Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as how to do your retirement homework, the sad FTX broken parents, the 2024 dog photography awards, Jason Zweig wisdom, the 49th Marine Corps marathon, the museum of failure, Valencia disaster, surrealism and marketing, new airline refund rules, tourism at the end of the world and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you next next week, enjoy the weekend!
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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
We are back to a mega Friday post bringing you eclectic material to check out when you find the time. My blog is not for people having attention span issues. This is why I blog once a week now. Goal remains to educate and entertain and hopefully inspire you. If that does not happen, you should not be here. I want intellectually curious people reading my blog…and benefiting from it. About to complete 12 years blogging away here, thanks for keeping me company and sticking around. I hope I make a positive difference to your life. Please let me how I can improve, love hearing from readers.
PERSONAL FINANCE
As the markets have continued an unparalleled (I always liked this word, now repeat it fast!) bull run, more people are retiring or contemplating retirement. I am seeing it all around me, including clients. And yet, retirement is an intensely personal matter. We are all different and we chart our own path. I think the non financial issues are more critical to face head on. And some people struggle with it, others thrive. We all need to have a purpose. And something to retire to. Or, maybe, continuing to work in at least some capacity is what is best. Anyway, long intro, before I bring you the latest gem by Jonathan Clements at Humble Dollar: Before You Quit. Read the whole thing if you are thinking to retire. I am just picking a few points to excerpt below I tend to agree with:
If folks can, I believe they should try to ease out of the workforce by working reduced hours. Among other things, this will give them a chance to test-drive their retirement.
We shouldn’t assume we know what we want from our retirement years. Instead, we should prepare for a period of experimentation.
For a successful retirement, experts say we need a bunch of things: Not just income, but also a sense of purpose, an identity, a structure to our days, and social, physical and intellectual stimulation.
The fact is, work offers many benefits, and not just financial.
…retirement has three phases: the go-go, slow-go and no-go years.. But I’ve also heard and observed that we can look at retirement as having three other phases: honeymoon, shock and redefinition.
Let’s stick with retirement. The Retirement Manifesto is a pretty good blog. And it has some pretty good resources to help with this phase of life, especially the worksheets. And I really liked this post: What I’ve Learned Writing 400 Articles About Retirement.
What the author learned about retirement:
Retirement Is Complex
Retirement Can Be Difficult
There Are Proven Ways To Make It Easier
Retirement Changes With Time
Retirement Can Be The Best Phase Of Your Life
Adaptability Is Critical (And Can Be Learned)
What were the author’s biggest surprises along the way:
Retirement Is Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be
I’m Not Who I Used To Be
Spending Money Is Hard
Mindset Matters
Focusing on Others Is More Rewarding Than Focusing On Self
We’re All On The Journey Together
That bit about “spending money is hard”. Yes indeed. Saw somewhere a sign “Fly First Class or your children will” which cut like a knife. Maybe the first step is buying business class tickets. But then again, what are the miles and points we collect for? Lol.
Amazing interview of the best Wall Street Journal writer: The Wisdom of Jason Zweig. You can skip the first nine minutes to get to the actual interview.
Never forget, nobody knows what the hell is going to happen in the short term. Expect surprises. Stick with what you can control. Diversify and rebalance in set intervals. Which means taking some gains off the table these days.
Sometimes I do wonder if this whole AI generated mad bull run will end suddenly and we all look back wondering what the hell we were all thinking. You know, like the era of NFTs and the Metaverse blah blah…
At the same time, I look at the big picture and I see 4.1% unemployment, core inflation down to 2.2% and growth at 2.8% every other country is envious of:
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
In the whole FTX sad saga, I kept thinking about the parents of all these young kids who somewhere along the way just got deep in it and ended up as convicted felons. They did everything right to raise their kids. Maybe they did too much? I don’t know, I sometimes think about that. We have provided a lot to our kids’ generation and they have it so much easier than my own generation. I cringe with some fellow parents taking this helicopter parenting thingie to extremes. You know, it is okay to let the kids figure it out and not keep bailing them out all the time you know. Anyway, this New York Times article is just all around sad: How FTX’s Young Executives Shattered Their Parents.
