We bring you content about how banks go all out with higher offers, the sad CDC fall, travel influencers suck, interest rates go lower, drive through Michigan’s Tunnel of Trees, travel to Japan and Belgrade, meet the smallest countries and the ones that drink the most coffee, the best Covid-19 coverage you have come to expect, a couple of the best writing pieces in investing and personal finance that you will love, no clickbait shit here, and LOTS more!
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This goes out to subscribers via email the day it is posted at 8 am. After that I may add something new and I indicate it like this: Update.
There is a LOT in this post. You all enjoy the weekend and thanks for spending some of it reading my blog. If you are not into the frequent flyer miles/points game please feel free to skip the Miles & Points section.
Stay positive, test negative!
TOP PICKS
With the election so close here we go!
End Our National Crisis. The Case Against Donald Trump
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: Citi Premier 60k, 65k CitiBusiness AA, 20k Chase Freedom Flex, 100k AMEX Gold, 130k AMEX Hilton Business & Hilton Surpass, $300 AMEX Blue Cash Preferred, $200 AMEX Blue Cash Everyday, 70k AMEX Delta Platinum Business and 60k Platinum Personal (ending 10/28/20), 140k IHG Rewards Premier, 100k IHG Rewards Traveler, 5 Free Nights for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (ends October 29), 100k AMEX Marriott Business, 125k AMEX Marriott Brilliant, 60k AMEX Delta Gold Business and 50k Gold Personal (ending 10/28/20), $300 AMEX Blue Business Plus. Please use my Affiliate links.
If you do not see a credit card with my affiliate links, perhaps I could refer you? Contact me please, thank you!
Chase Sapphire Preferred 80,000 Points Signup Bonus with $4,000 Spend. I can now refer you to this card, please use my REFERRAL link, thank you! Offer ends November 7.
The increased offers keep coming! AMEX now offers 60,000 points for the Gold card that offers 4x on dining. AMEX also now offers 100k points for the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card and 125k for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. The number of points is not that big of a deal but, more interestingly an added twist, both cards offer Platinum status for 2021. And Citi finally decided to jump back in the pool with increased offers offering the Citi Premier card with 60k Thank You rewards points!
Marriott has come out with a credit card offer that offers 5 free nights for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card. This offer now ends October 29.
Since not much travel is happening, Chase continues to try to make its cardholders hold on to the cards: Chase Sapphire Cards Temporary Enhancements: 2x/3x On Grocery; Travel Credit Additional Options. No big deal as I am currently earning 5x on Groceries for a year with the Chase Freedom Flex card.
Not a bad idea for Delta to poach some elites from other airlines. Now if you could actually fly all the required flights to keep the Delta status until 2022…Delta Will Match Your Status with Other Major Airlines.
In an era with so many hotel brands anyone can hardly keep track of with a global pandemic we have not seen in a century, here comes Radisson Rewards with a new brand, WTF! Radisson Launches “Radisson Individuals” Soft/Conversion Brand.
One day we can burn some miles/points in some of these again: 20 Stunning Hotel Rooms With Private Pools.
I have 4,249,189 miles/points. It is an addiction and a ridiculous burden lol. I love helping newbies and long time readers can also help you in the comments too.
TRAVEL
I post some photos from my road trip to the Northwest Michigan area below in the Blog Buzz section, I hope you like them!
Good list to bookmark: 10 Scenic National Park Drives Everyone Should Do at Least Once.
No comments needed: The grit and glory of New Belgrade’s communist architecture.
Screw 4k, Japan in 8k, wow!
Reading this made me vomit: Travel influencers, meet authoritarian regimes. The influencer industry has grown to be cozy with some unsavory governments, but its clout might not be as effective as it once was. I am still vomiting, nothing has turned me off so much in travel lately.
This is very cool, Visualized: The World’s 100 Smallest Countries. Vatican City the smallest. Greece the 100th smallest.
The Scandinavians sure drinks lots of coffee, wow! The 25 Countries That Drink the Most Coffee in the World.
