Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the new 1099-K tax forms, China’s AI DeepSeek shock, 34 life lessons, shocking Zillow house listing, our Boston trip reviews, avoid most online financial advice from influencer posers, more on the peak era of grifting scams under way, the best online resource for recipes, wild conspiracies about the Denver International Airport, we travel to the Namib desert, check out earth craters around the globe and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points at the lower half of the post. Enjoy the weekend and file your tax returns early.
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
This is a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
Blog stays alive for one more week. Barely…
PERSONAL FINANCE
The 2024 tax season is on. I have been a CPA since 1993 and for the first years of my career I worked in taxes in public accounting. I had enough of them after tax season #7. I transitioned into wealth management after that and a big part of it is tax planning. I still work on taxes but only for my wealth management clients. And after so many years I still get excited about the coming deluge of getting these 1040 income tax returns done and efiled correctly and on time. Hard to explain this combination of excitement and dread lol. Anyway, expecting questions about this new 1099-K tax form: 1099-K tax form new to you this year? What it means when filing for 2024. Before you freak out that none of the amount shown on this form has to do with an actual business you do not have, here is what you do:
If the 1099-K shows the sale of a personal item that was sold at a loss, you’d have to reconcile that on your tax return. You’d enter those amounts that were included in error or involving personal items sold at a loss at the very top line on Schedule 1 for 2024 returns. This area is even above the section called “Part 1: Additional Income.” “The place at the top of Schedule 1 to enter incorrect 1099-K information is new” …
And good luck with that, as in IRS correctly doing with it what it is supposed to. Please don’t get into political rants about how the IRS is destroying your life and stuff like that, thank you.
This is a pretty good: Letter to A Young Investor #7: The One Financial Step You Can’t Skip. And I agree with it 100%
…the most important legs of a sound personal financial plan: emergency funds—a financial safety net of readily accessible savings set aside to cover emergencies, like unexpected expenses or loss of income.
On the same personal financial advice front, thanks to reader Sam who sent this article in: Financial Advice on Social Media Is Growing. And Risky. Please, please do not listen to any self appointed guru or so called influencer when it comes to financial advice. Instead of giving them the honor of your clicks, run away in the opposite direction. For your own protection. I am pretty immune now to awful things I see happening online. I mean, I have a separate section about Scams below for Pete’s sake (who was Pete?). First sentence of the article is a dead giveaway of what NOT to do!
Amy Ryan was panicking about her savings when she went online for advice. [And it got worse and worse for Amy after that, read and weep shaking your head, wow.]
More wisdom from Jonathan Clements in the Masters in Business Podcast: Why Dying Is Hard Work.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Ok, is this AI stuff a little difficult to keep track or what? If even the people heavily involved in AI were blindsided by the Chinese DeepSeek breakthrough, why you would even consider yourself qualified to render an opinion on the subject? Anyway, I have no idea what the hell is going on, therefore me and my clients diversify and you should too. What to Know About China’s DeepSeek?
Ok, if you really wanted to get a bit more technical and sound like you really know what you are talking about: DeepSeek: everything you need to know right now.
As I have warned here we have entered a mega era of grifting and AI will be a part of it, here we go smh: Couple allegedly tricked AI investors into funding wedding, houses. FBI claims GameOn founder forged six years of financial records in brazen scheme. If true, lock them up. Actually, lock them up now until the trial.
Remember that online Instagram influencer who was specializing in luxury living touring the world on glittering parties and vacations? Whose husband was so deep in debt that he committed suicide trying to keep her happy and concealing the hole their finances were in? How big of a hole? How about $33.6 Million in debt and just $8,000 in the bank. I blogged about it here a while ago. And I wonder what ever happened to her. Well, here we go: Months After Hamptons Tragedy, Widow Contends With a Tangle of Debt. Her husband’s $15 Million death benefit from his life insurance policies has really helped a lot her situation. Keeping this image was expensive. But, you know, when you are in the hole the first thing you have to do is stop digging!
I left Twitter last year. It was a huge part of my life and I do miss it. But it was the right move to make. And I am a lot happier now since it turned to shit. Here is another case for doing the same thing: You don’t actually have to stay on Twitter.
This blog is not going to blog itself. I rely on my readers helping it grow as I don’t have time to do any promotion/marketing. Which leaves the content clean of intrusive sponsoring posts and stupid ads and stuff like that.
