We bring you all the ways how to use British Airways Avios in Japan, travel to Bergamo and Northern Scotland, learn about US racial diversity, another update on the Accor loyalty program, how to unsubscribe from mailing lists, visit Sri Lanka, the anarchist losers in Athens, debunk again the passive investing bubble, my latest marathon training long run and not much more. This blog is running out of breath…and clicks, so sad!
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As you are reading this, I am at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort at a conference. Comments will be impacted most likely, beware.
MILES & POINTS
I went years without paying for a hotel. But I am getting too old to stay in nearby hotels using my points and then driving to/from the conference hotel. So I usually pay for the conference hotel these days and I hate it when I don’t earn any meaningful points. But the addiction is strong. So…I signed up for the resort’s loyalty scheme, the “amazing” Stash Hotel Rewards lol. You earn 500 points when you join and you can join using my referral link so I can earn 100 points when you join and another 500 points after your first stay. You do not have to hurry…at all.
Slow times in the miles and points world over the weekend always. And it shows here…
If you have British Airways Avios points redeeming them for flights within Japan is a good deal.
Accor slightly changed again the All Live Limitless (former LeClub) benefits to give some breakfast and lounge access to Platinums…but still, so subpar it is ridiculous!
TRAVEL
For local Ann Arbor, Michigan readers, it appears there may be another bus company offering service to Chicago.
KLM Airlines has an amazing online magazine. Here is their feature titled “North Coast 500″ about Northern Scotland, enjoy!
If you go to Italy to visit Bergamo: 26 Things to Do.
In Athens, Greece there is a neighborhood Exarcheia. Where anarchists have been pretty much calling the shots for a while. And where drugs and lawlessness have ruled. And many governments have done nothing to put an end to the madness. Well, it looks like this new government in Greece is not going to take more crap from these losers. Finally and hooray! The End of Anarchists in Exarcheia? Greece has been a schizophrenic country for decades…it is starting to behave more normally, lets see if this lasts!
I had never heard of Sigiriya, the ‘Lion Fortress’ of Sri Lanka. Wow, what a site!
ODDZ & ENDZ
WTF to infinity!!! Conversion therapy organization founder comes out as gay. Now he wants forgiveness…seriously?
These maps are great. And in my opinion they show that Republicans banking on the white and anti-immigrant wave is probably not a good idea. Remember the Rolling Stones song “Time is on our side”. Well, in this case, it is clearly not! Six maps that reveal America’s expanding racial diversity.
Arnold is back in Terminator: Dark Fate.
PERSONAL FINANCE
I am on this index funds theme lately…Debunking the Silly “Passive is a Bubble” Myth.
Holy crap, on the internet you can be anything. Even a genius hedge fund manager lol! The Hedge Fund That Wasn’t. Be careful out there ok!
2 LINKS WITH AN AWESOME PHOTO
The Visual Capitalist does it again, this is awesome indeed: Visualizing 200 Years of Systems of Government.
No link, just a cool cartoon!
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
Milenomics has cut down on blogging a lot! But apparently the podcast is going strong. And they are instituting a 50% Patreon subscription increase, wow! They have hundreds of subscribers, which I found very surprising. I mean, they do have excellent content for sure. Maybe I should have started a podcast a long time ago lol. Nope, I am not a podcast fan. With my tinnitus listening to stuff is a bit painful to me. I miss blasting music in very high decibels so much. And going to concerts to see bands you never heard of. Ok, I am going off sideways. I thought about doing a Patreon thingie here as well instead of whining in regular intervals. But the whole setup was a bit cumbersome so I never bothered. Anyways, enjoy this blog while it is still up!
I am in Phoenix as I type this. Holy crap, it is HOT as hell here!
My latest marathon training work of art is depicted below. It includes 15 minutes of walking which were so needed lol. Six weeks left for my first full marathon and I still have no idea if I can even break 20, let alone 26.2!