- Finland // 26.45 pounds
- Norway // 21.82 pounds
- Iceland // 19.84 pounds
- Denmark // 19.18 pounds
Amazing photography here: Freezing cold war: militaries move in as Arctic ice retreats. Enjoy!
COVID-19
This is painful to read. Inside the Fall of the CDC. How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.
I have blogged about the coming hell to break loose right after the first vaccine comes. This article explains it all: First, a Vaccine Approval. Then Chaos and Confusion. Brace yourselves.
Have you wondered how Africa seems to be handling the Covid pandemic better? Me too! Here is why: Five reasons why Covid-19 has been less deadly than elsewhere. Have we become a shithole country? Answer in the comments!
The Financial Times did a thorough investigation about China and Covid-19: What Went Wrong in Wuhan. Were they slow in Wuhan? Absolutely! Was the system of governance a major reason for this, oh hell yes! In a bizarre and contrarian way, was the Chinese system of governance instrumental in getting control over the virus? The honest and sad answer is yes. Irrespective of all this, there is no excuse for countries to totally screw up the response to it!
“Most of Asia really respected this, had systems ready to go, and did a lot of work in January and February for the day that was coming when they were going to get smashed,” said Dr Fisher. “Unfortunately, most of the rest of the world needed to get smashed to have that realisation. As we said in our February [WHO China delegation] report, this virus can have devastating health, social and economic effects but the world is not ready, in capacity or in mindset, to deal with it.” Prof Wang added that for all of the Chinese system’s shortcomings in the earliest days and weeks of the outbreak, the rest of the world should have been on high alert. As soon as human-to-human transmission was confirmed and Wuhan went into quarantine a few days later, countries could have prepared themselves for its arrival as effectively as Taiwan and South Korea did, among others. Most did not. In particular the Trump administration’s response will go down as one of the worst national security failures in the history of the US republic, with the virus breaching even the White House and infecting the president himself. As Prof Wang said: “For other countries not to have taken [the virus] seriously, there’s just no excuse.”
I like the advice in this article: How to make this winter not totally suck, according to psychologists.
With cases exploding everywhere, here we go again with more countries to follow: Ireland goes back on lockdown. Also in my city of Ann Arbor with our daughter in a dorm: Washtenaw County issues two-week stay home order for U-M students. Meanwhile, the President praised himself in the last debate that he brought back football, sad lol!
We all have learned so much about viruses, epidemiology, vaccines, antibodies and I can go on and on. But in this article you will learn about adjuvants. Adju, what??? There is a tree in Chile that is absolutely essential to vaccines, wow! The Tree That Could Help Stop the Pandemic. The rare Chilean soapbark tree produces compounds that can boost the body’s reaction to vaccines.
Update: We have learned a lot about the disease and gotten so much better in handling people who are hospitalized: Studies Point To Big Drop In COVID-19 Death Rates. There is also no doubt that way too many are dying in the US still, it is a huge tragedy!
PERSONAL FINANCE
I really enjoy reading the memos by Howard Marks. Because they are so eloquently written: Coming Into Focus.
I love the behavioral aspects of finance. And crashes and bubbles and stuff like that. I really enjoyed reading this: Psychology, Behavior & Markets. I am not a quote type of guy/blogger but how can you argue with this one by French philosopher Blaise Pascal?
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”.
If I hear another mention of the word “unprecedented” I think I am going to flip! Visualizing 200 Years of Interest Rates in the US. Wow…
CURRENT EVENTS/POLITICS
Yeah, what a year! New York’s Year from Hell. Son is leaving at the end of the month as well.
Looks like early voting is shattering records, great to see! It is a privilege in a true democracy to change governments in the voting booth and not with violence like we see in banana republics. Let’s see if we become one soon, sad lol. And check some of these out, which one is your favorite? Eight of America’s Most Unusual Polling Places. Mine is this one below 🙂
ODDZ & ENDZ
Remember those weird incidents in the US embassies in Havana, Cuba? And in China as well? Well, they have kept on happening in Russia and even on US soil. The Mystery of the Immaculate Concussion.
