We bring you all the airlines aspiring to fly to Cuba, visit spectacular palaces in the world, learn gift card new rules and much much more!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order!
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Please see the MILESBUZZ section below for content pertaining to The Hobby of flying for free or next to nothing 🙂
Airlines Fight to Be Able To Lose Money in Cuba. It is just crazy how many flights airlines have petitioned to fly to Cuba, just crazy. This link lists them all. I am shaking my head.
10 Least Visited Countries in the World. Tuvalu wins!
Digital Detox Around the World. Yep, another AFAR list. “A meticulously curated collection of incredible places and experiences utterly incompatible with that device in your hand. Put it down. Put a pillow on top of it or something. Then plug in at a deeper level.”
The logistics of quitting your “real” job” and pursuing your passion. Pretty good read on the subject.
The most horrendous lie on Wall Street. Your personal finance fix of the day. Must read.
10 most spectacular palaces in the world. Oh, how spectacular indeed!
The Wild Whimsy of the Arctic. Spectacular pictures here, wow!
Oh, the places you can go with Google Street View. Check out Petra, Mont Blanc, The Galapagos and more! (HT: Dave).
MILESBUZZ
Gift cards feel pinch of new rules. This is at the WSJ. com, may require you have an account, just google the title? Very interesting stuff! Such as:
- Americans are expected to load $651 billion on prepaid cards this year, up 57% from six years ago
- Gift cards also are a favorite among criminals, who pay for them with stolen credit-card data. Historically, the cost of that fraud was borne by the financial institutions that issued the credit cards. That changed in October, when new card-industry rules went into effect making merchants liable for fraud-related losses if they haven’t upgraded their checkout technology to accept credit cards that are embedded with computer chips, which are more secure.
- …the trade group’s members are “reporting a significant uptick in suspected fraud.” Such crimes contributed to $3.89 billion in counterfeit payment-card losses that were incurred by issuers in 2014
Cool infographic about our favorite bank’s point transfer rules.
New name: American Wells? If this happens, I am picking up basket weaving for my new hobby! #getangry
I never understood how bloggers put up affiliate links of products they have never tried themselves or, if they did, they are not using them because they…SUCK! Making some money on the backs of your readers is, well, very sucky indeed!
Then again, it always amazes how me how creative bloggers can be in coming up with excuses to sell more credit cards, like 24 at a time single post! No, really! I can think of a million places to hang out dude, nothing personal! I could go on…but we need to move on.
And I leave you with this…
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Two out of three days ain’t bad!
Up all night and only number two.
Thanks for the one about the least visited countries. Those are the types of places I want to visit…but, but my favorite airline(s) does not fly their aircraft there with a first class cabin so I probably will skip them. 🙂
Seriously, there are some very interesting places on the list and I am hoping to hit one or two in the next year.
Thanks for winning the medals….will have to accept rain check ok?
Love saying Tuvalu 🙂
Question for readers:
Every time I read one of Pointchaser’s blog posts about “My $$,000 week in Manufactured Spending” I barf all over myself. Sooooo….do I add it to the Ignore list? Maybe I should have a test whether a blog makes in the list: How many times have I barfed all over myself and how dangerous its posts can be?
Discuss 🙂
What is the barf to useful information ratio? If the dry cleaning is not expensive than the money earned . . . .
And on another note, do you still have dreams of including newsletter only information?
*more expensive
The useful information can be found in FT, Reddit and Saverocity forums, nothing really new. It is only done to expertly insert some affiliate links (FTG skills), increase ad revenue for traffic, you know, the usual. I think many who don’t know what they are doing read this crap and end up hurting themselves. Because, you know, credit is your most important asset lol.
I am gathering some links that are “risque” to send out in the email subscribers. Revolves around morons/experts who travel for free and getting mainstream media to publicize them on trips I have been doing for the whole familia before they even heard about this “hobby”, risque gifs full of the F word, articles about masturbation, prostitutes, revealing bank graphs, animals racing, etc. I have 10 of them ready to go. The problem is…I need to add them to a new email in MailChimp. But things get in the way. Now this new broken RSS feed thingie…
Thinking maybe unload this Saturday when you all have a break from this weird TBB dude lol. But I fear I may offend people and get a bunch unsubscribing and slow down in catching up with the 40,000 subscribers Gary Leff has hehe.
