Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as how to get rich in America, bull market stats, the most popular AI tools, my 2026 Asia trip is underway, beware being pitched private funds coming soon, amazing story about the life as on OnlyFans creator, boomer global travel boom, Vietnam overtaking Thailand, only the best photography and Thailand links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. 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.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.” – Sophocles
MUST READ GEMS
Best read of this past week. By far. No excerpts, just read it in its entirety.
Update: Late addition. Amazing bull market facts and charts in this one:
PERSONAL FINANCE
No doubt: Now THIS is a Bull Market. And I am in agreement with the author’s summary:
We have new all-time highs everywhere you look, rising profits, falling valuations and ever higher margins.
Are there things to worry about in the markets right now?
There are always things to worry about.
Will this last forever?
Of course not.
Will this end badly at some point?
Probably.
Can anyone forecast when that will happen?
No.
My advice?
Enjoy the bull market while it lasts.
It’s a good one. Maybe one of the all-time greats.
As people get older and in general get wealthier, Risk Management becomes more important.
After so many years of market gains, it would be easy to become complacent. But it’s precisely when the market is doing so well that investors should be diligent in considering rebalancing.
We should never go too far out on a limb with any investment idea.
Always diversify! And you must have a plan on what you will do when this bull market ends too. Well, like Mike Tyson, we all have plans until we get punched in the face…
When you are approached to buy some private funds: What to Ask When Your Adviser Pushes Private Funds. The questions you need to ask before joining Wall Street’s $2 trillion party. They will instead buzz off on their way to find the next victim…
AI/TECH
I mentioned here several times how Linkedin posts have become so cringe lately. Wait! Enter Linkedin CringeBot 3000. Amazing tech, give it a try, we all need more lols in our day.
Transform any topic into peak LinkedIn cringe. Our AI-powered engine analyzes current trends and generates authentic thought leadership™ guaranteed to make your followers shudder.
The Most Popular Tools in AI in 2026. I am certain this will look very different by the end of this year.
SCAMS/CRYPTO
Latest video by Morgan Housel answering questions. And since one dealt with crypto (and especially because I agree with his answer) I have decided to add it in this Section, enjoy: Bitcoin, A Reasonable View of the World, and Passion is the Inverse of Information.
Remember this piece of shit? Finally sentenced and got the max: Drive Planning CEO Gets 20 Years for $380M Ponzi Scheme.
He also spent about $2 million on a yacht named “Stillwater” (that Burkhalter later rechristened “Live More”), $2.1 million on a luxury condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, $800,000 on luxury vehicles, including a 2020 Prevost Marathon motorcoach and two 2024 Land Rovers, millions on luxury travel, including chartering private jets, and $320,000 on clothing, jewelry and beauty treatments.
ODDZ & ENDZ
It takes a lot to shock me. Because I have been around for a while. And yet, this article shocked me. It is about a really young kid who makes millions online, mainly through his Only Fans page. And yet I feel so sorry for him. I am sure he does too, when he takes a break walking around his mansion after he drove his McLaren smh: The Rich, Lonely Life of a Top-Tier Male OnlyFans Creator. CJ Clark makes millions selling adult content—and the illusion of companionship—to subscribers on the internet. His work pays for his nice house in the San Diego suburbs and the McLaren in his garage. But human connection is harder to come by.
Thanks to blog reader Nick for sending this one in. Amazing story. I am all for giving people a second chance. And maybe this guy deserved it, what a turn in this story wow: Loving Lies. Stephen Glass, the most notorious fraud in journalism, decided he would live by one simple rule: Always tell the truth. Then he broke that rule.
This is something only my blog will bring to your attention. Because, you know, entertaining you is part of the core mission of the blog. Ok, what would come to mind when you see a list of the “Top 10 Shittest Birds”? On a website with the name Birds Are Shit. And when you go there this is what you see at the top:
All animals are equal, but most birds are shit.
Forget rarity. Forget beauty. Forget whatever Attenborough said. This is all about character. Pigeons have grafted. Vultures provide a public service. Meanwhile some colourful prick in a rainforest has spent six million years evolving a fancy hat.
The level of parody here is unparalleled, wow.
Amazing photography: 35 delightful images from the 2026 International Pet Photography Awards.
