We bring you the Wells Fargo Bank horrors, show you how to do SPG transfers to miles, bring you the best luxury cabins, visit Norilsk, talk about how frequent flyer miles are getting killed by bank proprietary programs, eat ramen in Osaka and lots more!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order!
Full Disclosure: My blog had an offer to sell. It was 25x the offer Mile Nerd got! I am not joking. It did happen…in my dream last night hehe. Speaking of Mile Nerd, what else can I say but RESPECT<—–Must read.
I think this is on the right track… Are Bank Rewards Programs Killing Frequent Flyer Miles?
Well, the big story, in another slow day, was the news that Wells Fargo fired 5,300 employees for creating over 2 million phony accounts. I remember reading about this back when Personal Finance Digest wrote about it, so he has an update on that story. I could have stopped and put a post together as soon as I saw this story hit the wires but I am not the type of blogger who is posting many times every day, I prefer one and make it a good one! Never forget that these banks is the reason this hobby has thrived for so long, don’t be so harsh on them. Okay, I better shut it now…5x…ok, STFU TBB lol. #whereweretheinternalcontrols?WTF!
Ok, I have to share just more BS by Wells Fargo, just one contained here, it’s so “beautiful”…after you read it, continue shaking your head to oblivion!
“Our ethics are the sum of all the decisions each of us makes every day. If you want to find out how strong a company’s ethics are, don’t listen to what its people say. Watch what they do. This is even more important in our industry because everything we do is built on trust.”
How to transfer Starwood points to Airline Miles. I have never done this as I always use my SPG points for hotel stays. Oh look, I need to get back to San Diego for a conference in February so I better book the same hotel I stay in again!
Is there anyone out there who does not know this method to avoid United’s close-in booking fee. Seriously?
Apparently, there is wide open Business Class award space with Delta Skymiles flying Delta or Virgin Atlantic in 2017 (HT: Bartholomew H.)
The best luxurious first class cabins This has been used to sell credit cards so much around the blogosphere that just makes me sick!
A nice post full of ramen & sushi in Osaka. No pancakes allowed in my blog 🙂
Why are so many BASE jumpers dying? Maybe they should have picked a less risky hobby perhaps?
This is a great read, please focus on what you can control! Humility, With A Touch of Awe. I think I have this down and I don’t mean I get humiliated a lot 🙂
Norilsk, Russia is a polluted hell (HT: Personal Finance Digest)
And I leave you with this…
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I have a friend that got the CSR yesterday with your link. I hate him a little bit. I think that earns me a small stake in your upcoming buyout offer… Until then we can have corporate retreats in Norilsk.
Buyout offer bash party coming up…hopefully not in Norilsk lol.
Thank you!
Second!
WTF, WFC?
slow this morning…WFC?
Ok, I see it now, in the queue to read, may end up here in Monday’s Buzz post 🙂
‘A few of you sent me a link to the comment section of a blog.[…]It’s just a different breed of stupidity there. ‘
Is he talking about the comments on TBB??
I hope not, there were only a few comments here, most were positive. Maybe reddit?
Re: Norilsk… Nickel mining and smelting is a very dirty business anywhere in the world. Its mostly made in Russia, Indonesia, Canada and Australia and New Caledonia.
#Whereweretheinternalcontrols?
Answer: Same place they were in 2006-08!
Lol…good one
5300 doesnt seem that bad when you realize they have 270k people working for them. 2%? I would figure it to be higher in bank financial jobs. When I worked for Merrill in the 1990s/2000s the bank jobs were the jobs you went to when you couldnt cut it at a brokerage house.
I think they bundled in to the 5,300 number normal job turnover (think bank tellers who quit, etc.) to make it sound “bigger”. I want to know how many of the 5,300 were higher management are included, if any. Did any upper management heads roll here at all?
I interviewed at Merrill in late 1988. The mother fracker stood med up for 35 minutes, never apologized for being late. And his first question was: “Do you like cold calling?”. Well, I walked out never to return. I am glad it turned out this way 🙂
Good TGIF morning Buzzers…
Buzz, your link to Osaka actually goes to a Wells Fargo story?
Many moons ago, I was a really large WF business customer — low 7 figure ADBs. They were MY bank — personal banking, home mortgage, credit lines, the whole shooting match.
