Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the folly of certainty in investing, the next big thing, the awful Delta Airlines meltdown, Amex Gold card changes coming, final regulations on inherited IRAs are out, a stunning read about a kidnapping and trauma, a Turkmenistan trip report, most beautiful skylines, an alternative band from Singapore of all places and much more and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you Friday!
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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.
I am going to make the Tuesday posts shorter going forward. This blog always evolves. And always interested in your feedback what you would like to see here. And how do you like shorter posts like this?
PERSONAL FINANCE
This:
The latest Howard Marks memo: The Folly of Certainty. I have been around long enough to realize making predictions is absolutely meaningless.
…there’s no way a macro-forecaster can produce a forecast that correctly incorporates all the many variables that we know will affect the future as well as the random influences about which little or nothing can be known…the only thing worthy of certainty is the conclusion that economists shouldn’t be expressing any of it.
The financial “sciences” – economics and finance – assume that each market participant is a homo economicus: someone who makes rational decisions designed to maximize their financial self-interest. But the crucial role played by psychology and emotion often causes this assumption to be mistaken. Investor sentiment swings a great deal, swamping the short-run influence of fundamentals. It’s for this reason that relatively few market forecasts prove correct, and fewer still are “right for the right reason.”
Over the years, I’ve often cited the wisdom of John Kenneth Galbraith. It’s he who said, “There are two kinds of forecasters: those who don’t know, and those who don’t know they don’t know.”
There simply is no place for certainty in fields that are influenced by psychological fluctuations, irrationality, and randomness. Politics and economics are two such fields, and investing is another. No one can predict reliably what the future holds in these fields, but many people overrate their ability and attempt to do so nevertheless. Eschewing certainty can keep you out of trouble. I strongly recommend doing so.
If you inherited an IRA in recent years you may have been wondering if you were required to do annual minimum required distributions from it. Well, we advisors have been waiting for the IRS to issue final regulations to settle this and after several years they are finally here: IRS Finalizes 10-Year Rule For Retirement Withdrawals, Making Things ‘Even More Insanely Complicated’. Annual minimum distributions from these accounts are required going forward, starting in 2025. We were hoping that this was not the case, just have the Inherited IRA account emptied by the tenth year after death. Oh well, thanks for the powerful CPA and financial industry lobby, taxpayers’ lives get more complicated and we in this industry win. Again. I am sorry, I wish this was not the case.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Really good read: I’m Tired of the “Next Big Thing”. The author read my mind?
Crypto.
NFTs.
Metaverse.
Web3/Web5.
GenAI.
Technology has been moving at breakneck speed for some time now, but the last few years have seen the tech industry burn through a frankly ridiculous amount of the “next big thing.” Those trying to cash in on the latest trend — the grifters — have been pivoting so fast they must be suffering whiplash.
ODDZ & ENDZ
This one blew my mind. And the article moved from what it appeared to be a story about an unsolved kidnapping and then taking a monumental turn on the author’s trauma only to tie it all back with the guy who was kidnapped and nearing the end of his life wanting now to talk more about the event that defined his life. Article may generate strong feelings to you, especially if you are dealing with trauma, you have been warned: The Kidnapping I Can’t Escape.
Of course, we can’t go without a photography post: Pair of Sleeping Bees Wins Insect Photography Contest.
TRAVEL
SAVE $100 FOR 2024 THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL FESTIVAL
I don’t know about you but this first gif gave me creepy 9/11 vibes: The CrowdStrike tech outage brought air traffic to a halt. Watch the planes disappear in real time.
Something we have not seen in a long time, a trip report from Turkmenistan, thanks to blog reader NickPFD:
Thrilling link from Thrillist: The 20 Most Beautiful Skylines in the US.
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
Sometimes I share music links here. They tend to be the complete opposite of commercially successful artists. In the old days, my music taste was called “alternative”, a term I do not like but I digress. Anyway, I like to discover obscure artists that are definitely not commercially successful but innovative pushing the envelope (like my blog lol). And you would never guess a band sounding like this would be based in, please sit down, Singapore! This is what I am playing lately while I blog here, the more I listen to it the more I like it. And the video is awesome too. If anyone based in Singapore knows anything about this band please let me know, thank you.
Cave Sex – Survival/Affliction. From their new EP titled: S/T.
My review of the movie Twisters:
Plot 0/10
Acting 1/10
Tornadoes 2/10
That last mother of all tornadoes 8/10
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! Will be keeping it short on Tuesdays…
GENERAL NEWS/PROMOS/NEWBIES/ETC.
