Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as digital deja vu, millionaires growth, drone photo awards, a new 120k points credit card, stock market drawdowns, the guy behind the Harvard Business School scam, making fun of people who drive a Cybertruck, the missing chacmools, enhancing your travel with luggage losers and legroom extensions, and much more and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you next Tuesday hopefully.
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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 a curated at least weekly post of the best web content along with my commentary. Here to Educate primarily, sometimes Entertain and if I get to Inspire you, well, that is a bonus.
This is a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
PERSONAL FINANCE
I am blown away by how much clickbait and how many charlatans are online. Almost every day I shake my head in disbelief, how did it all come to this with the internet? Ok, let’s not go there ok? I keep saying every click you give online matters. Every time you click on stupid clickbait shit you just guarantee that more of it will come your way. And then you wonder how it appears that some people live on parallel universes? Anyway, this is really good and singles out personal finance “influencers” online: Digital Déjà Vu.
We are being A/B tested into a world of commoditized content. Things look the same and sound the same because they basically are the same. It’s digital déjà vu on a massive scale and I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse…This is what I’ve been seeing on YouTube and throughout social media in general. Similar conversations about similar topics with similar hooks. It’s the nonstop Twitter threads. It’s the oversharing on LinkedIn. It’s anything and everything that explicitly tries to maximize engagement.
It’s what we give up when all the content is meant to maximize a single metric. As a result, we don’t control what we see and many content creators don’t really control what they produce. They just follow what works. And in doing so, these systems come to control us.
The algorithms influence what gets watched, which influences what kind of content gets produced, which influences what we see, which influences what we believe, and the cycle repeats. While there’s always been negativity bias in the media, the system has never been more efficient at distributing that negativity than today.
You may think that our content ecosystem has nothing to do with your finances, but you’d be wrong. Because it’s all interconnected. What content you consume influences your thoughts and actions. It influences how you treat others. It influences what financial decisions you make and much more.
How many people got sucked into crypto because they heard about a random altcoin that went up 10,000% overnight? How many people bought Gamestop because it became an internet meme?
We’re living in the world of our own making and it’s getting harder to escape. I say this as someone who uses social media professionally (to share financial content) and even I’m having difficulty limiting my use. My only advice is to be careful what you consume, because it may just consume you.
So, before you click on something, stop and think. Would I want my loved one to come across it and read it? If no, DON’T CLICK, surf away. Only then we can save us from the giant mess we have created online, thank you!
Ok, let’s look at this from the awesome Visual Capitalist: The Fastest Growing Millionaire Populations by Country, (2013 – 2023 Fascinating! Amazing how the top two countries on the list are communist. In theory anyway.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 just notched its 37th record close in 2024. But at some point the stocks will go down. Way down. Be prepared. A mental trick I use to calm me down during stock market mayhem is to envision my total investment portfolio cut down by 1/3. And then come to terms with the fact that it can happen anytime. So, when it happens I would have already gone through it in my head, it is all mental. Focus on an asset allocation you can stick with over the long term. Trying to make short term bets is a futile exercise. Market corrections are an inherent part of investing, get used to it. Interesting table that I found here:
Some stuff I jotted down to bring to my blog readers:
Since 1950, the average annual max drawdown in the S&P has been 14%. [So, don’t flip when it happens ok?]
The US office sector set a record 20.1% vacancy rate in the second quarter. First time ever over 20%. [Been looking at office buildings to find a steal fully aware that if I pull the trigger another pandemic will finish them and me off lol]
The 50 largest stocks in the S&P 500 have a median return of 13% year to date. The 50 smallest stocks are down 12% [indexing wins again]
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Remember the recent scam where some dude who had a Harvard business school degree targeted fellow alumni? This is a must read story about him: Inside the Harvard Business School Ponzi Scheme. Just a sad story, especially the guy who committed suicide when he found out he lost his money. The guy is not in jail by the way. So, don’t fall for greedy pitches ok? Actually, just don’t be greedy! If you are going to invest, you better make sure your money is held at a well known custodian, preferably a household name (Schwab, Fidelity, etc.) and you have online access 24/7. To check to see if your money is there! I hope this guy gets some help and finds a way to pay back what he took. And no, I am not betting on that happening of course.
