While renting the Hangover II is probably the closest most of us have come to visiting Thailand recently, thousands of people from the United States visit the country each year for a variety of reasons, which, interestingly enough, include the increasingly popular trend of medical tourism. The fact that people are willing to travel clear across the world for anything from cosmetic surgery to dental services is surprising enough in its own right, but that’s nothing compared to the fact that one may be able to use airline miles to not only book travel, but also to pay for the procedures themselves. In other words, the right credit card could conceivably be your ticket to free health care.

You see, Thai Airways – the 5th best international airline in the world, according to CNBC – recently offered a promotion that allowed members of its loyalty rewards program, Royal Orchid Plus, to use their miles for a wide array of medical procedures, including, but not limited to, the following:

If you have a mortgage, loan, line of credit, or a credit card, it may be in your best interest to accept the creditor life and disability insurance that goes along with it. Although it will cost you extra money out of pocket, it may just be worth your while.

1. It can give you peace of mind. If something were to happen that drastically changed your ability to earn income, you want to know that you and your family would be protected. Without insurance, you would still be expected to make payments to your credit products. But, with insurance, you would know that it would be paid of in full in the event of your death and that your disability insurance would kick in if you were unable to work due to an accident or injury.

With the holiday season in the rearview mirror, we are all getting back into our normal routines. Unfortunately, that means starting to think about tax season 2012. April is right around the corner, after all, and if you foresee an inability to pay your full tax bill in full, this can be quite disconcerting. To help ease concerns, the California Society of CPAs recently announced some important strategies for dealing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if you cannot cover your total tax toll.

Before we get to them, however, there are a few things that you need to know about the IRS, its practices, and the terminology you can expect to come across when dealing with an inability to pay: