Let’s take a ride through United’s back stabbing of Cleveland, getting paid for car test drives, dating CVS cashiers, learning how to redeem Korean Air miles, watching Alex Honnold amaze everyone, looking at amazing pictures found on Google Earth and abandoned churches, debunking sex myths, learning how to pickup a flight attendant and ending with the 6 personal finance rules everyone must know. High five…umm, low five!
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Dans Deals wrote “CLE News I Like To Cover And You Don’t Like Reading About: Ohio Attorney General Will Audit United, Regional Carriers Dropping United, Airlines Adding Flights To CLE, Which Hub Will Be Axed Next? Some really good information here how United operates…
PF Digest has another round up of interesting finds, including this $25 gift card for test driving a Kia car.
Milenomics left First2Board to go to its own site.
Miles Abound continues the great Manufactured Spend Guide with Part 3: Bill Pay Using Debit Cards
One Mile at a Time had a comprehensive post on “How to Redeem Korean Air SkyPass Miles“. Oh my, you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to do that and I am certain this fact had absolutely nothing to do with deciding to write about this…I always thought the hassles involved, the award prices and fuel surcharges made Korean Air miles not a big deal at all.
This may be an epic FlyerTalk thread or not “Most extreme measures you have taken for Manufactured Spending” started by someone who started dating a “chubby CVS cashier”. Comments follow such as: ” No VR, just VD” and “Will fruck for VRs”. Mega LOL material.
This is the full movie of Alex Honnold climbing El Sendero Luminoso, the toughest rope-less climb in history. It is 6.11 minutes long and oh so worth it. North Face has a hit sponsoring this!
50 Amazing Finds on Google Earth. By Twisted Sifter.
32 08’59.96″ N, 110 50’09.03″W
Tucson, Arizona
Abandoned Churches and their Beauty. By Bored Daddy.
From Lifehacker, we get to learn about the “10 Stubborn Sex Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked“. Very educational stuff!
From Heather Poole, lessons on “How to Pick Up a Flight Attendant“. Link will lead to full article on The Daily Traveler. Interesting she married a passenger who offered her a bite of his sandwich ten years ago, lucky man!
The 6 Personal Finance Rules Everyone Must Know. From Wise Bread. Ummm, we can expand on that No. 4 “Only Use Credit Strategically” a little bit to include getting credit cards to amass miles/points to fly for free…
And I leave you with this…
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George
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First
Traditionally, Sunday night firsts are the easiest as there is almost no one else around 😉
So I should try harder then
Yes
I got distracted by #ET702, squawking 7500.
You can do better, I know you can!
Did you get the a 100,000 mile AA card George? Or two?
Actually I did not. Got over 1 million AA miles, I can get over $420 in cash back using my old Amex Blue Cash so why pay Citi $250? And AA lounge coverage is just not that good…I wait for something better. Will you continue your blog?
@I can get over $420 in cash back using my old Amex Blue Cash ……… please explain
@ bill: I recently got the OLD Amex Blue Cash card. After the first $6.5k you get 5% cash back on drugstores, gas and supermarkets. So, let’s say $10k per month in drugstores is $500. This will be for 20 Vanilla Reload cards @ $500 per VR which cost $80 (round numbers say $4 times 20). Voila, $500 – $80 = $420
Not sure if the offer still stands, I doubt it. So why give Citibank $250 when i have so many AA miles? I am still at them for denying me last year on one of the Thank you cards? (my only denial ever) 🙂
Yeah, I will. I’m gonna reboot this week. I’m starting to see the potential for a little bit more time for me… More time = photography and blog. I also have a few really cool trips coming this year. I will do a series about every destination the way I covered Bora Bora.
