Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the great blogging collapse, an updated data centers map, the World Cup final is here, banks and airlines, 31 hotel nights booked with points, Trump accounts, mind games of investors, AI content is everywhere, the Rosenberg boys, the forgotten bombing of LaGuardia airport, another epic collapse by England in the World Cup, we travel to eat some wild foods in state fairs, epic Texas road trips, 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.
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 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.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny” – Aristotle
MUST READ GEMS
Just one visual today…
There will never be a Market Timer Hall of Fame. Because, it doesn’t work. This visual shows us why (found HERE).
PERSONAL FINANCE
Another one from Jason Zweig at the Wall Street Journal: The Mind Game That Investors Can’t Stop Playing. Buying what’s hot feels right at the time, but too often ends in tears. Excellent advice once again.
The only reason I have this is because you may have kids that this applies to and this article will most likely answer all your questions about the Trump Accounts.
Interesting visual (found HERE).
![r/dataisbeautiful - [OC] Percent Change in Median House Prices from 2000 to 2025 in the US](https://preview.redd.it/percent-change-in-median-house-prices-from-2000-to-2025-in-v0-hw42bnpolfah1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=13f645fa34055ca3fde76bccd96d8853d8e65c07)
TECH/SCAMS/CRYPTO
As a blogger this is very depressing: The Great Blogging Collapse: What Happened to 100 Successful Blogs? If this happened to them what am I doing? Ok, don’t answer that please.
Key Takeaways:
- The median successful blog lost 85% of its Google search traffic.
- More than half of the blogs experienced catastrophic declines.
- Only 21 out of 100 blogs continued to grow, and I show what characteristics they share.
- Experience that can’t be AI-summarized became the biggest competitive advantage: recipes, DIY projects, travel experiences;
- Search should be treated as an acquisition channel within the broader marketing mix, not as the business itself.
- The era of building websites solely for Google traffic and monetizing them through ads and affiliate marketing has ended.
If you were one of these people what can I say? What are you doing here? Please leave. Trump memecoin investors lost $3.8 billion, analysis finds.
AI
Have you seen how awfully cringe Linkedin has become lately? You can spot the AI “content” from afar that it actually makes my stomach turn. I actually like to just post here in my blog and save all of us from carefully created crap that seeks attention and clicks. It is actually repulsing to see how many salesmen contacted my wife on Linkedin after she posted that she is retiring. Life insurance and annuity sales bozos, financial advisor wanna bees without a single noteworthy certification/license and others, yikes. Anyway, be careful out there: AI Content Is Everywhere on Social Media, Especially LinkedIn.
Key findings:
- One in four longform posts on social media flagged as fully AI-generated
- Of all posts we flagged as AI-generated, two-thirds came from LinkedIn
- Nearly half of X/Twitter articles contained AI writing
I am no engineer obviously. But this is alarming if true: Generative AI Is an Engineering Disaster. Apparently, according to the author, generative AI does not scale. Why alarming? Because…
Yet the returns are diminishing. The bigger an AI model is, the less it improves with each added parameter, and so it must be made bigger at a faster rate just to sustain steady progress. I asked a few AI researchers whether they could name any other real-world software that scales so poorly. None of them could think of any. Even outside the world of software, it’s hard to find a comparable example, given that economy of scale is the principle that has made light bulbs, cars, and clothing so affordable. By economic and engineering measures, generative AI might be the worst technology ever deployed.
I am beginning to think if all these AI people are phucking with us. Because, you know, they know each other and most just split up to start their own AI thingie to pump it for yet another mega IPO. Like Mira Murati, who left OpenAI where she was the CTO. Finally, after a long silence, she has come out with yet another AI model with the name Inkling (come on, is this the best name they can come up with?) with her company Thinking Machines (much better name lol). Read more here: Thinking Machines amps up its bet against one-size-fits-all AI with its first open model, Inkling.
