Overview of AMEX Travel Rewards

Rewards credit cards are becoming ever more popular. If you pay your credit card bills in full each month avoiding any interest charges then a rewards card can help you earn free travel and entertainment rewards. The credit card with the biggest reuptation for rewards in American Express who offer a range of credit card reward schemes. Read on to see the main AMEX rewards schemes on offer.

Amex Rewards schemes are designed to accomplish that objective. American Express credit cards continually get feedback from rewards program members on the rewards items that matter to them or not. AMEX has constantly refined it's rewards programs to meet the needs of its cardholders and conducts regular research and surveys among members.

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American Express credit cards are available in several categories. Some of the main Amex Rewards programs are the following:

Membership Rewards:

Most American Express credit cards offer the chance to join the Membership Rewards program; there is a special Membership Rewards First program for American Express platinum cards and the Membership Rewards Express program for the Blue from American Express.

Membership Rewards give you 1 point per dollar of spending. This multiplies into 3 points per dollar when you use the card for purchases at BonusPointsMall.com or 2 points per dollar for purchases at American Express Travel. For Platinum cards, the multiple is 4 points per dollar.

You can redeem Membership Rewards points when you travel, entertain, shop or dine. Platinum cards are offered an exclusive Access First Collection of rewards that include luxury goods, jewelry, fashion items, and world-class travel.

Points can be transferred to participating frequent flyer programs (such as Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines, Aeroplan, and Cathay Pacific) or to hotel partners (such as Starwood Hotels) or for car rentals at your travel destinations.

Cash Back Rewards:

One of the simplest reward programs are cash-back credit cards: you get a rebate on every purchase. The Blue from American Express is comes out on top in this category and is very well regarded by card experts. The Blue gives you 5% rebate on things you buy at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations

Overview of AMEX Travel Rewards

Justice For American Auto Workers and Stockholders

America Needs to Return to Manufacturing Health Again

The Big Three Auto Manufacturers see the long line of other industries getting government bailouts, and wonders why not jump in and get some before it all runs out? We hear the the requests of the Big Three car makers and wonder, why?

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The Big Three Have Nothing New To Offer - But They Want Money For It! We Have An Answer For Them Here In This Article!

Democratic & Republican leaders in Congress crafted a plan to fork over at least billion to Detroit, above and beyond the billion in loans the government already committed to help the Big Three make more fuel-efficient cars. The problem with that is that is it really a UAW Bailout and will do more harm than good. The Big Three need to go through Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code so they can reorganize and level the playing field with foreign Manufacture of automobiles. While the big three are in chapter 11, Congress can sanction recapitalization and the following tax law changes.

Eliminate All Income Tax & Capital Gains Taxes on the Auto Industry

Replace the income tax with a national automobile sales tax that is equal for all automobiles. Both American and Foreign. This way American Manufacturers will now have a level playing field. Finally, we will have economic justice. After the U.S. Treasury see how helpful the tax law changes are, other industries should be permitted to sign on. Capital will flood into the auto industry, after filing Chapter 11, and the taxpayers will not need to put up the capital. See the bottom of this report for further information.

Following are several important reasons why a bailout is not a good idea:

- A bailout would provide money only for short-term survival. It wouldn't alter car makers' seriously flawed business models. GM is running through cash at the rate of billion a month. So billion from the government would give it only five months' breathing room. Can they turn over their business practices in that period? We all know better than that! They would be simply to come back to taxpayers for more. These companies need new business plans. The old ones should have been scrapped in 1973.

- A government handout would allow the Big Three to avoid necessary cost cutting. Because of a strong union, the average GM employee received an hour in combined pay and benefits last year. And it's not just line workers who are making too much. GM chief executive Richard Wagoner garnered about million a year in 2006 and 2007, while leading his company toward oblivion. That is too much money to be paid for crashing a legendary company! What is wrong with CEO pay plans that pay so much to executives who trash companies like this?

- Bankruptcy isn't a bad idea, it is a very healthy idea whose time has come. It doesn't mean liquidation, which is what a Chapter 7 would be. It means taking the painful steps the companies have been unwilling to contemplate to date. The real losers in such a deal are car makers, equity shareholders and creditors. Bankruptcy would give the automakers the chance to throw out existing employee contracts with their onerous health and pension systems. The unions would be forced to temper their demands if they want the car companies to survive. In the case of GM, it could also dump some of its uncompetitive product lines such as Pontiac and Saturn. Discontinuing five of GM's eight domestic brands would save the company billion annually. The unions either go along or go under with the automakers. That is reality and that is their choice. Remember that GREED KILLS!

