Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as hedge funds comeback BS, AI adoption rates, Chairman Mao and Thai prisons, digital nomad visas, new United & Delta credit card offers, HSAs to expand, problems with aging parents, the adolescence of technology, undersea park and first hotel on the moon, the best photography 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.
This blog stays in business with clicks ONLY from readers for credit cards and coffees. You can always get to my credit card links by clicking on “CREDIT CARDS’ at the menu on the top of the homepage or the “We make finding a new credit card simple” banner on the right sidebar. Or, preferably, you can receive new offers in your email inbox by signing up to receive alerts HERE . Or just email me.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts. Based on current support click trends, this blog has entered its final descent…
GIVEAWAY: A blog reader has kindly offered TWO World of Hyatt Globalist GOH Guest Honor Certificates expiring 2/28/2026. Priority will be given to blog readers who have supported my blog in the past. And if you can not use them by end of February do not contact me.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing.” – Euripides
MUST READ GEMS
Some interesting thoughts by Morgan Housel: A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About.
The internet is unique in the history of technology because there’s a list of things it improved (communication, access to information) but another list of things it likely made worse for almost everybody (political polarization, dopamine addiction from social media, less in-person interaction, lower attention spans, the spread of misinformation.)
There aren’t many examples throughout history of technology so universal with so many obvious downsides relative to what existed before it. But the wounds are so fresh that it’s not surprising many look at AI with the same fear.
This is more hope than prediction, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in 20 years we look back at this era of political nastiness as a generational bottom we grew out of.
PERSONAL FINANCE
One more for Health Savings Accounts: HSAs Are Expanding. Some Expect A Surge In New Accounts. Can they get even better? Yes.
You may be seeing some positive press about hedge funds, how they finally came back in 2025. Don’t fall for it, it is all BS. Because Hedge funds post rare banner year, but the S&P 500 index beat’em by nearly 400 basis points.
Hedge funds returned an average of 12.6% in 2025, the $5 trillion asset management elite’s best year since 2009, according to Hedge Fund Research data, cited by Bloomberg. In contrast, the S&P 500’s seventh best year since 2010 yielded 17.9% return, or 5.3 percentage points better than the average hedge fund. And, in all but three of the last 16 years*, hedge funds, which imply outperformance, failed to do just that.
Really good roundup of what happened in 2025: The 4 Defining Charts for Markets in 2025: Key Takeaways for Investors.
Among dozens of developments, four stood out in 2025:
- The US economy was resilient despite tariffs.
- Bitcoin and gold traveled different paths.
- International markets surged.
- Exchange-traded funds once again owned the year.
As for 2026, there are two to keep an eye on:
- Hyperscaler bonds tell a different story from their stocks.
- Public company buyouts are growing more common.
CRYPTO/TECH/SCAMS
This is the definition of a giant piece of shit: Georgia Advisor Pleads Guilty To Running A $380M Ponzi Scheme.
CORE Fund investors were told something different. They were promised “100% passive income” from tax liens, with returns as high as 22% annually. The fund claimed government protection and full collateralization. In reality, prosecutors say Drive Planning stopped investing money in the CORE Fund in late 2022, while continuing to solicit new funds…Federal authorities say Burkhalter spent about $2 million on a yacht. He put $2.1 million toward a luxury condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He spent roughly $800,000 on luxury vehicles, including a motorcoach and multiple high-end SUVs. Millions more went to private jet travel, jewelry, designer clothing and beauty treatments.
This is becoming a huge problem: How to Prevent Aging Parents and Relatives From Making Financial Mistakes. Getting family members to listen to you when you think they are headed down a dangerous financial path can be difficult. But there are preventive steps you can take.
Cybercrime against elders is skyrocketing. In 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 150,000 complaints of cyber-enabled fraud against people 60 or older, with almost $5 billion in losses, according to the agency’s annual report. The victims lost an average of $83,000.