I am sticking this here because I can: Museum of Failure. Museum of Failure is a collection of failed products and services from around the world…Innovation needs failure. All progress, not only technological progress, is built on learning from past failures and mistakes…
Learning is the only way to turn failure into success.
This blog is not going to blog itself. I rely on my readers helping it grow as I don’t have time to do any promotion/marketing. Which leaves the content clean of intrusive sponsoring posts and stupid ads and stuff like that.
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ODDZ & ENDZ
I thought I knew them all but still learned a few new ones: The 20 Most-Googled Text Abbreviations.
Great interview, I learned a lot about marketing. Something I lack here but I am not giving up yet. Marketing Is Everything by Seth Godin. For the record, this blog is just me, no assistants and no help either like Seth. And that is where the similarities end. Also, not sure about the yellow glasses man.
How about some dogs next? Awards 2024 – Dog Photography.
Let’s take a trip: 100 years of Surrealism: ‘A total revolution of the mind’. How André Breton’s Manifeste du surréalisme transformed painting, sculpture, photography, literature, music, fashion — and even television. And let’s take a look at Surrealism Art and Their Artists. Surrealist artists sought to explore the unconscious mind through art and psychoanalysis, creating dreamlike images full of symbolism and abstraction.
TRAVEL
Google Flights just getting better: Google Flights Now Shows Baggage Allowance in Search Results!
Also, effective April 2025, we will have new rules to force airlines to issue more refunds. Here is a A Guide to the Department of Transportation’s Airline Refund Rules. The whole point is for such rules to exist in the first place which will force the airlines to seriously take steps to run their operations better. I am not sure setting a domestic delay at 3 hours and international delay at 6 hours was well thought out, we’ll see what happens…
I am old school, I always enjoyed flipping through the pages of airline magazines. And in North America at least this will no longer happen. The Final Flight of the Airline Magazine. United’s in-flight publication goes digital—and marks the end of an era. And I am kind of sad. And learned some interesting tidbits about this business in the article, such as:
Hemispheres, along with easyJet’s Traveller, Eurowings’ Wings, Virgin Atlantic’s Vera, Jetstar Airways’ What’s Next?, and many more in-flight magazines over the years, has been produced by one company: Ink Global.
Did you see what happened in Valencia, Spain? At least 95 people die in devastating flash floods in Spain. These once in a hundred years weather events are happening a lot more frequently lately. I don’t know, I think climate change may have something to do with it? Update: Number of dead is up to 158 with many more missing, what a catastrophe!
Spain’s national weather service said it rained more in eight hours in Valencia than it had in the preceding 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary.”
Yeah, thanks global warming. Tourism at the End of the World. Canada is one of the world’s hottest destinations for travellers who want to see vanishing places before they’re gone. But is the last-chance tourism trend just accelerating their decline?
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.
We have a lot to cover, fasten your seat belts!
First, the amazing 90k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited card signup bonus ends at 7 am on November 7. This is my personal REFERRAL link. Don’t wait until the last minute! And here is my own review of the card below:
The 90K CHASE Ink Business Unlimited card is back. This is a NO ANNUAL FEE business card that earns 1.5x on everything, unlimited. The minimum spend required to earn the Signup Bonus is lower at $6,000 in the first three months. Don’t use this card abroad as it has a foreign transaction fee. 0% APR for the first 12 months, in case you need it. Chase may advertise this card all over the place as a cash back card but it does pay the Signup Bonus in 90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. You can redeem for cash back at a minimum $900. Or, preferably, if you have a CHASE Sapphire Reserve card, 90k points can be worth $1,350 (1.50 cents per point). Or if you have a Sapphire Preferred or an Ink Business Preferred card one point can be worth 1.25 cents, so $1,125. Of course, don’t forget to add the value for the points you earn doing the $6k minimum spend as well, you are going to net a minimum of 99,000 points so always do the math. Of course, extended warranty, purchase protection and primary CDW when renting a car for business purposes also apply. All these goodies for no annual fee, wow! Needless to say you don’t have to book travel in the Chase travel portal to get the travel values above. You can transfer your points to airline and hotel partners and possibly get even more more value than what you can get at the Chase travel portal, assuming you do have one of the cards mentioned above (Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred). But that requires a little more legwork from you to transfer, find availability, book award trips, etc. I like to transfer to Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan and sometimes Southwest. Available from my favorite bank links HERE.
