We bring you the news that Hilton picks Amex, show you how to get Southwest Companion Pass, learn about Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, visit Sahara Desert & Penang, visit a North Korean hostel in Berlin, check out some landscapes, travel further to Tunisia and to Helsinski and some other eclectic stuff for you!
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The big news in our circles was, if you can call it that I guess, that Amex has really decided it is going to fight back. The introduction of the Blue Business Plus credit card, a no annual fee card offering 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar for up to $50k spend, was just not a one time move. Amex has managed to now become the exclusive provider of credit cards of credit cards to Hilton Honors members, effective January 1, 2018. And yet…we lose again. Hilton Honors points have been plenty coming having both Amex and Citi offering cards. We will now miss all the Citi Hilton cards. You may want to give them Citi Hilton cards a last go round before they move on to…something else. Which has not yet been decided. I don’t post rumors here, only facts 🙂
This is a really good post about Singapore KrisFlyer miles: 6 things I love and 3 things I don’t. Good refresher for me as I now have 160k of these miles across two accounts (and more may be coming when I cancel the Citi Prestige card soon…).
Good advice on how to get the Southwest Companion Pass with the Southwest bonuses now up to 60k. Update: I see these cards in my links now #wow. Update: For the BEST OFFERS with my links, please see THIS, thank you for your support.
I had no idea that North Korea had anything to do with a hostel business in…Berlin! (HT: Oliver2002 and ABC).
I like the stuff over at The Bohemian Blog. Here is another one in a place I have visited and had no idea about it! Dark Tourism in Malaysia: Penang War Museum & its Haunted History.
The most popular dating apps among different ages. Because I want you all to find that special someone after reading my blog. Oh wait, Ashley Madison is NOT included, WTF! 😉
Your personal finance read of the day is this: Have stocks reached ‘a permanently high plateau’? Or: Whatever happened to market corrections? Raises some valid questions and attempts to possibly explain why this is happening. I say all of the above, who am I to out smart the market? But it is crazy indeed to announce the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and all US market indicators hit all time highs. We live in crazy times indeed. Also, I remember when almost 15 years ago I started going all passive/indexing in my financial planning practice. I had colleagues coming up to me at conferences and tell me I was nuts to trust them new ETFs. And now, we are clearly in an indexing mania. Just weird…Focus on what you can control and don’t waste any time to explain anything these days!
11 Surreal Folded Landscapes by Aydın BüyüktaÅŸ. I have featured the mind blowing work of this artist before here…and now has some more. MUST click!
At this rate, I see GlobalGaz being added to one of my glorious lists. Another gem from Algeria: Timimoun, Sebkha Circuit, And Sahara Desert.
I have featured this church here before. And then Brian who blogs at The Gate visited it! A Church Unlike Any I Have Seen: Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki. I really enjoyed the info on it and the pictures. Getting that guy in this pic makes it really awesome!
The Underground Homes of Matmata, Tunisia. I gotta tell you, this blogging gig does not pay much but when you add up all the things I have learned and the fact so many of you have told me how you enjoy my blog makes it all worth it. So thank you for coming along in this ride. Not sure why but lately we’ve been traveling to North Africa more than usual.
BLOG BUZZ
This section is for advanced level hobbyists and veteran blog readers & personal rants & stuff
So glad the NBA Finals are finally starting! Update: I really enjoyed Game 1, Durant (especially) and Curry were awesome. It’s just one game…
I am starting to look at car rental prices for our trip to the San Francisco area. I always neglect this part in the hobby…I signed up for an Elite membership in the Sixt program but its prices are so crazy higher than all other companies. Any kick ass discount codes from the Big Boys you want to pass along in the comments please do. The car rental is for 9 days.
Getting the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card without a hard pull? Interesting. This one IS available with my links, no arrows provided 🙂
This hobby exists to sell credit cards and sadly now tabloid shit from a self-proclaimed “thought leader” in travel…
“30 Reasons NOW…” to get some credit card—->$$$ Never heard that before…wow, up to 30 now. Makes the “8 Reasons to Apply for the Amex Blue Business Plus Card” seem so…tame! I could go on…but won’t. Be responsible with your clicks please.
And I leave you with this…
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
TBB
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First Friday: 3x-right?
Really? When?
Oh yeah, I remember the 3x First Friday, remember those cheery posts! And when FTG messed up and pulled the trigger way too early, LOL.
That was classic!
To help TBB keep going, all of them at Best Highest Offer and available with his links here:
http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/credit-cards/
Any mistakes/corrections please let me know!
You can bring up the cards you want by clicking on CARD TYPE and then click on the specific BANK.
TIME LIMITED ALL TIME BEST HIGHEST OFFER:
AMEX Blue Business Plus card 20,000 Membership Rewards points, Earns 2 pts per dollar for up to $50,000 per year, ZERO Annual Fee—->GameChanger!
Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card for 60k
Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card for 60k
Citi® / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard for 60,000 AA miles
CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard 60,000 AA miles
Amex Gold Delta Skymiles card 60,000 miles w/ $50 statement credit ($100 credit if doing dummy booking on delta.com)
AMEX Platinum Delta Skymiles card 70,000 miles, 10,000 MQMs and $100 statement credit
STANDARD WORKHORSE CARDS:
Chase Ink Business Preferred for 80,000 Ultimate Reward points
Chase Sapphire Preferred 50,000 Ultimate Reward points
Barclaycard Arrival Plus 50,000 points
MAY BE GOOD CARDS FOR YOU:
Barclays JetBlue Plus 30,000 points
Chase Hyatt Visa card 2 free nights in any Hyatt [can get $50 credit with other offer, see link on 4/28 post!]
Chase British Airways Visa up to 100,000 Avios (50k really, up to 100k requires high spend!)