TRAVEL
This is really happening out there, no wonder the industry is aiming higher all around: Boomers Are Wealthy, Healthy and Driving a Global Travel Boom. As older Americans hit the road, the travel industry responds with nicer accommodations, easier hikes and luggage delivery.
Interesting list, what do you think? Europe’s must-see natural wonders have been named.
Amazing what can be done with technology these days: Lost and Found. When something turns up at a stadium or an airport, staff photograph it, log it, and wait. Hundreds of places use one software tool for managing lost items, and I scraped their archives: thousands of accidental portraits of lost stuff.
Fascinating: Ranked: Countries With the Most Michelin-Starred Restaurants.
THAILAND
Hello from Bangkok, I have more on my trip in the MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING section below.
Seeing a lot of this in YouTube lately: Tourists are Giving Up on Thailand for Vietnam. And the numbers don’t lie. We’ll see what happens.
Since I almost never check bags, I always use the Bangkok Airport Rail Link to get me to the city in less than half an hour for just 45 Thai Baht ($1.37 USD in today’s exchange rate). Here is a Guide on how to use the BKK Airport Railink. But it is not the money, it is the traffic that can take much longer to get to your destination as there are no traffic jams with the Airport Rail Link.
Also, make sure you download and install Grab, the Uber of Thailand. It is a must have app to survive in Thailand, you need it like you need water and wifi!
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
So, here we go again…
The points & miles coverage will be lighter than usual because I am traveling and it is really hard to keep up with it all, thanks for your understanding. Actually, with just one credit card sale in each of the last two months maybe you should lower your expectations and enjoy you still read this after so many years completely and always free ok? Next week I may even take a break, I deserve it.
Ouch, this hurts more than what we have gotten used to lately. Do you know why? It is because the head of the Air France Flying Blue program, Tiffany Funk, was part of the One Mile at a Time blog for years. So, one of our own crossed to the other side and unleashed a vicious beating on us, thanks a lot Tiffany! Flying Blue to increase Standard award prices and introduce Light and Flex award fares.
I always admired the management team of Alaska Airlines, growing steadily and surely. And oh, look for some super deals when Delta fights this in Seattle…again! Alaska Expands Over to Europe with New Athens, Paris Routes.
Good for reference: How to Combine Credit Card Points Between Players: Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, Bilt & Wells Fargo.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
For ANY questions on travel rewards credit cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
This is where we are you guys: Gen Z Has Just Discovered the Premium Rewards Credit Card. Friends of my kids read my blog, let me refer you to one of these cards ok?
Amex’s average new U.S. Gold card user is 29 years old, and its average new Platinum user is 33.
If you were looking to apply soon for one of these cards, maybe hang on until these elevated offers go live: Amex Internal Test Links Show New Welcome Offers on Platinum, Gold and Delta Cards.
LATEST OFFERS:
AMERICAN EXPRESS Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: 150,000 points AND $250 Credit after $6k spend in six months (ENDING 9/30)
AMERICAN EXPRESS Marriott Benvy: 125,000 points and $150 Credit after $5k spend in six months (ENDING 9/30)
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash : $1,000/100,000 points AND $250 Travel Credit after $10k spend in three months
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus : $2,000/200,000 AND $500 Travel Credit after $30k spend in three months
CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business: 200,000 Points Sign Up Bonus
CHASE INK Cash & INK Unlimited 100,000 Points Signup Bonus
100,000 CHASE Sapphire Reserve: $795 Annual Fee. Minimum spend $6,000 in three months
As High As 200,000 Points on the AMEX Business Gold after spending $15k in the first three months
CHASE Marriott Bonvoy Boundless: Earn FOUR Free Night Awards after $4k spend in three months
80,000 CITI AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard
175,000 AMEX Platinum & 300k AMEX Business Platinum
75,000 CITI Strata Elite card
Due to credit card vendor restrictions, the only affiliate links I can place in the body of my posts are for Capital One cards. You can always email me at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com with ANY questions.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting us with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
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Elevated Card Offer Notifications
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
This section will start with some content geared to more advanced points and miles hobbyists. And then continue on with some items pertaining to my actions in this space and then end with some personal news. So, here we go…
Limited action here due to traveling. Which is more a workcation than a vacation by the way. Spending an extended time in Bangkok to see how it is and trying to keep a routine. And stuff like that…
But I still made this post on FlyerTalk:
The latest evolution of destroying this hobby is now on…With people making their name in this side jumping over to the dark side to run these programs and just stick it to us, thanks y’all. This is an evolution from former “hobbyists” like Richard Kerr jumping over to Bilt to take pleasure closing any loophole we had the audacity to take advantage of and make fun of us in the process oh the irony. And of course the whole process got started when Brian Kelly of TPG took credit card selling to a level it had never even gone before.