- Taxpayer money won't change the fact that many foreign cars are made better than their U.S. counterparts. Kelley Blue Book announced its top 10 brands for resale value this week, and not one of the Big Three was on the list. Chryslers, for example, keep only 24.2 percent of their sticker price on average after five years. By contrast, Hondas retain 44.5 percent of their value. The taxpayers already have Billion committed to help the Big Three retool the plants and now it is time to retool the labor contracts.

- Bailout funds would help automakers continue their outsourcing of auto jobs to foreign countries, where costs are lower. All of the Big Three have increased the percentage of manufacturing and assembly done overseas in the past year, especially in China and Mexico. In May, Ford agreed to build billion auto plant in suburban Mexico City and upgrade two other Mexican plants, the largest foreign investment in Mexican history. We need more jobs here in America, not in Mexico. If we run short of workers, we can change our immigration laws and upgrade our guest-worker program.

- Big Three bankruptcies wouldn't mean the end of auto industry in the United States. It may increase production here. Foreign companies, which already have plants here, could pick up the slack and open new factories. Some 78,000 Americans already work for foreign car makers, a number likely to rise in the wake of any U.S. automaker demise. The depressed South could benefit particularly from increased production of foreign auto companies. Let us move forward now!

- Other industries have survived bankruptcy just fine. Most of the major airlines have spent time in bankruptcy, including United, Continental, Delta, Northwest, and US Airways. Their predicament looked particularly dire after 9/11. But the major carriers made it through. And to the extent that they suffered, low-fare competitors such as Southwest and JetBlue picked up the slack, often offering superior service in addition to cheaper prices. Southwest does pretty well and seldom turns in a loss. Is anyone paying attention? It is past time for lazy overpaid executives to sit on outdated business plans. It is time for investors to shake up stockholder meetings. Let's have some fun!

- Bailing out the auto industry would only encourage other sectors to beg for government handouts. Remember that the 0 Billion Troubled Assets Relief Program was designed only to assist banks, but now insurance companies and even credit card giant American Express are trying to get in on the action. Home builders, who arguably are as strapped as the automakers, could lobby for some of the action.

- Stockholders deserve no mercy. Some argue that they should be compensated for the fact that GM and Ford's share prices have hit their lowest levels in decades. We all know that is pure 100% non-sense! But in a free market, stock prices go down as well as up. The automakers' problems have been clear for years, so investors had plenty of time to get out for demand overdue changes. As for Chrysler, it's owned by private equity firm Cerberus, no innocent victim itself. The stockholders have not held the manufacturers accountable. From this day forward, they need to do just that. Then we would have more American Economic Justice.

- Bailouts have been tried in the auto industry, and they don't work. In the 1970s, Britain's Leyland hit the skids, hurt by slipping quality in its vehicles and imports from Germany and Japan. Sound familiar? Leyland, which made MGs, Jaguars (Jaguars are now schedules to be made in India) and mass-market cars, accounted for 36 percent of the UK market. So the government sunk in .5 billion to keep it afloat. The result? Unless you're a car buff, you've probably never heard of Leyland, because it no longer exist. The same will happen for the Big Three if we bail them out.

So let us consider the four items below:

- Fair Access Amendment - ([http://justicetimes.com/?p=1254])
- Fair Tax Act - (http://Fairtax.org)
- Read The Bill Act - (http://downsizedc.org)
- One Subject at a Time Act - (see above)

If you are concerned about our nation, please decide how you can participate. At a minimum, please submit your thoughts and comments: We are looking for a PHP programmer who can help us design a one click plug in for people to be able to contact their elected officials. Please advise if you know of someone who could do this in exchange for an equity position with Justice Times.

Please consider joining our small group of investigative writers. You can research and write in your spare time and share the advertising revenue.

We are also considering investors who would like to be paid off the top from all incoming revenues instead of the typical business model of "if there is any profit, we will share it with you unless we vote to keep it."

Justice For American Auto Workers and Stockholders

Using the 20 Percent Principle to Add More Points to Your Credit Score

What you will learn in this article is a simple method you can apply to increase your current score. You've got 650 on your report. So what? Even people with 720 still find it useful and know the benefits of putting extra points to get them to 790.

Using the 20 percent rule, what you will be doing is to keep the expenses on your credit cards to a possible minimum. Note the words I used there "possible minimum". The reason is because hundreds of people are using that principle and it sure works for them.

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Even though a creditor gives you a maximum spending limit of (for the purpose of understanding this article) , 000, that doesn't mean that you should spend , 000 or , 000. Oh, you're going to pay back? Well, that is understandable but also keep in mind that the closer you are to this limit, the more points are take away from you.

The kind of credit-card lifestyle you should be living should built on the 20 percent principle whereby you do not spend more than 20 percent of the total limit allowed you on your plastic-money-holder.

The more you keep your expenses to a 20 percent minimum, the better for you as it will be counted for you as financial righteousness.