You can read travel influencing shit. Or waste your time on Instagram and TikTok shit. Or you can learn something here, your choice: A Master List of 1,500 Free Courses From Top Universities: 50,000 Hours of Audio/Video Lectures to Enrich Your Mind
Actually,this is a really good post on the subject 🙂 What I learned about male desire in a sex doll factory. The woman writer visits a factory and you won’t believe what happened next! Sadly, no shocking video lol.
Amazing work here: The Annual Winners of the Photomicrography Competition.
This is pretty cool. Select a year and it will return all the words that were first used in print that year: Time Traveler.
Hats off to this guy. And you read this and can’t help but wonder how many morons are out there, dear Lord! How a Fake Rent-a-Hitman Site Became an Accidental Murder-for-Hire Sting Operation.
Love these! Weather Photographer Of The Year Winners Show The Stunning Beauty Of Nature.
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
Spirit finally realized that having a decent frequent flier program can squeeze some major dinero from the banks, so it decides to finally start one, lol! Spirit goes revenue-based, makes elite status easier with new Free Spirit program.
Even Capital One bank is increasing the signup bonuses for its cards. If you are really desperate and shut out everywhere else, I guess you could get a couple of hundred backs cash back on the Quicksilver card and the SavorOne card. I mean, really desperate that is!
Public enemy #1 of the churning hobby is the Amex RAT guys, wow! Another Wave of Amex Shutdowns is Underway.
My running is interrupted until further notice. Lots of walking instead. Old sciatica issue has come back after several years, last time it was taken care of by a cortizone shot in my lower spine and I hope it does not get to that again. I am really sad about this, I just can not see myself breaking any new PRs for a while, boo!
Did a road trip to Northwest Michigan to finally visit the “Tunnel of Trees” area, a 19 mile drive from Cross Village to Harbor Springs. Also took a drive through Petoskey. Lots of domestic tourists doing the same thing. Mega trips are out, road trips are in!
I saved the best for last for you Rams 🙂
The two poster blogger boys in Boarding Area do not even hide it anymore. Give the ghost writer a raise, WTF!
I need to get someone to Hawaii in late November. How would you do it? Getting hard to keep track of which airlines fly there and all the different testing requirements!
One Chase Freedom Flex card minimum spend done. Working on that 30% $6k spending bonus on the Southwest card next. As I get new cards I have decided to let some old ones go, bye bye one Discover and one old Freedom card. Wife hardly ever uses her no annual fee Chase Ink Cash card, thinking about letting it rip too. I still have not closed the CNB card, waiting to get a coffee mug burning my last 2k points, it was backordered lol. I am thinking about going for that Marriott card with the 5 free nights and burning them on the Marriott resort in northwest Michigan Gregg Frequent Miler likes but not sure if I will pull the trigger, try to convince me please. The $450 Capital One bank bonus is in, easily transferred into it $50k and held for three months from an investment account at TD Ameritrade, amount that was just sitting in cash earning nothing anyway. All the other bank bonuses I see are small for the hassle, I like easy these days. How long do Chase referrals take to show up?
Took my wife out for a nice dinner at a nice Ann Arbor restaurant, the Chop House. Her 32nd birthday, again! It still has a 50% off the whole bill birthday special! We are not vegetarians by the way lol.
And I leave you with this…
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Now that is a cat! Good judge of photos and no problems from the local coyotes on the walk.
Delta AMEX is offering 1.9% for the year. Not quite as good as the 0.0% Plan It running now but still. The competition for spend is fierce.
The national park link brought back good.memories. I’d pick Olympia national park over a couple of their suggestions. I’m sure it is the only temperate rain forest I’ll ever see. The colors would require Kodachrome 25!
Thanks!
Silver! For The Pacific Northwest, Home of the Olympic National Park and Rain Forest!
Who remembers Kodachrome 25 though? Uh-oh, I guess DML and I both old enough! Yikes! That was great film.
