We bring you a new website Flight Connections, visit Kupari and Beng Mealea, a story about a crazy Australian dude, try to help the Millennnials again, more on the latest Amex moves, my latest thinking on the TBB Blog List updates and more.
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Well, this will be short it looks like…It always starts out like this…
This FlightConnections.com website is pretty neat, I first heard of it at Travel Codex. I bookmarked it and added it to my amazing collection of travel hacking awesomeness. Give it a try.
I have been critical of Amex’s latest moves trying to revive the Platinum card and stem the losses to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. The latest move to add more so called benefits to the Business Platinum version card really do not mean much at all, don’t do this!
One of the all time best credit card signup bonuses is ending by this weekend. The 100k Chase Sapphire Reserve, only available at your local branch. It is only 50k online, beware!
If interested to fly economy on Qatar Airways, read this blog post.
This is a must read of one of my favorite blogs: Postcards from Kupari – Visiting Croatia’s “Bay of Abandoned Hotels”. I love me some decay and good writing. I am so exposed to crappy writing in the miles and points blogs is…not even funny! Thanks for understanding. Oh, and these abandoned hotels may soon be gone and replaced by a Marriott, sigh.
Cambodia’s hidden jungle temple. This is Beng Mealea, the Siem Reap without them terrorists tourists.
If 100 people lived on earth. This is pretty cool. No posts about livery crap around here!
Your personal finance fix: 5 Reasons Millennials Aren’t Saving For Retirement. If you are a Millennial reading this, you can be different. Start now!
The Story of David Glasheen, a Real Life Robinson Crusoe. Wow, what a story indeed. Love these wacky stories, don’t other blogs bore you to pieces or what?
This pic went viral: Crashing waves over Sydney Harbour Ferry Railings
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This section is for advanced level hobbyists and veteran blog readers
I haven’t been able to use the 50% points rebate of the Amex Business Platinum card pay with points feature yet. Mostly because my travel plans are mostly on hold and have loads of airline credits I need to start attacking at some point. I just hope Amex is going to keep it around as it keeps getting more play around our blog space.
Looks like One Mile Date at a Time got some crap for promoting the match.com deal that is mostly falling apart for those who signed up. Amazing how he pleads ignorance that he may had something to do with it and then his fans jump in to support him. Hey, maybe you shouldn’t do five or six posts on the subject when so many passed on this. Expert baloney!
If you post an Amex Platium 40k link and do not inform your readers about the one time restriction on the Amex cards, I am sorry, you lose my respect. And I lose the clicks while you probably get them. And that is something that, when I think about it, pisses me off. So, I try not to think about it. And typing it out does help.
Any hotels in Ft. Lauderdale that are great deals you can recommend? Have loads of Club Carlson points by the way. I can use some sun to maintain my sexy physique. I will be there at end of April for a weekend. TBB reader meetup time?
Any other place I can go next for a TBB reader meetup? Kind of like going on tour…as I always wanted to be in a band but sucked on playing all music instruments and you really do not want to be around me singing!
So IHG Rewards added some benefit with Shell and fuel rewards. Zzzzzzzz….
I have been asked about my Blog Review lists and what is my latest thinking on any updates to them, so here is what I am considering:
Yomadic has not posted a new blog post in such a long time, will move to Like from Love at some point.
Running With Miles is being considered to be added to the Like list.
Doctor of Credit would have moved to Love from Like list but each time I am thinking to do it he links to Mr. 40k Amex Platinum affiliate lover View From The Wing.
Miles to Memories is being considered to be dropped from the Like list as it has shifted to so many deal posts lately with a staff addition. Sadly, some of them have been…see VFTW above. The match.com deal post saved it as I was about to pull the trigger!
The Free-quent Flyer is being considered to be dropped from the Like list as there appears to be a lot more focus on a new personal finance blog hosted at Saverocity.