Another strategy to build more figures on your file is to sign-up as an additional cardholder on a close relative, spouse or associate's card. Before you use this method, however, first establish that the person whom you will be jumping on his boat has got a pretty good financial record too, or else you will be putting yourself in more danger if such person has got a bad spending habit on his card.

Using the 20 Percent Principle to Add More Points to Your Credit Score

American Express OPEN For Small Business

American Express is one of the mainstays in the credit card industry. It has been known worldwide as a financial institution that addresses the needs of big companies and small entrepreneurs alike. It also offers financial opportunities for individuals. One of its most notable programs is OPEN for small businesses.

The American Express OPEN program is a new financial network offered by American Express. It is specifically designed to cater to entrepreneurs who have small businesses. This program employs a business team that aims to find financial resources and other benefits that will definitely help small business owners in saving money and expanding their business opportunities.

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American Express OPEN was created to support many business owners. The dedicated team of financers and creditors provides flexibility, purchasing power, control and various rewards for its customers. It helps small business customers to gain control over the products that they need, the tools that they use, and the services that they often utilize in their business processes. They provide convenient access to working capital matched with enhanced online account management capabilities.

In essence, you can avail of the prime offers of the OPEN program if you get Business Cards from American Express Small Business. In addition to that, you can also access the OPEN Savings program. This built-in feature allows the card holders to automatically save some of their money as rebates when making purchases with affiliated and participating companies.

The OPEN program is offered through a wide array of credit cards by the American Express Small Business system. These cards are designed differently in order to meet the various needs of entrepreneurs and business men when it comes to cash rebates, card benefits, airline mile rewards, travel rewards, and other privileges. For example, the OPEN program allows its card holders to save a lot on travel and hotel accommodation expenses with Delta and Hyatt Hotels and Resorts.

Among the most notable business cards under the American OPEN Small Business program is the American Express SimplyCash Business card. Through this card, you can earn a 5% cash rebate on your various business expenses such as office supplies, wireless services, and gas expenses. As for the other expenses that you charge, you will get a full 1% cash rebate. These cash backs and rebates will automatically be deducted from your monthly installments and interest rates.

The American Express SimplyCash Business Card also provides you with flexible payment terms. You can pay in full every month, or you can also opt to carry your balance from one month to the next. Aside from the rebates and rewards, what's good about this card is the fact that you can easily track all of your business expenses through the use of the online account manager which has expenses reporting options.

American Express OPEN For Small Business

Airline Rewards & Miles Cards - The Truth About Frequent Flyer Cards With No Blackout Dates

Airline rewards cards, also known as "miles cards" or "frequent flyer" cards, have become the most popular incentive based credit card rewards programs over the past decade. Because the market has been flooded with such cards, there has been a constant battle amongst credit card companies to make these offers as attractive as possible.

The major players on this market are Citi, American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Capital One. All four banks have a variety of different miles cards, whether they be airline specific, like the American Airlines AAdvantage MasterCard from Citi, or general airline cards such as the newly-introduced American Express Blue Sky Card.

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Capital One features the No Hassle Rewards Miles Card, an airline rewards card with the popular slogan, "No Hassle," enlisting spokesperson David Spade to promote their product on national television advertisements. Capital One boasts no blackout dates for travel. What they fail to mention is that this card comes with an introductory APR of 13.9%, both on balance transfers and purchases. They also imply that the competition, American Express and the others, promote cards that do have blackout dates for travel. This is simply not the case.

American Express has just launched a new miles card, the American Express Blue Sky Credit Card. This card, in comparison to the No Hassle Card, comes with a 0% introductory APR for 6 months with a 12.24% APR thereafter. There are no blackout dates or restrictions for travel with the Blue Sky Card and you earn 1 point for every dollar you spend. These frequent flyer points are redeemable for airline, hotel, rental car, or cruise savings. Once a consumer is approved for the American Express Blue Sky Card, he or she is automatically enrolled in the World Class Cardmember Benefits Program, featuring travel accident insurance, a buyers assurance program, and return protection. the Blue Sky credit card is also non-specific to any particular airline, so travel is permitted on several major airlines.

Their other popular airline miles card, the American Express Gold Delta Skymiles Card is airline specific to Delta. All travel is completed by Delta and its partners upon frequent flyer point redemption. This card does come with an introductory APR of 9.99% and 15.99% thereafter, but the consumer does receive 10,000 bonus Skymiles after their first purchase. There is no annual fee for the first year, the consumer can earn double miles for purchases on gas and groceries, the frequent flyer miles never expire, and they feature over 400 destinations for travel redemption. This is a great miles card for people who regularly travel on Delta.