Remember the awesome moving Trainspotting? And this awesome awesome with video of scenes from the movie:
And I leave you with this…Me too after my 16 mile run bwahahaha!
TBB
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Gold two days in a row?
Good morning!
Lots to read. Thank you.
Josh and DML….now all we are missing is Sam.
Now if only Ingy and Ramsey were back…But now that Ingy has money on the line, as in newbies to convert, why bother posting here, sad!
Bronze! For the Pacific Northwest! Your training is going great! If you are doing 16 6 weeks before, YOU WILL COMPLETE YOUR MARATHON!
The “Hobby”might be dying for some, but if one is not crazy, one can still play. 3 Transcon 1st class in the next 4 weeks, then a 1st class to Italy. Return date… UNKNOWN!
Life is good!
Thank you for believing in me. And for sticking with the hobby 🙂
How many times must Accor change to an even more ridiculous name for its loyalty program?? Cracking me up. Of course if it didn’t suck I wouldn’t care what they called it.
There is an annual convention for my job that sometimes rotates locations. For a couple years it was at a Wyndham in San Antonio – which, I’ve never found much use for Wyndham personally. Now they’ve been having it at a non-major-chain property in Orlando. They’re part of some lame loyalty program that I guess involves other properties too but none looked like much interest and the program is very weak.
Never been a big podcast fan, either. Not that I could do any better, I suck at speaking! As for Patreon…I don’t know, it’s hard to imagine there being anything that amazing & unknown in the P&M world that I’d need to pay to hear about it.
Was it Stash Rewards? I don’t know why I even bothered…
$14.95 per month! Hundreds of subscribers. Blew me away. I suck at this monetization thing so bad. Stop laughing Ingy!
It was Preferred Hotels “iPrefer” rewards. The property I was at is Rosen Plaza Hotel – nice enough place as far as it goes, but would have rather been at a major program location.
I wouldn’t be good at monetizing stuff like this. But monetization isn’t everything though, if you find enjoyment from it.
Will you be playing the “Masters in Business” drinking game at the conference? Whenever Barry says “fascinating” you have a drink (inspired by the tv show “24” drinking game (Jack Bauer saying dammit).
Have fun with the cool guys. You have an opportunity to listen to the podcast “Animal spirits” live. Ben & Michael will be talking about how expensive kids are, what to watch on Netflix and some silly survey. “Fascinating”!
Thank you for your comment. You are so right on and you know it.
Woke up way too early and headed to Starbucks. Josh walked in and I almost said “Fascinating” 🙂
There are signs by an ETF vendor. Advertising a Cannabis ETF. Sadly, no free samples lol.
HELP!!!
I am getting tired of this crap, now Amazon is on me! How should I respond to this???
Your Associates account is at risk of closure.
Why?
We reviewed your account as part of our ongoing monitoring of the Amazon Associates Program. During our review, we determined that you are not in compliance with the Operating Agreement, found here: . The violations include the following:
-You are incentivizing others to visit the Amazon Site via your Special Links by offering rebates, cashback, discounts, points, donations to charity, or other incentives, or by stating that customers can support you by shopping through your Special Links.
An example of the above violation can be found here: https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/support-tbb/
-You have created Special Links to an Amazon Page that does not contain any products.
An example of the above violation can be found here: https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/disclosures-privacy-policy/
What’s next?
Within five business days please correct the violations and notify us when you are in compliance through our customer service contact page:_____________________
If you do not respond within five business days, we may close your Associates account and withhold fees.
More information.
For more information about what we’re looking for in your response, see our Warning help content, found here: . You can also find tips and other helpful information by asking other Amazon associates. Check out the Associate discussion boards via this link: .
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
You’re not allowed to say that readers can support you by using your Amazon links? I feel like I’ve seen statements to that effect on tons of sites w/ Amazon links.
It’s absolutely insane!
I ain’t got time for dat…7 years of enjoyment are enough I think…time to evolve again.
