TravelBloggerBuzz

An eclectic journey through the Travel Miles/Points blogosphere

Hawaii Travel, Child Tax Credit Payments, Shifting Pandemic, Best Hyatts

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Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web along with my commentary. Such as Hawaii travel, child tax credit payments, shifting pandemic, best Hyatts, travel to Asia and Miami, death in creepy cryptoland, a great guide on how to invest when you have a pile of cash, mental health system state, TV Tropes, infant mortality, master list of credit card transfer partners, some promos and lots more!

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TRAVEL

Hawaii is becoming more interesting to me and I am drawn to the travel developments there. We will be visiting Kauai in January but also thinking about making it to Oahu for several other reasons. One is my wife’s best friend lives there. More importantly, our son has been living there since last November and says he can show us the best parts because we obviously only did the touristy stuff during our family trip back in 2010. Just waiting for a bit more locals to get vaccinated so we then can avoid all the Covid related testing hassle complications. We are almost there, maybe by mid July? Here’s when vaccinated mainlanders can travel to Hawaii without a COVID-19 test.

I really like this move because it will create competition and hopefully lower prices. We also like Miami for the beaches and can’t wait to visit it in our first post Covid trip involving airplanes next week! Spirit Enters Miami in a Big Way Now That Miami Has Lowered Costs. Kind of surprising considering Spirit has a hub next door at Fort Lauderdale! Daily Detroit – Miami flights start in the Fall…and there should be more award availability on direct American Airlines flights, yes!

Some amazing shots here: Ryosuke Kosuge’s 30 Stunning Photos Give A Glimpse Of Everyday Life In Asia.

The Photographer Takes Pictures Of Everyday Asia That Our Eyes Would Hardly See

 

PERSONAL FINANCE

The raining of cash will continue! IRS sends out letters now about the new Child Tax Credit. I hope IRS does not screw this up, can you imagine hackers messing with the portal that is supposedly going up “soon”?  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for measures like this instead of tax cuts to the very rich that never trickle down. My concern is that the burdens that keep being placed on the IRS to keep complying with regulations that are not let up is…severe and I wish to all that you do not get caught in their claws because you won’t believe what can happen next! A letter is supposedly going out to all eligible taxpayers explaining what to do. I am recommending to the clients who get this to choose to forego these six monthly payments and we will capture the full credit next year when we file the 2021  tax returns. The reasons are: My clients do not need the cash infusion and it keeps things cleaner when next year we will mark the tax return as having received ZERO of these advance payments. Talk to your tax advisor. And save all letters/receipts/checks cashed, etc!

Do you have children? You can see how much you are going to get here: Child Tax Credit calculator.  That IRS portal will eventually appear HERE sometime this month, good luck!

This is a great article about a situation that is more common than you think: A Guide to Moving from Cash to Investment. The situation is:

You have money to invest that’s been sitting in cash, either from the sale of a business, a recent inheritance, or built-up savings. This is money you don’t expect to need or access for more than 20 years, if ever.  You know that cash is likely to significantly underperform a diversified investment portfolio over the next 20+ years, but you just can’t pull the trigger. You know you can’t time the market, but…

  • “Valuations are high.”
  • “Stocks have had an incredible run, how much higher can they go?”
  •  “I’m just waiting for a correction to get in.”
  • “What if there’s another recession after all of the stimulus ends?”
  • “Interest rates are near historic lows. What happens when they rise?”

I bet this dude is alive. Why does crypto attract so many scammers huh? A Death in Cryptoland. When reports emerged in 2019 that the CEO of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange had died, it left over a quarter of a billion dollars of customers’ funds in limbo. While authorities investigated, one online sleuth decided to dig deeper to find the money.

This dude absolutely despises crypto and I like it, here is another Twitter rant calling it pretty much a pyramid scheme.

 

COVID-19

The latest by Ed Yong of The Atlantic: The Fundamental Question of the Pandemic Is Shifting. We understand how this will end. But who bears the risk that remains? Archived link.

 

ODDZ & ENDZ

I felt the pain of this parent about this, we must do better! My daughter fell off the mental health care cliff, and I have to jump after her.

Had no idea there was such a site, gotta love the Internet! It is all about TV Tropes. Here are the Forgotten ones.

Bank Toaster: Banks don’t really do these kinds of promotions anymore, and most of the old targets (the titular toaster) are now too cheap for anyone to put them under consideration. [Yep, been there done that lol]

As I said many times in my blog, stop bitching about this and that: The massive decrease in infant mortality from 1950 to 2020 is perhaps one of humanity’s greatest achievements.

r/dataisbeautiful - [OC] The massive decrease in worldwide infant mortality from 1950 to 2020 is perhaps one of humanity's greatest achievements.

 

MILES & POINTS

HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 100k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 100k CHASE United Quest, 100k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 75k CHASE Ink Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 60k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 60k CITI Premier, 20k CHASE Freedom Flex & CHASE Freedom Unlimited, 125k CHASE IHG Rewards Club Premier (& a free night) and many more, including many American Express cards! Please check out my Affiliate links. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

If you do not see a credit card with my affiliate links, perhaps I could refer you? Contact me!

This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! Feel free to skip this section and parts of the next one if this is not for you.