Any thoughts? Any suggestions? Let me know in the comments. As you know I move slower than a turtle with these lists. Not sure what gets me over the edge to act….it’s a cumulative thingie. In my brain I keep score and then…BOOM! These are all MY lists and they are all subjective of course. If you hate them, let me know and, you know, you can do you own blog and do your own lists ok?
I am losing interest with blogging lately…I need my “buddies” Ingy and Rene to show up again to…motivate me lol.
6 am update: Woke up at 5 am again and went through Feedly and added several items in this post. Gary Leff wakes up at the same time and adds several credit card links in his posts and makes thousands and I make nothing. I know, I know…it just feels cathartic to whine. Better than paying a therapist, TBBing is my own therapy. I guess. Whatever. I am ready to get beat up in the comments. Maybe I like it 🙂
And I leave you with this….Video of me emerges finally, thanks Wikileaks!
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Where for art thou, ScottCastle?
I’d leave Free-quent Miler on the like list. Not much written about travel hacking but he’s unique and when I start to read one of his posts, I never know how he will end up.
Plus, Free-quent Miler is kisted higher than Renee on Milesfeed.
You are so right about:
when I start to read one of his posts, I never know how he will end up.
and thanks for that joke 😉
Freequent is terrible. And anyone who thinks milesfeed listings are a thing should know better. Some of those sites haven’t written a post in months.
Thanks for the feedback.
I think the MIlesfeed order was a joke.
I like when broke dudes gravitate to financial advising. Can I get advice from the broke guy too? I wanna follow their methods
Just in from my assistant who is down at ITB Berlin with the new Qatar J seat:
“Still queuing to see the seat…. there are people more important than us like The Points Guy who got a private tour first… then the big news channels”
The reason I’m not there myself, of course, is that I don’t make a big song and dance about “not accepting freebies” and am therefore in a very pleasant beach resort in Dubai for 3 nights, courtesy of Jumeirah 🙂
PS. Jumeirah are great and you should always stay at their hotels if there is one where you are going. If there isn’t one, go somewhere else where there is one.
Never found Dubai nor UAE fascinating (except Al Maha). It’s as exciting as Benidorm and Costa Blanca.
YeIah, same feeling about Dubai and UAE…but I would not turn down a 3 night stay courtesy of Jumeirah.Can you say a few words for me por favor Raffles…
Phuck! Nobody invites me in these things, so unfair!
Dunno why some people worship ScottCastle’s Script.
First in Bali at least
Scott
Castle
Rest
In
Peace…
Tada!!!
(broke the code…thank you, wikileaks and CIA)
For the next stop on the TBB world tour, may I suggest: Portland, Oregon? Great beer and food carts for the stomach. Hiking to work out those sexy legs of yours. Fresh air. And Ramsey.
Where are you, Ramsey?!
I read on his blog TheHorneyTraveler.com that he is searching for Richard Simmons, who has not been seen for 3 years.
Okay, never been outside Portland’s airport so maybe I go there. What month is best in the summer?
Sept or Oct is best. After that, June. After that, we just say screw it and meet in Vegas.
Lol…Was thinking of June. If not, Sept or Oct should work. Need to burn some airline credits and hopefully the darn Club Carlson points in my stash!
Doc belongs on the love list. Quality content, does right by his readers. Who’s doing a better job of keeping folks up to date on points & miles?
+1. TBB seems to keep him off because Doc sometimes HTs to the Titans. Or maybe there are some other reasons?
+2 DOC is the only must read daily out there IMHO
His place in the Like list is very secure.
I want LOVE blogs to be really special. Like every post is a beauty or the vast majority of them. No other reasons. “does right by his readers”——>Yes but when he links to pumpers who pump the personal Amex Platinum 40k link and does not call them out (because they like the back links!)…not sure that qualifies. No?
George, I don’t think it’s fair to say that I don’t call other bloggers out for not promoting the best links. I think I do that on a fairly consistent basis, maybe I’ll do another one calling out the specific 40k platinum link issue.