Although it seems like it’s pretty easy to delete a few words and be back in their good graces if you want. Maybe us readers can just comment on using the Amazon links to remind folks instead.
Yeah, the rules can be pretty tricky… if you’re planning on trying to continue in the program, suggest googling “amazon affiliate mistakes” and reviewing one of those first few results that list out the common pitfalls. My guess is there may be other pages you’d need to review too (the monthly posts) — even if Amazon hasn’t identified them now, now that you’ve had a warning, I’m not sure how much leeway they’ll give if they find things in the future. Or maybe it is more trouble than it is worth!
Remember the movie “Dead man walking”?
I am Sean Penn right now…
Well then I’m Sister Helen.
Lol
I got some Stash Rewards when we took my wife’s grandaughter to Disneyland and stayed in a nearby independent hotel. That’s the Stash gig-they’re a reward program for (usually pretty nice) independent hotels. I’ll say this-their points do not seem to expire since they have sent me an email with my balance every month since that trip. The trip was in 2012.
Buzz, screw Amazon. Who the hell do they think they are? Actually I read this morning that Amazon has 30,000 job openings right now, not including positions in warehouse and delivery.
So who needs them, right?
Did you see the KIng of Clickbait got the scoop (with video) of two people coming out an airplane restroom? How does he do it?
Why would an Amazon bot screw with me? I have no time to deal with this…Very few months I reached triple digits…It is phucking absurd. Now there are expensive consultants charging to work through problems like this with Amazon…it is nuts.
Yes I noticed that, I almost threw up….The guy is a clickbait machine!
If I were running a bus service, not sure I would choose the week of Thanksgiving as the time to test out demand for the service.
The milenomics thing is impressive — when we were discussing it the other day, $10/month struck me as already on the high end, but if they can pull off $15/month, kudos for them. That’s like the cost of HBO, or ExpertFlyer, or the annual fee of a mid-level credit card.
Yes, very impressive indeed.
So people will pay if they find value?
Off to launch a membership only site you guys!
Not really…
Running out of time here…
A couple things
– can anyone who has this Milenomics subscription give a (free!) cost/benefit opinion?
– George, you will finish the marathon. Even if you can’t run the entire distance you will complete the marathon and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
– is Gary hanging out around airplane bathrooms again? Or is he looking under the back seats for AA cookies and stroopwaffle crumbs?
– current offer for UA Explorer is 40K, but their plane apps are for 50K fyi
Thank you for believing in me! 🙂
Gary always said he writes about things that interest him. Yikes!
Had an enjoyable AA flight on Sunday. And then the AA credit card hard sell started, OMG!
On AA 737 flight with 30 passengers. ~100++ empty seat and ZERO award availability for weeks. 1 Avios = $0 today. TPG may disagree. Basic economy put me in middle seat but given the abundance of empty seats I’ll be experiencing a poor man’s business class seat.
My wife booked another RT trip to NYC with Avios for a weekend…she is becoming an Avios expert. She could probably write for TPG lol.
AA has taken out low-level availability < 21 days out, right? So no BA seats for you. Or me. Avios continue to get more difficult to use unless you're destination-agnostic. Though a few weeks ago I found a day where there was no AAvailability but there were seats bookable with Avios. Maybe AA's changes will result in some screw-ups / opportunities, who knows.
I tend to agree that the days of treating Avios as a reliable avenue for domestic (and last-minute) travel are long gone, but I’d argue that AA availability is only the latest reason: with abundant cheap Basic Economy fares (which I can live with) and in light of the BA devaluations over the last couple of years (9000 now the cheapest?), Avios rarely seems to be the best option for me.
(There are definitely still uses for Avios — including via Iberia’s program — but it’s definitely not the go-to for domestic like it was years ago.)
AA just opened up some availability for the route I wanted. And not only that but BA has even better availability than AA. Looks like complaining on TBB gets results!
What’s the best Bolton joke of the day?