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
ODDZ & ENDZ
One of the saddest articles I read recently, what an all around total waste: An American Tragedy: The Colorful Life and Shocking Death of Ovid Neal III. On the dark streets of a college town, two teenagers hoisted a rock and ended a man’s life. His loved ones want to know when we’ll finally value the lives of homeless people.
This is actually pretty good: 34 Life Lessons from 34 Years of Life. I had a really hard time picking five:
You’ll achieve much more by being consistently reliable than by being occasionally extraordinary.
The answers you seek are found in the actions you avoid.
Anxiety loves idleness.
Work hard first, then smart later.
It’s not supposed to be easy.
If you are into recipes, do I have THE link for you? The Woks of Life. There are over 1000 recipes on The Woks of Life. Here in our Recipe Index, browse them by category, collection, or course. Browse by category for recipes using a certain ingredient (beef recipes, vegetable recipes, egg recipes, etc.). Browse by collection to see curated selections like our Quick & Easy recipes or Vegan/Vegetarian Recipes. Browse by course if you’re looking for breakfasts, appetizers, sides, etc.
This listing in Zillow will blow you away. I am just going to stop here, you must let your eyes see this, wow to infinity! $25,000,000 1201 Marble Way, Boca Raton, FL 33432. Oh, at first glance, from the outside, it looks normal, no? Just keep clicking, it will shock you, trust me.
This thing: Meet Bathynomus Vaderi, the Foot-Long Sea Bug Named After Darth Vader.
TRAVEL
There is not much to say about the airplane accident over DCA airport, we share the pain with the families of the innocent victims. It is heartbreaking reading about all the people aboard. Just flew through this airport just two nights ago around the same time.
JetBlue expands with 16 New Flight Routes. Ok, so what? Well, we are getting a daily flight from New York JFK to Detroit. Wait, not only that but even Traverse City will connect with Boston three times a week, hooray for Michigan.
I had never head of this incident before: When a Deadly Winter Storm Trapped a Luxury Passenger Train Near the Donner Pass for Three Days. The embedded video in the link, wow.
Yeah, we heard them all before: 5 Wild Conspiracy Theories About Denver International Airport.
Great video about 200 Earth Impact Craters Mapped Around the World.
Really nice pics: Loskop to Swakop: Four Days in the Namib Desert.
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This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. Everything below deals with the hobby of collecting frequent flyer miles and points and maximizing your travel experiences. If you are not interested, you can stop here, thank you.
MILES & POINTS
Here we go, buckle up:
Expect these not to last: Hotel Holy Grails: The 7 Hard-to-Book Hotels We Can’t Stop Thinking About.
If you are into this currency: Best Uses for ThankYou Points. From Citibank. Is this bank on a super slow mode of coming back or what?
If you are looking for inflation, you will find it in hotel brands. Hyatt is about to go up to 33, crazy. But there is at least one good thing coming from this inflation: Hyatt Brand Explorer Perk, Earn Up to 6 Free Night Awards.
Register HERE for the latest IHG One Rewards promotion to earn double elite night credits for stays through April 22, 2025.
Register HERE for the latest Marriott Bonvoy promotion to earn 1,000 bonus points and 1 bonus elite night credit for stays through April 14, 2025.
And when you thought getting Bonvoyed was bad, hold my beer: Marriott Still Assigns Categories to Their Hotels: How To Find Out, Updated with 2025 Pricing. The horror, the horror…
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
I still don’t understand why everyone does not apply for this card. And how Capital One Bank has not substantially nerfed it yet. How to Get Airport Lounge Access for the Whole Family with 1 Credit Card. Here is the link to apply for it, you can be FIRST this month to help this blog, thank you! Just flew through Washington DCA airport and stopped at the Capital One Landing place and I can assure you we ate a lot, this card can feed you too lol. On top of paying you $5 to keep it, come on!
Yeah, this we assumed you do but let’s be specific: When you apply for a card deactivate your VPN: This One Simple Application Mistake Can Cause An Automatic Denial.
You may get some value out of this I guess: Beauty In The Eye Of The Cardholder: Stephen’s Top 6 Card-Linked Programs.
We were waiting to see the new premium card by JetBlue. And it must be the WORST intro to a premium card ever in this space, wow, wtf were they thinking? JetBlue Premier Card Is Live: Signup Bonus 70,000 Points + 5 Tiles ($499 Annual Fee).