AI
Out of all the CEOs involved in AI, I find Anthropic’s Dario Amodei the most down to earth, you know, normal human. He wrote a very long thoughtful post about AI and I think it is worth of your time. This is the essence of my blog, I share with you material that I find worthy enough to share with you. Because this is the blog mission and there is a reason ‘To Educate” is listed first. Oh, lost my train of thought, here is the article: The Adolescence of Technology. Confronting and Overcoming the Risks of Powerful AI.
Interesting visual: AI Adoption Rates by Country.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Probably one of the most important speeches by the Canadian Prime Minister in this insane era we are all living through: Mark Carney’s full speech on middle powers navigating a rapidly changing world.
This guy continues to amaze and he is still alive, now with two daughters: Highlights: Alex Honnold’s free-solo climb of Taipei 101. Must click.
Fascinating personal account from the first days of the Cultural Revolution in China: “I Swear to Chairman Mao!” On Becoming a Red Guard. Jung Chang Remembers the Early Days of the Cultural Revolution in Her Hometown of Chengdu.
Obligatory Thailand related link: Crazy story with this guy, wow: An American’s Fight to Survive the Thai Prison System and Immigration Detention.
Amazing photography here: 102 Photographs Every History Enthusiast Should See.
TRAVEL
Seeing high interest in moving out of the US lately. I am shocked I tell you. Anyway, if you are looking to Europe this article may be of interest: Digital nomad visas, real mobility, and the fine print everyone ignores.
If you are interested in extreme sports, go to Greece: An Extreme Sports Guide to Greece’s Wildest Landscapes.
Had no idea this existed: The First Undersea Park in the U.S. Has Incredible Diving, Snorkeling, and Glass-bottom Boat Tours.
If you are willing to send these guys $250,000 as “deposits” for their hotel on the Moon, can you please buy a lifetime sponsorship in my blog? Lol. GRU is Planning the First Hotel on The Moon’s Surface.
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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
Here we go again.
Good resource: Gift hotel points, free night certificates, and award nights booked with points: Rules by program.
Pretty good Hyatt promotion: Hyatt Extended Stays Promotion (Hyatt House/Studios): Stay 5+ Nights & Earn 5k Points (Up To 50k). So easy to sign up for Hyatt promos in the app.
Usually Hyatt gets acquired companies turned around and into World of Hyatt pretty quickly. Not sure why it took so long to do this with the Bahia all-inclusives: Bahia Principe Hotels To Join World Of Hyatt On March 24, 2026. Frankly, I could care less about yet another all inclusive in the Caribbean, zzzzz.
It is an end of an era you guys. And I say good riddance to the open seating policy: Southwest Just Rolled Out Its Most Controversial Policy Change. And can’t wait also for those poles at the gates to go away.
Results are out: JetBlue’s 25 for 25 Results: 811M Points Awarded to 2,000+ customers. “…2,370 participants from 43 states took on the challenge to fly to 25 JetBlue destinations, with 90 percent completing all 25. JetBlue awarded 811.5 million TrueBlue points” I guess there are lots of people out there with way too much time on their hands. Then again, some are “content creators” always looking for content smh.
Can you believe the BS of this guy? Hilton CEO Claims Chain Has ‘Absorbed’ Inflation Costs On Award Stays. Maybe one of these years I say enough and move on. Not this year, I am close to earning a Free Night Cert with my Amex Hilton Surpass card.
I am not into Marriott Bonvoy. But since it is the largest hotel loyalty program by far, some of you are into it because we just can not escape it. This may be of interest to you: 5 Great International Options For Your Marriott 35,000 Point Certificates. I have been looking at Palacio del Inka in Machu Picchu, Peru for years, one day I just gotta go for it.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
This section will have developments and news and will keep my own commentary reserved for the MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING section below.
Pretty surprised by this move by Capital One, I guess management must feel like they got the Discover acquisition well under control: Capital One To Acquire Brex For $5.15 Billion. Valuation went down from $12.3 Billion. And I think they paid too much for it.
