Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the housing crisis is global, day trading Tesla options, a kid’s secret online gaming life, credit card balances hurt more, a huge BBC Sound Effects library, a 3dD printed hotel is coming, what hotel guests leave behind will shock you and selected important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you tomorrow or Thursday.
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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 curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
This is a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
Big changes in the ever evolving blog this week. I am going to post more often and every post will be way shorter. I aim to post at least three times this week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Ok, I am going for it, here comes a Tuesday post, let’s see if I can post every weekday this week. Why? To increase traffic and support clicks ( coffees sold and still non existent credit card sales ).
I was not going to post today. And then I saw back to back posts from one of the most successful bloggers at View From The Wing who posted yesterday these hideous clickbait “gems”:
“Spirit Airlines Kicks Off Passenger Over Crop Top – Then Taunts A Toddler’s Mom After Ejecting Her, Too”
“Qantas Passengers Left Mortified as Racy Movie Plays On Every Screen During Flight”
So, I am going to bang out a post today and hopefully at least something will educate you. And entertain you. Hopefully even inspire you. If nothing does, please leave and go read the blog above.
The short format feedback has been positive so far. Let’s see if I can keep this up establishing a new morning routine in the TBB world headquarters my home office.
Thank you for reading my blog. I always appreciate all feedback.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Housing prices have gone way up in the last 10 years. When you combine them with the higher mortgage interest rates it is becoming extremely difficult for the younger generations to buy a home. And this is really happening all over the world, not only the US: A global housing crisis is suffocating the middle class. Prices have risen by 54% in the United States, 32% in China and nearly 15% in the European Union between 2015 and 2024. Though policies have been implemented to increase supply and regulate rentals, their impact has been limited and the problem is getting worse.
Since we started with housing, this surprised me: Home Ownership Rates Across Europe. Albania and Romania at #1 spot with 96%. And Switzerland at 43% with Germany at 48% leading at the bottom, wow.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Crazy story: Young Canadian carpenter starts day trading Tesla options, goes on the mother of all hot streaks and grows his account to $306 Million, asks for advice from professionals (allegedly) and doubles down on the same options only to lose it all. So much to unpack here. Clearly, when you win the game you must stop playing, WTF! At the same time, I am not sure this guy would have listened anyway. And of course, predictably, he is now suing whoever his lawyers is telling him to sue to see if he can salvage anything. I get the feeling that there is a lot more we don’t know that may be revealed in the trial. If it ever gets to that that is. Day Trader Says He Made $306 Million on Tesla, Then Lost It All. If this guy ever came to me for financial advice I would say GET OUT of all the options now. If he did not agree, it will be GET OUT of my office now. Sometimes some people just can not be helped sadly.
You want to freak out? Watch Living Hybrids. Made by AI. Or maybe don’t if you don’t want to have nightmares.
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ODDZ & ENDZ
This is the story that I read yesterday that I knew I have to share it with you. Sad and uplifting and truly inspiring: We only learnt of our son’s secret online life after he died at 20. When Mats Steen died from a muscle-wasting disorder, his parents believed that his life had been a tragically lonely one — until hundreds of emails from strangers arrived. It turns out that he’d found friendship and even romance in a gaming community. You may cry reading this and watching the preview of the upcoming documentary about this kid’s life, you have been warned. And perhaps be a little more accommodating to your kids’ game playing. I do feel bad I was kind of harsh on my son and never got this gaming habit thing. I do now…I think.
They had misunderstood what World of Warcraft really was. It had seemed to them like a frenetic action game of monster-bashing and point-scoring. To Mats and the many people he played with – the people now emailing Robert and Trude – it was something far more profound: an immersive world built on social interactions, friendships and shared storytelling.
Over 33,000 samples of sound effects at BBC. And you can mix them up, have fun: BBC Sound Effects.