This…
ODDZ & ENDZ
Fascinating article about The Rosenberg Boys. When Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed by the U.S. government, they left behind two sons, ages 6 and 10. All these years later, Robby and Michael are still trying to make sense of what happened. They have been fighting for justice claiming their parents were innocent for decades. Well, they were not innocent apparently. This article gets deeper into the subject of growing up with this stigma and I must admit I was gladly surprised how they both turned out to have a really great life while many don’t get over childhood traumas. I did not know much about them and the whole affair. I now do and I found it worthy to share here.
The old world order is gone. Prepare for a world of ad hoc coalitions. Neither wishful multilateralism nor cold realpolitik will do. Canada’s Mark Carney and Finland’s Alexander Stubb suggest a third way.
I had heard that there was a bombing in New York City’s LaGuardia airport back in the 70’s. But I did not know much about it. And with this article I learned that it was much more serious than I thought. As in 11 dead and 75 injured and it has not been solved yet! Just a fascinating read all around: The Forgotten Bombing of LaGuardia Airport. It’s been called “one of the greatest cold cases of the 20th century.” It remains unsolved. But what happened next is almost a worse crime.
Amazing photography: Winners of the International Aerial Photographer of the Year.
TRAVEL
Interesting link, especially for foodies: The 13 Wildest State Fair Foods Across America. Some of these I had never heard of, cotton candy tacos anyone?
This is great: PedalScape. Any bike. Any screen. Beautiful rides from home. Jump into curated scenic cycling routes, then launch a fullscreen ride on your laptop, tablet, or TV.
Some amazing photography in Epic Texas Road Trips.
Fascinating video about the Faroe Islands. Did you know there is not a single tree anywhere to be found there? Now you do, you are welcome. Thanks for clicking the sponsor of today’s blog post, oh wait, I never had any sponsors. Why 55,000 People Live on a Rock in a Frozen Ocean?
2026 WORLD CUP
It has been a wonderful World Cup and it is almost over. I wanted to see France and England in the Final but that was not mean to be sadly. Spain absolutely clobbered Spain from the start of the game. France had a really bad day at the office all around. There was no doubt at all that Spain was the better team.
On the other semifinal, what else can we say about Messi and Argentina? I can’t stand them but I do appreciate the absolute brilliance of Messi at age 39 about to repeat as World Cup champion. Actually, Jason Gay put it best: Messi Is Not a Miracle. He’s Messi. I don’t know, maybe he shows us all how to age well? LOL. But this team’s refusal to lose in consecutive games (Cape Verde, Egypt and England) and come back in the final minutes is amazing. I can’t believe I am going to cheer for Spain but I have been a very strong proponent of “anyone but Argentina” since 1978 so go Spain!
What a wonderful account of how special the World Cup is: The Hydration-Break World Cup.
Speaking of England, going up on Argentina 1-0 only in the 55th minute was their undoing. Or maybe it was the disastrous decision by the coach to park the bus and let Argentina attack for 35 plus minutes! I mean, as each minute went by it was obvious the comeback WILL start. My daughter is into the World Cup and we kept texting each other during the game and I told her that England must attack after the first goal and aim to score another one to take Argentina out. Because they were outplaying them up to that point. Well I am not the coach and boom, Messi’s 2 amazing assists and again superb coaching and England adds another black mark to last for ever and no it is not coming home (a WC trophy) once again. So close, no cigar. This WAS the game, because, well, you know, history:
Why England vs. Argentina is World Cup’s best, angriest, most chaotic rivalry
I felt so sad for my neighbor who is English. He had the flag up and then he quickly brought the flag inside and when I saw him in his yard the next day he looked distraught.
It looks like I am going to bring back the IRAN WAR section next week. You knew that was coming, right?
THAILAND
I know readers are interested in Thailand medical tourism related content. But I don’t have that much to say until my return to Bumrungrad Hospital next month. You are assigned a Hospital Number when you first become a patient there and this is very important, think of it as your Social Security Number in the US. The website and app work great. I can see in my profile all my past history and of course the packages I have purchased (which have an expiration date ranging from three months to a year). In early August I am going to schedule my appointments.
