Danny William

The Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, is a natural phenomenon – an incredible light show in the sky that can paint the entire sky with colors of green, purple, and red. It's not something we can see often in many parts of the world, but those lucky enough to see it will remember it for many years to come. Are you planning a trip to see the Northern Lights? Or maybe you're wondering if you should take a chance and visit Iceland? Either way, here are the 8 things you need to prepare before seeing the aurora. What to Wear In case you are not aware yet, aurora can only be seen in the part of the world where it's dominantly cold. Even so, you don't need to dress like the Michelin Man. You can wear three layers and still feel comfortable. If you want to be able to change conveniently between low-temperature and room-temperature environments, consider the onion-style method. Using this method, you only need to wear mainly two types of clothing, the inner and the outer. For the outer, you would want to wear a two-layered jacket, one layer being a waterproof windbreaker while the other layer is made of warm wool. This is to prevent outside wind from entering your body and causing you to catch a cold. Most people may sometimes opt for a neck scarf as well. As for the inside, either a thermal undershirt or even a T-shirt should be enough. Gloves can make your life easier In addition to the above attires, if you want to stay longer in the cold, having gloves is a must. Ski gloves are the more popular choice, but the problem is that the material is sometimes unnecessarily heavy and you may need to take them off every time you need to use your smartphone. That's why you should spend more time looking for the right one. Consider buying a more comfortable and lighter style that enables using your camera or smartphone, so you never miss a moment. Snow chain is unnecessary As long as you are driving on a public road with asphalt, avoiding mountain roads and seasons when it snows heavily, gearing your car with the snow chain is not necessary. Additionally, there are snowplow trucks clearing the snow and spreading salt to maintain the road every day. Right now, Canada and the United States do not allow using snow chains. Snowy road: driving and parking 101 Do not powerfully stomp either your brake or your gas pedal, to prevent your vehicle from skidding. If you ever find yourself skidding a little, slightly moving your steering wheel should be enough to bring you back to balance. This is why it's important to not speed and leave some distance to stop your vehicle safely. If you are driving during November and December when the temperature is usually the lowest, make sure you park your vehicle near engine heaters and connect it to your car to prevent your car engine from freezing. Photography equipment Nowadays, with the improvement of the performance of equipment, you can take pictures of the northern light with some manual-operated micro monoculars or even high-end small cameras, as long as they have good noise control and pure high-sensitivity ISO performance, combined with a tripod and a large aperture to extend the exposure time, most of them can record the graceful dance of the aurora. But keep in mind that aurora is a large-scale natural phenomenon, so it is recommended to use a wide-angle or fisheye lens for shooting. How to take beautiful pictures Taking pictures of the aurora may be a little bit more complicated if you want to capture its elegant movement. When shooting the aurora, most people will use a high sensitivity above ISO 1600 with a large aperture. Generally speaking, the aperture of F4 is sufficient, but don’t forget to adjust the focus to manual, and then turn the focus position to infinity. When you are ready, you can carefully observe the dancing movement of the aurora, and then press the shutter for the long exposure time, usually about 5 to 15 seconds. If the brightness is high and the movement is fast, you may need to close the shutter early. Therefore, when shooting, you should keep your eyes on the situation of the aurora. Sometimes you can close the shutter for a big turning picture, because if the aurora changes too fast, although it's very beautiful to our own eyes, it may be too blurry in the image presentation, and the beauty would not be captured perfectly. Dealing with different brightness Generally speaking, the brightness of the aurora is divided into 10 levels. The camera needs more than 30 seconds to clearly identify brightness level 1 and 2, otherwise it will look like a white smoke, lightly floating in the air. Level 3 and 4 will slowly begin to turn from white to green, appearing in front of our eyes as light green light, which is commonly known as green light. Brightness level 5 and higher will be very dazzling, and the change in color is crystal clear visible, with the light lavender color sometimes emerging in the night sky. If you are extremely extremely lucky, you may have the opportunity to see the aurora with level 8-10 brightness, illuminating the earth. During this moment, quick, take out your iPhone and snap. Keep yourself informed of the weather If you are using iOS, here are the two app you can consider downloading. 1. Aurora - By Roger Moffatt http://goo.gl/cC3Rl4 2. Aurora Forecast - by TINAC Inc http://goo.gl/Mc053j Through those free apps, you can observe the geomagnetic response and radius trend of the aurora, so as to know its predictability. There are 5 levels in total. Although the predictability of the aurora is based on sunspots and geomagnetic reaction, if the weather is not supportive and thick clouds covered the sky, the northern light would not be visible, no matter how exaggerated and beautiful it bursts all over the earth. That's why it's important to look for the aerial condition on satellite cloud images, analyze the route, and plan properly. You can also utilize the aurora forecast website provided by the University of Alaska below. Aurora Forecast | Geophysical InstituteForecasts of auroral activity, updated daily.Geophysical Institute In addition, you should also pay attention  to the position of the moon and the change in the lunar phase, as the brightness of the moon will also affect the brightness of the aurora. Many people always visit on days during the new moon where the aurora is less affected by the moonlight. However, it is actually beneficial sometimes to have moonlight. In this way, parts of the landscape can be clearly captured without exposing for too long, but of course the magnificence of the aurora depends on the brightness level of the performance at that time.

