Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as comparing the AI and dotcom bubbles, the last barf bag, 15 remote islands, 120k Chase Southwest Offers, 529 plan state tax benefits, universal health coverage, how AI is killing freelancer jobs or not, where to go for legal cannabis, and much more and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you next week, enjoy the weekend.
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
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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.
PERSONAL FINANCE
You will not open a 529 plan account to pay for college for the state tax benefits. But they can’t hurt you know: 529 State Tax Benefits in 2024.
I am sticking this one here because health is is a huge part of personal finance: Which Countries Have Universal Health Coverage?
Hope time does not make me look like a fool but I do agree with this: Why This Isn’t Like The Dotcom Bubble. I was around during the dotcom bubble era and, believe it or not all you AI enthusiasts, we are not there (yet?). Some charts to make this clear:
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI
This is just too much, when will this insanity end? GameStop booster ‘Roaring Kitty’ tweeted a picture of a dog — so of course Chewy and Petco stock spiked.
AI is definitely having a huge impact on the stock market of course. And apparently it is coming to take our jobs. Or something like that. Anyway, this was very interesting in the Wall Street Journal: AI Doesn’t Kill Jobs? Tell That to Freelancers.
Freelance jobs that require basic writing, coding or translation are disappearing across postings on job board Upwork,…
…the number of freelance jobs posted on Upwork, Fiverr and related platforms, in the areas in which generative AI excels, have dropped by as much as 21%.
Freelancers who become more productive when using AI, but can’t yet be replaced by it, such as data science and IT, earn on average 40% more,…
And then there are the freelancers who report that demand for their work is up because, at least in their more demanding and specialized roles, AI isn’t living up to the hype.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Must click imho: The Last Barf Bag. Best of web type link you guys, absolutely loved it.
I am not into watches, I had never heard of a Patek Philippe watch. The Strange Journey of John Lennon’s Stolen Patek Philippe Watch. For decades, Yoko Ono thought that the birthday gift was in her Dakota apartment. But it had been removed and sold—and now awaits a court ruling in Geneva.
TRAVEL
SAVE $100 FOR 2024 THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL FESTIVAL
Sometimes I dream getting away to Pitcairn Island lol. 15 Remote Islands You Can Actually Visit.
Very nice photography here: Wiki Loves Monuments 2023 winners.
Kind of weird that I can walk to more than one establishment from my house to buy this. Not that I would but I could. Also, I was shocked by how many weed shops were open in Thailand when visited in late 2023. Countries Where Recreational Cannabis is Legal.
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
When a porch pirate thief goes in to steal an Amazon package…only to be met with another porch pirate thief and you won’t believe what happened next smh and lol.
Looking forward to the elimination games in the 2024 Euro soccer tournament. Shocking to see Georgia, Romania, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey be here alive. In that order. And I am still coming to terms with the USA disastrous loss to Panama in Copa America, ouch.
“News” items that make you lol: Snoop Dogg delivers mic drop moments at US trials as 52-year-old runs 200m in 34.44 seconds.
Have you ever wondered if there is a difference between the ODDZ & ENDZ and BUZZING sections? Me too!
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
It was another week with nothing earth shattering.Well, unless you count another offer flavor for the Chase Southwest cards that is.
GENERAL NEWS/PROMOS/NEWBIES/ETC.
No argument from me with these: Our 5 Cardinal Rules for Dealing with Banks.
There are still ways to milk this hobby you guys: 4 Ways to Fly Roundtrip to Europe For Under 40K Points.
Hilton continues to add more SLH Hotel properties into its reservation platform. Sometimes I wonder if they do this in stages to gain more PR coverage.
A few days after taking American Airlines off its partner list, Bilt does something that gets the overrated hype going…only to limit it to only 50,000 points lol. Bilt Rent Day (July 2024): 25-100% Transfer Bonuses To Alaska Airlines.
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 these offers expire, thank you.
NEW: US banks always have new credit card offers. And Chase keeps changing its Southwest card offers constantly. So, you should never go for a Southwest card with a Signup Bonus of 50,000 points or less ok? And here we go with two business cards: Chase Southwest Business Credit Cards 120,000 Points Signup Bonus. And all personal Southwest cards are back to only 50,000 Signup Bonus offers again.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card and Business Performance Credit Card are offering a signup bonus of up to 120,000 points:
Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from your account opening.
Plus, earn an additional 40,000 points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 9 months
NEW: The first 80k offer is standard. And not sure we have seen the extra 40k for a total spend of $15k in 9 months before; Chase just keeps testing different combos to see what works. This offer is supposed to end 9/16/2024. So, you may have to do some “adjustments” to your spending in order for all points to post in 2025 so you can enjoy the Southwest Companion Pass all of 2025 AND 2026. More details here: Getting Two Years Southwest Companion Pass With One Chase Business Card Signup (2024, 2025, 2026).
Very interested in a new 120k Chase Ink Preferred card offer that is now available in branch and usually these branch offers become available online later. As I need to replenish some of the over 1 million miles/points I burned in less than six months this year.
The TOP 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.