Long time readers know I am no Elon Musk fan boy. So when I came across this hilarious article I knew it belonged in my blog, enjoy the laughs! I drove a Cybertruck around SF because I am a smart, cool alpha male.
I got to drive a Tesla Cybertruck for a day this spring. You jealous? You should be, because Elon Musk’s Boy Scout project is the kind of virile, powerful spacetruck that should be owned and driven only by our largest, wealthiest, whitest men. The kind of men who use speakerphone on airplanes. The kind of men who talk big about colonizing Mars as if it’s a realistic scenario. The kind of men who are training artificial intelligence to not only take your job but also steal your wife. Real can-do American men.
Meanwhile, I was surprised by this I must admit: Billionaire hedge funder sipped a drink as he was found criminally responsible for $100 billion in shareholder losses. The drink was water by the way, maybe he started practicing already. Appeals will take months, it will be a while before they lock him up, if ever. Hopefully this serves as a message not to engage in shenanigans like he did that ended up in gigantic losses. What a moron, he should have known better!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Remember the weird Carlos Castaneda dude? Well, if you read this very long investigative fascinating article about him you would know a lot more things about him, all of them really bad. The Case of the Missing Chacmools. Also, I had no idea what a chacmool was, now I do. Soon after New Age icon and bestselling author Carlos Castaneda died in 1998, a group of his most loyal followers vanished, and many believed they’d made a suicide pact. Geoffrey Gray investigates the writer’s bizarre cult and finds himself entangled in a web of murky financial dealings, sex, possible foul play—and one death-defying supernatural being. I warn you, this is a long read and I wish the author had come to a conclusion in the end.
If you have a very large monitor this is just wild: Calculating Empires. A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500. It will blow your mind.
Amazing photography: The 2024 Drone Photo Awards Capture a Striking Overview of Global Struggle
TRAVEL
SAVE $100 FOR 2024 THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL FESTIVAL
I have them all here, you are welcome bloggers reading my blog and never linking back to me: Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2024.
This is great! LuggageLosers.com, a LIVE ranking of airlines by how much luggage they are losing right now. So, at the moment I typed this, you will not lose your luggage with ANA (1 in 2,304) and plan on losing it if you fly Air India (1 in 13!).
I added the Legrooms Extension on Chrome and it is great. Want a TV Screen? More Legroom? Add Google Flights’ Legrooms Extension.
BUZZING
A section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life and anything else that just does not fit in another section above
Been a really hot summer…
Been jogging a little more and doing my assigned physical therapy exercises religiously every day. Still weird numbing sensations that keep moving around my feet, this whole thing has been so weird. I put together two half mile jogs together yesterday and felt so great while at it. Afterwards, not so much. And on it goes…
Hard to believe Eminem is now a grandfather. And he has a new album “The Death of Slim Shady”. I have been listening to it lately here.
I have been enjoying both the Euro and Copa America soccer tournaments. And looking forward to watch the two finals: Spain vs England and Argentina vs Colombia this Sunday. I am with underdogs Colombia and England and I think they may get demolished but hey, this is why you play for 90 minutes at least. The semifinal Uruguay vs Colombia was super wild, bodies flying, almost turned out to be a mass casualty event. This is why I love soccer in international tournaments, there is nothing like seeing multimillionaires sacrificing their bodies to become national heroes wearing their country’s flag colors. I must admit I was disappointed with France who were fairly beaten by Spain and this young Yamal kid who was not even 17 yet scored this amazing goal that we will remember for ever. That same video also shows Messi scoring his 109th goal and then, boom, we see Messi holding a newborn baby in his hands who was not other than the Yamal kid, crazy!
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 NEWS/PROMOS/MY ACTION
I only pick worthy links to share with you. As there is so much crap out there! What stood out since last post is that there have been a flurry of new travel rewards credit card offers, including one that has gone to the top of my list of the BEST OFFERS out there right now. And of course, more devaluations, boo.
GENERAL NEWS/PROMOS/NEWBIES/ETC.
Nice Hyatt promo, register now: Earn 2X points at 550+ Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels worldwide.
