Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the best retirement advice, crypto bros went AI, the best street food, off to Thailand again, the best total solar eclipse photos, warnings about Best Of anything lists, AI slop, jury duty scams, museums and ticks and drones, e-visas to Vietnam, fun drives, 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.
I will be traveling for the next month or so. I will try to keep posting here but if I take I break it is because I deserve it 🙂
Follow me on Instagram if you want to see pics from my travels, I will try to post more often on that platform.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite” – Nelson Mandela
MUST READ GEMS
Some total solar eclipse photos for you…
PERSONAL FINANCE
As most of my professional life these days revolve around retirement issues, I think this is indeed The Best Retirement Advice Ever.
1. Learn to match your lifestyle with your finances
2. Look after your health and energy like they are assets
3. Learn to feel comfortable spending your money
4. You do not need to stay busy — you need to stay engaged
5. The first few years shape more than you realize
6. Motivation usually arrives after action, not before it
7. Expect your sense of purpose to evolve
8. Family alone cannot carry an entire retirement
9. Adjustment takes far longer than most people expect
10. Be careful not to slowly lower your standards for effort
11. Expect your social world to change
12. Adaptability matters more than the perfect plan
13. Keep a reason to leave the house
14. Stay open to changing direction completely
My industry is abuzz with the report that someone at Forbes received a “small gift”: Forbes Fired Top Editor After Discovering He Received $6 Million Payment. Heads up, if you are basing your decisions to work with a financial planner because they made the “Top 10” of a Best Of list at Forbes or Barron’s, you are making a huge mistake. These publications have long ago sold out to the highest bidder as they branched out to new avenues of revenue as main subscriber and ad revenue has taken a hit. I did benefit from one of these Best Of lists over the years (by Investopedia) and I did promote this on my website and Linkedin. But I resisted all relentless follow up marketing pitches that come afterwards. And then somehow I ceased to being picked for the honor and you bet that would not have happened if I had followed up to fork over some money to help me in marketing my award.
But this guy receiving a $6 Million “gift” and then saying he is sorry about it that he should have disclosed it and feels awful losing his job is infuriating. Yeah, I am sure he is sorry with $6 million in the bank and now with all the time in the world to be “focusing on his own projects. In 2023, he co-founded the National Thoroughbred League, a competitive horseracing association. And this summer, he mounted a rock musical he wrote about Benjamin Franklin titled “The Sound of America” in Philadelphia that cast the founding father as “America’s first rock star.” Only in America smh.
AI/TECH
People have way too much time on their hands smh: Inside an AI Tik Tok Shop Slop Factory That Shills Supplements Recalled by the FDA. If regulators and law enforcement will not shut these assholes down, it is upon you to stop clicking on this shit, come on!
SCAMS/CRYPTO
I feel bad for people falling for scams revealing all to journalists. Because they invite very negative comments towards them online. Then again, I feel grateful they do this because it can help prevent others from making the same mistakes. This was very disturbing: The ‘Jury Duty’ Scam That Cost This Family $25,000. In a growing ruse, swindlers pose as cops and use tremendous pressure to trap people; ‘They had every single thing about me.’
In the last few posts I wondered out loud whether I should drop Crypto coverage in my blog. Because, you know, all the crypto bros are moving to where the money is these days. Which is of course AI. So, here you go: How the AI Trade Is Stealing Crypto’s Thunder These investors are dropping bitcoin and other digital tokens after getting swept up in the mania over AI stocks.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Another site for the art lovers of my blog, looking at you Sam: The Last Museum.
We have many problems we are dealing with. Let me add another one you may not have considered: Kill the Ticks.
Their numbers are rising. Their ranges are expanding. And the diseases they carry are multiplying. Lyme cases have more than doubled since 2000, in which time scientists have also discovered eight new tick-borne diseases—plus an unusual and potentially dangerous tick-induced meat allergy called alpha-gal syndrome.
Hope the Ukrainians can keep the momentum: Ukraine is pulling off something impossible.
Amazing photography: The Winners of the 2026 Pure Street Photography Awards Invoke Happenstance and Commotion.
TRAVEL
We are visiting Saigon/Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam next monrh. After some frustration with the clunky website, I managed to get both our E-Visas processed. Most likely you will need to do the same using the official Vietnam National Electronic Visa System website. Here is a video on how to go about it: Vietnam E-Visa 2026: Complete Step By Step Guide. We are staying at the fabulous Park Hyatt Saigon for 4 nights using World of Hyatt points in a suite of course. Do you have any tips on what to see/eat/visit/do while in town?
There are so many AI related offerings out there, it is impossible to keep up. Including in travel. So, Can A.I. Get You Where You Want to Go for Less? According to the author, well, not really…yet?
Fun site: Make My Drive Fun. Turn the miles between here and there into a trail of oddities, hidden gems, and worthwhile roadside detours.
Very surprised to not see Bangkok on this list. And 3 out of 10 for Greece, hooray! The world’s top 10 cities for street food.