Take care of that Sciatica! I think I am getting it too and I remember the Old Man had problems with it as well.
WAY much reading, but it will spread through out the weekend! Thanks as always!!!
Awesome pics Buzz, and I would have to say this post is unpreceden…..
I’m also sick of hearing “we live in the richest country on earth”
Good luck with your health and have a great weekend.
@DML: I never look at credit card interest rates, one less thing to worry about.
@Carl: Yeah, the sciatica is a major bitch. At times I feel like I can go out and run a half marathon like old times. At other times…fucking deep pain shoots up and down my left glute/leg area….it just sucks and I am not patient guy…I just keep walking. Sitting makes it so much worse!
@David: Yeah, I am surprised how good those pics came out too.
You all enjoy, I am going out…walking again
I can understand the low interest rates during WWII and the subsequent increase. I have yet to see a decent financial publication explaining the unique interest environment we’ve experienced since the financial crisis (partially independent of COVID). The Fed’s long term (2-5 y) predictions have been wrong over and over again. And many countries in the EU have had negative interest rates for many years. Can central banks “afford” to increase rates or will the system collapse? If you know about a good article/publication, please share.
#goldbug #BitCoin
Maybe nobody knows?
“Focus on things you can control” – TBB
Economist are known for explaining the past better than the future.
I find the top “fascinating”. We are in uncharted territory with no historical precedent.
It does influence how you balance your portfolio.
Diversify
Keep costs low
Make tax aware moves
Rebalance at set intervals (I do twice per year)
And pray while you focus on things you can control and sticking to the plan.
This is how I have been operating for the past 20 years.
Sometimes what we are experiencing does not make much sense. This is one of those times.
GOP tweeted that Trump is fighting for you….and then, please sit down, SPACE FORCE!
We are in lalalalalaland…
I saw the no fee Amex cash back card in the link on the main page. Spend $1000 and get back $200? Such a deal.
Last?
You will never be last in a TBB post.
Management 🙂
VFTW is posting about buying Covid tests at Costco. How long till this is an affiliate link play for Dan’s Deals? Maybe it already is since I would never click on that site.
If it ever gets to Amazon…I would probably not get to it 🙂
Chop house… salivating…
Much better with 50% off!
Greece crossed 1,000 covid cases a day…so you are not going now, right?
The trip is still on…
If it keeps doubling it’ll be cancelled. Just look at Spain. Completely disastrous policy. At least Spain got some tourism $$ during the summer.
Meanwhile DD not only offer offers travel deal hacks but also suggests how you can enter Israel via Dubai as a “business” traveler. Israel just ended their 2nd quarantine. Don’t encourage Americans to travel there until we have COVID under control here.
“ France reports more than 52,000 new coronavirus cases, biggest one-day increase on record”
Sad!
Sad indeed…
Just watched 60 Minutes, Trump walking out for “tough questions” LOL
It’s not a hack. You need to spend 2 weeks in Dubai before you can enter Israel as a business traveler with a special permit, so there’s no chance of bringing COVID from the US to Israel.
If Dubai didn’t want Americans then they wouldn’t allow them to enter. Hardly a hack.
You’re missing the point. Your readers don’t benefit from speculative travel suggestions. Cases are going up in the UAE. Be safe. As the White House has communicated “We are not going to control the pandemic”.
Cute that you’re calling out DD for this nothingburger (there was no encouragement in the post, only the facts of what can be done legally) when we have probably posted more travel disclaimers (in red and bold lettering so they’re not missed) than any other blog.
In fact most other blogs are actively encouraging travel and downplaying any risks based on studies funded by Boeing and United…
Shillers gonna shill
I have called out several blogs including out TPG (back when that was possible). Israel has endured 2 lockdowns. Let’s help them out and make sure there’s not a 3rd.
BTW your link to define green countries takes the user to a dysfunctional site.