If you haven't had a Chase credit card before, now's the right time to create one! Check out how to do it below. How to Get Your First Chase Credit CardChase credit card. You heard that brand everywhere, everyone has been using it, and it’s of course not without any reasons. Chase credit card has a lot of offerings. Its points are more valuable, not to mention its additional value on travel plans and hotels. It can be said thatBucktripDanny William Other than their abundant rewards program, bonus points, and cash back, there are actually many other ways you can earn more with your Chase credit card. Here are 10 tips on how you can utilize Chase credit cards: 1. Get a higher sign-up bonus if you apply just before a public offer release Chase used to have this old rule where they will match you with a higher offer that is just released if your card is issued within the past 90 days. This rule is not written on their page anymore. However, if you apply for a card that coincidentally has a higher public offer right after, you can still match for a higher bonus. All you need to do is call the reconsideration line. Not all requests got approved, but it never hurts to ask! 2. Getting around the 524 rules If you’re eligible for a new Chase credit card and you have opened more than five cards in the past 24 months, you may be denied new cards due to the rule. However, there are several cases where this rule doesn't apply: * Co-branded cards like the Amazon Prime Visa Signature cards, the United Explorer cards, and the Southwest Airlines cards are not within 524. * If one of the credit lines is an authorized user card on someone else's account, that means you are only actually at 424. * You can apply for a business credit card at the branch and bypass 524. Your business card doesn't show up on your personal credit report, hence it doesn't affect your 524 status. * You can also check with a banker or the "Just for You" page on the website to see whether you are eligible for pre-approved offers that can also bypass 524. These circumstances sometimes also rely on luck, some have even gotten a 624 despite the rule. Again, it never hurts to ask! 3. Transferring points to family members Sharing is caring they said, and this time, it's also beneficial. You can still add household members to your Point Transfer page by calling Chase. Don't worry, you only have to do this once, and afterward, the household cards will be available to add on the Point Transfer page. By doing this, you can take advantage of certain card offers despite earning points on the other. Say, maybe other card points value more, or maybe you want to quickly collect points for a five-star hotel promotion. 4. You can have as many Freedom cards as you want While the 524 rule still stands, there's no limit to the number of Chase Freedom you can have. And here's how it can benefit you: * Downgrade Say you want to get that welcome offer for a new Sapphire card, but there's only one limit for Sapphire and you already have one. Easy, all you need to do would be to downgrade your Sapphire into Freedom and reapply for a new Sapphire card. * More spending allowance If with one card you have a $1,500 limit, then with two cards it will be $3,000. The list goes on. 5. Reallocate your account credit limits between cards Chase limits the credit limits by the amount they are willing to extend to you. If you ever find yourself denied new cards due to the maximum credit limits, ask the reconsideration line to lower the limits on cards you don't use much and get that welcome points. 6. Refer your friends Think we have concluded that sharing is beneficial. You can refer Chase cards that you have, mainly Freedom and Business Ink cards to your friend and get either cash back or bonus points per referral. 7. Pay your Chase card to $0 mid-cycle When you settle out your outstanding balance, Chase will do a one-off report to the Credit bureau regarding the payment and the time. Paying big balances mid-cycle will certainly give you a good impression, as well as a good credit score. 8. Adjust your due date when necessary Align your Chase card payment due date with your payday. Do your own financial management. Adjusting the due date is especially helpful when: * You want to get your points earlier since points are released after the closing of each billing cycle. * You want to delay receiving points. Who wants to receive a companion pass in December, right? Note that the adjustment will not take effect immediately but in the next billing cycle. So, plan your finance carefully. 9. Chase provides automatic credit limit increases Now, asking for a credit limit directly may result in a hard pull on your credit reports that affect your credit score. However, Chase actually does increase your credit limit without needing to ask. All you need to do is to keep a good score on your credit by settling your balance on time, etc. Another thing that may help is constantly updating your income over time if your income is increasing. If Chase knows you are getting wealthier, it's only natural for them to encourage you to spend more on them. 10. Offers hunting If you have the daily habit of checking discounts on your favorite store, it's time to add another one to the list. Chase also targets existing customers with pre-approved offers and higher bonuses. Here are the two places you can find them: 1. The "Just for you" page. 2. Chase's credit journey, in the Offers section. Available pre-approved offers will be shown with the green star. There it is! Hope the above tips help you in preparing for your shopping journey with Chase.