United will make it even harder to qualify for elite status in 2025: United Airlines MileagePlus Changes For 2025. United is becoming THE airline for true frequent flyer travelers, you know, people traveling often and not becoming elites by using the airline credit card as other airlines. Which I am guessing helps them with upgrades. But still, if you are not a road warrior having your company pay for your business travel, why would anyone go out of their way to reach elite status? Here is the United press release.
Hyatt is going all in on inclusive hotels increasing this part of their portfolio by about 30%: Hyatt and Grupo Piñero Announce Plans to Form Strategic Venture for Growth of Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts Brand. Upon closing, 23 resorts, totaling over 12,000 rooms, including 22 resorts under the Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts brand located across the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaica, and Spain, as well as the exclusive Cayo Levantado Resort in the Dominican Republic will be added to Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection.
I swear being online can make you dumb, judging from shit spreading over on TikTok. I mean, wtf were these morons thinking? Chase Starts Suing People Over ‘Infinite Money Glitch’. I hope Chase sues every single one of them. I can’t believe I am taking the side of a big bank but in this case it is pretty easy.
Good reference: Do Your Hotel Points Expire? Policies for Every Major Hotel Program.
| Best Western | They never expire |
| Choice | 18 months of inactivity |
| Hilton | 24 consecutive months of inactivity |
| Hyatt | 24 consecutive months of inactivity (Unless credit card holder) |
| IHG | 12 months of inactivity (Unless Elite Member) |
| Marriott | 24 months of inactivity |
| Radisson | 24 consecutive months of inactivity |
| Wyndham | 18 months of inactivity |
Capital One is buying Discover and I am afraid they will be focusing on that instead of continuing to enhance the rewards program. As in continuing to build airport lounges, introducing more juicy travel reward card signup bonuses, etc. I hope I am wrong.
Bilt is just blowing money paying Paris Hilton and Martha Stewart instead of adding real benefits to members on top of gimmicky inconsequential crap it throws at them. The only thing I give to them is how they took Wells Fargo for a ride.
Easy hanging fruit miles with Airline Shopping Portal Bonuses: Get Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles.
What the hell is going on, Choice Hotels with positive changes? Choice Privileges improvements coming in 2025 – award bookings available 50 weeks out. These changes are to take place in early 2025. Plenty of time for this company to come out with negative changes to account for all the positivity…again.
There were some amazing gems in the first day of Virgin Atlantic’s new dynamic pricing scheme: Virgin Atlantic Dynamic Prices Now Live with Good Deals for Travel to London (6K Miles + $74). I definitely expect such gems to vanish when the airline works out the tech glitches.
This pretty much ends all doors booking AA awards with Avios, sad: Adios, Avios: Finnair Plus latest program to nerf domestic AA awards. I expect Alaska Airlines to follow soon…
The 175k AMEX Hilton Honors Business card is back. The annual fee is $195 and the minimum spend is $8k in the first six months. The card earns 12x on Hilton purchases and then, in a unique way, it earns 5x on up to $100,000 of spend on everything else. If you have more even more spend, it earns only 3x after the first $100,000. You get $60 statement credits on eligible Hilton purchases every quarter, so up to $240 per year. Meaning, if you stay at least once in a Hilton property every quarter Amex pays you $45 #winning. You get Gold elite status with the card and can earn Diamond elite status if you spend more than $40,000 during a calendar year. You get complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status. No foreign transaction fees. Sorry, no more Priority Pass lounge memberships, not a big deal because you likely have it with other cards. In its latest enhancement, this card lost the ability to earn Free Night award certs which was a huge draw to it. This card is for the people who love staying at Hilton hotels. And if you have a high volume business as well, you can earn LOTS of Hilton points with it.