I try to always link to blogs when I find the specific deals through them (and VFTW does fall into this category on a consistent basis) as long as they link back to other blogs that do the same (I don’t care if it’s mine, I just don’t like blogs that act like they find all the deals themselves).
When it comes to recap posts I tend to link things I find interesting but not worth a post on our site. Because I don’t really cover that much to do with loyalty programs that often leads to links to titans.
At the end of the day I just do what I feel is best, I’m always happy to listen to constructive feedback from readers (and I’m pleased to consider you one of those readers). I do think it’s insulting that you think I do it out of some grand plan to get backlinks from the other ‘titans’.
I wrote and spent a lot of time on the blog before we had any readership and I continue to spend more and more of my time on the site. I think I put my readers first and it can be disheartening to hear that you and others don’t agree.
All that being said, you’re entitled to your opinions as it’s your site and I’m very much happy to be on the like list :).
Thanks for taking the time to comment in my blog review blog.
I owe you a response. It will happen in today’s post when I get to it, not here as prior blog posts tend to fade in oblivion, they all go to the fresh post.
You are the only blog being considered to be added to the Love list…but any time I see a link to VFTW and not call him out by NAME…I keep you on the Like list 🙂
Definitely add Running With Miles. As for DoC…I don’t know, there is a lot of good there, but the Titan Worship is annoying…maybe leave it as-is for a bit longer?
Staying in the Like list for sure….I just cringe when he links to VFTW so many times. Oh, and I get a fraction of the links than he does….I am not mentioning how many times I link to him, that’s okay….I just want ScottCastle to do a script to slot doc’s posts here so I don’t bust my butt doing it for less than a tall coffee at Starbucks lately 🙂
Yomadic is doing a lot of mini-posts on Instagram these days.
Never got on Instagram….and Facebook for TBB…I don’t check Alexa either. Months without a blog post is a little too long!
Obviously your list should be based on what you love, but a list of blogs I love would definitely include Milenerd. I think his blog is the best resource in cyberspace for quickly finding the best credit card offers, and his posts are concise, unbiased, and to-the-point. I always steer newbies to that blog with confidence that they won’t be led astray. And as a veteran of the game I still use the best credit cards page on his blog every time I’m applying for new cards to make sure i see all the best offers.
Also, while I think DoC’s spot on the ‘like’ list is appropriate, I think you should stop obsessing about whether or not he occasionally links useful information on VFTW. He isn’t a blog critic and he isn’t endorsing the blog, he is just sharing information with his readers. It’s not like he’s regularly urging people to go to VFTW and click his links.
totally agree with jed except both should be at the top of the love list. sometimes tbb can be too negative and it is important to remember what these 2 guys do. doc is an incredible site and it is amazing that he never uses affiliate links. who cares who he links to? it’s the way he wants to run his site. we are lucky to have it. mile nerd is a one man shop who has been the most honest and funny blogger for years. he does not make money on his site and writes back every time i email him. what other blogger wants to help with no pay.
why not appreciate we don’t have a lot of good honest bloggers and they all do things in different styles. i love both of those blogs. i don’t care how they want to do things.would not ask either to change. we would be in worse shape without them. both of those are on my love list.
I personally think milenerd is worth reading just for the 1 or 2 times a year you get a short story sized rant.
Disagree. Like the other guy said this is when TBB is to negative. DOC and MN are honest bloggers & should both get praise here. MN is to simple for some people and DOC is to cluttered for other people. TBB is also not for some people. Different flavors for different readers. We need to rip the sellouts and support the few who deserve it.
I agree!
It should include not linking to sellouts who don’t deserve it 🙂
Ignooooooooooore!
I agree that DoC is too cluttered. It is annoying having to always filter through 20 posts about bank signup bonuses that are only available in states I don’t live in, just to find that one good post I care about.