For the recently elevated World of Hyatt Chase personal and business cards, see the details HERE. If you want to help the blog, please check these offers from my favorite bank HERE.
More elevated offers finally from Chase.
170k CHASE IHG Rewards Premier
Suddenly Chase came out and increased this offer from 140k points. The minimum spend is $4k in the first three months. The annual fee is $99 (not waived in the first year). You get a free night (worth up to 40,000 points) on each card anniversary. Automatic Platinum elite status. Card earns 10x points on IHG properties, 5x on travel/dining/gas stations and 3x on everything else. Once you spend $20k in a calendar year, you earn a $100 statement credit AND 10,000 bonus points. You also get up to $50 United TravelBank cash each calendar year. You get the fourth reward night free on any stay of 4 or more nights. You can earn Diamond status if you spend $40k on the card each year (please don’t). Global Entry/TSA Precheck fee credited in case you haven’t done this yet with another card. No foreign transaction fees. 20% discount on points purchases. There is another offer floating around online to earn 5 free night certs worth only 40k points each, pass. If you regularly stay in IHG Properties (like Holiday Inns) this is a solid card to get and keep. Other than that, if you like to diversify, this is not a bad haul (I think the highest ever points offer has been 175k) and the card pretty much pays for itself. If you want to help the blog check these offers from my favorite bank HERE.
100k CHASE IHG One Rewards Traveler
Just elevated from 80k offer. This is the no annual fee IHG card. The minimum spend is $2k in the first three months. Card earns 5x on IHG properties, 3x on dining/phone/gas stations/select streaming/internet and 2x on everything else. You earn 10,000 bonus points after $10k spend. You can earn Gold status after $20k in spend. Fourth night free on award stays. 20% discount on points purchases. No foreign transaction fees. If you hate credit card annual fees and don’t mind staying in a Holiday Inn a few nights for free, maybe this is a better fit? If you want to help the blog check these offers from my favorite bank HERE.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
The 75K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has a minimum spend of $4k in the first three months. If you like simplicity and looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with an easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its own travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait, there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add FOUR authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership and, this is BIG, they can bring in unlimited guests with their FREE Priority Pass card! You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car top elite status. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points each. And lots more. If you prefer, this is my personal referral link.
Click on my TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS to see a DETAILED explanation of the features of these cards.
Here are my three TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS as of today:
The #1 Top Offer is the 75k Capital One Venture X card. It is amazing what you get for FREE with this card!
The #2 Top Offer right now is the 75k Chase Ink Business Unlimited card.
The #3 Top Offer right now is 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash card.
Learn more about these offers HERE.
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
Would you like to be automatically notified every time a card comes out with (or is about to remove) an elevated welcome offer? If yes, I highly encourage you to sign up if you haven’t yet. And when you apply for a credit card from a link in these emails you help support the blog (and you don’t have to hunt down the link in my Credit Cards page!)
Elevated Card Offer Notifications
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
Burned 35,000 Alaska Airlines miles for one way Honolulu – Cancun for son +1. Alaska Airlines miles are becoming the most valuable out there, hopefully for a lot longer before management comes around to put a stop to it, seems like a universal ongoing trend in this space.
The blog post today came together very late. I really did not feel like posting anymore. The blog earned absolutely zero revenue since last Friday. I found myself during my three day Boston getaway doing too much thinking about the blog and taking valuable time away from, you know, real life. I am thinking about what comes next. In the meantime, you can checkout these posts in Instagram and YouTube:
Boston Fairmont Copley Plaza review
Boston Fairmont Copley Plaza review Part 2
Downtown Boston and Freedom Trail Walking Tour
Hilton Boston Park Plaza review
Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor review
Capital One Landing Lounge at DCA Airport
Video: Boston Fairmont Copley Plaza One Bedroom Suite
I will post videos from the Hilton Boston Park Plaza and Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor when I get around to it.
For many years in the US I did not eat clam chowder. Until I started several years ago and it is one of my favorite foods. I had it every day in Boston, sometimes more than once. It is the best there. Just like bagels are the best in New York city you know.
I again ate a lot more than I should have during this trip at hotels and lounges. It is one area I need to improve on. When I got back I went on a strict fast and when I weighed myself two days later I hit my lowest weight of the year #winning.
Another client entering early retirement. I am managing to get them all to retire comfortably and I wonder when it will be my turn? Lol, ok, let’s not go there, shall we?