TRAVEL
I don’t have a scientific mind. At school, Biology, Chemistry and Physics were the classes I disliked the most. I don’t get it, we are all different. So when this 3D printing thing first came out I did not get it. And I still don’t. And then I got hit by this: World’s first 3D-printed hotel rises in the Texas desert. Say what? And all I can think of…how can I get free breakfast and get upgraded to a suite lol.
Fun link: Hotels.com Pulls Back the Covers on the Surprising World of Hotels. I wonder which hotel a guest left behind a tire, Motel 6? Lol.
The report shows the most common forgotten items are dirty laundry, device chargers and makeup and toiletries, but this year’s innsights reveal a new list of forgotten items not for the faint-hearted.
- The priciest: Hotel staff found a Rolex, Birkin bag, and a $6 million watch.
- Pet peeves: A chick and pet lizard were found (and returned) after their owner checked out.
- Essentials only: Guests forgot two full-leg casts and 10% of hotels reported that guests left behind their dentures.
- The unexplainable: Items include a rice cooker, car tire, blender and construction pipes.
The discount is now $60 if you sign up for ETF using code TBB below. You can be first!
SAVE $60 FOR 2024 THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL FESTIVAL
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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.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
Going to do away with the former Section headings and make this section about my favorite hobby addiction much shorter as well. So I can post more often like the big shot bloggers and see what happens traffic wise #developing.
So, trying to keep it short, it does not come easy for me, here we go:
To play the miles and points game, it is imperative you have good money habits. And NEVER EVER carrying a credit card balance. If you have credit card debt or you think you can not trust yourself with plastic, this hobby is not for you. Because it can devastate you ok? Carrying a Credit Card Balance Has Gotten Way More Expensive. Some interesting nuggets from the article:
The average credit-card interest rate was 21.5% in May, hovering around its highest level in Fed data going back to 1994. The average balance that people carry was around $6,300 in the second quarter, up 31% from the same period in 2021…
Credit-card holders pay about $14 billion a year in late fees, according to the CFPB. The agency estimates the late-fee cap would cut that amount by as much as $10 billion.
…Amex reported more than $2 billion in revenue from annual card-membership fees, a 15% jump from a year earlier.
Good reference post: Instructions for Transferring Credit Card Points: All in One Place.
I need to do this next month, decide where to credit a JetBlue issued ticket that involves flying the airline from Detroit to Boston but then flying on Qatar Airways to Doha and on to Bangkok. In premium economy. Paid for with Capital One bank points. Because this is what I do. How to Credit Airline Miles to Partner Frequent Flyer Programs.
Both Discover and Chase Freedom Flex 5% quarterly categories this quarter are just awful. I have always carried at least one 5% Chase credit card in my household to pound the 5x. But I am getting tired of it and I think I am going to close wife’s Freedom Flex to take one more card out of circulation and lighten the mental gymnastics involved to maximize the 5% bang. Which is not really that much because of the low $ cap anyway. And, more importantly, open up another Chase slot, give it some time and…get back in when a juicy Signup Bonus comes back. Rinse and repeat, Chase is my favorite bank! 😉 And you can always check Chase’s spending based offers for cobranded cards, they keep coming: New Chase Spending Promotions: Earn up to 7x Points on Groceries, Restaurants and at Amazon.
Got another 2 Hyatt elite night credits from going over $5k spend on my personal Hyatt Visa card. Those always take a few more days to post and never get credited at the same time as the regular points Chase sends over once a month. Now at 36 elite night credits, the path to 60 to requalify as World of Hyatt Globalist elite is clear.
I haven’t had a chance to look at all the upcoming reservations. You know, garden my reservations. Make sure no changes, get better seat assignments, etc. Always worth it to avoid surprises.
