Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the new fiduciary rule, peak China, the best national park hotels, NFL Draft takeaways, the new 75k Chase Sapphire Card offers, not investing in real estate, inflation rates around the world, the Middle East violence, Cedar Point new top roller coaster, travel carbon footprint and much more and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. Enjoy the weekend!
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Welcome to my quirky original authentic blog. It all started back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to a curated at least weekly post of the best web content I find along with my commentary. Here to Educate primarily, sometimes Entertain and if I get to Inspire you, well, that is a bonus.
This blog publishes on Fridays. This is a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts. I may post on another day when I find the time. More clicks, more posts.
SAVE $100 FOR 2024 THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL FESTIVAL
PERSONAL FINANCE
It is amazing it is 2024 and we still do not hold most financial advisors as fiduciaries. Because most of them out there are sales people salivating over the fat 401k Plan amounts about to be rolled over. Anyway, here we go again, hopefully it sticks this time: The Final DOL Fiduciary Rule Has Arrived. Here’s What It Means for Investors. Expect the lobbying and litigating against it from people who do not have the consumer in mind to be intense. Everyone who fights this is against you. And you can take this to the bank…oh maybe, you do not want to keep cash in the big bank ok? And definitely brush off approaches from bankers wanting to help you with your wealth management.
Our impact analysis of the rule found that for retirement investors participating in a workplace retirement plan:
- Average costs for workers covered by a small plan would drop to 75 basis points from 93 basis points, while there would be minimal changes for most other plans.
- Participants would save over $55 billion in the first 10 years and over $130 billion in the subsequent 10 years, in undiscounted and nominal dollars.
- Over 80% of these savings would be experienced by small-plan participants, of which there are currently more than 20 million.
No one has a crystal ball. But I like the arguments made here: Why I Don’t Invest in Real Estate. I was a landlord for about seven years and I had a good tenant. But I must admit her telling me she bought a house and will be moving on was one of the happiest days of my life. I like simplicity and focusing on things that I do best.
We bitch about inflation a lot in this country. Well, you know, when we compare the US to other countries, we are not doing so bad: Inflation Rate – Countries – List.
Major Asset Classes April 2024 Performance Review. I am just posting this only to reiterate that monthly returns are meaningless. Focus on the 5 year column and hopefully the author adds 10 and 20 yr columns. Only long term returns matter. The definition of ‘long term’ is different for everybody. Because, we are all different. Also, in the long run we are all going to die. And, Diversify!
SCAMS/CRYPTO/ELON
Binance’s CEO CZ is going to prison for only four months. Disappointing to say the least. Not even close to the 18 months punishment guideline. And ridiculously far from the 3 years the prosecutors asked the judge to lock him up for. Poor SBF, CZ gets the best of him, again.
Here is the April 2024 Ponzi Scheme Roundup. With the usual things you come to expect to see. And then there are some that just blow your mind smh. Such as:
In a joint enforcement effort involving 400 law enforcement officers across 11 countries, 9 suspects were arrested in the JuicyFields investment scheme. The scheme allegedly laundered profits totaling $692.2 million and involved medical marijuana. There were approximately 550,000 participants worldwide who had to invest at least 50 euros in this e-growing opportunity that promised returns of at least 100%, and up to 168%, annually. JuicyFields advertised on social media and promised returns from investment in cannabis cultivation for medicinal purposes. Spanish authorities called the investigation “Operation Stoner.” [What? Speechless!]
Wait, one more:
Authorities froze the bank account of Piggy Farm Trading (Pty) Ltd. based on allegations that it ran a Ponzi scheme in which individuals could purchase up to 50 virtual pigs. The scheme involved a digital “Metaverse Piggy Farm” where the investments were supposedly risk-free because ‘dead’ pigs would be substituted with another one. Investors purchased a virtual prig for R2750 each and would be paid R550 per month for 12 months, and after 12 months, the pig would be returned to Piggy Farm Trading. The scheme promised returns of 140%. The scheme was run by Mthokozisi, Sphamandla and Siyabonga Ngcobo. [50 virtual pigs sounds like a winner smh]
GEOPOLITICS
This is a must read: The Delusion of Peak China. America Can’t Wish Away Its Toughest Challenger.
I hope peace comes in this land soon but at this point I am not seeing it. Why Israel Should Declare a Unilateral Cease-Fire in Gaza.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Another amazing Texas Monthly story: The Former Slave Who Became a Cowboy, a Rancher, and a Texas Legend. I had never heard of 80 John, how come his story has not become a movie yet?
Daniel Webster Wallace was born in bondage. By the time of his death, he’d amassed a fortune—and earned the admiration of seemingly everyone who met him.