Not much going on. Important enough to single it out to bring it to you that is.
Ok, heads up everyone. Many of us complete the minimum spending on new credit cards to earn the Signup Bonus by paying estimated income tax payments to the IRS. Because the IRS contracts with three different payment processors and the fees continue to go lower and now they near 1.8%. So, if you can find a card that earns 2% rewards and then you can even combine that with completing the minimum spend to earn a juicy Signup Bonus, boom! But my sources inside the IRS (just kidding, a professional tax newsletter I receive) indicate that the IRS will open it up and allow taxpayers to just pay with a credit card WITHOUT going through the payment processors (and paying the fee). So, I just hope the banks don’t kill this and label them as “cash advances”…but I am not that hopeful. So, something to be aware of. When you read about this in other blogs you know where they read about it first.
Delta Skymiles are notoriously known as the airline currency that just does not provide any worthy payoffs. In this space, exceptions will always apply of course. And the airline in generally has succeeded in making earning Skymiles an afterthought. Let’s face it, you fly Delta because they do the flying part very well. Until the past four days when the airline had a complete meltdown Southwest Airlines style. And this whole “Delta is great operationally” mystique just collapsed: Flying Delta this week? Prepare for chaos as airline struggles to recover from IT outage.
120k CHASE Ink Business Preferred
This card has been at an elevated 100k Signup Bonus 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.
NEW: Chase Ink Business Preferred review: Earn a welcome offer worth up to $1,500 and flexible rewards
5 Excellent Options! What I Would Do with 130,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards
How to Extract Maximum Value From the 120k Ink Business Preferred Card Welcome Bonus
Me and my wife have already applied and been approved, we’ll see about our kids who now are off on their own. We did have this 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. 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 every freaking card 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 offers expire, thank you.
NEW: So many blog posts and videos wasted on “rumors”. I guess it is easy content, just blahblahing about endless rumors and then also doing more content when the actual changes are published. It is tiring. And so were all the content spilled on the upcoming Amex changes on its Gold card. We haven’t had this card in many years. I understood its appeal to have a go to card for the high earning on groceries AND restaurants. But Amex’s greedy polluting ways to keep raising annual fees while forcing card holders to exercise even more mental bandwidth keeping track of credits may have reached yet another high with raising the annual fee to $325 (from $250!) while adding, please sit down, Dunkin Donuts monthly $7 credits…and other crap. And continuing to have a superbly low Signup Bonus, come on, at least make it worthwhile for us to get it once and cancel during its second year (be careful with Amex, ALWAYS keep its cards for a full year!). Amex Gold Card Changes Coming Soon? Check Out All Details.
Best credit card offers STILL remain the same, see below my TOP FOUR travel rewards credit cards right now:
Temporarily, the 120k CHASE Ink Business Preferred card goes right to the top.
The next offer NOW is the 75k Capital One Venture X card. It is amazing what you get for free with this card actually, see more below.
Next we have the 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash and 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited cards.
Always check my TOP TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARD OFFERS RIGHT NOW below.
MY ACTION
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After me and my wife were approved for the 120k Chase Ink Business Preferred card, which credit card do I go for next? I am thinking I go for the Capital One 75k Venture Rewards card simply to see if Capital One will approve me so I can then have closure to take a long break from the bank and try again in 2025. Or go for the targeted 250k Amex Business Platinum I received in the mail. These are good problems to have.
My own 120k Chase Ink Business Preferred minimum spend is done, another almost 130k Chase Ultimate Rewards points to be added to the bank in early August. Wife’s instantly approved 120k Chase Ink Business Preferred card should be here today or tomorrow. Her Signup Bonus will likely post with her September statement.
I have let son handle his own Air Canada Aeroplan account after spotting him about 120,000 miles (from Chase). And I continue to encourage him to play with it and he seems to be getting it. Which is encouraging #developing.
ADVANCED
I have discovered more miles and points YouTubers and I am just shocked how many are out there with thousands of subscribers! All targeting the newbie. And then you wonder how this hobby has become a lot more popular and…so many deals/tricks/hacks/restrictions/devaluations have occurred smh, coincidence?
One day I aspire to be invited to events like this. But having only 27 YouTube subscribers I think these travel companies do not know I exist, sad lol. Anyway, the new seat looks good I must admit: IT’S HERE: Qatar’s ‘Qsuite Next Gen’ seat is unveiled – what’s new?.
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 United Business, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards AND $250 Travel Credit, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, two 120k CHASE Southwest Business cards, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
Learn how to apply HERE to support the blog. Or email me if you have any questions about any cards. I’m happy to help. thank you!