NEW OFFERS:
A flurry of new offers all at once, just going to lay out the very basics. You know what to do to learn more. If this blog goes with zero card sales for more than a month, I got the message!
- United Explorer: Earn 70,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles after spending $3,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account, plus $0 annual fee for the first year.
- United Quest: Earn 80,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 3,000 PQP after spending $4,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.
- United Business: Earn 100,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 2,000 PQP after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.
- United Club Business: Earn 100,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 2,000 PQP after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.
175,000 IHG Rewards Premier: $99 Annual Fee, minimum spend $5k in three months.
120,000 IHG Rewards Traveler: No Annual Fee, 90,000 for $2k spend in three months and another 30,000 points for a total of $10k spend in six months.NEW
75,000 Capital One Venture PLUS $250 Travel Credit: $95 Annual Fee, $4k spend in three months. That’s at least $1,000. I got the card last year and now it is time to cancel it 11 months out. And yes I am keeping the Venture X. I never understood why people can’t do this extraction from the banks, it is not really that hard!
And we also have new Increased American Express Delta Offers, Up To 125,000 Miles (Personal & Business Gold, Platinum, Reserve).
I am also listing the other offers still going from last week below:
3X50k Free Night Certs Amex Marriott Business Card: $125 Annual Fee, $6k in first six months.
Three Avios cards (British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus) now offer 90,000 Avios Signup Bonus for $5,000 minimum spend in three months. They are all $95 annual fee cards.
New interesting offer for the personal Hyatt Visa offering 5 Free Night Certificates (Category 1-4) after a total $15,000 in the first six months (three of the five FNCs after $5k spend in first three months). I prefer World of Hyatt points offers but this could be relevant for some of you. Why? Because you can get the following night credits: 5 for having the card, 6 for spending $15k (card earns 2 night credits every $5k) and another FNC after hitting $15k. With me so far? You now have 11. If you do burn all your now 6 FNCs you are at 17! Just three away from hitting the first 20k Milestone Reward and 13 away from the next more valuable 30 Night Milestone Reward and Explorist status (where another FNC awaits you, among other goodies).
Due to credit card vendor restrictions, the only affiliate links I can place in the body of my posts are for Capital One cards. For the rest, you know what to do. You can always email me at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com with ANY questions.
EXPIRING OFFERS:
First, I am going to list the expiring offers based on expiration dates order, so here we go:
125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve/150k CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business
After January 22, the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business Signup Bonus becomes 150,000 points for a minimum spend of $20,000.
We now have the refreshed AMERICAN EXPRESS Platinum & Business Platinum Cards ($895 Fee, 175k/200k Bonus, Many New Credits).
The Signup Bonus offers remain the dreaded “Up to 175,000 points” for the personal card. And a solid 200,000 points for the Business card.
Citi now offers the 100k CITI Strata Elite card after $6,000 minimum spend. This is Citi’s premium card at a $595 annual fee. $300 annual hotel credit, $200 annual Splurge credits, $200 annual Blacklane credit, 4 annual American Airlines Admirals Club lounge passes, Priority Pass Select membership and $120 Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit. Earning structure is: 12x points per dollar spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com, 6x points per dollar spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com, 6x points per dollar spent at restaurants on Citi Nights purchases, Friday and Saturday from 6 PM – 6 AM EST, 3x points per dollar spent at Restaurants any other time, 1.5x points per dollar spent on All Other Purchases. Points can now be transferred out to American Airlines. This card is a Mastercard. There is a $145 discount off the annual fee if you are a Citigold customer or have a Private Client relationship (requires over $200k with Citi). Citi Private Clients get the first annual fee waived. Citi is not an easy bank to deal with so beware. Email me 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
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Elevated Card Offer Notifications
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
I had another spending promo on my United Gateway card, they never stop. Currently I am having my main floor of my house totally wrecked to renovate it and money is flowing freely. So I charged $13k on this card to earn a bonus 10k United miles and, this is important, with hitting $10k this calendar year I have locked in improved award availability on the United website for the rest of this year AND next year. So, this card is going to be in my sock drawer for a very long time lol.