The Thai government always tinkers with visas and tourism/immigration matters. It has become a way of life in a way for expats living there. A common expression is “This Is Thailand”. Abbreviated as you know what. And it appears yet another change is imminent. Tourists from most western countries can visit for up to 60 days (extendable for another 30 days). But apparently there has been some abuse of this so the Thai government is reverting back to 30 days again: Visa-free period halved, many countries dropped. Which obviously sucks if you were planning to stay more than 30 days straight. But you can always get a 6 month multiple stay tourist visa. For more info on all things Thai Visas please check the Thai E-Visa Official Website.
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 importance of banks in the airline industry is becoming even stronger. Are we far from a day when a bank announces the buyout of an airline? This thought just popped into my head, nothing surprises me anymore these days: A Monster Pile of Airline Points Is Supercharging Summer Travel. Credit cards are changing how the airlines do business, from picking routes to limiting lounge access.
This summer’s travel season is being powered by a historic pile of airline points, which airlines value at around $38 billion.
…American Express is on track to pay Delta about $9 billion this year, up 10% from 2025, for miles it can award people who have co-branded Delta-Amex cards…
Jill Doyle, United’s managing director of MileagePlus, explained the new policy: “Getting customers to want to have the card, have it top of wallet and continue to engage with us, is the primary purpose.”
What is so awful about Delta it’s not that they finally started selling Basic tickets in First and Business class (after it let United test the waters, which is hilarious really). But it is how every PR release the airline dishes out is an insult to our intelligence as the BS speak is just too much. But most people they target have no clue. Anyway, you don’t fly this airline for its Skymiles okay? What to know about Delta’s expanded Basic fare options, available now. Hold your nose with BS like this:
“This expansion gives customers more ways to choose the Delta experience that best fits their trip, and a new way to access our premium tier products,” said Joe Esposito, executive vice president – chief commercial officer. “No matter the fare, every customer can expect the thoughtful service, comfort and care that continues to set Delta apart.”
The trend is on to hook up airlines and hotels for the sake of PR mostly and not substance. So we now have: Hyatt & Aeroplan launch partnership: Status challenge , redeem points for awards with other program, & more. I am not even going to bother to link my accounts. Great excerpt below:
Converting points from Hyatt to Aeroplan is bad. Converting points from Aeroplan to Hyatt is bad. Redeeming Hyatt points for Aeroplan awards is bad. Redeeming Aeroplan points for Hyatt free night certificates is bad. Earning Aeroplan points instead of Hyatt points on stays is nearly always bad.
Speaking of airlines and hotels hooking up, here we go: Marriott & JAL Announce Partnership & Status Match. Just adding this here for completeness purposes and nothing else.
Heads up, there is a new Priority Pass+ app out now. For the record, I have always used my physical card(s) without a fail every single time.
Rove keeps improving, maybe this company has more staying power than Mesa? Rove Adds Qantas As Transfer Partner + 50% Transfer Bonus. I am not big on online shopping but when the opportunity arises I always check Cashback Monitor to see what I can earn in various rebate programs. And earlier this week Rove was by far the biggest bang for a specific retailer so I made my first online purchase inside my Rove account. I understand it takes a few months for the purchase to post, I made a note and will be checking back to see if it worked. If you do not have a Rove account, I will certainly appreciate it if you can use MY ROVE REFERRAL link, thank you!
We like to make fun of some airline and hotel companies’ IT systems. That are lacking a bit. And, you know, British Airways IT is way near the top lol. What a debacle. But if you are surprised you have not been dealing with this company much to understand: British Airways & Amex 25th Anniversary Flight Booking Meltdown – IAG IT Strikes Again (Website Unreachable).
After losing our awesome cat Fluffy years ago we have not had another pet. Sometimes I feel like getting a new cat or a dog. But I keep making excuses that I don’t want to go through another super dramatic ordeal euthanizing it. Or, more conveniently, I don’t want to have a pet in my life if more travel is ahead. Which is definitely going to happen. So, for all of you dealing with traveling with your pets, here is a good article: Traveling with pets: Hotel pet policies, which brands have no pet fees, tips, & more.