Amex Starwood SPG Personal or Business 25,000 SPG points
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Personal Visa at 87,500 Marriott Rewards Points
Chase Sapphire Reserve 50,000 points
OTHER CARDS:
Citi Thank You Premier 30,000 (40k possible in branch)
Discover IT Double Cash Back for first year
Citi Double Cash Get 2% cash back on everything with no annual fee
Chase Freedom Unlimited 1.5% Ultimate Rewards points per dollar
Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard 20k points
Remember, in general, the restrictions by each bank:
Amex-Once per lifetime
Chase-Once every 24 months. 5/24 Rule
Citi-Once per family every 24 months
Updated 6/1/2017
Thank you for all the work you do to help TBB. This is just terrific.
You might want to watch out for the new SunTrust MasterCard. I only saw the write up on DoC and got a targeted email. The branch manager at the local SunTrust never heard of it. DoC couldn’t figure out benefits would be interesting but it has medical evacuation. I spent some of last summer wondering if I had to be scrapped out a mountain in Switzerland, how I’d get home. I hope I don’t get a chance to report how that works!
Thank you!
Hope you don’t have to use that benefit…ever!
Sun Trust Bank…when the FTG dude caused so many to get fired for…credit card conversions #sad
Help small bloggers. If not, they get hired by TPG and sell credit cards with stuff like this:
Do Passport Fees Count as Travel Expenses on a Credit Card? by Julian
I still think Julian is being hazed by being forced to write shit like that…
And where’s my hat tip for GlobalGaz? Pretty sure I mentioned it in the comments a few weeks ago!
I was wondering how I run into GlobalGaz!!! Will do the HT, sorry. Will be added to the Blogs I Like list when I get around to it… #Imoveslow
I feel for Julian.
I’ll pass on the HT and just request fractional ownership of TBB, or royalties. Your call.
Fractional ownership will require paperwork, got not time for dat!
So, it is royalties…
When I sell my site, I will not request a lump sum. Instead I will demand royalties so I can repay you 😉
Remember when Devils Advocate was funny? Neither do I
Lol…ouch.
Why the Hard On for North Korea? I dont know the backstory? Is it a Greek thing?
No hard on, just fascination with this bizarre country. Not sure what it was but the first time I learned about it…was just fascinated with it. How in the hell can a country keep up this charade of mega bullshit in such a total national scale and keep it for what is now a 3d generation is MINDPHUCKING UNBELIEVABLE! The shit they do is just amazing…and they still get away with it all because they expertly promote the line “we are crazy, we have nukes, don’t mess with us, just give us more…rice to feed our people and continue this charade”…and it is working for generations now.
I mean, look at the latest dude, he looks like he just went on a Taco Bell eating spree…
This fascination will continue until the people are liberated. Or maybe I like the North Korea women, I find them very attractive.
Kidnapping Japanese citizens, killing siblings in KUL, and the list of shit they do is endless…
Ah, thanks for the clear up. I appreciate the explanation
Funny part is that Deltapoints doesn’t list 30 reasons, the ‘clear’ post is just the first of 30 posts. To quote René: ‘Where do I sigh up’.
Huh? Translation, please.
Never fail to scream WTF with that blog…NEVER!
@bluecat: If you click on the Feedly pumping collection pic, you will see the headline of that post 😉 Who knows, he may threaten to sue me again for quoting his material without permission LOL.
Thanks. “Sigh up” is what I do a lot of… LOL
He reads my blog. He followed up later today with this gem:
30 Reasons NOW is the perfect time to go for the Delta AMEX Plainum card: BOGO Cert!
For automobile rental bargain type stuff, check out Autoslash. I learned about them online somewhere here in the travel bloggy-verse and have tried them once and ended up with a pretty good price. Worth a shot anyhow.
You probably read it here 🙂
Been a fan of Autoslash since they started.
Just gave them a try a little while ago for an upcoming rental, they got me a good deal with minimal effort on my part.
I second Autoslash I usually go to Costco first an find the lowest rate there an then have Autoslash track that confirmation an usually within a few days they will email you that they found a better rate an they continue to track up until your reservation date.
See comment above on Autoslash.
I want to get a good rate to feed the reserveration to Autoslash..and make their computers work really hard and earn my business 🙂
GlobalGaz is pretty cool!
I need to check out that link on Krisflyer – never used any but I have plenty of transferable points I could move there if anything is a good use for me.
North Korea is really interesting for so many reasons. I really wonder sometimes how much longer they can maintain. There are some videos on Youtube purporting to be NK documentaries about life in the USA shown to locals. They show people eating snow because we’re too poor and blue tarps covering frozen bodies strewn about the sidewalk.
For some reason this reminded me that I saw that the new administration is “reviewing” various Cuba policies including travel…I don’t like the sound of that. Never a fan of travel restrictions.
Agreed on GlobalGaz.
We are in the same boat on KrisfFlyer. The 3 year clock always bothered me. It still does. But I think I can burn on United to Europe or maybe Hawaii.
NK is mega cluster phuck. I remember reading an account of a journalist interviewing a NK diplomat who was just informed of the previous dude’s death. He excused himself. And was absent for an hour and came back REALLY phucked up with grief. What a system these guys have managed to keep going for generations, it just boggles the mind. We are in 2017 and they are still in power. Unbelievable.
I have said it many times here. Trump is a dangerous buffoon surrounded by mostly idiot sycophants. And yet, stock markets keep hitting new highs. Almost every day. It’s just nuts. And make no mistake, this President is clinically insane. I called that years ago. I call them as I see them.
off to gym…
blog post scheduled for tomorrow. It involves doctorates, Tiananmen, VERY sick children, new words for your vocabulary, a bonus pic from my Iran trip and one of the BEST gifs…ever in the history of TBB!
Last. At least in CST.