Citi also features two different airline miles cards. The AAdvantage American Airlines Mastercard, an airline specific miles card; and the new Citi PremierPass, a general airline miles card. The AAdvantage Card is similar to other airline miles cards in the respect that it offers bonus miles after the first purchase, in this case 20,000. The APR is 17.99% on balance transfers/purchases and the card comes with an annual fee of . Consumers who elect to carry this card should try to pay their balance in full at the end of every month as the 17.99% APR can accumulate massive amounts of interest if the balance is too high.

Citi's other miles card, the new Citi PremierPass, comes with a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers/purchases and a 13.49% APR thereafter. The PremierPass allows travel on any airline with no blackout dates. the consumer also has the opportunity to redeem points accumulated for gift certificates, merchandise, and even statement credits as part of instant enrollment into Citi's ThankYou Network.

Chase Manhattan Bank has reacted in response to general frequent flyer cards by launching their new Chase Value Miles Visa, a replacement for their older and very popular miles card, the Chase Travel Rewards Visa. This is basically a new and improved card to its relative featuring a 0% introductory APR on both balance transfers and purchases. After the first year, the APR is raised to a low 10.99%. The Chase Value Miles also has no blackout dates for travel and provides consumers with platinum benefits including travel insurance, travel assistance, emergency cash delivery, and lost card reporting. With this miles card you may also travel on any major U.S. airline.

There are so many choices out there for airline rewards cards which is why many consumers find difficulty in making their selections. Basically what it comes down to is how much flexibility does the consumer want with their card. Most general airline miles cards now come with no blackout dates for travel and no annual fees. However, many consumers are enticed by the initial frequent flyer bonus miles they will receive with airline specific miles cards. Everyone loves a free vacation, and both types of miles cards give the consumer an opportunity to earn one.

©2006 Credit Card Outlet

Airline Rewards & Miles Cards - The Truth About Frequent Flyer Cards With No Blackout Dates

How to Meditate: 10 Meditation Techniques

Benefits of Meditation:

* Greater clarity of thought

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* More peaceful states of mind

* Enhanced ability to concentrate

* Increased creativity and intuition

If you're new to meditation, your mind is running around, with thoughts like: "What should I do? Is this really all there is to it? What am I supposed to feel?"

Meditation Technique #1 Be Consistent Choose one time of day that you can easily work into your schedule. The benefit of meditating at the same time each day is that your biorhythms will naturally adjust to it as a habit, like waking, eating and falling asleep. Your nervous system will grow accustomed to meditating at a particular time allowing you to enter deep meditative states more easily.

Make sure your phone is turned off. If you have children, set aside a time when they're at school or asleep.

Meditation Technique #2 Create Your Space Create a boundary between you and the outside world even if you're only meditating for ten minutes.

Meditation Technique #3 Where to Meditate? Reserve a special place in your home to meditate. It can be as simple as setting aside a comfortable chair or pillow, or an entire room if you have the space. Place a candle, flowers, or any special items that have spiritual meaning for you on a table as an altar.

Creating a place that is reserved for meditation helps because Spiritual Energies gather in the place where you meditate; making it easier each time you sit in the same spot. Like going to a temple, church, or place of worship, with regular practice all you will need to do is sit in that place to feel settled, calm, and relaxed.

It can take many months of meditation to attain theta levels consistently during your meditation practice. Sacred Ground helps you to achieve those levels sooner, so that you can begin to experience the life-changing benefits. Whether you're a new meditator, or are experienced, let Sacred Ground take you to your inner world.

Meditation Technique #4 Create a Reverent Atmosphere Invent your own soothing ritual before you meditate. Maybe it's at night after a bath, or at dawn before the rest of the world is awake. Light a candle, take a few deep breaths, and dedicate your meditation to the unfoldment of your highest potential. Say a prayer, chant or burn some incense if you wish. A tranquil and reverent atmosphere helps to induce a meditative state. Some people find Meditation Music helpful.

Meditation Technique #5 Position Yourself for Meditation Sit with your spine straight. Use pillows behind your back for support if needed. It's important to have your spine straight so energy can travel freely up and down your spine. You may sit cross-legged or on a comfortable chair with your feet flat on the floor. You can also lie down, placing a pillow under your knees. If you tend to fall asleep when meditating, it's best to sit up so you can stay awake.

Tip: Theta is the frequency of meditation. Because theta is right on the edge of delta, associated with sleep, it's common for beginning meditators to drift into a nap instead of meditation. If you fall asleep easily when meditating try using Brain Power. It harmonically layers theta waves with very high beta frequencies to keep you awake and alert.

Meditation Technique #6 How Long Should I Meditate? How long you meditate each day depends on you. A good beginning is 10 to 15 minutes per day. You might find that you naturally expand your meditation time by adding five minutes here and there. Another way to expand the time you meditate is to set a goal of adding five minutes each week until you adopt a natural rhythm of twenty to thirty minutes. One of the pitfalls of beginning meditators is to be too ambitious. Trust your intuition and start off with an amount of time that feels comfortable for you.