Do you think there will be a “better” offer? Better as no fee? I have never seen an offer you could get such a high bonus twice in one week. The famous two browser thing was not as good and for some reason nobody talks about it now. I guess the reason is the blogs are not promoting the offers anymore if they don’t pay the commission. Not only because they are not paid, but they don’t want to make the banks “angry”. Some did mention it but comparing to a lame 30,000 SPG Amex offer or any Chase offer pumped up 5 times a day? Ridiculous. I lost any respect for any “miles and points” blog I ever had.
I understand you don’t want to be the bad guy anymore, but you should point to this kind of sh#t. If not you, who will? Choosing interesting bits from the blogs you read is cool, but I miss the old George a little.
Want to see something funny?
Ask MMS what happened to the link at the top of his website which had all the credit card reconsideration numbers
I noticed Dan removed Chase recon from all his posts, new or old. Long articles about Chase recon without a single phone number!
I think Chase has explicitly forbidden these numbers to be published. So they have to comply or risk getting kicked out…
I think you meant “forbid” lol.
I wonder when the term HUCA will be a banned 🙂
Ooops, fixed now.
I think HUCA has a longer shelf life lol.
@Andrew: Thanks, I was wondering about your blog. See my answer to bill for the reasons I did not go for the Citi 100k offer. It is not a question about being the good or bad guy. I just found being the Siskel type takes WAY too much time as most of what is produced as content these days is just a front for pumping credit cards. So, I produced my three blog lists and I am in peace with myself. If I had kept it up I could be doing this 24/7 and there has been enough sacrificing in my non TBB life to continue inflicting more on myself.
I was going to look into putting up a separate tab with credit cards after tax season but I may move it up as I want my wife to get some cards. Last round I gave our apps to blogs in my two good lists but I am thinking I might as well get paid for our own apps at least which will be more than what the blog has earned in 15 months lol. Will I turn into one of the other bloggers, will readers lose respect for me? I am not sure this is even viable because I can’t see myself pumping away like them?
I am thinking out loud here. This blog has come far enough so maybe it is time to try it out and see what happens. Knowing myself, I don’t do very well taking orders so venturing into the cc murky world very likely will not last very long anyway. Which may lead to the next evolution of TBB: stop with the time sucking Buzz posts and go on a major rant once a week exposing the giant horse shit of sell out bloggers 🙂
BUZZ you know I had to comment on the “How to pick up a flight attendant” story. One word Bullcrap!! Sorry Heather, nice glamour shot BTW. Buzz you know I like to tell it like is or in my case was. First some backstory. I was hired by TWA as an F/A in 1976, luckily for me a year where they started hiring straight males for the first time, although there were not many of us (good for me). The girls they hired back then were in their early 20’s (and they are still flying BTW, who wouldn’t be making 60k and working 12 days a month) and back then they all looked like your typical blonde California Beach Babe. They were NOT dating the Pilots as depicted on TV because the Pilots back then were all WW2 Vets on the verge of retiring. In my 27 years, 14 million miles of travel and working with about 4,000 different f/a’s, I did NOT see one typical nice guy sitting in coach smile and pick up a working female F/A, not one. Not one ever told they met someone normal in coach. Guys picking up gay male F/A’s, that happened all the time coach or F/C……….BUT I have many, many, many stories that I have seen or been told of first hand of girls hooking up with THE WEALTHY, THE FAMOUS AND PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. All people you are familiar with. A friend of mine met De Niro while we were working a flight to Rome and married him in 97. Most of these guys were married but that didn’t matter. I remember a friend f/a dating 2001 World Series Phoenix Diamondback manager Bob Brenly (she worked all the baseball team charters at his request), she said when the won the tittle he bought her a Mercedes Convertible, I wonder what he bought his wife. I remember a girl getting on a flight the next morning totally pissed off at Joe Montana because he left her room while she was still sleeping and left her money on the dresser. What would his wife think? I’ve seen some of the girls get so aggressive with hooking up w/ the rich and famous, it was sometimes comical, but always successful. I just asked my wife, former f/a, if she ever asked out by and dated a pax. Yes, two, one was the Chicago Bears QB (not Jim Mcmahon) the other was the 6 o’clock Chicago TV news hunk……………….Sorry Heather your article is bogus, guys if you want to bang a Flight Attendant here is how, get very rich, very famous or very very good at sports, or get a job as an F/A. BAM! I should be writing for Conde Naste not her.
make that Conde Nasty Magazine
Even got a story about Rodney Dangerfield getting a handy by a f/a on the jumpseat on a all nighter.