Not sure who is missing the point. The point according to Dan, is that, it is OK to infect people in UAE, but not the final destination. No hack, just different way of thinking
Blog lost $2.01 yesterday
#Amazonreturns
I really really need to end this smh
If you have cash to park, check out these bonuses: BofA business savings (it’s not targeted even though it says it is), Citi business checking/Citi personal checking, Huntington checking.
Oops, I mean BofA business checking.
Already have a business checking account at BofA, doubt it is for current customers.
Citi is usually tough to deal with. As in fighting with them to post it. #prior experience
Did Huntington some time ago, easy $750. I should look at them again.
I hope Capital One does more “add more $” and keep for 3 months promos, so easy…the way I prefer 🙂
Thanks
Thanks.
Sunday the blog earned 42 cents. So after losing $2.01 on Saturday, the net weekend haul is a loss of $1.59. I know this blog was never intended to be like the others but…I think there is a limit to the sinking feeling I get when I check my (missing) conversions. And then I just knew how View From The Wing will post about the flight attendant panties story as soon as I saw it appear first in Loyalty Lobby…What the phuck am I doing here? Reminds me that presidential candidate on a debate stage saying “Who am I, what am I doing here?”
I need to get my mental state to mimic Mile Nerd…
View From The Wing – Delta Captain Kicks Black Woman Off A Plane, But He’s The One Not Wearing A Hat
One Mile at a Time – Video: Rude, Maskless Delta Captain Confronts Passenger
And these two have been linked to so many times by blogs I link to that never link to me.
I am sick of this shit. And I am sick of spending hours and even losing money over the weekend…
8 years is enough, anniversary coming up November 12 I believe.
Time to go and get back to writing for the Wall Street Journal, let that baby go for the pathetic clickbait and the pathetic ass kissing to just keep going and just get even more pathetic…
I feel better now but that is in my head…
And if Trump wins I am outta here, 6 months Greek island and 6 months Thailand…Boom!
We are all suffering from CF
Covid Fatigue
One more week, keep voting repeatedly!
We are amidst the mother of all third waves and the assholes squeezed Barret into the Supreme Court, priorities hey. Remember Garland!
Tough to stay positive but gotta do it, what is the alternative?
Bloggers keep shilling plastic. Nobody cares anymore to use my links.
Great day yesterday in Amazon, thanks mainly to the reader who bought an expensive computer item.
Two day virtual conference on tap for me with Schwab. That dude Sting is closing it…he must be like 80 years old by now?
In my hometown Larisa in Greece, 56 new Covid cases yesterday, an explosion. Happening everywhere it appears…
Hope everyone is doing well.
I wonder if Dan voted for Trump and if he still rates him 3 out of 10 🙂 I mean, he keeps bringing the Middle East together…suddenly, anything to take Covid off the news cycle. Get the Saudis and Syrians aboard and then reconsider the rating hey 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, still positive and welcome steps but…
My masseuse (who has not touched me since March) is in Maui…yeah, Covid fatigue everywhere
I have a few major payments to make so I might as well get a new credit card. But given the current situation, I’d prefer cash to points. So which one is most lucrative?
Depends…
Under 5/24?
Current cards?
History?
Credit Score?
and I could go on…
I see OMAAT just started pushing the Brex card…because he is getting paid for it.
I am not good in getting conversions this way….If I was, I would fake “reviews” of the top two or three cards that pay me the most and I would make sure one of the situations I lay out makes sense for you chaching 🙂
Under 5/24. 800+ score. I have: Amex: Plat, Amex Delta Biz, Amex Hilton, Old Blue Cash, Chase: CSR, Freedom, Freedom Flex, Ink Cash, (just canceled Ink Preferred). BOA- Preferred Rewards. I guess what I’m missing is a Citi card since I dumped AAdvantage personal and the Prestige which is useless. However, all I see is 60k Citi Premier or 65k AA Biz neither of which seem impressive. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
You are seasoned player it appears. I need to appeal to newbies more so I can sell them more cards lol.