Yesterday there was drama in my neighborhood. I was alerted by an email at 5.45 am that there was a water main break. That was in the email headline. So I opened it and you don’t want to see your home address as the location of this. I ran outside seeing water rushing out and, thankfully, a truck parked near it. It was an Ann Arbor City Water Department truck, the guy was giving a report and when he was done he said not to worry, they are on it. Anyway, I go to my dentist appointment at 7 am and come back and I see about five huge trucks outside my house and digs and it was messy! Anyway, around noon they were all done. No flooding inside, phew. And I finally felt good about the ridiculously high property taxes I pay lol. Also, this was my first 7 am dentist appointment. Very similar to 6 am flights. They sounded good when booked but…
I am a morning person. This blog gets created before most people wake up. Trying to get me into a new routine doing shorter posts. I still think they are too long. Because it takes me longer than I intended. Every single time/post. Let’s see if I can keep this up posting every day this week. What you won’t see here is ridiculous posts like that blogger mentioned on the top of this post that every other blogger links to and basically kisses his ass. This blog does not do that. And my traffic shows, sad lol. It is what it is. Stay healthy my friends and hopefully see you tomorrow.
Again, this week is an experiment. Posting daily is not sustainable. We will see what happens.
Please don’t ignore the content below. And you can be first this month getting some juicy Signup Bonus with a credit card you get here. Break that dry streak now 34 days long. Can’t believe I just typed that smh. And sign up for the Bonus Offers Notifications below, they work great and when you apply from a link inside one of those emails you help the blog without having to hunt down a link from my favorite bank, thank you.
I have created another page featuring my TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS with a DETAILED explanation of the features of these cards. Basically, taking out a huge part of the regular posts into a dedicated area to make the blog posts way shorter. I will reevaluate if this makes any difference click wise.
I am going to favor personal over business cards in my rankings going forward, here are my four TOP OFFERS at the present time:
The #1 offer right now is the 60kCHASE Sapphire Preferred with $300 statement credit
The #2 Top Offer is the 75k Capital One Venture X card. It is amazing what you get for FREE with this card!
The #3 Top Offer right now is the 90k Chase Ink Business Unlimited card.
The #4 Top Offer right now is 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash card.
Learn more about these offers HERE.
Going to end this section with any credit card offer that expires within the next two weeks:
OFFER ENDS TOMORROW 10/09/2024: 85k CHASE Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority, 85k CHASE Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier and 85k CHASE Southwest Plus: Southwest credit card offers appear to come back regularly with signing bonuses way over the standard 50k. And, like clockwork, here we go again with three personal cards offering 85k points each: Chase Southwest Personal Cards: 85,000 Points with $3,000 Spend. 85,000 points is well over $1,000 of free travel on Southwest where everyone is bitching about the boarding process but it is the only US airline that will fly your two bags for free and make it super easy to cancel/change your flights. To learn more about the Southwest Companion Pass program click HERE. Available from my favorite bank links above.
AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Business card: Oh, it is back! Up to FIVE free nights again. I am no fan of Marriott Bonvoy but hey, five free nights is five free nights you guys. Each Free Night Award certificate has a redemption level up of to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, expire after one year and can be topped off with points for up to 15,000 additional points per night. The annual fee is $125. The minimum spend is $8k in the first six months. Earning structure is 6x on Marriott purchases, 4x on gas stations, cell phone bills, restaurants and shipping and 2x on everything else. You get 15 elite night credits, Gold elite status AND a Free Night Award cert at each card anniversary. Having Gold elite status earns an additional 25% bonus points on Marriott stays, 2 pm late check out and if the planets align with the moon a shocking room upgrade. No foreign transaction fees. 7% discount on rooms and premium internet access. Offer ends 10/16/2024.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 90k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CHASE United Business, 60k CHASE Sapphire Preferred AND $300 Credit, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 150k CAPITAL ONE Venture X Business, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, Three 85k CHASE Southwest cards, 5 FREE Nights with AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Business, 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!
As of today, I have burned 1,859,617 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,212,205 miles/points in the bank.
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
Would you like to be automatically notified every time a card comes out with (or is about to remove) an elevated welcome offer? If yes, I highly encourage you to sign up if you haven’t yet. And when you apply for a credit card from a link in these emails you help support the blog (and you don’t have to hunt down the link in my Credit Cards page!)
