Perks

LAS VEGAS -- Last summer after winning $4.25 million for finishing second in the World Series of Poker championship event, Anne Arundel County accountant Steve Dannenmann vowed that the unexpected fortune and likely fame would not change his life. It hasn't. Unless you count being stopped by strangers who want to have their picture taken with him. Or attending charity poker events at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. Or playing in golf tournaments with Baltimore Ravens. Or being recognized at fancy parties by Hollywood celebrities who want to chat.

Poached sea bass with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, seared ahi tuna with ponzu sauce served over napa cabbage, filet mignon with chimichurri sauce: They sound like items on a menu at a four-star resort, not something to chow down on while wedged into seat 34B. But as airlines have pared their meal services down to a bag of pretzels or chips on domestic flights -- if even that -- more resorts have stepped in with the latest must-have amenity: the to-go...

Under Armour Inc. CEO Kevin A. Plank, whose stock holdings in the Baltimore sports-apparel company are worth more than a half-billion dollars, had shareholders pick up the $468 tab for his health club dues last year. That's just one of a raft of perks that corporations have disclosed recently in annual proxy statements, from car leases to corporate jet rides, from home security systems to golf clubs. Although perks have long been bestowed on corporate chiefs, companies are increasingly divulging even the cheapest of fringe benefits in the interest of transparency and ahead of rules, expected to take effect next year, that would compel far more disclosure.

Members of Congress and their aides are willing to sacrifice a lot to keep their jobs - privacy, regular work hours and employment security, for example. But as House Speaker Dennis Hastert discovered, don't ask them to give up lavish junkets to exotic places at the expense of folks looking for their official help. No matter how fishy such travel might look to critics and political opponents, this is one perk the denizens of Capitol Hill refuse to give up. Little wonder. An extensive review of almost six years' worth of disclosure forms by journalistic and public interest groups revealed lawmakers and staff members took at least 23,000 trips valued at almost $50 million courtesy of corporations, trade associations and nonprofit groups with a stake in the business of Congress.

Todd and Nancy Armstrong found themselves in a suburban twilight zone this spring when they ordered a pizza the first night after moving into their newly built townhouse near Aberdeen. It took three hours - and a lot of help over the telephone - for the delivery driver to find their place. That was just the beginning. For the next few weeks, they couldn't get their mail forwarded, or change the billing address for their credit cards, because the Postal Service had no record of their street.

Airlines boast about them. Credit card companies tempt you with them. People hoard them. Collectors trade them. Frequent flier miles have become a currency. And now, with the 25th anniversary of this wildly successful program coming tomorrow, the miles game is more heated than ever. Miles no longer are used just to get free flights. You can use them to buy digital cameras, magazine subscriptions, hotel stays, dining certificates and a whole host of other products. Four airlines have created online auctions where frequent fliers can bid on such items as vacations, spa treatments or a ticket to a Broadway play.

The image of the fat-cat CEO might soon get a little fatter. Under a regulatory proposal that appears to be headed for approval this year, corporate America would be forced to disclose a raft of previously unreported perks and payouts to its top executives. The disclosures might extend from housekeeping services and yachts to lavish severance packages. "This will certainly trigger some `Oh my's' when everything is included," said Steve Van Putten, who leads an executive compensation practice at Washington-based Watson Wyatt World- wide.

Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant in the world, consumed in coffee, tea and soft drinks by hundreds of millions of people to get started in the morning and as a pick-me-up during the day. That people like the jolt they get from caffeine is no secret, but what caffeine does in the brain has been unknown. Now Austrian researchers using brain imaging technology have discovered that caffeine perks up the part of the brain involved in short-term memory, which helps us focus attention on the tasks at hand.

For John Kovacs, there is little question whether he will be paying by credit card. It's just a matter of which one he will pull from his pocket. One provides double frequent-flier miles at grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies and post offices. Another offers double miles while staying at his favorite hotel chain. A third yields bonus miles when he purchases airline tickets. "I don't pay cash for anything," said Kovacs, a sales representative from Palatine, Ill., who was in Chicago on June 6 for a meeting.

DETROIT - The wide world of frequent-flier miles just got bigger. Sure, Northwest Airlines Inc.'s frequent fliers can accumulate miles when they buy electronics or clothes online or when they charge a purchase to a WorldPerks credit card. They can even earn points by refinancing a mortgage or getting a loan. Now add laser eye surgery to that list. In what could be the first time frequent-flier miles have been offered with a medical procedure, D.O.C Optics Corp. and Northwest are offering 20,000 miles to patients who undergo laser eye surgery at D.O.C's new laser center in Royal Oak, Mich.