Our SE Asia trip is coming together with 31 hotel nights booked, see below.
For a “trip report” see the first comment in this post below.
More changes in bold font below. I will add Instagram and YouTube (eventually) links as they happen during my trip:
110,000 American Airlines miles for one way First Class from Detroit to Bangkok (via Dallas and Tokyo Haneda) flying AA and JAL Business Class
Instagram – AA Flagship Lounge in DFW
Instagram – AA First Class DFW – HND
Instagram – Sakura Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport HND
Instagram – AMEX Centurion Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport HND
Instagram – JAL Business Class flight from Tokyo Haneda HND to Bangkok BKK
OR
118,500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles for one way Business Class from Detroit to Frankfurt to Munich on Lufthansa and to Bangkok on Thai Airways [Canceled, went with AA above]
1 night at the StandardX Bangkok for 7,500 World of Hyatt points
10 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 1 for 45,000 World of Hyatt points
9 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 24 for 40,500 World of Hyatt points
4 nights in a suite at the Saigon Park Hyatt for 80,000 World of Hyatt points
2 nights at the KROMO Bangkok, a Curio Collection by Hilton property, on AMEX The Hotel Collection booking fully utilizing Amex Business Platinum $300 credit
1 night at the brand new Fairmont Bangkok in a suite using my lifetime Platinum annual complimentary night cert
1 nights at the Hilton Pattaya for 120,000 Hilton Honors points
2 nights at the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach for 30,000 World of Hyatt points in a confirmed Garden View Suite
1 night at the Singapore Conrad Marina Bay on an Amex FHR booking mostly covered by the $300 credit Schwab Amex Platinum $300 credit
90,000 United miles for one way Business Class Singapore to Chicago O’Hare (via San Fransisco) flying United
Follow TBB on Instagram and Subscribe on YouTube
Check out my page listing my affiliate links HERE
Or go to Rakuten and Top Cash Back and Rove Miles and Gondola
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred,100k CHASE Ink Cash, 100k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 100k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 80k CITI AAdvantage Platinum Select, 75k CITI Strata Elite, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 175k AMEX Platinum, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 300k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k AMEX Business Gold, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 887,015 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025 and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,021,648 miles/points in the bank.
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
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2026 SE Asia Trip:
I had two separate award reservations to Bangkok, one for 100k AA miles flying AA First Class from Detroit to Dallas to Tokyo Haneda and then on business Class to Bangkok on JAL. The other one was for 118.500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles for Detroit to Frankfurt to Munich on Lufthansa Business Class and then to Bangkok on Thair Airways Business Class on a new A350-900. I really had a hard time which one to cancel. About 30 hours out I decided to cancel the Air Canada Aeroplan award.
One of the downsides of the AA award was that the first flight was at 5.41 am! Which meant a ridiculously early start of the day. Surprisingly, AA did not let me down this time. The first flight to Dallas was on time and the flight there was as expected. Which was definitely not much at all lol. The seat was very comfortable and the breakfast was not edible as I just had the banana and the grapes and skipped everything else. The gate agent pimped the amazing 65k Citi AAdvantage credit card this time as well, I mean, we expect the Flight Attendants to this. Which of course they did. Get to Dallas and take the airlink train and first ad you see is one for the Chase Sapphire Reserve inside the train door. And then you arrive at the next station and boom, your eyes are attacked with an ad for Capital One Lounges. Which of course implies you have the Capital One Venture X card.
The AA Flagship lounge in Dallas is great. It is huge with a wide variety of food and beverages. Too bad the separate First Dining section was closed, I guess they don’t do breakfast. It started getting a bit busier after 8.30 am but still it was a really nice experience.
