We bring you the latest on our pandemic spiral, the latest travel rewards cards, how to travel to Hawaii for free, shocking 401(k) plan stats, the Wirecard fraud, we learn about the land of Kush in Sudan, the best Covid coverage always, sign up for some promos and check out some guides, we travel to Turkmenistan, check out the greatest beaches and so much more. No “shocking” videos, repeated credit card and buy miles sales pieces. I do what I do, je suis TBB and you read this for free! (it rhymes hey?)
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There is a lot in this post. You all enjoy the weekend. Stop bitching and help someone who is not as fortunate as you.
COVID-19
If you are going to read one article today, make it this one: America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral.
We continue to make progress, here is the latest on the vaccine front: Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker.
Seriously, Let’s get real. No vaccine will work as if by magic, returning us to ‘normal’.
It may get awkward! What Happens If China Gets the Covid-19 Vaccine First?
I felt much better after reading this: Leader of U.S. vaccine push says he‘ll quit if politics trumps science. Then again, I fully expect the political pressure to announce a “real” vaccine to fully take place smh.
Kudos to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ! One university may have the best COVID testing operation in the U.S.—and tests students twice a week. If only others learned from it…
So many formerly called shithole countries have handled the pandemic so much better…but hey, let’s Keep America Great Again, sad lol! Senegal’s quiet COVID success: Test results in 24 hours, temperature checks at every store, no fights over masks.
We all know the industries that have been severely impacted during this pandemic. But we don’t talk much about the arts, which I think it is WAY on top of the list! COVID crisis: We need all hands on deck to save America’s arts and culture economy.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: There are now three different 65k Chase Southwest card offers and a 60k Chase United Explorer card offer. Please use my Affiliate links.
If you do not see a credit card with my affiliate links, perhaps I could refer you? Some cards I can refer are: ChaseSapphirePreferred, AmexHiltonAspire and others. Contact me please!
Travel rewards credit card signing bonuses continue to go up. The Amex Hilton Business credit card now offers 130,000 points! And the three personal 65k Southwest offers are ending September 14, hurry!
All you wanted to know about the Chase Ultimate Rewards 2020 Guide.
These will likely not last that long but with the pandemic who the hell knows…The Best First Class & Business Class Sweet Spots For Each Program.
When we can travel freely again I will book a trip to Kauai, the only island in Hawaii I have yet to visit. Best ways to fly to Hawaii from the US mainland.
Really nice hotel promo by Hyatt coming very soon. The safest place to travel to is most likely your basement.
One of the long term staples in this hobby is the Southwest Companion Pass. Here are some tips for Applying for Southwest Cards (CP) Late in the Year: What Could Go Wrong? (Updated for 2020).
TRAVEL
State of the Hotel Industry. As of August 31, 2020. The figures are just devastating…
This is an amazing link for aviation geeks! Air attack – How California uses dozens of aircraft to battle wildfires. Must click in my own biased opinion.
Let’s travel to Turkmenistan and see some photos inside the empty Awaza resort.
An interactive map of the world’s greatest beaches.
Where Are the World’s Tallest Buildings?
When Gibraltar plays San Marino at home in soccer and…here comes an airplane take off!
Amazing photography, wow! Landscapes of Russia.
Did you know Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt? Well, now you do. Let’s learn about its Kush ancient civilization that has somehow been overlooked by history.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Some of these will make you shake your head for sure! 100 Must-Know Statistics About 401(k) Plans.
This is why we have investigative journalism. Wirecard and me: Dan McCrum on exposing a criminal enterprise. Be careful out there and support people like this, bloggers too!
Ranked: The World’s Richest Families in 2020. I think I have a great shot to make it into “The World’s Poorest Blogs in 2020”!
This will make you vomit: How To Hide A Billion Dollars: Three Techniques The Ultrarich Use To Dodge Ex-Spouses, The Taxman And Disgruntled Business Partners. South Dakota remains “hot”…
CURRENT EVENTS/POLITICS
I.Can’t.Even…5 Takeaways From ‘Rage,’ Bob Woodward’s New Book About Trump. Why would even his fans believe what he says anymore is beyond me. This guy has watched more TV in one night than I have in years!
On top of all the craziness, we have the fires in the West Coast: Shocking Photos Show The Hellish Scenes From The West Coast Wildfires. These colors…looks like the gates of hell!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Fascinating story involving eccentric con men, bunkers, technology and stuff like that: The Cold War Bunker That Became Home to a Dark-Web Empire. An eccentric Dutchman began living in a giant underground facility built by the German military—and ran a server farm beloved by cybercriminals.
Another fascinating read about the companies in the business of US elections, I had no idea, wow! The Democracy Factory. For decades, the vote-by-mail business was a sleepy industry that stayed out of the spotlight. Then came 2020.