Come to think of it, United used to copy all moves by Delta. And so they did this one after Delta added that “save 15%” only if you have a Delta credit card. And then United took it to the next level. I mean, if you spend some time looking for awards on the United website you will very quickly realize that not having a United credit card is basically a waste of time. Not that the improved award search availability with an eligible United card makes a huge difference. But it does make some difference that keeps giving us the carrot hoping for that killer redemption. Yeah, right. We need to face the music here that the airlines got the upper hand and we are no longer able to take advantage of them so easily as in the past, sigh.
I got a shout and back link from Miles Earn and Burn. Which is highly appreciated. And so rare. None of the other bloggers have ever linked back to me by the way. It is what it is…
I went through an extreme media diet phase in the past week. We are talking I deleted about 40 blogs from my Feedly RSS list, deleted several bookmarks, unsubscribed to at least 50 things invading my inbox, wiped out most notifications on my phone and I will continue to do all these things to free up time to keep this blog up a little bit longer. I learned that I have 6 Capital One credit card sales in December (3 from my own family, lol) that will finally be credited to my account on February 5. So I guess I hit at least one month goal, see below. But with the recent Chase banking restrictions the outlook is not good. Anyway, speaking of Miles Earn and Burn, you bet this is one feed I kept in my Feedly list of required reading. And love his take on Bilt 2.16b lol HERE:
…maybe consider that your time will be better spent by using a Citi Double Cash card, Venture X card, American Express Blue Business Plus card, or Chase Ink Unlimited card and looking for other plays instead of taking hours learning the ins-and-outs of the most complex credit card program ever invented for the possibility of good returns before Cardless axes you. With all of those non-Bilt cards:
- You’ll earn 2x on all spend (1.5x for the Ink Unlimited)
- The annual fees are simple
- The programs all have valuable transfer partners
- You don’t have to spend hours learning how to use the card
- Richard Kerr won’t be watching your plays in real time
Bingo, that’s it!
Also, another great post by MEAB: Real Spend Shouldn’t Move the Needle. Which I agree with. So many bloggers/YouTubers online making “content” about how you can maximize your points from that burrito at Chipotle. Focus on the bigger bangs people, you know, SIGNUP BONUSES, hello?
Started posting again on Instagram as time permits:
Flying Bangkok Airways from Bangkok to Koh Samui
Hyatt Regency Koh Samui Resort
Soon I will get to the pics and videos from the Conrad in Koh Samui which we absolutely loved.
And I posted two short videos, the takeoff from Bangkok and the landing in Koh Samui. My YouTube videos have no production value, I am no videographer and don’t do editing, please don’t judge. Actually, I am just testing this Shorts format to see how many click on them. And I am shocked to find out that ten to twenty more times click on the Shorts instead of the longer videos. That is just mind boggling. I guess so many people out there with attention span issues scrolling mindlessly smh.
I need to put together the 2025 annual miles points burning summary. I barely missed burning another 2 Million miles/points for the second year in a row. Finding myself in a situation with no travel plans right now because so much is going on in real life on the ground. I should have skipped going for World of Hyatt Globalist, oh well. Also, my house is a total war zone with the remodeling guys going at it. And tax season is underway!
Award availability continues to be dismal. I saw a blog or a video recently with the title “Is this the end of points and miles?” Sure seems like it to me. Was such a great ride you guys since the early 90s. I was expecting this and then Covid put a short stop to it. And now…people are spending bigly and filling up every plane it appears. Which decreases award seats and then you enter so many people “getting in the game”, and Chase saying enough for all you free loaders and I could go and on and on.
Trying to simplify and be more selective going forward. I closed the Venture Rewards card I got last year for I believe 75,000 miles AND a $250 travel credit before the second annual fee hit. So, all that for $95 #winning. You can too by getting the card HERE, thanks!
I DO have a separate page listing my affiliate links HERE including Rakuten and Top Cash Back and more.