Then Al Gore invented the internet and I was an early adopter. So was WF. With my blazing fast 28.8 modem I was hooked on paying my bills electronically — hated writing checks, licking stamps, etc…
One fine day, I pay off the balance on my WF plastic like a dutiful credit-savvy consumer. Paid it 2 days before the due date I did. Fast forward a few days (2 weeks?) and I notice online that I have a $20 ($25?) “late fee” on my plastic account. Como?
Turns out that WF had not yet integrated — so WF the bank had to cut a check to WF the credit division and MAIL same and none of this disclosed to poor poor pitiful me. WTF?? Integrated online so I could see all my accounts in one place but separate divisions within WF not integrated.
Methinks this should be easy to resolve — look at ME, great customer since forever.
Oh nooooooo. I spent countless hours of MY Life getting the friggin’ fee waived. And once waived, closed ALL my accounts, re-fi’d the mortgage and put WF in the rear view mirror. FOREVER.
Yesterday’s news made me laugh, shake my head, and smile. Even broke out a wee dram of 21 y/o Flor de Caña to toast the slap on the wrist from the gummint.
Happy Weekend and #TBBon!
LET’S GO METS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfLIyT8HExY Bluebird Rebirth
Great Wells Fargo story, shows the WTFiness of this bank, wow!
Bababooey? And that pitch…
MileNerd is full of himself.
Not true. Super nice guy who helps me whenever I have a question. Loved the post today. Some people deserve TPG.
“Some people deserve TPG” – LOL.
MN is a super nice guy, does his thing. And I do mine here too. And I got an offer today, $4 ALL CASH #winning
I must say MileNerd is classic. He’s been around, no BS. Listen to the wise I would say. What we see in comments under many popular blogs starting with DoC are amazing levels of naiveté, cluelessness, questions to be led, and overwhelming hunger for resources that have greatly diminished in the past 10 months mostly due to this pattern of hunger. Well, MileNerd was here before this crowd and is a respected voice. It is interesting investors see monetization in his blog. Maybe investors want to rule it all, the flashy MMS as well as the frugal MileNerd. But there will be diminishing returns for everybody as the banks have collected their data. However maybe investors are looking not for the smart foxes of the game but as MileNerd confirms, Millennials are the easiest pray, thoughts scattered due to too many screens moving in front of them, and the hungriest with least of resources therefore ready to take on debts. Just give them a few flashy stories and they will bite 🙂
Great thoughts on the subject, thanks.
I find it amazing a site with no monetization and no social media presence at all gets an offer to sell. Of course we don’t know how much. Not sure what these suitors are up to, maybe you are right that they want to rule it all…
As I was losing steam to keep this baby going, that post gave me….Hope 🙂
…maybe the buyer was interested in the url?
This was a really cool story.
http://harvardmagazine.com/2016/09/the-plastic-earth
1. The Earth’s rotation has slowed down and is slowing down. Until recently, scientists weren’t sure whether and why that slow down happened. (A lack of clarity in the article is explained in comments in the linked story.)
2. We all bounce up and down, due to “body tides,” every day.
3. Sea level rise is going to affect the tropical and termperate zones differently.
Interesting, thanks. Sorry this got caught in the spam filter. Need to find a way to give you a green pass every time!
This week’s MMS interview is with another warrior who saw his duty to include taking our hobby onto mainstream media. Thus, he joins Ricky the troll, Baby Ben, Mommy Mia and the others who couldn’t wait to go on Nightline or elsewhere and bring in the masses. This may not be the end, Buzz, but I can see it from here.
I have a question for you Buzz. Now that Rick no longer owns his blog, and he no longer seems to write for it either, do you think he can still call himself the “Frugal Travel Guy”?. On the one hand, he was the face of that blog from day 1, so maybe he kept the rights (provided, of course, that he continues to travel frugally). On the other hand, it could be like Ronald McDonald or the Pillsbury Doughboy where the corporate image is not tied to one specific person.
You should consider this carefully while working on that sale agreement for TBB.