Whichever way you slice it: Hilton Honors Adds 390 SLH Properties to Its Luxury Brand Portfolio, there is no doubt that SLH is a big win for Hilton Honors hoarders. Do I qualify as a hoarder with about 300k+ Hilton points and one free night cert? Let me know in the comments 🙂
And here are all the SLH hotels available with our Hilton Honors points. I see 23 in Greece, over half of them in Santorini and Mykonos.
See what you can get in the latest United MilePlay promotion. Keep your expectations extremely low. Or don’t have any at all lol. If you don’t fly United at all please do not bother. I almost always get absolutely nothing. Family members got a promo to fly once to earn between 2,500 and 4.400 miles. All with varying minimum ticket prices. What a weird promo this has been, algorithm craziness.
120k CHASE Ink Business Preferred
This card has been at elevated 100k for a while, so going with an extra 20k points takes it to the TOP travel rewards credit card offer out there right now. And yes, it is its highest ever signup bonus. The annual fee is $95. Requires $8k minimum spend in the first three months (used to be crazy high at $15k!). It earns 3x on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines and 1x on everything else. No foreign transaction fees and primary rental car insurance. Points are worth 1.25 cents each if used in the bank’s travel portal. So, if you do the math: 120k plus 8k MINIMUM (if all spend was at unbonused 1x ) is 128k points times 1.25 cents gives us free travel worth $1,600. For an annual fee of $95. Ok, I did the math for you, come on! And of course you can transfer the points instead to airline/hotel partners (I prefer Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan and sometimes Southwest, in that order) for even higher value. Very solid cell phone insurance coverage along with strong travel and purchase protections.
Me and my wife are going for it, we’ll see about our kids who now are off on their own. We did have the card years ago and did not end up keeping it. Let’s see if we end up keeping it this time since we all have the Sapphire Preferred card which we are definitely keeping for the duration. This of course assumes we will be approved. Bloggers will rage how amazing this card offer is. And it is. The difference is that they ALWAYS “review” credit cards on their sites and always recommend the cards in order to get paid. I try to keep it real and tell you what I do playing this game. And of course appreciate any support to keep my blog baby going!
CREDIT CARD CORNER
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your credit card clicks below, thank you!
I will indicate with NEW every new section as the rest is the same from the previous blog post and will finally roll off those parts as these offers expire, thank you.
NEW: Wait, we have more new offers being thrown at us. As I was saying, banks are trying to sweeten periodically the offers to pure airline and hotel cards. And we have seen how Marriott Bonvoy keeps bringing back the 5 free night cert offer almost regularly. And now, please sit down, we have IHG doing so too! I don’t remember IHG offering free night certs in the past but I could be wrong. You can learn more about the specifics of the offer in this post: Chase IHG Premier: Five Free Night Certificates (Up To 60,000 Points Per Night). If you have a specific IHG property in mind to spend five nights in for free $99 and you can use the points and some of the decent benefits, I mean, go ahead. I am trying to take IHG out of my life and am down to enough IHG points to get me two free nights at best these days. Or, after the latest devaluation (See Advanced Section below) I may get 1.5 free nights at best, sad lol. No direct linking to the card, I feel so dirty already with so many such links in this post, I am sorry.
NEW: I am bringing this to your attention for completeness purposes only. The no annual fee Marriott Bonvoy card is the Bold card. And this one has a new offer out there too: Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card 60,000 Points + Free Night Certificate + Card Changes. I think this may be the highest offer on this card or close to it. And you should still pass and not waste one of the precious 5/24 Chase slots on it.
US banks always have new credit card offers. And Southwest card offers change constantly. So, you should never go for a Southwest card with a Signup Bonus of 50,000 points or less ok? And here we go with two Southwest offering business cards offering 120,000 Points. And all personal Southwest cards are back to only 50,000 Signup Bonus offers again.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card and Business Performance Credit Card are offering a signup bonus of up to 120,000 points:
Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from your account opening.
Plus, earn an additional 40,000 points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 9 months
Always check my TOP TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARD OFFERS RIGHT NOW below.
MY ACTION
Follow me on Instagram please. And subscribe to my YouTube channel.
