We blog about Europe travel bans, of course blog about the virus and markets mayhem, more AA termination updates, we try to get you to clean your smartphone, go even deeper in coronavirus coverage because I do not want you to die because if you do who will click on my credit cards apps hey, we learn about the highest mountain names, amazing photography always, how people without a college degree die more often and a lot more.
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I am sorry but you will see lots of links about what everyone is talking about lately. The now pandemic Coronavirus crisis…Lets get started with a very inspiring read by Detroit’s own Mitch Albom: Coronavirus pandemic will show exactly what we’re made of.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: Two new offers on United credit cards, a personal for 60k and a Business one for up to 100k miles. The IHG Rewards Club card offering 140k points too, highest ever. Other credit cards offers that stand out for now are the 100k Southwest Performance Business card and of course the 80k Ink Business Preferred. In addition, there are personal and business offers for the 70k Amex Delta Skymiles Gold, 100k Platinum and 100k Reserve credit cards. For a standard workhorse card I recommend the 60k Chase Sapphire Preferred card. For a standard premium card I recommend the 50k Chase Sapphire Reserve card. For a standard 2% cash back card I recommend the Citi Double Cash card. Available with my links. Lets move on!
We have clearly entered uncharted waters and if you feel better about how this guy is handling it all, well, what can I say? Unprecedented Times: Trump Bans Travel From Europe Because of Coronavirus. Remember when this was a hoax and we only had 15 cases and we were going down to zero and as of March 10th in Michigan we had only 385 test kits available and only about 45 people tested, unfuckingbelievable. Apparently everyone who wants to get tested can not get tested…
As expected, we will start seeing more elite status extensions or measures like this: IHG Rewards Reduces Elite Status Requirements by 25%+ for the Whole Year! And even these: Hyatt Offers 10,000 Points If You Can’t Use Your Non-Refundable Reservation. Well, no more prepaid non refundable hotel reservations for me.
A Wyndham Rewards promotion, if you dare: Stay Twice, Earn a Free Night.
TRAVEL
When the Chinese were sending medical supplies aid to the Italians and experienced medical personnel…we were barring flights from Europe while still messing with the Chinese with tariffs and other matters that look awfully petty compared to fighting this disease. Oh, my link, I almost forgot you guys. The US Has Issued a Travel Ban for Europe – What Does It Mean for You?
The impact in the travel industry is, well, existential. I feel good for advising readers to stay put and play it safe. I got a very nice thank you email from a reader, it is gestures like that which keep me going here, thank you. Oh, here is the link, you may want to keep this handy, it is only going to get longer! Coronavirus cancellation policies: Cruises, Flights, Hotels, and more.
And now this! 30 Memes Roasting Inconsiderate People Who Catch Cheap Flights During Coronavirus Outbreak. Some of these are hilarious, SAD!
Must click! The World’s Highest Mountains, And What Their Names Mean.
What a site!
PERSONAL FINANCE
Get your kids to go and stay in college! How Working-Class Life Is Killing Americans, in Charts.
It is better if you do not watch the news at all and please do not look at stock market tickers. Just like you should also not be watching your portfolio every day, it is meaningless and it can mess with your head. Bear markets are part of investing. Actually, it is the price of admission to earn the higher returns long term. Every one is different and yes they are scary. You should have a diversified low cost portfolio and rebalance it at regular intervals. Which is a disciplined way of buying low and selling high in a way. With stock down 25%+ from their highs it is certain your stock allocations targets are low. So maybe you should buy. It is not easy. And you must be okay with the fact that the market will go even lower and making you look like a fool. Actually, I expect that every time lol. Let me rephrase that…I expect that every time short term. I know I will be fine long term as we will eventually recover even thought it sometimes looks like we are all going to die. If that happens who gives a crap about our portfolios anyway!