I’ll gladly discuss, but this is coming from someone who has rarely MSed, and when I did it was only very low-hanging fruit.
My thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsB2wtH24D8
I, for some reason, still have her blog on my RSS feeds. Time to do some spring cleaning, I guess.
Love the video link!
Apparently my RSS feed is broken…they tell me. That Wordress consultant is going to be expensive ouch.
That WSJ article was eye opening. “…$3.89 billion in counterfeit payment-card losses that were incurred by issuers in 2014.” I guess that explains why so many supermarkets have stopped carrying the variable VGC&MGC.
The Fortune piece on requiring fiduciary standard for investment advisors was excellent. You’re on a roll these days re: the educational goal of the blog!
Muchas gracias senor. I never forget the TBB Mission! Glad you liked them.
I was shocked about the fraud #. I knew it was big but THAT is just yuge 🙂
It gives a ray of hope when the merchants get all the new machines up and running and then the liability shifts back away from them and we could be freely MSing again 🙂
I am really worried about Amex now…Wells Fargo (long long shot) buying them is even worse than Marriott buying Starwood and Accor buying Fairmont combined #ouch.
Buzz, any truth to the rumors that the big banks are subscribing to your email feed?
Prediction: a lot of bloggers will be talking about the JetBlue cards tomorrow.
Yes, they are true. Hoping for a sponsorship to appear in their marketing events signing Barclay, excuse me, Berkelele Arrival cards 🙂
I also predict when JetBlue affiliate links go out we will hear from a LOT more bloggers!
I don’t think Ariana should go on the Ignore list, as she’s a bit player and it would just give her more publicity. She’s already being ignored by most.
She certainly learned well over at FTG-just blast away without a lick of discretion. Just what does she get by broadcasting big amounts of MS? We’re already got half the world lined up to buy money orders, and I’m betting that game is up before the All Star game.
Ok, you are right.
It’s all about the SEO. Here is me with another FTG writer who says get your BB & Serve card and do money orders to meet min spend smh
http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/iran-tour-spg-35k-cards-hidden-beaches-caribbean-islands/#comment-379521
I call it the FTG disease
Buzz-
Not for me, but Holly and her blog look ok-knows where she’s going, writes fairly well, discloses type and amount of her income. Better than a lot of them.
You should do her a favor and send her some of the Troll’s comments here over the years so she better measure for whom she’s writing. Don’t use asterisks either.
Getting newbies to do min spends with Bluebird and Serve accounts is just absurd! But hey, it’s good for the SEO.
Darn FTG effect I guess 🙂
Oh the Troll’s comments…to show how positive he was, you know, a different approach as she says…
All these FTG writers just go along, let editors insert only almost always affiliate cc links of cards they can only sell, and collect their paycheck and keep mum. Because it is all about da money for them. Only Andy S. stood up for their crap and left…oh, need to add that guy to the Like Blog list one of these days.
Funny thing is….she thinks I am all bitter and an awful person….to me, it is not about SEO, it is about…entertainment 🙂
And someone has to raise this sh*t because some poor souls would think it is okay to sign up for the FTF “Tool” to get a suggestion for ONE cash back card and be “recommended” with 7 travel rewards cards and then encouraged to sign up for all of them in ONE day. But these writers…keep their mouth shut, “not our business”, collect and cash their check while they let their short articles get mauled by the “editors” to, cough, increase conversions.
I feel even better now, thanks 🙂
On second thought, we shouldn’t stoop to conquer. Holly can look back at comments herself if she is so inclined.
It’s the posts with over 100 comments #hint
Just watched a bit of the Dem Debate and almost fell asleep…same old, same old…yawn 🙂
“Just watched a bit of the Dem Debate and almost fell asleep…same old, same old…yawn :-)”
Hmmm … same old, same old. But, between them Bernie is still the hotter GILF.
That’s just gross!
What’s SEO?
Search Engine Optimization.
You know, when you google stuff, the same Titans come up first on top. TPG and MMS are best at it…they manipulate their “writing” and links to increase the hits they get from searches. I aint got time for dat….and that is why I am not a Titan 🙂