Unless I hear from my kitchen contractor dude today, we are calling off the kitchen remodeling project. These guys are swamped and I expect even more labor shortages due to some deportation talk going on lately. Sorry US economy for taking the hit. Also, have you seen the price of eggs lately? Ok, I could not resist. I promise to behave, we don’t need the crazies to come out again here.
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 75k CHASE United Business, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 150k CAPITAL ONE Venture X Business, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 90k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 60k Chase Sapphire Preferred, 80k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
Learn How To Apply HERE to support the blog. Or email me if you have any questions about any cards, I’m happy to help, thank you!
As of today, I have burned 65,000 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,427,070 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy it please forward it to a family member or friend. Or Buy Me a Coffee, thank you!
Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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This site may receive compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. Travel Blogger Buzz and Your Best Credit Cards may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not necessarily include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.
OMG that Zillow listing… how?! why?! I think I would go insane if I lived there.
George, I’m curious… how did you make the switch from corporate to your current wealth management career? How’d you go about getting clients?
Saved a lot while working for da man at a job that I absolutely despised toward the end of my stay there. Not due to the people, the people were great. Just the repetitive nature of the subject matter and the long commute. Escape came suddenly when son was born with some health issues and life changed. Started with one client, a family friend who I took care of his taxes and had a CFP who was pumping him several crappy annuities. Anyway, he referred his son and then it was a slow grind for several years while I did some per diem work with another CPA firm and at Ernst & Young counseling executives. And learning my craft. NAPFA membership and its referral system helped in the beginning attract some clients. And referrals, referrals. I was always selective of who to work with, have said No numerous times. And still do. Then Twitter got me well known, WSJ writing gig came along which led to landing some big clients and becoming more selective. Not accepting new clients so I can continue my blog crusade…which is getting really ridiculous at this point. I always did things differently so it is what it is. Wife carried us in the beginning while I slowly build my firm up. Time to reciprocate and retire her soon.
<–Thanks!
Silver! For the Pacific Northwest! Haha! Good stuff! Gonna read a couple articles now because I woke early and then time to get busy! Travel plans coming together and it is gonna be epic!
Try not to get too downhearted about the blog. I suspect a lot of folks just don’t comment, but do enjoy the work you do. I know I do!
It is becoming really really hard not to. Monday morning weekly blog traffic email tells me it was the second worst week ever. I guess people were reading this morning’s latest post from View From The Wing:
Spicy Ex-Flight Attendant Fired Her Nanny/OnlyFans
Please do not use your sock drawer card again, you have done so much for my blog. It’s just that so many who read it just don’t really go the extra step to support it. And that is how good independent quality minded stuff online goes dark. Just learned Hakai Magazine folded. I bet you it would not if its readers actually did something to support it and not just read it for free.
Everyone who has flown into DCA must be remembering their last trip in and
thinking what if. Yipes.
Thanks for all the links!
My last flight into DCA was on the same flight in from Witchita in November. That sure brings up some what if scenarios in your mind.
Yeah, very sad.
Will respond over the weekend, lots of Chinese New Year activities in store ahead.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
My eyes are still hurting from that Zillow listing. What were they thinking?? Can only imagine how much it would cost to remedy those choices.
Re the 33 Hyatt brands – we’ve found it a real struggle to get beyond the first 5 brands as outside North America not even sure if the funkier brands exist.
I’m on a card cancelling spree. Now down to 4 cards with no plans of ever getting any additional ones. Feels very freeing.
May I ask how the series of cancellations has affected your credit rating, or have you checked or kept track. I am feeling a bit weary of having what is starting to seem like too many cards but have been afraid of dinging my credit report score.
Carl, it has very little affect on my credit score. Might drop by 10 points the month of cancellation but the next month it recovers. My score hovers around the 830 mark. My thinking is why pay annual fees on all these cards, only so much spending to be made in any given year and I think as we age we are more vulnerable to losing track of what’s going on so I see it as cutting down on the risk.
Ok, thanks and good to know! I am ready to pare down as well, especially on cards I hardly use. Gonna start slowly letting go of some of my cards. Appreciate the insight.
I am stuck at 10 Hyatt brands for a long time.
The inside of that Zillow listing house still blows my mind.
I never checked how canceling a card affected my credit score. Actually, I just never check it, has been in 800+ for ever.