True but one of the best around. All about personal taste I think. George’s site and George’s list. Here is mine-
Love
Doctor Of Credit
TBB
Mile Nerd
Running With Miles
Dan’s Deals
Like
Miles Per Day
Frequent Miler
Mile Cards
Travel Codex
Travel Is Free if he ever comes back
Ignore
TPG
MMS
VFTW
FTG
Rene
Miles Per Day did the MMS interview and did not even get a selfie with Emily #sosad
Thanks for sharing your list. Very interesting. Like you said, these are personal and I am weird 🙂
Just love your Ignore list, we have 100% agreement there, hooray!
Hi Jed,
When we redesign the site one of the features we will have is the ability to log in and set your state so you only see deals appropriate to you.
Jed: Like I said, of course, this is MY own subjective list. Not like it matters commercially speaking, only you dozen long time readers care for it 🙂
MileNerd: Love the guy of course. Amazing what he has done without any social media, wow! But most deal posts are stuff I would not even post here (Rocket miles?) and not enough ranting which is amazing stuff. Soooo….will stay in the Like for sure! I also take a perspective what my readers will LOVE in MY judgment. They will definitely like Milenerd’s blog for sure. Just not EVERY post. I uses his cc page too and direct readers to check it out first before they click on my links or click on TPG’s links (looking at that dude Gus or Rus) hehe.
Doc linking to VFTW. Thanks for your perspective. But it is not sitting well with me. I am weird. By linking you implicitly, no explicitly, approve of the blog. That means you approve its practices. See my comment above doing well by readers. So, why do you link to a blog that still pumps the 40k Amex Plat card AND never menntions once per lifetime restriction. That is BULLSHIT in my book. So, staying at the Like because the content is so freaking good and he will miss my two extra hits per month this way lol.
I CARE what sites links to. It is indeed amazing what he has accomplished without affiliate links. I remember him when he started out commenting on every blog and I told him maybe he should change his approach. And he has done from what I can tell very well in ad revenue. Which is more honest way of making a living. And he does get A LOT of hits because of this approach. I went a different way, not going to make multiple posts per day and just do my little thingie here and maybe get a few apps per month and a few dollars per day from Amazon. Phucking JetBlue lol. Maybe DofC can buy me out woohoo.
My lists ordering has no relevance to where they stand, they are all loved, liked and avoided.
Also, why isn’t TBB on the ‘like’ list? Did Rick, Dan, and Renee convince you that there is too much aggressive pumping of credit cards on TBB?
Conflict of interest. I don’t like to promote myself. I avoid the spotlight, my nature. Actually, this blogging thing sometimes makes me blush when I ran into readers. I am just a normal human being. And I like tacos….maybe I have tacos for dinner 🙂
New thing I just heard of: Irish tacos. Look it up on NYT Cooking.
hmmm…Irish and tacos together? Is this a trap?
DOC deserves the love. Consistent quality posts on topics no one else talks about. By far the only major blogger to have zero conflicts of interest. Really original and high level stuff – and always in the best interest of the reader
Occasionally roundup links to VFTW shouldn’t keep him off, since he will call a spade a spade on affiliate misinformation. Plus the round ups are easy enough to ignore
I agree completely.
>>>>>>>>he will call a spade a spade on affiliate misinformation
In general only. Until he calls bloggers out by name when linking to them after he gets a back link from them…call me then 🙂
In another note, another link that appeared here appeared in the VFTW blog. If I had a CSP app for every time this happened I would buy DofC 🙂
Come to Colorado!
We have mountains & beer!!
Portland is first now. We’ll see how that goes…Been to Denver…and i have a crazy story to tell one day what happened to me there.
Ahem. When I think of Colorado beer, I can only think of Coors. OTOH, PDX is the microbrew capital. Plus we have mountains, weed, and good food too. (I think Colorado only hits 2 of those last 3.) 🙂
Decided. PDX it is. In 2017 sometime.
No, please come to Colorado.
Then tell readers it sucks–the weed is crap, there’s absolutely no microbreweries, and everyone’s fat from Mickey D’s
We don’t need more people living here. We don’t need more visitors. Leave us alone, go somewhere else.