MY ACTION
I revived the dormant TravelBloggerBuzz Instagram account and giving it another go, follow me there please. It is the place online you will find my travel pics, including from my recent stay in Chicago staying at the Hyatt Regency and the Hyatt Centric. Those three nights should get me to 27 World of Hyatt night credits. Of course I stayed with points and free night certs, no need to ask me how much I paid. Je suis TBB and I travel for free. Ok, mostly free anyway lol.
A few words on the two hotels:
Chicago Hyatt Regency: Going way back, this hotel was a dump and I could regularly get it on Priceline for $30 or $35 per night. And then I used to call Hyatt to attach my “reservation” number to my account, oh those were the days. But I have not stayed here in years. And since it was the conference hotel I decided to switch to it from the Thompson hotel. Apparently, the hotel spent A LOT of money to renovate everything and is now great. I did not get upgraded to a suite as it was sold out for both nights. Got a nice room with a lovely view. The lounge in the 35th floor is great, very large, always stacked with snacks and beverages and very nice food selections starting at 5.30 pm. It has a weird honor system for alcohol though. The breakfast downstairs is fantastic and a pleasant surprise, great selection and amazing service. Big fitness center we did not use sadly. Great location. As Globalists, we also get in addition another $25 daily credit for food/beverages on top of the lounge and the free breakfast #winning. Great use of Hyatt points and a free night cert.
Chicago Hyatt Centric: Got upgraded to a very large executive suite. Bathroom is very weird though, small and just strangely designed with no stand up shower, you have to get in the tub lol. Immaculate areas. Posting this right before breakfast, I will update afterwards. Great location. No lounge. But free breakfast and a $15 daily credit as well.
Look for pics of the hotels in my Instagram page.
ADVANCED
In the last post we talked about how the Avios currency of British Airways keeps expanding to more airlines. Which is kind of fascinating actually. Why go through to set up and operate your own frequent flyer program when you can basically outsource it to a bigger entity you partner with or you are in the same alliance? Yeah, you give up some benefits sure. But you also give up a lot of costs! Anyway, I had mentioned I would not be surprised if this happens more in the future. And then, boom! American Airlines AAdvantage Becomes The Official Frequent Flyer Program Of Fiji Airways. This is super odd, Fiji hooking up with American Airlines, wow.
Talk about over rated? Nothing comes close to Delta getting insane PR coverage about one lounge smh: Sneak Peek: Inside Delta’s First (& Incredibly Restrictive) Biz Class Lounge.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 75K CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 75k CHASE United Business, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, two 120k CHASE Southwest Business cards, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, 75k Citi Strata Premier, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
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 1,109,513 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,131,384 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.
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.
Good morning!
I was wondering how you were going to rebuild your points stock! 120k is a big bonus!
I might be visiting the Delta One lounge in JFK. Who knew!
Thanks for the links!
Let us know how is that lounge when you get there.
Putting aside one’s political views, last night’s debate was grimly fascinating as we witnessed a massive preference cascade take place in about 20 minutes. I’m seen Governor Whitmer mentioned as a possible candidate in case Biden steps down… I know nothing about her, is she popular up there?
I like her. Most people like her. It is hard not to like her. Definitely having bigger aspirations…like 2028. Not sure about 2024…but after last night, who knows?
Do you see Whitmer-Harris? I don’t. I think the Dems are about to shoot themselves in the foot again. I hope most people come to their senses and realize Trump is unfit…but since we are where we are right now, it ain’t gonna happen. I would vote for a corpse before I vote for Trump…oh wait, sad lol.
Back on Gretchen: Conservatives were raging against her like she was Hillary or something. Yet, she won easily because she is easy to like, especially by independents.
It is almost July…
It is really embarrassing our country has these two again running!
Very late to comment with too much going on here at home, but lots of goodies on your post as always! Love the Last Barf Bag! Thanks so much!!
Yeah, that was very special, I still think about it, all those odd balls I could identify with lol.
Why the McDonald’s ice cream machine is always broken: https://twitter.com/GeniusGTX/status/1807056930193723595
How come they have not been sued yet?
Just a few comments abt stuff:
Switzerland – Italy 2-0: What an awful team the Italians brought to Germany. Sneaked into the 2nd round in literally the last play and then they managed to come back to an elimination game and play worse. Good riddance!
Germany – Denmark 2-0: Well, VAR defeated Denmark, sad lol. I think Germany is over rated but they did what they had to do. What a quick turnaround to have a goal dissalowed by VAR and then in the next play have a PK awarded to Germany by VAR, ouch.
Forbes Advisor let many writers go by the way this week. Is it AI? The competition? Is the credit card target market just saturated?
Changes are likely coming here to my fav bank’s affiliate credit card links. Not sure if this is related to the sentence above. Changes are coming most likely here and other affiliates, fyi.
It is super hot today in Ann Arbor, wow.
This post argued against your chart saying this bubble isn’t so bad: https://x.com/ObscurValuation/status/1807801233178066978?t=n8hkQiV4tKP1V6UTGuLQCw&s=19
TLDR: price / sales ratios are similar
I think this says what my chart in the post was saying, maybe you sent the wrong link?
France goes past Belgium in Euro 2024, thank God no overtime so I can finally start tomorrow’s post lol.