Advanced meditators usually spend an hour per day in meditation. If you can gradually work up to forty or sixty minutes the better your progress will be. Consistency brings remarkable long-term benefits.

The key is to do it every day. The effects of meditation are cumulative. Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin says, "Modern neuroscience is showing that our minds are as plastic as our bodies. Meditation can help you train your mind in the same way exercise can train your body." Therefore, each and every minute you meditate you're enhancing the biochemistry of your brain, building muscles that increase your mental, emotional and spiritual potential.

Meditation Technique #6 Sit, Breathe and Relax When you meditate, take long slow deep breaths. Send the breath deep into your abdomen and then breathe out. Each time you breathe in imagine cleansing energy infusing your body. When you breathe out, ask your body to let go of tension and stress.

Tip: To quiet a busy mind count each exhalation, starting with one going up until ten, then begin the cycle all over again. If you forget where you are, go back to one and begin again. Do this for ten minutes to slow down mental activity. In the beginning many thoughts will come and go. When you notice you are thinking, bring your attention back to your breath. Linger on the peaceful space that lies between your thoughts. In time the space will expand.

Meditation Technique #7 Relax with a Body Scan A body scan calms your nervous system, releases tension and helps you feel embodied - sometimes we spend so much time in our heads that we forget we have a body. Practicing this exercise for five or ten minutes is a meditation in itself. It's also a wonderful way to settle down before you meditate.

To begin, direct your consciousness to explore your left foot. Feel the physical sensations inside and around your foot. Then move your consciousness up your left leg, to your knee, thigh and into your left hip. Imagine traveling through the arteries, tissues and bones. You might come across energy blocks or areas of numbness. You might feel tingling vibrations, as the cells come alive from your conscious attention. Observe the sensations. Experiment with how you can tell muscles to relax and let go simply by directing your will.

Do the same with the right foot and leg up into your right hip. Direct your awareness to the root chakra area - abdomen and buttocks. Next explore your stomach, heart and chest, traveling up to your throat. Then move down to your left hand, feel the sensations in each of your fingers, and travel up your arm to your left shoulder. Repeat with the right side. Explore your neck and throat; notice how you can relax and expand your throat. Travel into your brain, let your face and jaw relax. Allow the muscles around your scalp, temples and forehead to soften and relax.

Tip: EEG (electroencephalogram) research has revealed that when the forehead, temples and scalp are relaxed, theta activity moves more easily into the frontal cortex. When those muscles relax you are able to go deeper into a meditative state.

Meditation Technique #8 How to Deal with the Mind Gain the benefits of meditation even if you're a new meditator. Balance your Chakras, become positive and reduce anxiety; strengthen your immune system, and develop your creativity, just by listening to Deep Meditation.

The first goal of meditation is to notice and quiet random thoughts. In his book, Learn to Meditate, David Fontana, Ph.D. says, "By watching your thoughts and learning to identify them as distractions you have begun the path of meditation."

As you practice meditation you'll become aware of how your mind runs around in circles with many different thoughts and memories. At first your mind will be like a chatterbox, shifting from one concern to another, this is natural. You might catch yourself thinking about work or solving problems. You might worry about something that hasn't happened yet or remember things you forgot, like paying your credit card bill.

Meditation Technique #9 Label Your Thoughts Observe the quality of your thoughts and then label them. "These are busy, work thoughts," "These thoughts are negative and limiting," or "Here we go again with my To Do list." Then gently return your attention to your breath and expand into the space between your thoughts.

Each time you identify the quality of your thoughts, you are making enormous strides in meditation that will inevitably unfold in your life. In time you will become a keen observer of your inner world. You'll notice when you've fallen into negative thinking and you'll learn to redirect your attention to thoughts that expand and enhance your sense of self.

The highest level of thought is positive. Positive thoughts soothe your nervous system and encourage states of wholeness and well being. If negative emotions arise, such as anger, regret, fear or sorrow, label them and then gently shift your attention to something positive.

Meditation Technique #9 Meditate Upon Your Divine Self A powerful practice is to meditate upon your divine self, the self who holds vast potential and gifts. Use your imagination to discover the magnificent being within. Drink from the well of knowledge that will multiply your joy and fulfillment in life. Exploring and contacting your divine nature is what meditation is all about. Guided Meditations that will help you create nurturing states of being and contact your higher self: Guided Meditation, Retrieve Your Destiny, Fulfill Your Heart's Desire, Living Prayer.