Tough spot if you aim for cash. Citi Double Cash has no signup bonus (maybe there are 10k or 20k tops referral links). Got history with Capital One? They are a bitch to get approved and I believe they still do the awful practice of running your credit report with all three bureaus…I am thinking CO Venture Rewards for 100k that is.
Any other reader have any ideas here?
I received the Capital One Venture for 100k when it was launched. They have waived the $59 annual fee every single year, so I still have it!
Damn it, they would not waive it for me back in the day when I had them 100k cards! And I tried, maybe because I put them in the drawer as soon as the signup bonus hit 🙂
If you are under 5/24 there are plenty to…pick for the biggest bang. The thing is…it is probably a conundrum, which is the second most hated word for me, after…unprecedented.
Signup bonuses are getting higher, not sure for how much longer…and at some point we will get over this pandemic…the thing is…can you book something 12 months for now? Well, you can but…my gut feeling is it will likely be a no go and/or you are not comfortable taking it…As these next months go by…not convinced that these signup bonuses will go higher or at least stay elevated at these levels….when “sunshine” appears, they will likely had downwards…fast.
Nobody knows.
I am kind of laying low. Thought about the Marriott card for the 5 free nights but…just not seeing me booking something even 12 months later right now…
Maybe it is best to lay low…
May I interest your mother in law for a CSP card now that comes with a Peloton credit? Ok, that was funny, I laughed. Maybe you all laughed too. Maybe not.
I have good lineup of material but less than last week’s post at this point.
The vaccines appear to work well. My projection is that we Will reach vaccine induced herd immunity by next summer. Most of the rich world will be immunized by the end of next year.
The Astra / Oxford vaccine only works in some over 70’s (they see this as a win, they didn’t expect it to work at all) so the oldies are still screwed. This is as per a private briefing reported in the UK media.
Yes I saw that too…We don’t know for sure what will happen, the messy science continues, it takes time.
I am following a Greek site carefully with good track record…they are saying 2024 is the year that Covid is behind us and then it will be like the…roaring 20s again for the rest of the decade.
Everyone is suffering from CF, Covid Fatigue. My masseuse (who I have not seen since March!) just flew to Maui yesterday so a huge part of the third wave is…people letting down their guards and just say phuck it.
It is going to be very messy and conspiratorial when the first vaccines that kind of work are announced.
Hang in there…
May I interest your mother in law for a travel rewards credit card so she can travel for free away from you? LOL
Raffles: Attending Schwab conference online, these guys always put on a high quality conference. And they are just brutal competitors, wow.
Here’s Christmas sorted anyway:
https://www.zazzle.com/s/frequentmiler
These prices are ridiculous!
The brave new world of fintech:
Almost 2000 Robinhood Markets accounts were compromised in a recent hacking spree that siphoned off customer funds
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-15/robinhood-estimates-hackers-infiltrated-almost-2-000-accounts
I thought NK only hacked bitcoin account.
And
This start-up promised higher interest rates on savings. Now some customers are struggling to get their money back
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/28/beam-promised-higher-interest-rates-now-customers-want-their-money-back.html
Rules are for suckers!
Ok, I have the Top Links, Miles&Points and Travel blog sections completed for Friday.
A lot more to come on the other sections tomorrow. Should be ready to go live by 6.30 am on Friday.
I should probably do better things in my life and move on you guys…all of you must be lol/24 or what?
I wish these assholes take away my cc links so it will make it easier, have not come close to hitting 10 a month the whole year….let alone 3 in a row, sad lol.
Things should come down, my conference is over, phew…Really good stuff. I should have sold years ago bwahahaha.
Thanks for the readers who use my Amazon links. $3.63 yesterday wow 🙂
More importantly, the first Chase CSP referral came in, 15k Chase Ultimate Rewards points, thank you!
Most of the material is in, going out tomorrow at 6.30 am with hopefully the last of overtly political posts to trigger the Trump fans (hi Rams and Rick!)…
Just scheduled post for tomorrow Friday at 6.30 am.
If you don’t love it, I’ll give you your money back!
Ramsey, please be kind 🙂