I have bookmarked this! Storage – Save the Food Guide. You bring something back from the grocery store and you have no idea how to store it. No more! Click this link and you will be told how to do it. You know you need this as bad as you need to have thousands of miles and points to travel for freeeeeeeee! Well, apparently you are getting them but not with my links, sad!
I kept shaking my head with this one: The Eco–Yogi Slumlords of Brooklyn. How did a couple who built an empire of yoga studios and homes with “living walls” end up as pandemic villains? When I see yoga and yogi these days, my BS antenna goes way up!
What a story! The Inside Story of the $8 Million Heist From the Carnegie Library. No jail time in the end, unbelievable!
When you are really bored and wanted to play something else, something different, for hours or days on end…I got the perfect solution for you: 50 Hours of Nature Sounds to Bring You Joy and Awe.
Hilarious: When the bell door rang 20 years ago vs Today.
What, you did not laugh with the previous link? Ok, here is another one: Notes on “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” as Delivered to Axl Rose by His Editor.
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.
Some interesting observations about Long term effects of COVID on churning.
This hobby can screw up people: Ladue man used online ticketing glitch to scam American Airlines out of $160K. It is all about finding loopholes but when that crosses the line you deserve it. Another miles expert out there I guess…
I was going to report this in mid August but I kept forgetting to post! So, finally he came out with the news so I am late again to the party. Maybe I should change my blog name to Travel Late Buzz or something. God Save The Points leaves Boarding Area.
Expect my blog on Fridays. And changes coming soon. No one has clicked on my credit card links since July 30! My family does not count. It is sad and…it is what it is.
My glute injury apparently is still healing, wow! This aging thing…
And I leave you with this…
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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.
Good morning!
Library theft is dreadfully easy. I found one volume of Darwin’s copy of Malthus replaced with a copy without annotations in Cambridge.
Library of Congress locked up the stacks when it discovered that credentialed users were cutting plates out of books.
Thanks for the links!
There was a movie called ‘American Animals’ a couple of years ago about some students that tried to steal rare books from a college library and are basically the worst criminals in history. It’s sort of a hybrid documentary with the actual participants and part dramatic recreation.
I watched that movie and really enjoyed it while thinking non stop wtf is wrong with some people. Reminds me of Trump voters 😉
Trump saved the auto industry too…who knew!
Regarding Woodward, why hold onto all this information while >190k have died?
Perhaps releasing select information from the interviews in March would have saved a few lives…. some would have taken it more seriously. What’s more important our public health or releasing a best selling book?
I’m not buying his book.
Really good piece on Woodward here:
https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2020/was-it-unethical-bob-woodward-to-withhold-trumps-coronavirus-interviews-for-months/
Maybe we should focus more on the phucking moron still lying to us and killing people instead on focusing on Woodward?
Bit ridiculous when the author concludes that there are bigger problems to focus on. With that spirit in mind, why even cover this unimportant subject.
I am for getting rid of Trump and ALL of his enablers. Woodward‘s rational is immoral, a “higher purpose to tell the overarching story”. Most of us have realized that journalists are mainly recording history, we consume it AND nothing is done to correct the course. The last 4 years have felt like watching the titanic hitting an iceberg in slow motion. Taking notes, taking notes… many of can see what’s about to happen. But nothing is done.
That shit can end November 3.
If not, we deserve it…
I don’t know, maybe folks not clicking is because they are discouraged. I’ve made 5 card apps this year and 4 have ended up being denials. I was slowly trying to sort of get below 5/24 but the weekkly “Please get our card” (whatever card) pleas made me try a couple. NO way. Even my bank, BofA shot me down.
So I have stopped. I ain’t going anywhere anyway for a while and I still use various cards judiciously to max points, but for now, no SUBs. I am hitting the Amazon card hard right now ’cause I got that sweet 4 extra points/cents deal through February.
It’s a weird time and I think also depression and burnout. Scoring lots of points and ready to burn and anywhere I want to go means 2 weeks in quarantine? Nah. Came back from 3.5 months in Europe in mid-January and haven’t been more than 40 miles fom the house since. It’s driving me nuts. But where to go and do what? Nothing that interests me much is out there.
OK, got a bit off topic, but without reasons to burn points and getting turned down by banks, well, finally accepting such and cooling out for a bit.
I think a lot of stuff if changing and has changed. I’ll go somewhere when I can again and when I can, then I will know the tide has turned.
If you applying to Barclays and BofA…maybe. If not, have you checked your credit report? Is there something there that may scare them too? Or have you made it on black lists?
I see your point though…
Never give up! That’s my motto 🙂
Here’s an unfortunate update on University of Illinois efforts. Unfortunate–but not unexpected if one spends any time around young adults (or, really, around humans of any age!)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-11/how-coronavirus-rampaged-through-university-of-illinois-college-campus
Wow…thanks for sending.