It feels bad right now because so many people got way too comfortable enjoying the incredible fruits of the mother of all bull markets for so long with almost no volatility to interrupt it. Heck, we have just given up all the gains since the end of 2018…actually we are still up (using the S&P 500) 3% since then, so relax! Remember, nobody knows. Stop listening to clowns like Jim Cramer or perpetual doomers who have been screaming that Armageddon is coming, these assholes are finally out of the woods having their day when they hanged their readers/clients for so many years. The numbers above are all concerning stocks, you do have bonds and some cash in your portfolio right? If you do, your TEMPORARY losses are not that bad. Don’t ever fall in love with the highest number in your portfolio because you just never know when you will surpass it again. For young people regularly putting away their 401k contributions this is awesome for you…you will realize it many years later. Stay the course and look for toilet paper…ok, just kidding on the toilet paper, please don’t, WTF!
ODDZ & ENDZ
One of the most comprehensive websites: Update and Thorough Guidance.
One more, I better slow down… 9 coronavirus pandemic charts everyone should see. Maybe it is not a hoax?
Two terms we have learned lately are: Social Distancing and Flattening the Curve.
At the same time, lets think positive, we will get through this! Coronavirus: 10 reasons why you ought to not panic (HT: GringoLoco).
We all use our phones so much these days..so this is helpful: How to Clean Your Smartphone the Right Way.
This is helpful too!
Ok, one more. I am into educating today!
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.
The battle continues at Middle Age Miles and AA: AA Termination – Update #2 – No Response from AA; Escalation to Executives.
I bet you less people are applying for credit cards these days so the whole business model over at The Points Guy is in trouble. Maybe I get to buy them before they buy me, LOL.
Schools are closing here until April 6. It is weird having both kids at home at the same time. But it is kind of nice. Looks like we may be watching some movies together like good old times.
And I leave you with this…
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
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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.
Hope son is back safe! This is gonna be a crazy year… orange goblin should have closed the markets for 30 days like China did during CNY… Stock up for the long haul!
If we listed all the things he should have done I would need help from TPG’s 100+ staffers!
This phucking clown smh
“Jim Cramer: The Best Time to Buy Is Coming, but It’s Not Here Yet”
Same guy:
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/m0dbcb/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-in-cramer-we-trust
Bitcoin, the gold standard for nerds, dropped 40% the other day. Is it time to get in now?
The phucking clown does it again LOL.
Bitcoin, yeah, what a joke…
Maybe I should start my own trading signals subscription here and be like Vinh? 🙂
What a couple days!
Hope everyone is ok. And careful.
Yes the travel industry is going to be hammered so it is a good time to use miles for flights in the future. It is popular in some circles to denigrate status chasing but Platinum on Delta does make lots of transactions easier.
No word about bailouts in the press conference today for the airlines. But all CEOs behind him got some free PR. And probably someone in the administration made some big bucks frontrunning some of their stocks…
Look at CVS, Walmart, Walgreen stock after the presser! ⬆️⬆️⬆️
Sick!
So if the chart is correct and i have a dry cough, no runs, no runny nose only sometimes a sore throat. how is it that you die from it? not from dehydration and not from inflamation of the lungs?
Not sure, got confused there, no time to follow the chart. You act responsibly though and hopefully you get through it on your own and do not infect others. And if you need to be tested, good luck with that. And if you need medical care, hopefully you can be seen before you die 🙂
Something I’ve learned over the past two days:
A “test kit” actually contains 500 “tests”.
Each person tested consumes 2 “tests”
So 385 “test kits” will test 96k people.
The “hoax” is that NONE of the talking heads tell you that — they pound on the 385 number over and over.
The “hoax” is that WORLDWIDE a whopping 0.00058% of the population is affected.
Think for yourself. Wash your hands. Avoid Costco crazies.
#TBBon
There is no excuse about the lack of testing, none! Especially after the ridiculous claim days ago that “if you want t be tested you can get one”.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/12/21175034/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-usa
I don’t see countries shutting borders everywhere and locking down all over the world. Over 250 deaths in Italy in ONE day. And cases nearing 20,000 over there while we are on our way to 3,000 soon and more. Remember when it was just 15 and we are going down to zero? The fact that it is new and we don’t know much about it (but learning more every day), much deadlier than the flu and, most importantly imho, how easily it spreads and here we have an event that will scar a generation…if it lasts for a while. And all indications are we are in it for at least two months at the minimum.