Elevated Card Offer Notifications
All you have to do to receive these free notifications is:
1. Click on the link above
2. Create an account
3. Subscribe
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, 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.
9.45 am, where is everyone?
The three 85k personal Southwest Airlines offers ends tomorrow 10/09/2024, I just added them to the Expiring Offers section!
Two lovely messages of support with coffees this morning, thank you so much!
But two email list subscribers unsubscribed, come on? That bothers me, I guess getting another email from Mailchimp with this content was too much? I wish 54 more would just unsubscribe to get me under 500 to stop paying Mailchimp $31 every month!
I am establishing a new routine. I have a queue with material to appear here. And I put it in slots, kind of. I have some picked out for tomorrow. But I replace them if something is better and move it back to the queue. And so on and so forth. If something gets pushed back again and again it eventually gets deleted. Only the best of the best. This is an experiment for this week.
Hey-Buzz,
I had a friend long ago who did the same thing with oil futures (many less zeros however): Won a bunch in 6 months, then lost it all. I figure he was just out at the end of the bell shaped curve on the way up and had no real knowledge to sustain him. You know, like stock pickers and ‘momentum players’.
Back in the 1980s, my son was a Pak Man wiz. He could play all day on just a quarter. He never got to go pro, however.
Good morning!
Too many moving parts … trying to find a “deal” on flights to Iceland and then to Spain.
Interesting puzzle …
Thanks for the reading!
Woo! Good stuff again! No time to read the articles this morning, got to get going but later on, I’ll check them out, especially about the 20 year old kid. Sounds darned interesting. Thanks for the posting!
Hey Buzz, good morning
As always thank you for the post. I appreciate the fact you are trying other methods, and I certainly hope it drives additional traffic.
I must say I do love the longer Friday posts the best, makes for great weekend reading. I’m hoping that would decrease the amount of time you spend putting it together.
Frankly, I’ll be a fan no matter your choice(s) in the future.
I was hoping we could make it to Thailand for the travel conference, alas it is not meant to be. I am hoping you will give us some feedback when you get time.
306M and nothing to show for it…wow and sad face at the same time.
Have a great day Buzz
@ Sam: Great stories. Oh, one of the two subscribers I lost today took great offense to the pic I had at the end of the post. So sad #notreally.
@ DML: At some point Southwest could be an option with the Iceland Air partnership they are doing, I guess starting in 2025 sometime? Good luck.
@ Carl: No time to read? Ok, this is why even these “short” posts may be too long 🙂
@ David: I think we were posting at the same time, so I am editing my comment to add a reply to you. You are the first with feedback preferring the Friday long post. Interesting, I was wondering if anyone will voice their preference for it. So far, it appears the shorter more frequent posts are a heavy favorite. Every Monday morning I get an email with my blog traffic stats and I am just very interested to compare the traffic numbers. And I will go from there. The dry credit card streak still goes on, since September 4th. Which is shocking. If a whole calendar month goes without even one cc sale I think I am out with the 2nd cc vendor. And that means a loooong vacation in Thailand without having to post. Which may actually be good for me you know 🙂
No grand plans, always evolving, sticking to the mission, support clicks are gravy really. Gotta run, well, no, try to walk maybe a mile tops. Thank you again. Too bad about Thailand. Hope I make it too if my mother cooperates #developing
No time to read THIS morning. Had stuff to do and a place to be at. Not to worry, I always get to the articles as I have time!
I’ll be applying for a Barclay’s AA card next month for P2 after it’s been 6 months since closing the prior one. I didn’t see any Barclays AA applications in your links. Do you have personal links for when I apply?
No Barclay referral or aff links, so sad.
Thanks for thinking of me. The streak has to end one day before I retire from embarrassment
Wow amazing WOW story. So sad. Really makes you put your life in perspective.
Which one? 🙂
If it is of that kid, yeah.