I have been seeing the end, surely and steadily, for a while man…
I am pretty sure when he sold out, the deal was that the Frugal Travel Guy brand remains. I just visited (things I do for this blog, you guys!) and I do not see anything about Rick anymore. And Howie. They were told bye bye it appears. So Howie took up unleashing mega sellsellsell marketing emails to Award Wallet subscribers…Barf!
It is kind of funny to me we are talking about offers and sale agreements. This started as a joke and, in a way, to me at least, it still is.
Rick had an opportunity to take care of his readers. He went for the money and his silence for unleashing some awful content and that abomination called “Wallet” (still on the site, OMG!). That’s cool. Just don’t come here and pretend you had your readers’ best interest in mind…
I could go on but time to eat a peach!
Oh, if that day ever comes, I will consider it very carefully!
I was offered $4 for an all cash deal and I considered it very carefully. I want you all to know I said: NO!
Do you dare to eat a peach?
Oh oh, I had two!
George as always, more and more misinformation. Try something new. Try to get things right.
1.When I sold, IB took control of the site and added the wallet. I never had anything to do with it and never supported it.
2. Howie and I were not told “bye bye”. We each individually quit, Howie for a better opportunity and me because of editorial differences and a hobby that is going nowhere.
3. And some day, if and when you ever do get an offer (Doubted- no income no readership) you’ll learn that the company the purchases the asset, controls the asset, its content and future. You’d think a financial planner would understand that basic concept but I guess not all do 🙂
4. And if you remember, when I owned the blog, it was your favorite blog 😉
5. So here is my offer: $0.00. The blog has no financial future or worth and is just a rehash of others work with your added commentary. Again, not much value in that as you seen by the offers you have not received. But keep having fun by bashing others, copying, pasting and begging for clicks.
But in all seriousness glad to see you are just a little bit less whiney and not quite so angry as when I last checked in. Stay on your medication and don’t give up your day job.
One tiny comment from one of Buzz’s No Readership Crew:
Are there no more holes to crawl back into?
Thanks for visiting.
res ipsa loquitor
I had another peach 🙂
Rick I:
Thank you for being such a loyal reader and taking the time to comment here. The site is primarily about entertainment, thanks for providing it.
And….yawn 🙂
Your honor, I’d like to admit People’s Exhibit 1:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-09-08/the-cult-of-the-chase-sapphire-credit-card
Wow, awesome link…it pretty much wraps the whole thing up, the state of our hobby…on Bloomberg TV becoming an Exhibit #sosad
May do a post tomorrow, an all anti WellsFacko Bank rant and this article, thanks!
To all:
Rick I and Howiee did not stay at FTG because the offer they got in $$ (what else) was not as good as it was for mailing them in anymore. Otherwise, they would still be there.
Funny how another blog got an offer with no income at all, hey. Rick I. is the guy who predicted I will not last more than three months blogging by the way.
So sad to be able to afford $0 woohoo.
Never fails to make me smh and say WTF though. Like doing deals like these…You know, the name gives it away. DEAL. You make a deal. It is never take or leave it. Well, it is if you are only after the money and you sacrifice your readers by pumping them to oblivion with such awful sales gimmicks I guess #noconscience. Remember, “It’s all about conversions” 🙂
There is no reason to whine anymore, readers are responding in a big way. When they stop…I may whine a little more. Keeping it real here, this is my baby.
Ok, I will go take my medication now, thanks for your concern for my health. By the way, I don’t even take aspirin!
The rest is the same old crap…yawn.
I can’t stand all the Award Wallet spam and crap they started sending out. I guess that dude Howie is trying to be TPG Lite. Maybe they should send a spam about the best man purses for a Kenosha based traveler.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Maybe they should send a spam about the best man purses for a Kenosha based traveler.
Woohoo, that was really funny, thanks!
From BI
“Thai Airways’ royal first class comes with private pods that have a minimum width of 21 inches and come with flat screen TVs. A one-way ticket from New York to Bangkok will set you back about $6,000.”
Sure, if they still were flying to New York (or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter).
“First class on Emirates comes with your own private suite and shower (what more could you want?). An 18-hour flight from Dubai to New York can cost upwards of $9,000 one-way.”
I think I would remember if it were an 18-hour flight, which doesn’t even exist anywhere in the world.
I don’t know why I’m picking on Business Insider. They have nice pics, but their fact-checking is beyond sloppy.