Another new offer is the 75k CHASE United Business card. The annual fee is $99 and it is WAIVED for the first year. The minimum spend is $5k in the first three months. The card earns 2x on airfare, gas stations, restaurants, transit and office supplies. And 2x on everything else. If you buy 7 United tickets with it, you will get a $100 United flight credit at card anniversary. You get two United club passes every year. If you have a personal United card as well, you get a 5,000 mile “better together” bonus. 25% discount on United in flight purchases. Expanded award availability. Ability to earn Premier Qualifying Points (PQP). Complimentary Door Dash membership. Free checked bag for credit card holder and one companion on the same reservation. Priority boarding. No foreign transaction fees. Can be a good fit for travelers flying on United a lot. Available from my favorite bank.
I get into my action items below after this from your sponsor, just kidding! Don’t give up reading now, there is more below.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
I am SHOCKED Capital One has kept this 75k Venture X offer for so long, there is no way in hell this will survive in 2025, hurry!
The 75K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has 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 own 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.
Click on my TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS to see a DETAILED explanation of the features of these cards.
Here are my four TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS as of today:
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. ENDS 7 am on November 7.
The #4 Top Offer right now is 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash card.
Learn more about these offers HERE.
Son’s stay at the Singapore Westin posted in less than 24 hours. Which was a shock I must admit. Maybe it is one of those few Marriott Bonvoy properties that manages to do this. Also, the Korean Air miles promptly posted to son’s Alaska Airlines miles. But still waiting for the JAL and Hawaiian flights to post to his Alaska Airlines account and these will be the ones to get him to requalify as MVP Gold with Alaska. We’ll see if/when it happens, I told him to triple check several times. #developing. He preferred Korean Air in the air and the JAL lounge in the Haneda Tokyo airport.
Spotted daughter lots of Chase points with Chase Ink cards and she just used 14,787 of them to book herself a RT Seattle-Chicago next year. And I am so proud, what a deal!
So, some of my travel action this weekend, check out my Instagram and YouTube links below (or follow/subscribe so you never miss the action): My wife and some friends had signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon almost a year ago. I was going to pass to focus on some work and to get ready for the long Thailand/Malaysia trip coming back. But I changed my mind and was glad I did and joined to coach and cheer them along. I booked a round trip American Airlines flight and decided to pay for it because my award flights were just not that convenient time/connection wise. And I am in the middle of an American Airlines elite status match promo with my World of Hyatt Globalist status. And my AA Platinum AAdvantage Pro almost got me an upgrade and missed it by just one, story of my life lol. The Marine Corps Marathon is great, I wish I ran it with them, maybe next year. We did not have much time to do the main tourist sites but the little I saw of Washington DC I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised. I also managed to get a good view of the marathon finish line and really enjoyed cheering everyone to get that medal. I loved the Osprey helicopters flying above us. We stayed at the Hyatt Centric Arlington for 3 nights at 15k World of Hyatt points per night. Perfectly located for the marathon but I will let you read my full review. And take a tour of the small room. In short, sometimes I wonder why I go out of my way to requalify as World of Hyatt Globalist elite after stays like this. We loved the Ronald Reagan DCA airport Amex Centurion Lounge. And my return flight on AA even landed early (missed the upgrade by 3 so I did not feel bad at all).
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MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 90k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited (ENDS NOVEMBER 7), 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, 80k CHASE Southwest Performance 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 1,874,404 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,277,339 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
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Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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Retirement has been nice. I was lucky and retired weeks after my 51st birthday. Been over 16 years now and I have enjoyed it. There are things I don’t like about getting older, but I suspect that if I was working, almost, if not all of the bad parts would have happened anyhow.
A lotta good stuff as usual here! Thanks, George. I’ll be digging into it over the next couple days. Much appreciated!
PS: Gold! For the Pacific Northwest!
Not marking you tardy, you are safe 🙂
Marking everyone tardy today…
Or maybe everyone left for YouTube?