When we look back at this…we would probably wonder WTF were they all thinking?
Meanwhile, the phucking moron is holding rallies with no social distancing and no masks…
I mean…at this point it is just plain sad with all these morons still holding up for this unfit mentally disturbed narcissist asshole, wow!
The sad streak is over, got 2 cc conversions for the United Explorer card on September 12!
And holy shit, the banks are paying half of what they used to pay for cc conversions these days. I feel for the bloggers who do this for a living…
Thanks to the two readers who decided to use my links. Someone cares and it is good to know…
I would not be surprised if China has a covid vaccine first. According to an article on page A1 of the WSJ, vaccine companies there have injected hundreds of thousands of persons as part of their Phase 3 trials.
In contrast, here in the US we aren’t able to get enough volunteers for our trials.
I fully expect the Chinese to get there first…
And then it is going to get really awkward if Trump is still President!
Stole this from Twitter:
Saturday update:
New covid-19 deaths, yesterday:
Spain: 48
Italy: 10
Japan: 6
Canada: 0
UK: 6
Germany: 4
United States: 1,094
Population of countries above: 420 million
Population of United States: 328 million
So many covidiot racists here still supporting the phucking moron wow!
Well yeah. The covidiots are the same idiots who get manipulated by people or companies always pushing the same buttons.
“It’s like the flu, ain’t that bad”
“China virus”
“The government can’t tell me what to do…. masks are SOCIALISM”
We are phucked for sure.
It’s all about FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM or LAND OF THE FREE crap. Take the tobacco industry. Not only they hid that they knew it for half a century, they purposely murkied the science and said that people get their cancer from other stuff but not cigarettes.
Then they pushed the freedom button “The government cannot tell you what you can or can’t do” “We should be free to smoke, this is my right.”
They all follow this playbook now. Just take the soda lobby. Same shit. “It’s not the soda that is causing obesity” “The government is infringing upon your rights to drink soda” “Socialism! Nanny state”
Amerimorons will never learn.
We just gotta prove we are more than them on November 3 🙂
If that happens, we will still have to wait until January 20th. And for months we will be reading crazy stories.
I am REALLY afraid what happens between November 3 and January 20. I think we are going to see shit it will make all the shit we have seen since 2016 look like really minor shit!
I was thinking about applying for a Sapphire Preferred card for my wife if the 80,000 point offer is available through your links but they don’t show the card at all that I saw. Maybe I’m doing something wrong. I did see the Sapphire Reserve though.
Yeah, higher forces deemed my blog is not selling enough plastic so they took my CSP affiliate link away. As of last night my referral link only showed the old 60k CSP offer. I did not check today because I got busy…working on the Friday blog post..
I will try to check on Thursday am.
Thanks for thinking of me, almost had conversion #3 #soclose
My referral link still points to a 60k offer…that just blows!
Please use the link of a blogger who you would like to support. This one is not it for the CSP. Thank you.
Just saw Randy in Linkedin saying how Boarding Area had a 1.8 million visits, highest ever.
Good for him.
But…he also shared the highest visited single post. It was that clickbait moronic post abt handing a ‘rude’ note to a flight attendant ( VFTW called the note ‘vicious’). And that goes to show you how many in this country (on both sides) absolutely suck for having the time to click on stupid stuff like this…
Smh
1.8m is huge. Let’s assume Ben is 30% of that then, at 600k per day.
Let’s play more games. Let’s assume Ben makes 3x more per reader than I do (which is probably too low as he gets $300 on cards where I get £25).
This would put Ben’s income at over $20 million per year.
Commissions have been cut on plastic cards too.
Still, he brings in more in one day what I make per year here…
I still won’t turn into a tabloid cc salesman…and waste my readers’ time about a “rude” note to a flight attendant…so many morons clicking on this shit!
Here is a guestimate from 2019
https://www.sanspotter.com/ben-schlappig-net-worth/
I think the numbers are on the low side.
Speaking about morons…..it’s the same reason why Trump is our president. He got $1.2B of free advertisement in the 2016 election. And this is why he’s lying, because the media is looking for clicks and he trows them a lot of bones to chase.
I remember that blog post. He thinks up a lot of numbers. We don’t know…but it sure is a lot.
Exactly on your second point about Trump and the media. I wish they stopped covering him and going nuts for every crazy thing he spews out…and that includes me.
But I have no doubt, after the latest CDC Director mask incident the dumbest mfer alive is going to kill us all if he gets elected again!
Yesterday was Chase day in the blogs.
Today is AMEX day.
It never stops.
The Delta increased offers ARE available with my links by the way, thanks for the support.