George say it ain’t so Yomadic dropping down a notch. Since you did
ask for opinions, Yomadic and the Bohemian Bog do not post often but when they do the material is first rate. I like them shown lots of love. I find Andy from Lazy Traveller excellent blog when he posts.
As for the TBB Tour, Denver does have Recreaction Marijuana always a plus to consider, as I write this from the Delta Lounge getting ready to fly home after 3 days in Denver Either that or come to NYC.
Oh, ann I get your beef with the Amex 40k pushers but he does have a lot of excelllent content to be moved to loved..
See comments above on the blogs.
What happened to Andy? Not seen any new posts in his own blog? Or maybe something changed in the RSS feed and does not get noticed in Feedly anymore?
Oh yeah, forgot about the recreational green stuff in Denver!
Hi,
Just checking in, love the civilized discussion. I am surprised I have not been called any juicy names yet, it always entertains me 🙂
Super busy day today, will get to these I hope by late tonight.
I wish I had 3 things: Doc’s ad revenue and buyout offer plus Mile Nerd’s buyout offer and then I will be on a tour permanently giving back to all my readers 🙂
#fantasy
Hehe
Bluecat and John are ON to something here: The Buzz Tour ~ Come FLY with Meeeeee!
First stop DEN, the Mile HIGH City
Second stop PDX, the “That ain’t Roses you smell City”
Good beer in both spots — didn’t FT used to have a beer-do in PDX? Killer donuts in PDX too.
I would HIGHLY consider such a tour, just say where and when. Might need to remind me, maybe more than ounce – er, once!
#TBBon
The Buzz Tour – Come FLY with meeeee….
I like it, maybe I get Tshirts too lol.
All I need now is groupies, maybe I do post asking for them and I just hope Emily does not apply woohoo!
DID EVERYONE FORGET THAT WE HAVE WEED TOO? WAAAAHHHH.
WE == PDX
Hyatt Place 17th St Convention Center is only 8000 points. It has a shuttle. Because of the cruiseport rates in FLL can get really high on weekends.
Have stayed in this HP — there’s a shopping center (not mall) attached w/ some eateries. I watched some of the last World Cup in a sports bar there. If you’re not driving, there’s a freeeeeee shuttle (Sun Trolley? IDR) that will take you all the way to Ola where the happening bars/restaurants are.
Have also stayed at the Hyatt House and Hyatt Place south of the airport. They are across separated by an access road and it was a great place to mattress run. Shopping center across busy road w/ lots of chain sports bar kinda places. About an $10 ride to Hollywood Beach.
I love the Hyatt Pier 66 — but it really is kinda dumpish by most standards. I stayed there the 1st time in 1979 and so I go back. Good Diamond recognition but no idea what they do for Globs.
The Hilton Ft Lauderdale is kinda my “go-to” now that the renovations are done. I love the Marina, can take the Water Taxi to Ola or south to Hollywood. Decent onsite food if overpriced.
What dates are you there? If I can find a Mint fare on B6 I might be tempted to fly out, shake your hand, and buy you a tall one (at Starbucks).
Thanks Claire and GringoLoco for all the info. I was hoping to start unloading some Club Carlson points but it appears nada…again!
I want one at the beach…
End of April I think, in late on the 28th and out Sunday at noon.
I am flying Spirit, please don’t judge, 5k RT when I unloaded the card 🙂
I need to do that Hotel Hustle site thingie soon
Thank you for the shout-out on Flight Connections + Travel Codex. I was the author of that article.
-Rohan Anand
Rohah:
That was a great post. I really like that site, thanks for sharing it with us and your research.
Agree on all your blogs. I love Free+quent would hold off on that one but the finance stuff is not good content.
I think your burning out on blogging because you publish daily you should go three times a week your content can hold. Your my favorite fyu
If you notice most of the daily bloggers have lots of fluff and filler.