Stay away from people people! 🙂
I have more coming on Monday…
Buzz-
What a great idea-get the private sector involved! That’s stable genius stuff, for sure.
And he’s thinking about our hobby. Those drive-thru testing sites in Walmart parking lots-I can get in a couple of tests a week. Can I use gift cards to pay for my tests?
I think Biden should pick Clinton for his VP running mate. Not Hillary, Bill.
The moron was shaking heads with everyone.
If only he had said just ONCE: “I think I made a mistake and feel horrible about it, I apologize to you all, I am trying hard to work for the American people, etc.” he will get some sympathy. But he is a spectacular case that he just can not do that.
And how Pence is kissing ass to him is beyond pathetic, I almost vomit every time.
WHY IS HE NOT TESTED YET FOR THE CORONA VIRUS? Finally, a journalist asked him that today in his face! “They are working on it”….WTF does that mean? Wait a few more days to shake more heads and take the risk to infect more people? Even Ramsey will agree that he should be tested. As a precaution and, you know, continuity of government…or he infects everyone and Pelosi becomes President…LOL
Can’t wait for Joe to get in there, some dignity and sanity at last, had enough of this freakshow, wow!
Good Ol UncleJoe. I love the Democrats
https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1238646776573419521
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF5TGQgQJeA
Dude, this was all a hoax and we had 15 cases and are going down to zero, remember?
Don’t go there anymore
Dude that debate fumble. Whats wrong with UncleJoe? He looks every bit of 77yrs old. Way to old to run the country at this point. How could you not get someone less than a dinosaur thru the process? You guys suck.
CNN is upset Trump shook hands With officials at the Rose garden today.
WTF did they expect? Dude screwed at least one p0rnstar without bagging it up.
At least one guy gave him the elbow, smart guy!
Interesting information from nomadic Matt about dropping revenue
https://twitter.com/nomadicmatt/status/1238592556407144449?s=21
Wow!
I can say my conversions are way down too, the Wednesday posts are likely toast!
He has 4 staff and $500k in annual business expenses…WOW…If stock market goes to zero I am becoming a full time blogger you guys…be afraid, be very afraid lol
His nomadic books and speaking engagements probably help greatly.
Write a TELL ALL book with Ramsey, include a bunch of salacious details and you’ll be sipping piña colada in a Pattaya strip joint in no time.
Buzz-
Here’s my take:
Trump’s surrounders know they have to create enough glory around him or he won’t go forward on anything, worrying instead that he’ll be blamed for his past blunders (of which there are many, but that doesn’t matter here). So they blow smoke his way, he gets his ego off, and then they can present some solutions that matter.
And I was so taken by Brian’s piece on TPG. I am sure many were comforted, if not also converted.
Speaking on TPG, is it just me or does it seem like Mommy Points is writing most of the posts while all the guys they bought out are out back telling her how great she is?
Your first paragraph I agree 100% with.
You made me read it…As one TPG reader commented: “Clicks.It’s all about the clicks”!
I don’t go there, I read one guy there and I pretty much ignore everything else. All I can tell you is that the longer this goes on….many changes are coming over there and maybe they will regret moving on to a site relying on “free” travel and credit card applications…I admit my chance for that breakout buyout offer to buy TBB (the site, not me lol) is now officially gone.
We don’t take responsibility at all for retiring the Wednesday posts in the month of April”
TBB Management
How things have changed over the last 8 weeks.
Donald J Trump on COVID-19:
January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”
February 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
February 25: “CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”
February 25: “I think that’s a problem that’s going to go away… They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.”
February 26: “The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
February 26: “We’re going very substantially down, not up.”
February 27: “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”
February 28: “We’re ordering a lot of supplies. We’re ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn’t be ordering unless it was something like this. But we’re ordering a lot of different elements of medical.”
March 2: “You take a solid flu vaccine, you don’t think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?”
March 2: “A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.”
March 4: “If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better.”
March 5: “I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work.”
