The woman with a million miles

Her winnings are enough to take her to the moon and back twice, but this 32-year old Filipina is bent on keeping her feet on the ground — literally.

Teresa Molina clinched one million free travel miles on Philippine Airlines (PAL) after applying for a Mabuhay Miles Visa credit card and racking up entries to win the grand prize in the One Million Miles raffle promo of HSBC, the world’s local bank.

The couple travels weekly between the Philippines and Japan to run a Japanese restaurant in Makati City and a Tapsilog restaurant in Tokyo. Should they decide to use their entire winnings, they will be able to travel to Japan for free weekly for the next six months!

Surprisingly, Molina does not plan to use the free air miles for herself or her Japanese husband, a licensed pilot. "We’d rather that we give others the opportunity to see other places," says Molina.

"We’ll use some of the miles for the regular business trips of our staff to Japan," she says. "We’ve just opened our Japanese restaurant here in Makati City two months ago and we’re busy building it up."

Over the sweet waft of simmering Kobe beef on a tabletop grill at the Urameshiya Restaurant, Molina relates how her good fortune could finally allow her parents and siblings to travel. The Molinas hail from Ilocos Sur, but has since moved to Las Piñas City. The fifth among eight children, Molina has already promised to share some of her free travel Miles with family members who wish to visit their place in Japan. Since winning last June, Molina says she has already given away at least 300,000 of the free Miles to friends and family who have learned of her luck.

She credits luck and hard work for bringing her to cloud nine. Hers was the stereotypical story of a singer in a Manila KTV bar who met and fell in love with one of the customers, a Japanese businessman-pilot on a night out with his business partners. This was 12 years ago and Molina has since become an able manager of her husband’s restaurant and grocery businesses. She now speaks nearly fluent Nipponggo and entertains customers like a pro.

It was her husband Noriyuki who first learned about HSBC’s One Million Miles raffle promo. They were at the airport arrival area when he saw the words "Sayang ang Miles!" emblazoned on an HSBC billboard.

"That was exactly my sentiment at the time," says Noriyuki, who speaks conversational Filipino, and has learned to punctuate his sentences with the expression "Di ba?" When they opened a Japanese restaurant last January, they decided to get a credit card to make their food purchase hassle-free. "We’re not fond of carrying cash around. It’s not safe," he says.

It was not a difficult decision for the couple when it came to choosing what credit card to get. "Sayang ang Miles, ‘di ba?" Noriyuki says when asked what made them apply for Mabuhay Miles Visa from HSBC. "We won’t pass up on the opportunity to earn free miles on everything we buy plus the chance to win 1,000,000 free miles in a contest such as this." As one Mile is earned for every P45 charged to the credit card, it did not take long before the couple racked up nearly 200,000 miles.

"It was surprised by the news that I won. I have not even won in any simple raffle, much more this kind," says Molina, who was in Tokyo when HSBC called.

Instantly, she became an instant celebrity and became known as "The Woman with One Million Miles." A steady flock of Japanese customers that frequent their restaurant for the mouth-watering Kobe grill and a chance to unwind never fail to ask where her fortune has so far taken her.

"I’m a very lucky woman. But more than that, I’m very happy," Molina says. "I’ve had good fortune because hard work, luck — and my Mabuhay Miles Visa — so I just want to share it with others."