Here is the ongoing United Mile Play promotion, see if you were targeted. These were always based around flying United metal. But there is now an interesting development. My kids (who do not have a United card) were targeted for some bonus miles if they obtain a United card. Which just goes to show you the importance of plastic in the airline industry these days.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
For ANY questions on travel rewards credit cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
The lounge competition by the banks is raging. Chase opened a new Chase Sapphire Lounge in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport DFW. The competition to differentiate each lounge is intense, so Chase added a “Whiskey Bar” in this one.
Chase Bank keeps bringing on spend based promotions for many of its cards. Sadly, none of our Hyatt and United cards were targeted, first time in a while for our no annual fee United Gateway cards by the way. Click HERE to see if you were targeted.
After many years not being available to new applicants, finally: Amex to Discontinue the Old Blue Cash Card.
New Offer, see the actual links for the two cards below: New Capital One Spark Cash & Spark Cash Plus Signup Bonus: $1,000/$2,000 + $250/$500 Travel Credit.
100k CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED (ENDING SOON):
This card has become a no brainer for, well, almost everyone. Especially if you are new into this travel reward cards space and absolutely do not care about Hyatt points whatsoever. Let me explain why you should get this card. This IS a great card for someone starting out by the way. We all have it in my household and are definitely keeping it. Because for just $95 dollars annual fee you get:
- No foreign transaction fees
- Primary car rental insurance
- $100 Annual Hotel Credit. (This is per card member year, rather than calendar year. Must be booked through the Chase Travel Portal.)
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 5x on travel booked through the Chase Travel portal.
- 3x on Dining/Streaming Services/online grocery (excludes: excluding Target, Walmart and
wholesale clubs) - 3x on Gas/EV
- 3x on Airbnb, VRBO, Plum Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com, and Vacasa
- 2x on other travel
- 1x on all other purchases
- 5x on Lyft rides through 9/30/27. 5x on Peloton purchases of $150+ through 12/31/27.
- $120 credit once every four years for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS.
- One time offer (not ongoing): Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year when activated by December 31, 2026.
- Transferable points (reminder: Hyatt transfers are 4:3)
- Complimentary DashPass membership ($120 value) for 12 months. Plus, DashPass members get a $10 promo each month ($120 annually) to save on groceries, retail orders, and more.
- Chase 5/24 rule applies to this card
and of course for just $5,000 minimum spend in three months you get 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points! Even if you did not do much with the points and just cashed them out for a penny per point, it means you pocket $1,000. For an annual fee of $95 plus all the goodies above, DO THE MATH! Of course, you can transfer the points out to travel partners like United or Southwest or Hyatt and get way more than a penny per point. Yes, it is a bit more work but it can make this card even more valuable.
There are many places online you can use to apply for this card. For the love of God, do not use the links from The Points Guy or any other big outfit pretending to be “in the hobby” when they are a big business selling plastic for the banks. Maybe prefer a small independent blogger who is into this for the love of the game and been doing it for decades and would still be here most likely if banks stopped paying bloggers to sell plastic for them #hint. Anyway, email me with ANY questions, thank you for the support.
LATEST OFFERS:
NEW: CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash : $1,000/100,000 points AND $250 Travel Credit after $10k spend in three months
NEW: 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
100k CHASE Sapphire Reserve: $795 Annual Fee. Minimum spend $6,000 in three months
125k CHASE Marriott Bonvoy Boundless + 1 Free Night: Minimum spend is $3,000 over three months.
As High As 200,000 Points on the AMEX Business Gold after spending $15k in the first three months
100,000 BANK OF AMERICA Atmos Summit after spending $6,500 in the first three months. And a 50% flight discount voucher
80,000 BANK OF AMERICA Atmos Ascent after spending $4,000 in the first four months. And a 50% flight discount voucher
85,000 BANK OF AMERICA Atmos Business after spending $5,500 in the first three months
75k CITI AAdvantage Business World Elite MasterCard
175k AMEX Platinum & 300k AMEX Business Platinum
75k 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 them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
Would you like to be automatically notified every time a card comes out with (or is about to remove) an elevated welcome offer? If yes, I highly encourage you to sign up if you haven’t yet. And when you apply for a credit card from a link in these emails you help support the blog.