Newbies: The points earned with the proprietary points of major banks (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, AmexMembership Rewards) are considered much better than earning miles/points directly with an airline or hotel credit card. Why? They are a lot more flexible. You accumulate them and when you are ready to travel you pick which airline/hotel partner to transfer to and then book directly on the airline or hotel site instead of just being stuck with that particular airline or hotel which may devalue along the way and you can not do anything about it. Here is The Master List of Credit Card Bank Transfer Partners.

This is a good reference: How To Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points – A How To Guide.

This promotion is tomorrow if you have a Southwest credit card: Southwest Credit Cards: Earn 50x Points Per $1 Spent On Southwest Purchases (6/11, $100 Spend). We have two in my household so I guess we will be buying $100 Southwest gift cards on each card. At first when I saw this I thought it was 5x and I thought pfffft. But at 50x I am paying attention!

If you have a Chase Ink business card you may have been targeted to earn 5x on Home Improvement stores. Check HERE (which is the generic link to see if any of your Chase cards have been targeted for any spending promos). These spending promos are becoming a regular feature at Chase Bank!

 

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.

The split of the Radisson Rewards is proceeding and sometimes I think why they did not take any steps to make this simpler: Radisson Rewards Program Splits Into Americas & Rest Of The World Takes Place On June 17, 2021. All I ever wanted was to find a way to blow all my points and leave this program behind…

Any ideas on what to do around the Confidante Hotel in Miami next week? At this time I do not have a rental car and I am leaning towards not getting one.

I got the idea for this hotel from a Frequent Miler post which I will refer to often as I burn my Hyatt points the Globalist way! Best Hyatt Category 1-4 Hotels. What I meant to say is burn all my Free Night certificates that is! I think I have 6, or wait, maybe 5. Or something like that.

Euro 2020 is starting…a year late. And I wonder if the Bucks will fight tonight against the Brooklyn Nets to try to avoid being swept…

Let me leave you with this:

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TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com

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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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Comments

  1. Bill says

    Good Morning

    Like you I’m in the same boat of having an overload of free night certs. Last month I burned 3 Marriott 35ks at a Fairfield Inn at definitely less than max value. But it was a nice first post-vaccine escape; and I thought it best to avoid worrying about the hotel categories as I view most of these certs as sunk costs.

    Though I would not necessarily be anxious to head to New Orleans in June, I have used my Hyatt 1-4s at The Eliza Jane and really enjoyed it. This year I’ll be using two at the Hyatt Centric in Santiago, Chile but, again, probably for less than max value.

    Can’t say I offer any specific suggestions for the area around The Confidante, but in Miami in general beware of the automatic gratuity added to everything – even individual drinks. Places often obfuscate this and aren’t afraid to provide an additional tip line to make a $17 mojito a $20 one.

    • TBBTheDude says

      Currently thinking of that HP in Utah next to Arches national park, assigned to the wife to do some travel planning because I can’t do everything anymore 🙂

      Last time I was in Miami in that area I stayed at the Kimpton Surfcomber (way over rated imho) and I do remember paying $20 for a way over rated mojito too!

  2. Clyn6 says

    I never thought of buying points! Are you sure this would count as a SW purchase? I know when I have bought points from IHG I do not get the normal 5x (or whatever it is) on their credit card like I do with a IHG hotel stay.

  3. Nick @ PFD says

    Can’t believe you didn’t know about TV tropes, that site is great!

    In travel news, I’m using 4 of my free night certificates next month but still have a dozen or so to go. And I just dropped my parents off at the airport, having burned 44K Avios to send them direct from CLT to Kalispell, MT for their anniversary. Avios availability is usually sparse to nonexistent for a route like this but AA had recently changed their scheduling to make this a daily flight and availability was wide open. So I guess that’s my ‘get rid of Avios’ tip for today: pay attention to new AA routes.

    • TBBTheDude says

      I had never heard of TV Tropes, what a site!

      Yeah, looking forward to see AA match Spirit to get even more direct Detroit Miami flights so I can continue my Avios emptying project. I have been very happy with my Avios…if only AA will add back the Detroit New York LGA flight…that would be great.

  4. TBBTheDude says

    Anyone using one of these online finance brokerage account at M1 Finance?

    I see some good reviews, low costs and…got contacted for the affiliate program which looks interesting but want to make sure this is no bullshit supersalesy megagambling site like Robinhood or WeBull.

  5. DML says

    It isn’t too late to travel to DC to see the cicadas. Bring your cat.

    Thanks for the links!

  6. Alex K says

    Thanks for the article on getting off your ass and investing cash TBB. I’ve been sitting here thinking the market is high maybe I should wait a little… for the past damn 6 months. Invested it today finally, Appreciate the math kick in the pants.

    • TBBTheDude says

      If we crash now do not blame me 🙂

      Had to let a client go recently because, you know, emotions got the best of him. Overconfidence specifically. Like Biden is going to crash the market and within six months we can reinvest the cash. Left so much money on the table back in 8/20 and 2/21 and still waiting for it…Told him you may be proven right but that there is no way in hell to manage money so best luck and I will stick with clients who listen to my advice.

      TBB takes no crap 🙂 If everyone could manage their emotions everyone would be rich!

  7. TBBTheDude says

    Blog Revenue month to date: $119

    LOL

    This blogger needs to pack and start traveling, next post will appear here…some day. I guess taking the high road avoiding clickbait shit sure pays a lot in..integrity only smh.

    Behave yourselves.

    Rams: You are banned, stop wasting our time. Best of luck to you Trump lost, he is a LOSER! Thank Biden for your stock gains bwahahaha.

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