Chase credit card. You heard that brand everywhere, everyone has been using it, and it's of course not without any reasons. Chase credit card has a lot of offerings. Its points are more valuable, not to mention its additional value on travel plans and hotels. It can be said that Chase is the strongest player in the industry right now. Many people even prefer it to American Express. If you are looking to make your first ever Chase credit card yourself, then you have come to the right place. They said the first one is always the hardest, but look no further, let us show you the best way to ensure the approval of your very first Chase credit card application. What you should pay attention to There are some main factors you should pay attention to before applying for a Chase credit card: 1. Credit Score This is the most fundamental factor you should pay attention to. Most say you need to have at least 680 credit scores to get through and the higher your credit, the better your chance. One thing to note though is that sometimes Chase opens the gate wider depending on the quarter or amount of people applying for the cards at that time of the year. So you still do have a chance to get a credit card even with a lower credit score, just at the right moment. The most guaranteed way for you to have a good credit score is to never carry a credit card interest/debt. If you have not applied for any credit cards before, now would be the right moment, which brings us to the second point. 2. The longer the credit card history the better If you have not used any credit card before and decide to apply for Chase directly, chances are, you'll be rejected for your application unless lady luck is by your side at the time. To start off in the credit card game, you may want to apply for a beginner card, and here's a credit card you can consider, Discover card. It has a lot of benefits and high-value referral programs. And once you are in 3-9 months with the card, while also keeping a good credit score. Note that your credit score will be updated at the end of the billing month when the payment is being reported by the bureau. With this, the chance for you to get your Chase would skyrocket. 3. Be aware of the 524 rule Chase has a rule, where you can't apply for their cards once you have applied for other five credit cards in the last 24 months, hence the name of the rule. There are some grey areas in the rule though. You can check them out in the link in our other article below. 10 Tips to Earn More with Chase Credit CardIf you haven’t had a Chase credit card before, now’s the right time to create one! Check out how to do it below. How to Get Your First Chase Credit Card Other than their abundant rewards program, bonus points, and cash back, there are actually many other ways you canBucktripDanny William Increasing your chances Now that you have everything well-prepared, here's what you can do to further improve your chance of getting Chase. 1. Piggybacking Literally. You just ask your family member that has a high credit score, say 850, to add you as an authorized user to their account. Once they put your social security number into their card, the benefit will be given to you. You will naturally also have a high credit score. 2. Starting a relationship with Chase You can also open a checking account with them for free despite not having any credit cards with them yet. While you are on it, you can also look for more promotions on their checking account and start from there, just let them know you are there. So now you are very well-prepared. You have kept a good credit score by paying off on time and doing all of the other tips above, but still got rejected of your application somehow. Don't worry! You can call the reconsideration line below. Tell them why they should grant you the card,  how you have a good credit score, have a relationship with their other products, and how you prefer them over Amex. Reconsideration line: 1-800-453-9179 And that's it! Hope the above tips can help you on your first step into the wonderful world of Chase credit cards. You can see the following link for more tips regarding Chase. How to Get Your First Chase Credit CardChase credit card. You heard that brand everywhere, everyone has been using it, and it’s of course not without any reasons. Chase credit card has a lot of offerings. Its points are more valuable, not to mention its additional value on travel plans and hotels. It can be said thatBucktripDanny William