I am giving myself a challenge to average 5 credit card sales and 15 Buy Me a Coffee sales per month.
November:
Credit card sales: 4 Buy me a Coffee sales: 19
December:
Credit card sales: 2 Buy me a Coffee sales: 19
January to date:
Credit card sales: 0 Buy me a Coffee sales: 20
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
150k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 100k CITI Strata Elite, 75k AND $250 Travel Credit CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 175k AMEX Platinum, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 200k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 47,515 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025 and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,126,019 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy it please forward it to a family member or friend. Or Buy Me a Coffee, thank you!
Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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Well *I’d* link to you if I were blogging…
Supposedly our five-year snow drought will be broken tomorrow. The household is psyched! And I’ll be smoking some NC-style BBQ in the snow.
Like Nick says, if I blogged I’d link to you, but for now the subscription to the coffee thing is the best I can do. Well, that, and commenting and reading here. Lucky me, I have to have a tree guy here today to do some major work on a couple trees (Italian Plums that have not been pruned in, um, a long time) and he does NOT take payment by check or cash, just credit card. Odd around here for a service guy but since I gotta spend, at least I’ll get points.
Our cold weather seems to have slackened but looking east I am glad I am not there. Brr! Daughter back east is not happy with the weather this last week and I do not blame her.
Travel… George, I got to say, getting harder and harder to think about and plan it. Gonna be 69 in March and trying to schedule around nephrologists and cardiologists and regular doctors and whatever else, well, it is getting tough. I think maybe this year if I am lucky, it is one road trip and one Italy trip, if I can pull that off. But the fun of trying to accumulate the points and miles is still there.
Thanks for all the good stuff here, as always it is quite appreciated. I hope all is well there and that the house renewal is getting done good and fast as possible. Check everything. I had a new shower stall put in a month ago and once I got to use it, the first time, I realized they had NOT made sure the drain was the lowest point in the shower pan. Negotiations are still ongoing but it is looking like it will be like that for a long time.
Anyhow, I write more than usual for some reason. Thanks as always!
Thanks for the great links! Glad you got such a nice shoutout … looks
like an interesting site …I’ve bookmarked it ….
Northern Virginia had an “interesting” amount of snow and ice … I
discovered how useful Task Rabbit can be …
Thank you to the regular commenters/supporters who take the time to comment here.
Amazingly, it appears no credit card sale was sold during the whole month of January! Unless it was a Capital One cc sale which will appear on March 5. Very sobering and deflating.
The media diet is continuing, need to reduce the time devoted to TBB. Because it is not paying for the kitchen remodeling lol.
Gotta head to the gym before I watch my hometown soccer team AEL Larissa go for the third win in a row. After a disastrous return to the Greek First Division in 2025 and now on the third coach this season things are finally looking up and we have moved up in the standings to avoid relegation back to the Second Division.
And then it is taxes again.
It’s phucking freezing here, this deep cold wave is not relenting!
Enjoy your weekend guys.
UPDATE: 11″ of snow yesterday! 4th biggest day of snow in Charlotte history and the biggest in 22 years!
Wow, this is more of what we got here in a while! Hope you handle it fine and keep the power on.
I would absolutely recommend Palacio Del Inka as a points stay. We did two nights there last October to acclimate to the elevation before doing the 4 day Inka trail hike. It is a converted Spanish palace, which itself was a “converted” (by force) Inka palace and the lower level famous stonework is all over the hotel. I have no idea why they say “The property is essentially a resort, with no nearby town to visit”. It is right in the center of Cusco, about a 10 minute walk from their town square. There are tons of good restaurants to try, Spanish churches and other classic Spanish buildings, Inka ruins and historical sites, etc. that are all walkable from the hotel (a bunch of the “free” walking tours start from that town square location). If your fitness is up for it, the Inka trail hike is truly an amazing experience. Taking the train to Machu Picchu is great too, as the site is beautiful, but walking the trail the Inka took and looking down from the Sun Gate down onto Machu Picchu is on another level.
Great feedback, thank you.