As you know already, we love your FA stories! I can not imagine the faces Rodney would make 🙂
I remember her saying Rodney smelled like he had not showered for days and his clothes were dirty. This girl was trying to make contacts to get her Hollywood career going, nice kid but way too wild for me.
I can’t believe there aren’t more comments on this post. I love to hear someone give his personal experiences like this, especially when they tell how things really are. Thanks for making me less informed than I was 2 minutes ago.
Less MIS-informed rather.
Rick could get a lot better bang for his buck planning his Eurotrip if he read the content that FTG.com’s writers produce when not writing on FTG.com
I think it is time for another mememe post asking readers for recommendations on where to stay in HKG 🙂
Impressive EPoP podcast today with my fellow Brit Mark Smith, who runs seat61.com, the worlds most impressive rail travel website. Trav has really done a good with these so far.
I don’t have time to listen to podcasts, I was never into them. If I listen to something it will be some loud music (or super mellow, it depends on the mood). I don’t listen to books on tape either…I read them (yes with paper). Thanks for the note but I just can’t bring myself to listen to this stuff….especially after the last posts were based on a comped trip to some place in Italy and then continuing to bribe listeners to build up the podcast ratings. I do like that train site by the way. So, I eat my own cooking and I ignore EPOP, I wish the guy had picked up another industry to try his entrepreneurial skills as I feel he cheapens my hobby. Every time I see his stuff I feel a pop up offer will come to my face offering me a set of shiatsu knives if I did a, b, c or preferably d (all of the above).
I have been working on tax returns all day so I am in a bitchy mood…
The shameless self promotion/selling/branding and blind optimism annoys the hell out of me. I like podcasts, but avoided his because it seemed like a circle jerk for the “be your own boss” crowd. I noticed this gem in his Delta fireplace interview: “And now, it’s the top rated travel podcast on iTunes”. It doesn’t even show up in the Travel chart. I don’t understand how people can say things like that.
Must admit I’m intrigued by the latest interview with the Seat 61 guy though. That site is one hell of a resource.
I agree with you re the ‘self promotion/selling’ bit – the reason I flagged the podcasts is that there is good stuff on EPoP tucked away and it would be a shame if missed.
That said … I too would be substantially happier to see them transcribed online. Its a no brainer isn’t it? Transcribe it over a 3-4 part post and you pick up some ad revenue as I read and it will do wonders for Google hits when anyone searches Seat61.
If it was transcribed I would definitely read it. That’s a heck of a lot better content than some comped trip report nobody cares about (or should care). Hope he reads this and does it!
Seat61 is an absolutely amazing resource. I really hate podcasts, but I guess I’ll have to make an exception.
Don’t waste your time. Just start reading the Seat 61 site. Nothing particularly groundbreaking and it was a VOIP interview, with horrible audio.
I agree with your comment TJ. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Yeah, that Seat 61 is wonderful indeed. What was he thinking? 🙂
Our Anniversary Trip to Italy Part 812: Eating an afternoon snack between lunch and dinner
[insert pictures of Emily eating packaged rice cakes with a caption under it saying “eating an afternoon snack between lunch and dinner”]
Is this what he hired writers for? I have a feeling that never happened since every post is as exciting as a paint drying party.
Their tastes are a bit too… corporate… for us. However, La Pergola is/was a good choice.