March 5: “The United States… has, as of now, only 129 cases… and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”
March 6: “I think we’re doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down… a tremendous job at keeping it down.”
March 6: “Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there. And the tests are beautiful…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.”
March 6: “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it… Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”
March 6: “I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.”
March 8: “We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus.”
March 9: “This blindsided the world.”
March 13: [Declared state of emergency]”
TDS is a way more deadly virus. Most insane lefties I know already have full blown cases of it.
Dude, your President is totally failing to lead. Which is not a shocker of course. But this time he may get us all killed.
And what is TDS. Actually it is my phone company, I still have a landline lol
How you running on and on about Trump when good stories like Andrew Gillum are out there. You dont want none of that smoke bro. Stop waiting for someone else to save you. UncleJoe aint gon save you either. Trump aint, Obama didnt Bush2 didnt Clinton didnt, Bush1 and Reagan didnt.
Buzz, surely time for an emergency Sunday edition:
https://unbfacts.fun/sin-categoria/inside-the-wild-world-of-the-points-guy-brian-kelly-a-massively-profitable-media-empire-and-claims-of-non-stop-partying-drugs-and-extravagant-spending/?fbclid=IwAR2k7xW3qT3wDFUfXWCVjePcHAdBy0wD8FvdO2noMLnIAszfQPa6ScIKizU
Our overheads are $150k, assuming no salary for me, so clearly I need to pump it up to hit Nomadic Matt levels.
The with washing my hands. After reading that I need eye bleach AND a couple of showers.
ALL about the conversions!
OMG!
And that ex boyfriend, wow #revenge
I wonder how all the bloggers who went to work there feel now (emails, DMs, IMs accepted)
TPG expose in Biz Insider today
Most sources unnamed but his ex spoke on the record
I believe the author tried to contact my spokesperson too 🙂
P.S. TBB spokesperson LOL
I suspect Monday will be a work from home day at TPG.
I started typing out some comments replying to the impact in the travel / points world (wondering re points blogs being tied more to maco behavior of banks while travel blogs being tied to immediate consumer behavior; or how most blogs have basically zero fixed costs and thus are unlikely to fail if they can just hold on to the other side, while a PE-backed entity like TPG may be better protection during this crisis for staff but may emerge more hurt in the long run) … but it’s just hard to shake the human element of all of this.
These are crazy times and a lot of people are going to hurt and it’s not the time to judge people’s economic position and we’re just going to have to all get through this together somehow. Just wish we had better signs that the federal government was up to it.
And with that, I’m now going to go attempt running outside for the first time in years since I don’t trust my gym.
lol, holy cow, as soon as I left that downer of a comment I now see this TPG expose — absolutely wild.
I thought this week was wild.
This expose sure added another layer to it, wow!
Meanwhile Passengers stuck in long lines for immigration at O’Hare and DFW…… Petri dish.
Idk what to say, herd immunity may be our best plan.
“ Italian officials say new virus cases jumped 20% to more than 21,000 in one day.”
https://apnews.com/fd1743f8b54b17310cc6e4b3445f2914?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
“They cited irresponsible behavior by many citizens, who despite the earlier warnings not to gather in large numbers, headed to beaches or ski resorts, and hung out together in town squares, especially after the closure of schools.”
Based on what I see on FB…many still don’t get it, it is sad.
Hey Buzz-
Sunday questions:
1. I read that instead of refunds, UA will be giving out vouchers. The vouchers can be used for future bookings but can only be converted to cash in one year.
My question is: Do you think those vouchers will have “Unsecured Creditor” stamped on the front or back?
2. After reading TPG article, I was wondering: What ever happened to John Schnatter?
UA showing desperate signs. The others appear not to yet. Will we see another merger between the top 3 legacy airlines. Or Spirit/Southwest buying one of them? Prepare for some wild things to take place…
You can beat up on John Schnatter but I would take Papa John pizza before Dominos any day!
Dominos has come a long way since the awful days when their Pizza used to taste like cardboard boxes. Stock is up 20X since they turned the ship around. Yes, a better investment than AMZN. Give them a try.