This past week I closed three credit cards, two no annual fee Ink cards (one for me and my wife) and son’s Citi AAdvantage card we have had for a while. To create breathing room as I am trying not to increase the number of cards I handle in my household. So I will be going for two 120 Ink Business Preferred cards for sure. But I am going to wait at least a week since closing the other Ink cards. Not that it would make any difference I think. Just to be a little extra careful I guess. Developing…
I tried to help my daughter book a round trip back home from Seattle and decided to use her own Chase Ultimate Rewards points. After I emphasized the danger in booking in the bank travel portal and that she should make absolutely certain that she will not cancel. Well, just a few hours later she messaged me “something came up that weekend and I need to cancel”. Serenity now. Anyway, it was less than 24 hours and she called to cancel and everything worked out, her points were back in her account. I doubt she would have the same outcome if more than 24 hours had passed as the tickets were booked on Basic Economy. I will tell her that she is on her own now moving to Seattle next month and spotted her 200k Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Both of my kids don’t share the same, cough, affinity for this game/collection as their dad, oh well.
Other than that, I have not had time to do any burning. I still need to book our return flights from Kuala Lumpur back to the US in early December. I have a Google Flights tracking set and there has been no movement at all in it. Still early, trying to be more adventurous booking at the last minute as it worked out so nicely in my last trip to/from Greece.
American Airlines sent me a promo to fly 2 premium flights to earn 5k AA miles. Lol, yeah, sure, do you know who I am? Have I paid for lots of AA tickets in the last 30 years of my life? Actually, as airlines track Lifetime Miles, it would be really wild if they tracked Lifetime Spend.
ADVANCED
In case you did not notice, IHG devalued again. Can you imagine what we will all do when Hyatt does it, oh the horrors. As IHG Devalues, which hotel schemes still offer outsized value on peak dates?
Remember in the last post how Amex now limits Schwab Platinum cardholder redemptions to 1 million Membership Rewards points at 1. 1 cents per mile? Well, not sure where I saw it but I think I saw Amex had a secondary limitation of 4 million points in seven calendar years. Which is another cheesy/sneaky way to devalue. Can someone confirm?
Is Chase cooking something with this new trademark? If someone in the company wants to interview me in a private island like the Bilt marketing team offered to other bloggers, well, I am all ears I guess. With 26 YouTube subscribers and over 100 Instagram followers I wonder if I will become an influencer in this space by the time I claim Social Security (hopefully at age 70 to maximize that deal too woohoo).
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 120k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75K CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 75k CHASE United Business, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, two 120k CHASE Southwest Business cards, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, 75k Citi Strata Premier, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! SKIP if you are not into it!
As of today, I have burned 1,109,513 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,164,425 miles/points in the bank. Some do drugs, I do miles lol!
Thanks to US banks, very lucrative travel rewards credit card offers come and go all the time. This section will act as a reference point on the best CURRENT offers. I will designate new material preceded by NEW.
TOP TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARD OFFERS RIGHT NOW
The Chase Ink Business Preferred card offer a 120,000 point signup bonus. See above for more extensive coverage of its features.
The Capital One Venture X card offers a 75,000 point Signup Bonus after 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 decent 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.
The Chase Ink Business Cash and Chase Ink Business Unlimited card offers are back down to a 75,000 Signup Bonus! These are NO ANNUAL fee cards.
The Chase Ink Business Cash earns 5x on office supply stores and internet/cable/phone services and 2x on gas and restaurants. Why don’t you go to Office Depot and buy gift cards of the stores you usually shop at, hello 5x Amazon! The card now offers the 75k Signup Bonus in two stages (and a 10% relationship bonus if you have a Chase business checking account) after $6k spend in the first six months.
The Chase Ink Business Unlimited card works differently, it just earns 1.5x on everything. So if you were going to use a credit card to earn 1x why don’t you pull this one out instead? Bottom line, I think these are still the BEST business travel rewards cards out there right now! The 75k Signup Bonus can be earned after $6k of spend on the card in the first three months.
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 and tell me what you like and don’t like about my blog and, more importantly, what you would like to see changed and/or what you would add or delete. All feedback is very appreciated.
George
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July 2024 month to date blog stats:
1 credit card sale
3 coffees
557 email subscribers
106 Instagram followers
26 Youtube subscribers (lol)
On track for another hit this year, hopefully this 120 Ink Business Preferred card stops that.