I really had no idea about this. On Himalayan Hillsides Grows Japan’s Cold Hard Cash. A shrub in impoverished Nepal now supplies the raw material for the bank notes used in Asia’s most sophisticated financial system. The things you learn for free in this blog…
Short video but so important: Check In On Those Around You. Ok?
TRAVEL
Nice list: The 11 Most Beautiful National Park Hotels in the US. The Amangiri property looks amazing and probably costs an arm and a leg, come on Hyatt, do something 😉
Another nice list of the Best Botanical Gardens in the US. If you are into flowers and stuff like that.
I went to Cedar Point for the first time when I was an exchange student in my senior year in high school in the US. I thought I was in paradise. I just could not believe this place existed on Earth. I have been back several times over the years since I love thrilling roller coaster rides. And Top Thrill Dragster was my all time favorite. Until it closed. And now, boom! Cedar Point, much-anticipated new Top Thrill ride, opens Saturday with new rules. It looks so amazing, gotta find a way to make it there.
Oh, The Carbon Footprint of Major Travel Methods.
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
No doubt that Detroit was a smashing success hosting this event. Here are the Top Takeaways on the NFL Draft’s Impact. It broke the all time attendance record and local hotels had the best revenue week in 130 years. Looking for more events and conferences in Detroit. From bankruptcy to boom town in just 10 years!
I watched the movie Challengers. It was a lot better than I thought. Tennis players can be really messed up, wow. Also, the actress is incredibly attractive, wow2.
As you are reading this, the festivities have begun for daughter’s graduation from the University of Michigan. I may have a pic or two to share in next week’s post or maybe I will update this post. Whole weekend is about her and then we also have Greek Easter to celebrate on Sunday. Oh, and it is Cinco de Mayo too. And then the day after it is my name day, in Greece we celebrate name days, go George!
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 a lot happening but no event jumps out to define the week. We finally have new higher offers for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, the workhorse credit card if you like Chase points. In my household, all four of us have and keep this card because we like swimming in Chase points lol.
GENERAL NEWS/PROMOS/NEWBIES/ETC.
Rakuten is one of the few online things I use myself and recommend here. Before you buy something online it pays to check out Rakuten to see if you can get something back from that vendor you plan to use anyway. They keep coming up with promotions to get you to sign up. Is there anyone who is not a member yet? If this is you, please use my REFERRAL LINK, thank you.
Finally, not sure why this took so long. Hyatt Adds Award Categories to Hotel Search Results.
We are seeing more of these lately, here is the latest: 4 New Transfer Bonuses & The Complete Active Offer List. The only one worth considering is the transfer to Virgin Atlantic. Do NOT transfer to Aeromexico!
Pelotons are coming to 800 Hyatt hotels. Hmmm, ok. Let’s see how this unfolds ok? I am not sure why Hyatt thought this was a good move to be associated with a wounded brand. Oh wait: Peloton cutting about 400 jobs worldwide; CEO McCarthy stepping down. I bet we do not hear more about this, we’ll see what happens.
There is some good info here if you are interested in hotels as we learn how Hilton thinks about its many brands in general. Demystifying Hilton Brands & Why Hotels Are Changing So Much. Then again, I am not invited by hotel companies so I can freely say what is in my head without any repercussions whatsoever.
CREDIT CARD CORNER
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It appears that the standard offer for the Amex Business Platinum is now 150k Membership Rewards points. I am just adding it here for completeness purposes and want to give you a heads up that we regularly get higher offers. Recently, a 300k link popped up and I spent minutes hours trying to get it to work but no go, sad. The card’s annual fee is $695 and has a bunch of coupon type benefits that could substantially reduce its costs.
We have had the three Ink Business cards with great signup bonuses for a while. It is the 100k Chase Ink Business Preferred and the 75k Chase Ink Cash and the 75k Chase Ink Unlimited. More info on each card is below. But how do you differentiate among these three cards? Choosing Among Three Beasts: Selecting the Best Business Card.
MY ACTION
Going back to Thailand in November, yes! I have my own one way ticket to Bangkok and also booked my wife’s ticket to join me about a week or so after I arrive after she says goodbye to her three sisters visiting the US from Singapore. Some notes from booking our tickets below. It only cost me $16.20 so I failed to fly us both completely free, my bad lol:
I always start out at Google Flights to get a feel about airfare prices. I was surprised to see a few one way fares for under $700 on the specific date I wanted to fly on. I played around with the Bilt app and Points Yeah to give me an idea on awards. Nope, not going to spend 60k miles for an award to fly in coach when I can buy it for under $700. Don’t get me started on Business class award prices, they were horrifically high. United’s especially, wow; they just can not stop imitating Delta lately. Also, everyone raves about Air Canada Aeroplan awards but to this day this program has failed me every single time. No, I am not going to spend 60k miles to fly Air India and Vistara and spend overnight in Delhi ok?