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 1,182,230 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,140,034 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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This site may receive compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. Travel Blogger Buzz and Your Best Credit Cards may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not necessarily include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.
I was hoping that the 120k Chase Ink Business Preferred card will bring in some revenue for the blog. But only 3 cards so far from my blog…and two of them are mine. And three coffees in July to date. So depressing. Maybe when I leave for Thailand I nail the coffin here, that will make it a full 12 years in educating/entertaining/inspiring.
If you are caught in the Delta mess, we are all so sorry. Maybe give Southwest a break ok?
Also, we can’t have someone so old running for President. LOL.
Good morning!
Yes, we survived the trip to Santiago via Delta. The Delta One lounge at JFK was comfy for 12 hours. The Sky miles changes actually kicked me up to Diamond so getting standby meant we got out. Not where we wanted to go but acceptable.
Moral? Microsoft writes fragile operating systems.
Thanks for the great posts!
I like the 2 posts a week, but instead of shorter posts, especially about you and all the great stuff you find online for us to read, I want *more*! The curation is top notch and I always find neat stuff here. I had already read about the kidnapped guy but good to see it. That’s a helluva story with quite the little twist at the end about the guy.
Hope the feet are doing OK!
I’ll send some more coffee next time I am upstairs at my desk. That’s where all my stuff is.
Carl
Agreed that longer posts would be wonderful! Thank you George, as Carl said, it is top notch.
Just a quick note here that after almost 12 years Frequent Miler linked to me wow. It is never too late, never give up lol.
https://frequentmiler.com/irs-planning-on-taking-tax-payments-directly-hopefully-great-news/
Will be back here. Taking a break to go have some organic cherries at Whole Foods 🙂
He was surprisingly excited to pay taxes!
FM loves Hilton!!! Have the other hotels programs caught up with HH’s devaluation? Of course, we are playing very different games (I don’t sell CC’s) but I mostly stay at cat 1-2 Hyatts with points! Only stayed once at a Park Hyatt and it wasn’t 6x better than a cat 1 hotel! Whatever happened to Lemon Poppy Seed pancakes at Andaz? And more importantly, we are in the middle of an AI revolution and you stopped posting about ai sex dolls.
Low-end Hyatt club get in here! WOOOOOO! Cat 1 Hyatts are the best.
@ DML: You remain the exception in the Skymiles sphere. Glad you managed to get out of the mess, looks like so many got so phucked by Delta that it makes Southwest look good in comparison. And always thanks for reading and commenting. I still think the Crowdsrike was a hack job but we’ll never know most likely.
@ Carl: No worries about them coffees, I am doing fine and you have done this way too many times, so thank you. I wish more than a single digit number of you were doing that. Not for the $ aspect, just some emotional support to keep doing this after so long. Now regarding the length of the posts. You know, this post felt considerably easier to do and that really helps me a lot to continue doing it. I may shorten all posts like this going forward. Or I will hit a wall otherwise. And I think the quality has not suffered, which is important to me. We’ll see how it goes, always evolving here. Except my conversions lol. Feet are doing fine as they are taking a breather…and they start to feel better. Maybe, just maybe, I should have just stopped being on them instead of keep pushing, still learning.
@ Yosef. Thanks for the feedback. See comment to Carl regarding longer posts. Doing much longer posts is not sustainable. Takes WAY too much time and conversions hardly cover blog costs, let alone earn minimum wage. So, shorter posts are likely to stay. You know, this post is still much longer than 98% of the endless crap other bloggers post so there 🙂
@ ABC: You must be in a great mood, thanks for the comment, sure made me smile a lot, good way to wake up reading it while drinking coffee #1. Wait, which Park Hyatt Cat 6 was that? Blog metrics probably forced VFTW to lay off posts with lemon poppy seeds. Oh yeah, no sex dolls mentions. And North Korean references are way way down. Not intentional, I just go with the flow I guess. We’ll see about AI.
See you Friday!
Welcome to the two new subscribers, back to 557. I am starting to feel the momentum you guys.
Just checked credit card conversions and coffees, zip again. Phuck it, I am going to get a coffee from my fav coffee shop and drive around drinking and crying #notreally.
Yes, playing Sex Cave again. Despair grungy Nirvana like sound from Singapore of all places.
Just noticed daughter went to town again in the Chase Travel portal and booked another RT from Seattle back home for a weekend. Won’t be long before she goes through all 200k Chase points I spotted her before she asks for help again lol.
Looks like Cathie Wood will have more capital losses to offset…future gains LOL.