You all enjoy the weekend! Thanks for the comments and support, all eight of you lol.
Think Before You Click.
Thanks for the links! I’d forgotten Carlos C … what a scam.
I had forgotten about him too, what a psycho.
Help me understand how SLH @Hilton is a good thing George. I get that Hilton pts hold less value than Hyatt pts, but 130K pts a night vs 25-35K Hyatt pts for some locations? Yeah yeah you can use fnc’s and fifth nt free, but i’ve stayed more than 4 nts at the same hotel once in the past 7 yrs. Just sayin.
They are available and capped, good benefits for all, yep 5 for 4, yep fnc are fully on, nicely aspirational properties and adds to superior footprint. Especially when you judge how Hyatt handled the Mr. & Mrs. Smith acquisition. And I think with dynamic pricing (and sure hope) we may see SLH (way?) below than the capped price. Points wise comparison, yeah, I agree mostly a wash or very tiny advantage to Hyatt…until its next “adjustment” comes along that is. The question mark is…when will Hilton start its own adjustment of SLH awards. :-).
Love the Cybertruck thing! I drive a Model S and love it, but recently got a close look at the Cybertruck and no way would I want to have that. I think that one was most definitely a vanity project!
More good stuff and the reading will help me stay busy this weekend. Thanks as always for bringing all this great stuff out to us all.
Oh, I can relate to that Serenity now thing. I think half of the hair I have lost over the years is due to my kids doing all the stuff I counseled them not to do or to be careful doing.
I would not hold it against you that your drive a Tesla. At least it is not a Cybetruck lol. We are committed to Ford around here, Mrs is upgrading to a Lincoln Nautilus shortly. The 2011 Edge is still running and daughter will get it for another month and a half, dealer offered $500 for it, no thanks. At 177k it is still running fine. Anyone interested in Ann Arbor please let me know.
I smiled at your last sentence comment. Does this ever end?
“I smiled at your last sentence comment. Does this ever end?”
My kids are aged 45 & 42. No, it does not ever end.
I have to say that it is the nicest driving car I have ever had, just beating out my late and lamented 2003 E320 Benz. That got drowned in a flood while at the dealership. Total loss. I’d like more range, but since 98% of my driving is local it is OK. I charge here at home and easily save more than $100 in gas over what my electricity costs. (Yay for the PNW & Cheap Hydro!)
Hmmm… Long term, ya gonna sell that 2011 Edge when the daughter is done with it? I could easily get there on a one-way to retrieve it. I wouldn’t mind having a Gas vehicle for a couple long road trips I am thinking of. Feel free to email.
Tesla is the nicest driving car you have ever had? It is obvious you have not driven a Ford lately!
I don’t think it is worth it to come to Michigan for such an old car, it has issues (non mechanical). I’ll try to email you or feel free to email me first. Stayed up way too late last night to watch the Argentina-Colombia Copa America final and I am dragging today…
So the HBS ponzi guy doesn’t have to face any criminal charges? Wtf?
I was shocked when I read that, unbelievable really!
Ok, I could not wait, I applied for the 120k Ink Business Preferred. And I got “In Review”. And now this will bother me over the chicken wings tonight…to call now, to wait to call on Monday. While checking online if it is set up 🙂
Just finished that Carlos Castaneda read… Wow! Can’t believe I’ve never heard of all this before.
Yeah, same here. What a guy huh?
Used your cip link and approved. Thanks for all you do.
Thank you so much, greatly appreciated. You may be first! 🙂
I think I may end up calling Chase today to get that Ink decision done #developing
Good luck and hope you’re approved!
I was approved Tuesday morning. I see two conversions dated 7/16/24 credited to me so one of them must be yours. Thank you! And also thank myself for being my own client lol.
Nick @FM wrote a few months back about how Hyatt has already been engaged in devaluations over the past few years but because they’ve been incremental and Hyatt was so far ahead of competitors a half dozen years ago it didn’t seem as bad.
Yep, exactly. I think the trend of Hyatt making the program less lucrative for us will continue…and them award charts may be toast at some point, so sad.