Elevated Card Offer Notifications
All you have to do to receive these free notifications is:
1. Click on the link above
2. Create an account
3. Subscribe
MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
I always take a look at the promotions tab in my World of Hyatt app to see what promos I am currently enrolled and, more importantly, if there are any new promotions available. I just enroll in every promo that appears out of habit. Scanning the promos I discovered that there is a Hyatt Place stay promotion to earn 2,000 points every two nights until September 7. But you must always read the terms and conditions, something we in this hobby have it in our DNA to do lol. So, this promotion is valid only starting with the second stay. So I conveniently adjusted my Bangkok hotel reservations and added a one night stay at the StandardX property for the night of the day of my arrival. Why? It cost 7,500 World of Hyatt points when both Hyatt Place properties are only 4,500 points. So, for one night it is costing me an additional 3,000 points. But since the day after I go check in to the Hyatt Place Soi 1 to start my second stay for this promotion I will earn the (maximum) 8,000 bonus points. So with this small change I am earning an additional 5,000 points.
But wait, is it worth effort? Well, I get to stay (mostly sleep to recover from jet lag) in a new World of Hyatt property in a new area of Bangkok I am not familiar with and, this is important, this will count as an additional brand for the ongoing Brand Explorer promotion that will get me to Brand #13 and I need two more to earn another Free Night (you earn a Free Night for every five distinct brands you stay in).
I have a United award booked to Bangkok flying United First from Detroit to Chicago, on United Polaris to Tokyo Haneda and then on ANA Business to Bangkok. Well, I thought I did. I received one of those cryptic heavy on DOS interface visuals email from ANA telling me there was a change. In something. I think the operating airline is now Air Japan but the seat map and my seat looks the same as before. I would rather not fly Air Japan so I am now keeping my eyes open for a better award routing. I prefer going through Europe than going West. Because I think United may mess up the Detroit to Chicago flight, sad. And who wants to spend time in O’Hare. #Developing.
Other than that, no other airfare has been booked. I think I may book some activities with the Capital One travel portal one of these days. At least all hotel arrangements are done, phew. So, let’s talk about them free hotels next. Oh wait, something just opened up with Swiss Airlines through Zurich…but I have this blog to publish first smh.
Our SE Asia trip is coming together with 31 hotel nights booked, see below. Hard to believe I managed to get one more epic trip with my miles/points #winning. The bookings in bold font were completed since last Friday’s post.
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
2 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
I would love to see the Odyssey in the IMAX format it was meant to be seen. Unfortunately, these are The only 25 theaters in the US showing ‘The Odyssey’ in IMAX 70mm.
The last few days in Ann Arbor, Michigan have been miserable due to the Canadian wildfires. I mean, it is dangerous being outside, hang in there everyone…inside!
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HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
100k CHASE Sapphire Preferred (ENDING SOON), 100k CHASE Ink Cash, 100k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 100k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 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, 100k BofA Alaska Atmos Summit, 80k BofA Alaska Atmos Ascent, 85k BofA Alaska Atmos Business, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 777,015 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025 and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,081,582 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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Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
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Lots of great reading material to check out this weekend. Thanks as always for all you do, George…and a special thanks for the new format! My aging eyes appreciate it.
Need some help with aviation award specialists here:
I just booked me a 2nd UA business award. Please compare to original award below, both for 100k UA miles
New:
UA First Detroit to Chicago
Chicago to Zurich on Swiss International Airlines on A330-300 standard business class (selling seats with more space for $300+)
Zurich to Bangkok on Swiss International Airlines on Boeing 777-300ER
Old:
UA First Detroit to Chicago
Chicago to Tokyo Haneda on United Polaris on Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
Tokyo Haneda – Bangkok on, well originally on ANA but it may have been changed to Japan Air, not sure exactly what the change involved actually.
New award gets me to BKK 5 hours later but it is okay as it is still early am.
Long layovers which I am ok and do enjoy lounges. Any huge difference between lounges in Zurich vs Tokyo Haneda?
I need to cancel one of these soon, please any feedback?