Flight on an ancient 777 to Tokyo Haneda was fine. Lots of stuff revolved around 100, the ongoing branding for AA’s 100th birthday. I loved the pajamas and the cool amenity kit bag. And something AA does well that is completely under rated, the amazing warm nuts! The food was ok. Most servings were more of a miss than a hit. I was expecting more from the braised short rib entrée I chose, oh well. In retrospect, maybe I should have chosen the Japanese meal. The ice cream sundae was good. The breakfast eggs were not edible. Just a very under par for an F experience. And I clearly expected it so when an experience matches your expectations you are okay with it lol. Also, is it a requirement that all AA FA’s on these long international flight be over 60 years old, WTF! Not that the service was bad. It was just, well, average and they clearly did not try a bit harder than the absolute minimum required.
My daughter recommended to me to watch the 2nd season of BEEF on Netflix. So I started and then I binged all eight of them (great show). Which meant I did not sleep at all on my flight to Tokyo. Which made me really sleepy and I had a very long layover in Tokay, 11 hours!
I decided to try entering the Amex Centurion lounge only to be told to come back about 5 hours before my flight to Bangkok. No surprises at all. So I then walked one minute next door to the Sakura Lounge which is great. I had an awesome shower in a very comfortable and spacious room. It is a very large lounge with two separate food/beverage sections. Both had the same exact food offerings and setup. I did not eat much here as I did not really care for many of the selections. Or maybe I am working on my lounge food addiction. Or maybe I was just not feeling so hungry after being up for so long. I caught up with work and about 5 hours before my flight I walked to the Amex Centurion lounge next door. I am shocked about how subpar this Amex lounge is. First, it is very small. But one thing that stood out to me was how dark it was. In every room. I had to wait a bit to find me a table. Which is probably now a feature of Amex lounges lol. I found the food selection lacking as well. Or maybe I was just not feeling hungry at all still. And it closes at 10 pm. Which meant I walked back to the Sakura lounge again, so much brighter and just more pleasing all around. Shame on Amex, I thought they could so much better in a location that could do wonders in targeting affluent Japanese.
And now for the best part of my 100k AA First Class award: My flight on JAL Business Class. I loved it. On a Boeing Dreamliner. I loved the Sky Suites seat and whole set up, so comfortable. And the food was amazing! I was so glad I picked the Japanese meal, I ate everything (except the small plate that had shrimp as I am allergic to it). And that miso soup was heavenly, omg. Amazing that it held the taste of it up in the air! The FA service was great as expected. I find the Asian Airlines FA service to be a bit robotic, but give me robotic an compared to US airlines any day. I got some good sleep on this flight at last.
Going through immigration at the BKK airport at 5.30 am was such a breeze. I basically walked right up to the immigration officer booth. This is one of the many benefits flying up front, you get to walk out first after landing and usually get to the immigration/passport control area also first. I entered Thailand for the first time with my DTV Visa. I made a mental note that the immigration officer will sure appreciate me having the visa printout inserted in my passport photo page. Immigration officer did not ask to see my TDAC form (Thailand Digital Arrival Card) which can be done online within 72 hours before arrival.
This to be continued…
Hey Buzz-
On birds, did you ever see that cartoon in the New Yorker in which one bird is interviewing another bird for a job? The interviewer asks “Where do you see yourself in 5 seconds?”
Great article on risk. Really great.
Is it too late for some warm nuts jokes?
Good morning Buzz,
Back to work as usual I see. Thanks for the great links.
Question for your readers. Anyone have experience with surgical operations in Thailand?
I’m talking minor hernia surgery, but still surgery. I personally don’t have much faith in the medical system here and am considering Thailand, Turkey or…?
And don’t tell me, is it gold for the overheated desert rats?
Wow! Thanks for the trip report … sounds just great.
The links today were particularly good.
Wow, that’s quite a bit of travel. Glad you made it there ok and with not too much hassle. I’ve not been to Thailand but did a 3 week trip in Vietnam a few years back and I LOVED the energy in both Saigon (HCMC) and Hanoi. Definitely do the Ha-Long bay tour/trip if you have the time. It was great!
Trying to get squared away here with an idea or two for travel. Life continues to fight me on the idea, coming up with little roadblocks here and there (Doctors, house repairs, vehicle repairs, etc.) But it will all get sorted, I hope!
Have fun!