- Paris, France
- Athens, Greece
- Thessaloniki, Greece
- Barcelona, Spain
- London, UK
- Rhodes, Greece
- Rome, Italy
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Budapest, Hungary
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
This visual: Countries by Share of People Who Have Traveled Abroad. Netherlands and Sweden at 99%., wow. Argentina at 37% is most likely due to people following the national team to each World Cup. Only African country that made this list is Kenya at 28%.
THAILAND
If you are going to be in Bangkok late August through mid September and available to meet please let me know. Always a treat when I meet my blog readers in person.
I’ll be spending some time soon in the Bangkok Bumrungrad Hospital doing some checkups, here is the website to check out all the packages it offers.
The edit quality of these videos by this guy is amazing: Can we CROSS ALL of Bangkok before dark (fueled by street food).
If you are in any of these countries and have identified a really good restaurant in any of the participating Hyatt hotels, you can go and give them your World of Hyatt number and boom: 2x World of Hyatt Points for Dining in Asia Pacific and & Southwest Asia August 1 – September 30, 2026.
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…
What we were expecting years ago it may have started at last, sad: The Devaluation of American’s AAdvantage Program Has Already Begun.
Good reference post: Best Uses of Capital One Miles.
This came out of nowhwere: WOW: New Avios reward seat finder finally adds full month calendar search option.
Amex keeps expanding its dining related business: Resy Adds Tock Restaurants and Wineries, Expanding to More than 25,000 Venues. And not only that, Amex just continues beating up on its competition (looking at you Chase): American Express Adds 350 Hotels Across Fine Hotels & Resorts/The Hotel Collection. At this point, Chase may edit The Edit by giving up lol.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
For ANY questions on travel rewards credit cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
There are some really weird banks in this space. One of them is US Bank. You just never know what they will end up doing. And the bank seems to be on a permanent “fluid” state in regards to its (or lack of) long term commitment in this space. And just when we all thought they changed their mind about adding transfer partners, here we go: U.S. Bank Finally Adds Transfer Partners (Accor, Flying Blue, Qantas & Ethiopian). Only with a card (Altitude Reserve) that is no longer open to new applicants. This is US Bank, always expect the unexpected to make us scratch our heads. Update: In typical US Bank fashion, two of the transfer partners (Flying Blue and Qantas) were taken down lol. Expect more “developments” here, oh US Bank you are in a different league.
What are the best travel rewards credit cards to get NOW? Well, of course it is the two no annual fee Chase Ink business cards: Earn $1,000 (or 100K Points) With No-Annual-Fee Chase Ink Business Cards! The thing is, some of us (cough) are likely not allowed to be approved to get these two cards with the Signup Bonus, so sad. But if you never had them there is a good chance that you will be approved. By using my credit card links you support this “venture” to stay alive, thank you.
LATEST OFFERS:
NEW: AMERICAN EXPRESS Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: 150,000 points AND $250 Credit after $6k spend in six months (ENDING 9/30)
NEW: 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…
I did try Mileslink and as suspected, I got me a few emails pushing blog posts from Boarding Area blogs and, wait for it, The Points Guy. So I unsubscribed and deleted the bookmark. I guess no sponsorship requests are forthcoming from this company lol.
Our SE Asia trip is coming together with 31 hotel nights booked, see below.
More changes in bold font below:
For the record, award availability opened up nicely about nine days out, fyi. With several options almost every day. I thought about adding back another United award to have three open but I stopped when I told myself to stop being ridiculous lol.
I canceled my United award and instead got me a Business Class Air Canada Aeroplan award to fly east from Detroit to Frankfurt to Munich on Lufthansa and then to Bangkok on Thai Airways on an A-350 bird. I am still leaning towards keeping the American Airlines award but will keep both of these open and then cancel one at the last minute.
And I finally confirmed my one free Platinum complimentary night at the brand new Fairmont in Bangkok (it opens August 23!). Interestingly, this new property did not allow me to use a Platinum suite upgrade cert with my complimentary night cert, boo. So I booked a standard king room and will rely on my charm to talk me into a suite again lol. This meant cutting one night from the two night reservation at the Pattaya Hilton, one night there should be more than enough. I had two reservations while the Fairmont reservation was up in the air and when I confirmed it I canceled the two night reservation (and got 120,000 Hilton points back).
100,000 United miles for one way Business Class from Detroit to Bangkok (via Chicago and Tokyo Haneda) flying United Polaris and ANA Air Japan
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
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
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
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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 935,015 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025 and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,021,484 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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Good morning Buzz,
Gold, silver or bronze this morning perhaps.
Thanks for the great links today.
Have a great time in SE Asia, you do deserve it. Will look forward to whatever you may end up posting, as we are heading that way in a few months.
George, you have the best travel (and everything else!) blog on the internet.
You are a Unicorn.
Please keep it up!
Thank you very much:
Stacy Stark
Long Time Reader
What Stacy said!
That is some trip you have planned … waiting for the Old Style Trip Report!
Thanks for everything!
Woo! Lots of good reading for my weekend! Thanks, George! Looks like a fun trip coming up for you though lots of hotel changes. But you will have fun I am sure! Still trying to figure out my next trip without much success but that is OK. Part of the problem is deciding where to go and how!