Meditation Technique #10 Finish with Feeling At the end of your meditation session, just sit for a moment, feeling the energies moving in your body. This pause before you leap back into the world allows you to integrate the meditation session into your daily life.

How to Meditate: 10 Meditation Techniques

Managing the Information Technology Infrastructure of the Queen Mary 2

In 1839 Samuel Cunard created The British and North American Steam Packet Company, known as the Cunard Line, to deliver Royal Mail to Canada and the U.S. (Cunard, n.d.). Originally composed of 4 paddle steamer ships, it would not be until the late 1940's though that the Cunard name would be etched synonymously with superior quality transatlantic passenger cruises. By the 1950's, Cunard had a total of 12 cruise liners in service accounting for a total of one third of all transatlantic crossings (Cunard, n.d.).

With its greater speed and lower cost, air transit was quickly emerging as the preferred method of transatlantic travel during the 1960's (Wikipedia, n.d.). The Cunard cruise liners that clearly dominated the cruise industry a decade earlier were quickly becoming outmoded remnants of a bygone era. With the increased costs associated in operating the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, and faced with stiff competition from rivals like French Line's newly built SS France, Cunard was reluctant to capitulate entirely on the cruise industry (Wikipedia, n.d.).

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Cunard found a winner in an million gamble (Wikipedia, n.d.) through a replacement for the Queen Elizabeth called the Queen Elizabeth 2. On May 2, 1969, the Queen Elizabeth 2 made her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City and instantly became the flagship for Cunard. Not only renowned as one of the fastest seagoing vessels for her size, the Queen Elizabeth 2 was cheaper and smaller to operate than her pre-war predecessors (Wikipedia, n.d.). Cunard managed to dynamically capitalize upon its lengthy historical brand recognition alongside the lowered costs associated with operating the Queen Elizabeth 2. The Queen Elizabeth 2 ultimately won a dire competitive advantage and reigned as the standard of transatlantic passenger crossings until 2004.

In spite of the notoriety of the Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard gradually weakened in each successive decade and became a company with a fleet of old disparate liners by the 1990's. Carnival Cruises acquired the outstanding 32% interest in Cunard in 1999 (Cunard, n.d.). The acquisition represented a marriage between refined British sophistication and the American wanderlust spirit. The prosperous Carnival Cruise Corporation revived the ailing legacy of Cunard by selling off older liners and conducting needed overhauls on others.

Under the new leadership of Carnival Cruises, Cunard also began construction on a liner that was of unprecedented proportion. Dubbed the Queen Mary 2, at a cost of over 0 million and a gross weight of over 150,000 tons, she was the most expensive and heaviest vessel ever. Receiving much fanfare on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 12, 2004, the Queen Mary 2 was celebrated as simply the grandest ocean liner in the world (Wikipedia, n.d.).

The Queen Mary 2 was designed to be an all-inclusive fully functioning entity unto itself, having the capability to function like a self-contained city (Datz, 2004). Providing every possible comfort available on land and without forfeiting modern technology, The Queen Mary 2 evokes the opulence of a previous era for the 21st century. Needless to say, the incorporation of the information technology infrastructure of the Queen Mary 2 is simply second to none.

From the moment that guests first arrive for their departure, they have the ability to have their photograph taken at the port's hotel, the terminal or the purser's office on board the ship. In addition, their credit cards and passports are also scanned into the ship's property management system. Their cards then in turn can be automatically used as their room key, a method of payment on board the ship, and identification for landing and boarding in lieu of carrying passports (Datz, 2004). All fall under the broad category of information technology as Transaction Processing Systems or TPS (Laudon & Laudon, 2006). According to Jeff Richman, director of business solutions and applications development at Cunard, the Queen Mary 2 is the first cruise liner to offer those capabilities in a smart card (Datz, 2004).

In every stateroom the Queen Mary 2 also contains a dynamic television system running Linux on set-top boxes from German multimedia company, IDF. These televisions enable passengers to send or receive email at .50 per transaction, order on-demand videos and select from a total of 11 functional areas of interests such as classes, restaurants and shore excursions. The stateroom television point of sale (POS) system enables passengers of the Queen Mary 2 to not only book reservations, but also to shop online and keep a running total of the amount of money spent onboard (Datz, 2004). The ability to shop via an interactive television integrates the TPS system to the Queen Mary 2's finance and accounting information system to track cash flow (Laudon & Laudon, 2006). This system ultimately benefits Cunard because it requires less people to maintain than would a traditional system of crew handling individual transactions and reservations. Also, the system creates the opportunity to generate additional revenue for the ship (Datz, 2004).