Face it, if the Italy story wasn’t in 812 parts, there would be almost nothing on MMS besides silly sweepstakes and rewritten corporate press releases. MMS is the San Francisco Examiner (20th century) or pre-Murdoch New York Post version of the mainstream miles/points blogs: you can read all the morning’s deals and news, rewritten for easy digestion in the afternoon, and the evening’s deals news reposted the next day.
It doesn’t look like he hired writers.
Did EPoP ever hire a writer at a whopping $10/hr to increase content for the miles/points blogosphere’s #13-most-read mainstream introductory generalist blog?
Then again, MMS went to business school and makes money and they managed to leave Kansas for Austin, so, eh, well done, I guess.
I have pictures of us in the Cavalieri. I have a reader who keeps telling me to post pictures of my wife 🙂
I wonder when this trip will end…
Whether Lucky’s posts are to your personal liking or not, I think all miles and points bloggers should read his advice to them today. Gary even turns up in the comments answering a question about getting credit card links, that bloggers should pay heed to. Content is king, too many get rich quick bloggers out there looking for their Friday MMS interview, “there are no short cuts.”
http://boardingarea.com/onemileatatime/2014/02/18/tips-becoming-travel-blogger
There’s too much saturation in the market for someone to get by on shortcuts
MMS and TPG built their empires on shortcuts (although TPG was fairly large by then-standards even before mailing in his blog), and new entries would never be able to compete with the mailed-in behemoths those 2 blogs have become
@StickyWicket: Yep, that was a great blog post and will feature it in next Buzz post. Strange how they don’t spill the beans on the $$$ pumped by banks towards them. Then again, Gary and Lucky would probably still be blogging if the bank $$$ was not there unlike the vast majority of so many others who just discovered this hobby and could not wait to tell friends and family how they can too travel for free 🙂
@Steve: Yep. From all blogs in my Ignore list TPG probably has the better content…Anyways, they are behemoths as you state. TBB always supported the little guy 🙂
Gary will for sure. He’s able to keep a “real” job and blog. It;s a hobby and a way to deal with an addiction. Not sure about Lucky, he’ld have to get a “real” job. There wouldn’t be much time for milage running and reviewing hotels and airplanes.Award booking only pays so much per hour.
Gary and Ben get six figures just from the ads, I promise you. They could survive happily with no card referral income.
It also unfair to criticise TPG for mailing in content. Do a cut and paste into Word of his daily output. It is a LOT. The small font may underplay how much they write. It isn’t pushing the boundaires of human knowledge for us pros but his team is putting a lot out there.
It is very hard for me to believe that Gary and Ben net 6 figures from ads alone. Randy yes but not what trickle downs. I would love to find out what/how much trickles down in all agreggator sites but I guess this is inside knowledge proprietary stuff. Transparency is so lacking in this space!
Like I said before, TPG has the best content among the blogs in my Ignore list. But way too corporate for my taste…
Why? Let’s assume they get 1m page views per month which are ad generating (exclude adblock, phones). To generate $100k pa would require $140k income assuming 30 per cent to BA (big sites pay less than the small ones). That is $12,000 per month.
They would need $12 RPM to do that, so an average of $3 RPM per box. Given the premium rates Randy attracts, that is relatively easy.
I have not looked into the business side of the online world yet. I am just too busy trying to stay afloat 🙂 TBB just broke through $100 in revenue which is ground breaking around here. I am having fun. One day I will get serious about it…it will be when my wife does not tolerate me goofing around with TBB anymore lol.
Thanks.
Anyone know what happened to Travel Summary? Gone since beginning of the month….kind of irks me to still have him in my portal if there is nothing new.
Travel Summary never posted frequently. When he did it is usually good. Has a full time job. Do not underestimate how tough this blogging thing is when you have a full time job. We are not all like Gary Leff 🙂
I think he is just busy traveling. Check out his Instagram.
I never did the Instagram and Pinterest thingie…
Monday was slow, Tuesday was quite busy in the blogosphere. Should be a nice TBB post late tonight,,,