Talk of card cancelations and complete lack of talk of card applications is very deflating for this blog because card conversions bring in 95%+ of its revenue. And with so many hundreds of outfits online, including numerous YouTubers who just discovered miles and points last year (or last week) pounding the newbies who are 0/24….well, not very encouraging for me to keep my baby going. Just my 2 cents.
Just watched my hometown soccer team gift away 2 points by not winning a game we should have won easily. 8 games left and it is going to be a battle…
Oh, yesterday I lost one Instagram follower. Today I lost an email list subscriber.
This is just too much to take…going to take the rest of the weekend off from this blog.
Plus all this talk here of canceling cards sure deflates future prospects for this blog. With 4 cc sales since Novermber 1 the ax is sure coming from my 2nd cc vendor for “low sales” again…
Sputtering to the end…
Next time in Boston at The Hyatt Haborfront if you need to explore using transit, take the hotel shuttle to one of the terminals, get on the free silver line bus to south station and get free transfer to the red line. I do this twice a year when in town for medical appointments.
Thanks, I ‘ll keep that in mind. Would love to return to Boston in warmer times.
Sorry, too many Chinese New Year activities in my life. And good to stay away from my blog for the weekend reevaluating it’s future.
Frequent Miler always sends his readers to the mother of all National Enquirer blogs View From The Wing at least once in their link roundup posts. In the last one, one link to VFTW was not enough, he had two! None of the Boarding Area blogs ever linked to me, not even to one of my ‘I burned X Million miles & Points in 20xx year” posts. You would think their blog readers would learn something from my posts, no?
January was the worst month in a very long time. I am paying out of my pocket to bring this blog to you. Ok, this never intended to be a big money maker but, you know, getting near to perhaps making minimum wage after 12+ years blogging away doing minimal promotion because it would take time away from focusing on the content is…just too much to take anymore.
Unless there is a flurry of Capital One Venture X card conversions in the pipeline about to be posted (these show up very irregularly), the ax from the 2nd cc vendor due to low sales again is coming.
Blog redesign is postponed.
Tax returns data has started to roll so maybe I am just stressed out lol.
3 miles walking now, and today included 1/2 mile jogging. Some progress?
Happy CNY to all.
Tariffs are here, brace yourselves. Took less than 2 weeks for the dotard to start breaking things.
At least the price of egg inflation was solved. Along with the war in Uktaine. And so many more things. Expect more insane incompetent cruel shit. And we deserve it.
I will respond to the comments eventually. And intend to post on Friday. This is now a blog for public service. Maybe I turn it to a true non profit lol.
First tax return has been e-filed, woohoo!
Thanks David for the coffees, if only a fraction of readers ever took action to support this undertaking.
Maybe they are all helping so many ass kissing bloggers who always send their own readers to such esteemed self proclaimed travel thought leaders like this guy who posts gems like this every day:
View From The Wing – Gay Catholic United Flight Attendant Axed After ‘Sex Is Unchangeable’ Remark – Raises Enough Money to Sue.
smh
Remember the Leonard Cohen song with the lyrics “First, we take Manhattan then we take Berlin”
If he was around today, it would be:
“First, we take Greenland then we take the Gaza Strip”.
Meanwhile, the price of eggs has gone up almost a dollar and even Waffle House is now charging a surcharge for eggs LOL.
Stay sane my friends
I am buried deep in taxes…
Also, finally joined Bluesky and may just kill the TBB Twitter account too.
https://bsky.app/profile/feeonlyplanner.bsky.social
Going back to normal…I have not even started the Friday post here yet…maybe this is the end. Almost a month since anyone got a credit card here. All thank David for keeping this online…for how long?
Shockingly, two Capital One Venture X sales from early December posted yesterday. There will be a blog post tomorrow, thank you. And I have some amazing links to share with you. And some changes are coming, added Bluesky account wearing my CFP and CPA hat and will kill the TBB/FlyertalkerinA2 Twitter account so I can finally delete that app completely and get it out of my life. Will not mix Bluesky with Instagram TBB from now on. Will keep YouTube TBB but with just over 60 subscribers I think I have no future there lol. This blog will keep mixing both parts of my life every Friday going forward. When no cc sales occur in a calendar month or my 2nd cc vendor kicks me out due to “low sales”, whichever happens earlier, this blog ends. Until then, enjoy the ride you guys.
You all have a good day.