The Queen Mary 2 has its operations center divided among three discrete sites that back each other up within the ship. Individual systems of the ship are connected to the primary organization operations center housing many servers, a PBX communications system and a public address system that serves as the ship's principal safety system (Datz, 2004). The core of the Queen Mary 2's information technology system is the property management system which deals with both crew and passenger information. The property management system controls the ship's credit based invoice system in addition to the boarding and disembarking manifests. Each individual onboard information technology system ultimately links to the property management system (Datz, 2004). The property management system lets the ship forward crew and passenger rolls to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which involves airliners and cruise liners to submit that data prior to leaving and following arrival (Datz, 2004). This enterprise system or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system enables a lone data structure serving business wide incorporation and synchronization of important business procedures (Laudon & Laudon, 2006).

Aboard the Queen Mary 2, Cunard also offers a system called AVO for Avoid Verbal Orders. The ship's crew is able to record matters aboard the ship without having to pick up a phone or physically track someone down. Using individual personal computers, crewmembers can report faulty machinery aboard the ship directly to maintenance. Passengers also have the ability to inform maintenance of any troubles they might be encounter via their stateroom televisions. From either, it is directly assigned to a maintenance worker where he or she can examine a schedule of repairs that must be done for that day. Repairs are completed in the order in which they are received, and afterward customer service personnel can directly contact passengers to see if problems were solved to their satisfaction (Datz, 2004). Once again this aspect is an example of a TPS onboard the Queen Mary 2, due to the inputting of events into the system and the coordination of operational level actions (Laudon & Laudon, 2006). The AVO system on board the Queen Mary 2 is also connected with the ship's planned maintenance and purchasing system. Supervisors can determine from the data which repairs must take precedence over others (Datz, 2004). This aspect of the AVO system therefore serves as a Decision Support System or DSS due to its utility in allowing managers to make critical decisions (Laudon & Laudon, 2006).

The AVO system would not function without the integration of a wireless computer connection infrastructure. The Queen Mary 2 also uses Wi-Fi to link passenger orders in the restaurants from waitstaff terminals to receptors in the ceilings. They are then transmitted through cables directly to the galleys where the chefs view the orders on large monitors. In addition, at some of the bars the waitstaff use handheld computers to take orders that are wirelessly broadcast to the bartenders (Datz, 2004). At the operational level of taking orders from passengers, here the waitstaff use another form of TPS to transmit orders (Laudon & Laudon, 2006).

Finally and most importantly, the Queen Mary 2 also has a system for dealing with problems that may arise in any of her shipboard systems. Every cruise has a total of three computer support officers to handle technical problems. Yet if they encounter a problem that they simply cannot handle, satellite links can provide instant communication directly to the IT department at Cunard headquarters. Here the problem can be handled distantly and does not require the cost and time associated with sending an expert directly to the ship (Datz, 2004). This is an example of Cunard's ESS capabilities that can be used remotely to solve for a wide range of problems that could occur on the Queen Mary 2 (Laudon & Laudon, 2006).

Perhaps the main challenge faced by the IT designers of the Queen Mary 2 was the unprecedented scale of the vessel. No cruise liner of this magnitude had ever been built and therefore no prior strategies could be used. Critical concerns such as cable drops had to be planned from scratch by the IT designers. Typically new ships are built into preexisting classes that already have designated plans for cable drops, but the Queen Mary 2 did not fit into any preexisting class. She had a total of nearly 2,500 data links located in individual cabins and approximately 40 wireless points that all had to be planned down to exacting detail. The high degree of precision is due to the need to torch, weld, and cut into steel, then to fireproof the cables (Datz, 2004).

Development of an IT system was also compounded by the fact that it had been over three decades since the last Cunard cruise liner was built. The relative lack of familiarity with designing an entire IT system for the Queen Mary 2 was underscored by the lack of a distinct IT department for shipbuilding as many competitors do (Datz, 2004). Nearly every facet of IT production aboard the Queen Mary 2 had to be designed literally from the ground up which presented designers with a unique opportunity to develop creative solutions.

Another problem associated with developing the IT infrastructure of the Queen Mary 2 was a matter of geographical distance. As the actual ship was being constructed at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards in France (Wikipedia, n.d.), Cunard developed the IT system at its Miami headquarters. There the entire system was set up, incorporated and checked then dismantled and shipped directly to France to be fully completed aboard the ship within three months, without the benefit of a working lift (Datz, 2004).

First, among the most important stakeholders for Cunard would be the passengers aboard the Queen Mary 2. This individual group absolutely must be considered a top priority due to their ability to literally keep the Queen Mary 2 afloat. If their needs and concerns are somehow not fully addressed, then they will most likely look elsewhere toward the competition. This is primarily the reason why I think that the Queen Mary 2's IT infrastructure was designed with their needs in mind. Everything from selecting activities to reporting repairs to maintenance to ordering room service was planned with ease of use. The operation of user-friendly touch screen stateroom televisions to cover all aspects of their voyage increases the likelihood that they will enjoy their trip and return as repeat customers, recommending the experience to their friends.