Hey Buzz-
I am way too far out of the loop to know about airlines or lounges for your award trip. But I always thought it was a little nuts to go to Europe to get to Asia.
And what’s that “extra room” business class seat for $300? Can you just get a branded credit card and get the extra room free?
We need AI to figure this out for us.
Sorry, I’ve been driving a ton and seeing rock bands and family and stuff so did not comment before now.
Asian airline lounges are almost always better than European ones but Swiss lounges are fine as long as you’re not trying to squeeze into one between about 10 AM and 1 PM for non-Schengen. My wife and I did that late in May and it sucked pretty bad due to heavy crowding.
Great point about the lounges. My last trip to Greece included a short lounge visit at Zurich airport and yeah definitely not up to par with Asian lounges. Next time I look over my UA award I am going to take this into account and if the time is between 10 am and 1 pm I may just keep my current Polaris award through Haneda, thanks!
David is spot on, the new format is easier on the eye. Great find on PedalScape as that is something we would use. Don’t think we will be watching the final but hoping Spain wins.
Hey Buzz-
An epic post. I don’t mean length, but in thought provoking content. The AI part alone will take me hours.
I think blogs fail because the fire driving the great content just fades over time. Or the topic gets beat to death. Or stolen by others. But TBB has moved that up a level by not being just about a new or good topic but by finding others who write great content, which can always stay fresh.
Thank you.
Good morning Buzz,
Another 4th, 5th or 6th place ribbon for the desert rats!
I have to agree with David and Sam. I like the new format, and yes another great thought provoking post. And I am not of much service when it comes to finding flights, I’ve been looking for flights to BKK as well for the winter.
I appreciate all the links regarding Thailand as I’m sure we will enjoy it there as well, and we are looking for a spot to spend the winters in the future. Antarctica is looking great for the summers as well.
Another disappointing disaster for England, not a surprise. Tuchel, Arteta et al, when will they learn. It’s not like they didn’t know their opposition. Gotta hand it to Messi, it’s almost unbelievable what he is doing at his age.
Have a great weekend Buzz, and enjoy the final on Sunday, let’s hope it has at least half the drama that the knockout rounds have provided.
Thanks again Buzz.
Hello from Portland Oregon, 1st stop on a road trip so my reading of this week’s blog will easily take a few days for all the goodies packed within. Ate at a fantastic place last night, one of only two restaurants in the Unione del Buon Ricordo program (based in Italy) and sadly, they have run out of plates but will send me one ASAP. Then even had an online form for it so I am more confident I shall get the plate eventually, unlike that restaurant in Paris that stiffed (I am certain on purpose) on a plate.
Read this: “please make sure you subscribe to the Mailchimp format, enter your email address and click Submit in the red box on the right side of this page.”
Turns out since I always read the email itself, I had to go to the web page version and then the button would not accept my email so I guess I am OK on being signed up. Still getting both versions of the email but clicking to go to the web or see comments, I end up on the new one so all is ok and I am warming up to the new version anyhow!
So anyhow, thanks as always for the links and all you tell us. This is always a high point of the week for email reading as I have told you. Have a good weekend and I hope your favorite in the Soccer final wins.
Sorry to be late but I have a note from the Dentist … a crown popped out this morning! Better than at 7:30p …
Terrific links again … the advice against market timing is always welcome! And Jason Z is always
worth reading.
Following up something from a while ago … the Sapphire Reserve was for me well worth the price. Two stays at the “Edit Collection” of hotels plus the $300 travel credit paid for the card by themselves. The stays were unexpected but if you think of these expensive cards as mini-insurance policies then it is unexpected they help you prepare against.
Greetings from Duluth, home of a lot of wildfire smoke! We’re hitting the north shore of Minnesota tomorrow and I can’t wait. HOPEFULLY the air quality forecast is correct–they’re finally supposed to have a decently clear day tomorrow. Arriving in Duluth today was wild… about a half an hour south of the city it was 90 degrees and sunny with blue (albeit hazy) skies, and then I-35 starts to go downhill toward the city and it instantly got hazy and you needed headlights on even though it was daytime. Also the temperature was about 20-25 degrees cooler. But then we got a thunderstorm and it cleared the air out a good bit and we can see the sky again. I’ve now been to four of the five great lakes–only Huron left! But then I’d have to go to Michigan to see that and I heard people there are a little odd so…
We hit Mall of America yesterday. That place is huge and not the worst place to be on a smoky day.