Anyway, so I went to Capital One Travel and found me that JetBlue fare above, upgraded to Main Economy (from Basic Economy), paid $740 using my Capital One Venture X card and the itinerary is wonderful: Flying JetBlue to Boston, 8 hours in the Chase Sapphire Lounge using my Priority Pass card (one time free visit a year), then on Qatar to Doha, about six hours in a lounge there to shower (Al Maha lounge? Not sure I can access the Qatar Airways lounges for free flying economy, ideas welcome) and then Qatar Airways again to Bangkok arriving at noon the day before the Extraordinary Travel Festival begins.
More on my booking. I used my Capital One Venture X card $300 statement credit which brought the ticket cost down to $440. I earned 5x Capital One miles by the way on the $440 which came out to 2,202 points. I got scared not being able to choose my Qatar Airways flight seats so I ponied up another $178 dollars to get me an exit row seat on the Boston to Doha flight. And then an aisle seat on my Doha to Bangkok flight. I then used 44,030 Capital One points to take care of the ticket cost and another 17,840 points to cover the seat selection fees. And this is how you fly for free ladies and gents.
Wait, time to stay for free next! I booked 21 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Sukhumvit hotel. For 105,000 World of Hyatt points (Category 1, 5,000 points per night). Or 1.5 Chase Ink cards lol. We will use this as a base and explore at least a few more places in Thailand. We are definitely coming back here, we love it. Too bad the Hyatt Regency down the street we stayed and loved last year is now 12,000 World of Hyatt points per night. But wait, the Hyatt Regency is within a few minutes walk away from the hotel where the ETFestival would be held at so at some point I will likely burn a few Hyatt free night certs on it and adjust the 21 nights in the current Hyatt Place reservation to 19. Or something like that. Have points and free night certs, will travel #winning.
I then booked my wife one way to Bangkok to join me. And I used 37,500 American Airlines miles. From New York JFK. Flying on Japan Airlines via Tokyo Haneda. Amazing deal I must admit. Helps a lot not flying out of Detroit. This is how I roll. I will place some Google Flight tracking routes when we figure out when/how we will fly back to the US. My wife will likely fly to Malaysia to see her mother…we have more than six months to book our return flights. I made the mistake to pay the $16.20 in taxes and fees on her Chase Sapphire Preferred card since it is in her AA account and just wanted to make it quick. I think we can afford that lol. Crossed over half a million miles/points burned this year and it is only early May #winning. This is how I roll.
One of these days I have to start looking for a ticket to Greece. I dread it. Because my standard way of burning United miles to fly Business Class Detroit to Frankfurt on Lufthansa and then to Thessaloniki on Aegean is probably gone for ever. It was awesome while it lasted though, my mother still raves about those flights in Business class!
The 2 extra night credits for the Hyatt Thompson promotion posted and I am now at 18 night credits. Tomorrow my personal Hyatt Visa statement closes and I have another two coming my way from crossing another $5k in spend. So I will be at 20 which gets me started on picking one of the Milestone Rewards at that level. Also, since the total spend to date on my Hyatt Visa will cross $15k I will see another free Hyatt night cert land in my account. I had 12 more nights booked the rest of the year. And with the 21 nights booked in the Bangkok Hyatt Place this will get me to 53 nights for the year. So I am going to hit 60 nights for sure then to requalify as Globalist elite. I hope the current program stands and not go down the dynamic pricing hellhole like pretty much everything, wishful thinking?
ADVANCED
Speaking above how United is turning into Delta: YIKES! I need to get over the free travel thingie if I ever want to fly Business class again. And I should be more comfortable paying for a Business class ticket. Because I can afford it but, you know, my deal DNA just can’t let me do it lol. Maybe this hobby is speeding up to move away from miles and just turn to cash back completely. If not ready to go to there, maybe go all in on bank points. Like what I did with my Capital One points above. Speaking of Capital One and how quirky they can be in approving applications, what do you think is the card with a decent signing bonus that they will approve me for in addition to the amazing Venture X I have?
There are many advanced techniques to earn a lot more miles and points. One of them is Buying Groups. If you have a lot of time and can float some big bucks sure I guess. But for crying out loud, be careful and never ever risk more than you can lose. There have been some mega disasters in our space that hurt real people who got carried away! I am not surprised at all that we may be on the verge of another blowing up: Is It Time To Run Away From MYS Buying Group?
Frequent Miler is one of the few blogs I recommend in this space. And in the latest YouTube video Greg talks about his origin story. Which started in 2011. And I wonder where I went wrong getting started twenty years earlier in the early 90s. And doing family trips to Tahiti and Hawaii at places like the Hilton Waikoloa Village ten years before 2011. It’s all good you guys, it has been a great ride. Enjoy the ride in everything you do ok?
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, 80k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 60K CITI Premier, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business 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 551,178 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,389,533 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 if you ever get a credit card here!