Second, another vital stakeholder group for Cunard would be the employees aboard the Queen Mary 2. They are an integral component in ensuring that passengers are completely satisfied with the service they receive and will return. This is why I think such painstaking detail was paid to the development of the AVO and other TPS infrastructure aboard the Queen Mary 2. The AVO system enhances the overall quality of the passenger's experience on the Queen Mary 2 by addressing maintenance issues almost immediately and resolving them expeditiously. The TPS infrastructure creates ease of ordering anything from a bouquet of flowers to a bottle of scotch directly from the comfort of the passenger's stateroom. I think that the employees of the Queen Mary 2 take great pride in being aboard the standard for transatlantic cruises and pay great attention to the detail involved in their daily work.

Lastly, a third stakeholder group that was integral in the success of the Queen Mary 2 would have to be the Carnival Corporation. Often times when individual organizations have differing strategies, mergers and acquisitions can help leverage the strengths so that the sum is far greater than their individual parts. This is what apparently happened in the synergistic union between Cunard and Carnival. Prior to the acquisition by Carnival, Cunard was an organization that was mired in its past. Carnival not only managed to breathe new capital into Cunard but also new life into Cunard's business strategy. Carnival enabled Cunard to transform itself from a stodgy British organization steeped in tradition into a vibrant team ultimately focused on the needs of the customer. I think that the organizational philosophy behind Carnival was instrumental in the development of not only the Queen Mary 2 but also her superior IT infrastructure.

The design of information technology aboard the Queen Mary 2 has shown that IT has no longer become a secondary part of the shipbuilding business. Now more than ever, the 21st century has brought forth technological breakthroughs to focus on enhancing the customer's experience. The customer experience is ultimately what propels an organization to profit and to sustain its viability.
Long gone are the days when organizations could afford to have IT come as an afterthought or worse yet, not at all. The successful implementation of superior IT capabilities must be a dynamic process that operates congruently with other divisions of the organization. Individual organizations must fully realize that they are ultimately doing a disservice to themselves and their clientele by not focusing deserved attention on developing IT.

As in the case of the Queen Mary 2, sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles can stand in the way of successful implementation of an IT infrastructure. Yet the creativity and tenacity of the IT designers did not let this become an obstacle. No previous designs were made on the scale of the Queen Mary 2. The IT designers improvised. The testing facilities in Miami were thousands of miles away from the shipyards in France. The IT designers had to make absolutely certain that the infrastructure would be compatible with the actual Queen Mary 2 in France. Ingenuity prevailed. The Queen Mary 2's IT infrastructure was a resounding success and a model for the entire cruise industry.

Royal Caribbean is one of Cunard's chief competitors in the cruise industry. The Queen Mary 2's intricately woven IT infrastructure has raised the benchmark by which all other IT systems are measured. Royal Caribbean just launched the Mariner of the Seas in November 2003, and the Jewel of the Seas in April 2004. Both ships incorporate similar POS, property management systems, and wireless access areas for passengers. Royal Caribbean has attempted to capitalize on superior IT strengths in its own right, but falls slightly short of the advances on the Queen Mary 2. Unlike the Queen Mary 2, the smart cards used by Caribbean's ships do not contain passport information. They are only used as room keys, identification and for purchases (Datz, 2004).

For passengers, Internet access aboard the Mariner of the Seas and the Jewel of the Seas is confined mainly to each ship's open Internet cafés. Otherwise passengers can readily access the Internet via their own laptop computers. Access to the Internet is available to the respective crews of both the Mariner of the Seas and the Jewel of the Seas through a thin-client device (Datz, 2004). In contrast, the ease of touch screen Internet access aboard the Queen Mary 2 offers passengers universal user-friendly Internet access for a nominal fee.

In the wake of the success of the Queen Mary 2, Royal Caribbean soon will unveil in May 2006 a grander vessel called the Ultra Voyager. With the ability to transport 3,600 passengers and weighing at close to 160,000 tons, Caribbean looks poised to give Cunard a run for its money.

I think that as we see Internet, satellite and telecommunications technology progress even further in the 21st century, we will see more, better and faster use of IT. Some possible areas where IT could be developed in the cruise industry might be:

· Wireless Internet access for all passengers and crew.

· Satellite television connections available to individual staterooms.

· Satellite videoconferencing for busy executive passengers.

· Satellite video telephones.

Cruise lines are pressured into keeping up with the continuously changing environment to maintain market share. IT is a valuable asset for any organization. Cunard will continue to face many new challenges in the future and will need to use IT to build upon the legacy of Samuel Cunard for generations to come.

Managing the Information Technology Infrastructure of the Queen Mary 2