Incidentally this is the second straight year and third of the last four that our vacation plans were affected by wildfires. Maybe I should have places pay me not to visit?
Hey Buzz,
I have a question for the TBB crew. We have several Amex platinum hotel credits to use in Bangkok. Any suggestions?
We’d like to be somewhere central more or less. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
@ David: Thank you so much for the kind words, much appreciated. Could you please post as DavidE so the other David here does not have to come up with innovative names, thank you!
@ Sam: Oh yeah, I have an update on that new UA reservation taking me to BKK through Europe on Swiss, see below. You make a great point about why blogs fail. From the start this blog has been about curation. Because I knew I could not keep this up mainly with my own content. I am seeing on that YouTube as well…after a while vloggers just put out the same crap over and over and over adhering to the all mighty algorithm. That won’t happen here, I just read a lot and share it with you guys here. If I could ever succeed on the $ front to at least start making minimum wage it would be even better. But…still working on that, sad lol. Yeah all this AI stuff is melting our brains. And so is the phucking Canada wildfires so glad to see Trump adding the fire costs to the tariffs…I mean, how more moronic can you get wow!
@ Dimitri Santos: You know, I always chuckle when I see this name. I will keep an eye for general first time visitors to Thailand posts/videos to share here. My English neighbor is still distraught by the way. Thanks for the kind words and the support always. I am glad to see the new format is not hurting TBB readers’ eyes anymore, mine too!
Amex hotel credits are ideal to use in Bangkok, so many choices. I will be checking out the KROMO, Curio by Hilton property, I mean, how can you beat 2 nights The Hotel Collection for $307 plus the $100 THC hotel additional credit, breakfasts, etc.? Son stayed there last month and liked it, no breakfast buffet which is probably a good thing. I have seen the FHR and THC BKK properties, many great hotels to choose from with excellent locations. I remember Conrad and Waldorf Astoria jump out on me for the credit bang so to speak. If you narrow it down to some properties, ask me which ones I think are better, including location wise.
@ Carl: Enjoy the road trip. I need to make it to Portland one of these days. I just realized I had a blurb near the end of each post to subscribe but that did not lead to the Mailchimp list, went on some type of old WordPress/Jetpack list that I guess it is still working with about 100 subscribers. I need to get in there one day and start deleting but informing subscribers maybe via email to go to Mailchimp or allow me to add them there. One day maybe when I get an AI clone to put some order in the house. If I only put this time to prepare the posts and run this joint towards promotion/marketing…ok, let’s not go there.
Enjoy the weekend too, two more World Cup games and it is over.
@ DML: Is the dentist AI generated to avoid a yellow card for being so late? Lol. I had a crown up pop out while I was running…on a Saturday morning and I had to wait until early Monday am to get it fixed, it was not pleasant at all!
Glad the CSR is working out for you. The few times I looked at the Edit hotels I freaked out! I am off the CSR wagon…but I am going to miss them Hyatt 1:1 transfers SO much.
@ NickPFD: Hope the wildfires subside! We did the pilgrimage to the Mall of America with kids and I think we stayed at a nearby Homewood Suites. Which was our first stay in one and really enjoyed shooting some hoops at the yard, we still remember that trip. If you ever visit my area I will make sure I have the best masks then 🙂
So, an update on my UA business class award Detroit to Bangkok via Chicago and Zurich on Swiss. I booked it and then went off to the Ann Arbor Art Fair and missed United’s emails telling me that the airline noticed I have two award reservations for the same date and I need to cancel one. And after a few hours UA canceled the newer reservation. I was always planning to cancel one of them and I thought I had some time. Well, nope. So, back to square one holding the original reservation with Polaris Chicago to Tokyo Haneda and now it appears no longer ANA on to Bangkok, it has been changed to “operated by Japan Air”..but kept same seat. So it is strange.
