewards at PLUS Customer Service Centre along PLUS highways as well! 


Rebate Denomination

The rebate denomination are in multiples of ten only (RM10, RM20, RM30, RM40, RM50, RM60, RM70, RM80, RM90, RM100, RM110 etc). In practice, this means that if you have total of RM18.50 at a point in time, you can only redeem RM10 and the balance of RM8.50 will be accumulated into the system for next month’s rebate calculation. 

Reloading your PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card


The rules for the PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card are similar to that of a regular Touch ‘n Go card. While reloading facilities are available at many places (such as 7-Eleven, Shell petrol stations and many banks’ ATMs), many of them slap on a RM0.50 service charge. Reload at these places to avoid the service charge:
  • PLUS Customer Service Centres
  • Selected reload lanes (check with PLUS to see where is the nearest lane available to you!), 
  • CIMB ATMs across Malaysia

PLUSMiles Zing Auto-Reload Card
PLUSMiles Zing Auto-Reload Card is a Touch ‘n Go card with an automatic reload function linked directly to your Credit Card. You will still earn the rebate and points as per the regular PLUSMiles card. The plus side here is that you don’t have to ever worry about having an insufficient balance when you are on the road! The banks that provide the PLUSMiles Zing Auto-Reload card are Maybank and BSN. So if you already have an account with these banks, you can apply for a Zing card by heading down to your local branch:
  • BSN
  • Maybank

How Does The Zing Card Work?
The PLUSMiles Zing card automatically reloads RM100 by charging your Credit Card whenever the value of your Zing Card falls below RM50 at toll lanes. However, first timers must first activate the card at a Touch ‘n Go lane. Good news for SmartTag user : This Auto-Reload Zing card can be used with a SmartTAG!

PLUSMiles Touch n’ Go vs. Regular Touch n’ Go Card


Most people should have at least a Touch ‘n Go card, if you don’t know what this is, check out our Touch ‘n Go article. So if you’re one of them and you’re wondering what’s the difference between these two cards, then check the table below to satisfy your curiosity!

FeaturesPLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go cardNormal Touch ‘n Go card
SmartTAG Compatibility
5% Toll Rebate
Points Reward
Merchant Discount & Privileges

PLUSMiles Touch n’ Go Card - Final Verdict

The choice of whether to get one or not is, of course, entirely up to you. But if you have a class 1 vehicle and you use one the PLUS highways regularly / every day and your toll amount exceeds RM 100 every month, then we say get the card and earn that 5% rebate and 1 PLUSmiles point. Even if you don’t you may still enjoy the benefit of  the1 PLUSMiles point per RM spent on the specified tollways, so we say why not do it anyway!

What do you think about PLUSMiles Touch ‘n Go card?

Sunday, June 24, 2012

7500


7500 - trailer song, music, soundrack
Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
Cast: Leslie Bibb, Ryan Kwanten

Song for this trailer: Leaving On A Jet Plane by John Denver

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin'
It's early morn
The taxi's waitin'
He's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die

About movie:
7500 is an upcoming film directed by Takashi Shimizu. It is scheduled to be released on August 12, 2012. Passengers aboard a flight across the Pacific Ocean encounter a supernatural force.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

回歸15年前夕 港貧富差距創新高



7月1日,就是香港回歸15週年,但最近香港統計處公布,用來衡量貧富差距的「堅尼係數」,卻是40年來最嚴重的情況,儘管香港觀光以及商業發展,越來越興盛,但是貧窮人口卻還有50萬人,甚至有11萬人還住在一坪不到的籠屋中,貧富失衡,成了港府最迫切的社會問題。

1992年的電影「籠民」,描述香港中下階層生活,多少香港人得靠這小小夾板屋遮風避雨,當年掀起話題,勇奪香港金像獎,但20年後,城市籠子裡依舊住著人。

郭先生敏捷地從隔板床爬下來,正準備輪晚班保全,盥洗、喝水全靠同一根水龍頭。記者:「會不會覺得住這邊有點辛苦?」籠屋居民郭先生:「哪裡辛苦,沒錢沒辦法。」

另一個角落裡,全球最小的香港迪士尼,開幕7年,大陸遊客湧入,觀光收入屢創新高。迪士尼客服經理顧劍音:「大陸內地賓客,是我們非常重視的市場,來到香港迪士尼樂園,你會更了解香港的文化,還有這裡的優質服務。」

根據用來判斷收入分配是否公平的堅尼指數,小於0.2代表絕對公平,大於0.6代表差距過大,大陸0.55、美國0.45、台灣狀況不,0.342,而香港日漸惡化,今年0.537,已創下40年新高,香港貧富差距更大,貧窮人口超過50萬人,要負擔這個不到一坪的家,已經好吃力。TVBS記者許甫:「在台灣房屋出租,一層最多只能有4個電表,但這裡一口氣已經有20個電表。」

記者:「為什麼不住公共房屋?」籠屋居民鍾先生:「沒資格啊。」

香港的籠民還有超過11萬人,如果計算財產收入,更怵目驚心,最有錢的一成人口,掌握超過4成財富,最窮的一成人,卻連百分之一都沒有。

卡通「麥兜」作者麥家碧:「我們身邊就有些朋友,就像麥兜一樣,沒有那麼聰明,家庭條件也沒有那麼好,他們在社會生存的狀況是怎樣的,他們身上的價值會不會被發現呢。」

20年前,卡通小豬麥兜,投射出香港小人物,如何面對生活困境,引起極大迴響,只是在7月1日,香港回歸15年的前夕,這座島的大部分的居民,面對日益嚴重的貧富失衡,是不是還能像麥兜一樣,永遠保持樂觀呢。