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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TBB
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We’re leaving tomorrow for a road trip to Nashville for my wife’s niece’s graduation from college. We’ll stop in Alabama for a few days en route. I’ll get to see Buc-ee’s for the first time and we’ll check out the University of Alabama with my sons. It’ll be my first-ever trip to that state so I’m excited about crossing another one off my list. And yep, we’re staying at Hyatts of course.
Good morning!
Exciting to catch up with the world of ponzi. Puppy ponzi? I think that stretches the concept some.
Buying groups is something I missed out on. Lucky me!
Blew my UR stash on DeltaOne tickets. The CSR multiplier was useful.
Thanks for the great links.
Good morning Buzz,
Way to go Greece, or George, or both. Thank you for the links, looking forward to the TM article.
Have a great weekend!
Hmm investing in virtual pigs? WTF will they think of next and who the hell is so braindead they would fall for it? I’ve got to say George, open the war chest and spend those damn points for business class flights back from Bangkok. The person who dies with the most points in the bank is not a winner, my attitude these days when it comes to redeeming is I don’t care about how many cents per point blah blah, instead I think well if I have points I will use them because I would be totally annoyed if I died and I left the points on the table
Wow! LOTS of stuff here today! Thanks so much!
@Vicky, I think you are right. Aging and some medical issues are making it a LOT harder to plan some travel this year. I have the points, but need the pain-free energy and commitment to get ‘er done. If you have points, spend them.
I will say, George, I am looking hard at that Thailand thing. Got to see a guy about some issues next week but after that I think it is time to pull the trigger on some travel action of *some* sort.
Take care and I hope the foot is healing!
hey Carl, the aging thing sure is a bitch. I think age wise I sit between you and George and have to say travel is definitely harder than it was a decade ago. I find these days I just have to commit and get it done and not spend too much time thinking about it or the plan goes the way of the dodo.
Added a pic of our baby daughter, the college graduate, in the post.
Off to a reception at the Ross School of Business hoping to eat/drink some of the tuition dollars we spent lol.
Will respond to comments when I get a chance, maybe tonight. After our family dinner that will have lots of lamb…if I don’t fall asleep on the drive back home that is!
Oh wow!
@Nick PDF: Enjoy Nashville. Daughter spent the last weekend there and she liked the vibrancy of the city, apparently it is growing fast. This Buc-ee chain is coming to Michigan soon, will check it out just to see what the buzz is about. Enjoy the Hyatts, what will we do if they go dynamic pricing, is hotel free agency near? Never been to Alabama yet.
@DML: At least the ponzi schemers did not shoot the puppies! Buying groups can earn gazillions of miles/points…if you have the time and are super organized. And can deal with the blowups along the way. Enjoy burning your stash, they are yours, you earned them and burn them as you see fit.
@ David: Thanks again, appreciate the kind words. Early morning after lots of lamb last night and I having a senior moment, TM?
@ Vicky: I know what you are saying. And I DID take a look at business class ticket actual costs. In the over $3,500 range and just can’t go there yet. As far as award prices, OMG, horrific. Especially United, like over 300k one way and some went up to 800k and a few over 1 Million miles…I mean, these guys are becoming worse than Delta wow! I have placed Google Flight alerts for Business Class tickets on the dates we could fly back…it may just happen.I think I am doing pretty good on the burning side lately.
@ Carl: Thank you. Look into medical tourism in Thailand, amazing prices and better health care system with docs almost all trained here in the US. The conference is pure travel obsessed people, not many in the miles/points world…I feel like I don’t belong but my blog needs bigger losses to offset my regular job’s income haha. MRI on my back next week, will know more…until then, same old, maybe I should stop walking 3 miles a day. And eat less lamb lol.
Anyone in Michigan reading this. Dua Vino restaurant in South Lyon is fantastic. Best lamb chops I have had. Three times there, got the lamb chops every time. And prepare to pay up and so worth it. We had a lovely meal there. Son, the foodie, really liked it too.
Big day yesterday with daughter graduating. More festivities all day today, she does it again at the Big House and then party at her place with her roommates and their parents. I need to handle my eating, easier said than done.
Lost another subscriber yesterday…I love my blog and this post I thought it was one of my very best. Not sure why the person left, his loss I guess. I can handle one post a week I think as a public service at this point. More support, more than one post a week. The day the 2nd credit card vendor kicks me out due to low sales is the day this blog ends. For real this time. Until then, let’s enjoy the ride!
UPDATE: Heck of a business model at Buc-ee’s… Imagine the biggest gas station / convenience store you’ve ever been to but also the busiest and most crowded. But somehow also clean and with decent BBQ.
TBB meetup in Dawson City?
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sourtoe-cocktail
After reading this I don’t think I am going near Dawson City lol.