I did not get any feedback on Swiss Airlines Business class and quality of lounges in Chicago vs Zurich vs Tokyo Haneda. Anyone? Leaning towards rebooking that UA award with Swiss as award space still remains according to PointsYeah email alert this morning.
Spent more time at the Art Fair this year than all my previous years combined. Also, all these years I had never bought a single piece of art or anything else for that matter (only food) at the Art Fair. But finally blew some $ to buy two art pieces to complement the house renovation. As the new kitchen table arrives next week before a huge opening party. Sadly, most other furniture is scheduled to arrive in mid August and end of September (with one piece in November!).
And a wedding in Ann Arbor in store today. Outdoors, pray for us lol.
Go Spain! And may the best win the game everyone wishes it was not ever played, the 3rd place World Cup game.
I’ve had a few flights on Swiss biz and I did enjoy the flights themselves plus the lounges in Zurich, however not any experience in the past 5 years. That said if I had the option I would be more than happy to fly Swiss. I actually like Zurich airport as it has always been efficient and easy to transit.
Great, just wanted confirmation, thanks!
The BIG game is today. Prepare to see the Argentinians chop some Spanish legs today and make paella out of them. Hopefully God makes the Argentinians finally reach the end of the line in pulling out heartbreakers.
To me, the Final I wanted was played yesterday. 3rd place games are always entertaining as there is really no pressure. I can imagine what the French coach pulled at half time: “WTF you guys, this is my last game, I have given my soul for this team for 15 years and THIS is what you are doing for my last game? COME ON. So, they realized they can’t do this to their coach and almost did the unthinkable. Which, for English standards, it was brewing to be another epic collapse. But they ran out of gas and England won by scoring 6 (!!!) goals, they were elated for the best ever finish in the WC since 1966, the French showed they could beat them if they did not take a whole half off and they all collected their tiny medals in a game they wish they had never played in. And the fans enjoyed 10 goals and everyone went home happy wishing the orange moron would stay the phuck of the final tomorrow. But of course he has to ruin another thing while body bags in the middle East pile up and the price of gas shoots up again because Hormuz is closed again while he spews conspiracy shit for an election 6 years ago he lost. If aliens were watching us they would all be screaming out loud: “WTF is wrong these Earth creatures????”.
So, Go Spain 🙂
Happy to wake up today and see thuggish Argentina lose yesterday. 120 minutes no shots on goal. I mean, this is not the first time they tried to butcher and intimidate in a World Cup Final, back in 1990 they were even worse than this. And the behavior after the game, such poor losers. Respect to Messi but, other than that, this team only got this far because of being favorited by the refs, poor opponents, ultra physical intimidating style and just pure luck yesterday Spain’s finishing abilities totally abandoned them (probably they get into their heads after all the whacking and pushing and choking they received).
So, we will have to wait another four years for this. In a way, I am exhausted lol.
Also, if I had a coffee sold for every phucking piece of content trying to sell the 100k Chase Sapphire Preferred card I would turn this blog into a profit seeking venture! Dear God, everyone is out pumping the crap out of the sale. Maybe…it works. And here I am feeling bad about doing such a thing. And then have a few readers even bitch I am pumping too much LOL.
Anyway, 100k Chase Sapphire Preferred is indeed a great deal. And a great starter and keeper card for sure. Maybe get your responsible younger child to go for it? Please use my links, only sold one cc this month!
With so many pumping the 100k Sapphire Preferred bonus, here I am waiting for #2 cc sale for the month, sad lol.
I miss the World Cup, keeping this section for another post this Friday. And all links in it are amazing. Well, so is everything else. Do you know what else is amazing and so rare? Credit card sales.
It is what it is…there will be a post this Friday. As day nears to leave for Thailand I am seriously thinking to hang it up and save me all the stress of handling the blog and paying for it out of my own pocket…Been saying this for years smh.
Anyway, just wanted to say hi
The Chase Sapphire Preferred 100k offer ends July 30 at 9 am.
You can be second here!