Dear Readers, TBB is taking the family and getting out of Dodge tonight! The daily Buzz posts as you know them will cease most likely. I may still peak in here and do some very short posts and/or throw a picture at you from our adventures. You just need to keep checking, that’s all:-) All I can tell you is that no reviewing of blogs until my return, I so need a break from this exhausting activity! I appreciate you all for reading what I have to say; it is quite humbling. Thank you. Oh, I think my twitter account action may go down too…a little, it all depends on wifi!
The site was had some technical issues due to the host messing with me. I hope you do not experience the same issues. I apologize in advance if you do!
TRAVEL
Mean Streets of Budapest. By Nate at Yomadic. I think this is a must read. Take your flat bed and shove it, this is real life man! Do you get the same emotions reading about the 5x points earning in office supply stores with your Chase Ink Bold for the gazillionth time or posts like this? You know my answer.
Chasing Cave Dog. The Agony and Ecstasy of Attempting to Climb 55 of Colorado’s 14,000-Foot Peaks in 10 Days. Completely crazy. I get tired even reading this, wow!
This is very very cool, wow! Hard to describe what it is, you just need to take a look at it. I was mesmerized by it. Some wine may have contributed to it most likely! Found at the Adventure Blog first.
Mirror City Timelapse from Michael Shainblum on Vimeo.
10 Cheapest and Most Expensive US Airports. Interesting list for sure.
MILES/POINTS
A few tiny improvements on Delta’s same-day confirmed and same-day standby options (read post #1). As far as all of you Silvers are concerned, you continue to not exist!
US Air will finally get an app out…lol.
Crisis averted. Another 711 works like clockwork. The one I was shut down at yesterday may had to do with the store manager and the same story the Office Depot stores were mentioning. To the person attacking that store, puuulease go easy dude!
ON MY MIND
Around 1 am I finished my hotel reservations for my Canadian Rockies vacation! This is going to be an intense hotel hopping adventure too! We usually do not do this, we just like to stay in one or two hotels. Well, it looks like we will visit 6 hotels for 12 nights, that’s crazy!I added one night at the Holiday Inn Hinton for 5k Pointbreaks (near Jasper) and then added the Country Inn Suites at Calgary Airport for two nights for just 44,000 Club Carlson points (2nd is free due to Club Carlson Visa). First shuttle leaves at 4 am and we will be on it to catch our 6 am flight out! I still may ditch the last night at Lake Louise (the only non-free night) and head to the Pointbreak hotel if still available. We will see if we can improve on the current upgrade we have at check in. It’s a puzzle. I usually have more time to perfect these trips. But I must say I still did well!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Top 10 Internet-Using Idiot Criminals of the Year. By Seriously for Real? You just can not believe some people…
BLOG BUZZ
Sometimes I wonder why Gary Leff bothers with his day job!
Travel with Grant kid has become a master in adding affiliate links just two weeks after his MMS interview. He now does posts about how his mom’s churn came along, brilliant! And my Alexa web ranking numbers blow his new blog numbers by miles and miles. Heck, my blog’s numbers even blow Noob Traveler to pieces. I need to hike some mountains in the Canadian Rockies to focus:-)
Innovation galore at the Frugal Travel Guy! The Top 30 credit cards starts with #30 and will work its way backwards, wow!
This Lucky dude at One Mile at a Time, does he ever stop flying? Is he ever home?
1st?
Second again Darn
Let’s see here, i can predict the OMAAT trip report to HEL will contain pics of diet coke, peanuts, old AA business class seats and a loaded ice cream. Sterile for sure. No need to review AA anymore, unless they have new toilets. You wonder if he gets tired flying, I get tired reading sterile trip reports. HEL isn’t the most exciting city in Europe, the beauty in the Nordic countries is in the nature.
Tim, who are you? 🙂
Jeff,come on man, they are messing with you!
Sterile is a good word to describe…they all look the same to me, I don’t read them anymore. I feel like I have seen them so many times. I think he needs to add more…credit card posts, maybe go Top 40 all commercial:-)
Have a fun and safe trip. That’s a lot of hotel-hopping. But 11 out of 12 free nights is fabulous. We are enjoying our first free nights ever and I am just tickled that not only are they free, but we were upgraded! Had a terrific evening at the symphony in San Francisco; couldn’t have been nicer. Love the Budapest sunrise. Guess you’ll see the one in Detroit pretty soon. Happy trails!
Yeah, I agree about the hotel hopping, this is unusual for us. I may do a little adjustment in between if I can make it work out to take out the drive back to stay in the Canmore HI for just 1 night…it’s a little complicated:-)
Yeah, 11 out of 12 is not bad but still aiming to go 12 for 12! If not, do not forget I do have $350 in gift cards to offset the high pay room rate. And I think $500 in dining/breakfast certs will feed us well in the two Fairmonts. Plus, we always bring ramen noodles, it’s like a family tradition in every trip (TBB is more frugal than that Frugal Travel Guy, lol).
The routing back is nuts. Flying Air Canada and connecting in Toronto with several hours layover there!
This hobby can get VERY addictive once you start seeing the benefits, watch out, I am warning you:-)
Check out Gary’s correction of tpg on his high roller list. Also, hate to burst your bubble, but Alexa is not everything when it comes to links. It is only one of many tools companies use to measure a website. Have a great vacation!
Yes, very interesting exchange between GL and TPG, thanks. Two experts showing off me thinks:-)
I absolutely am aware of the mega limitations of Alexa. I just use it as a VERY General indicator of a site’s popularity! It can be gamed if you install the toolbar I hear. Still, as a general indicator, it is nice to see how far TBB has come and the improvement in the numbers is still steadily and gradually happening! I don’t know, it just makes me feel good and every time I say to retire this baby to regain my old life back…I look at the alexa numbers and immediately think “Dang it, you build this site and you are still getting better why chuck it all down now”. Or something like that:-)
Where is the exchange between TPG and GL happening? I’d hate to browse through their pages looking for this 🙂
Ganta: Can’t believe you are making me do this, pass a link full of affiliate links:-)
http://thepointsguy.com/2013/07/top-10-premium-credit-cards-for-high-rollers-or-those-who-think-they-are/
DOES ANYONE KNOW…………………………………………………..I would love to find a fairly current complete list of chart of the churnability and such timeframes of the more popular credit cards. Does anyone know if someone researched and published this? Grant, I know you read TBB daily, consider this a homework assignment.
This should get you up on Citi AA cards at least:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1475783-citi-aa-credit-cards-best-offers-now-50k-read-wikipost-first.html
Yeah, we do need an updated list with them different banks. As always, Chase is a bit elusive and only Dan at DansDeals has managed to get each card multiple times, the rest of us are just not worthy:-)
I think Grant may be a little busy with his forex trading;-)
BUZZ, THIS MADE ME LAUGH.
Grant | July 19, 2013 at 11:52 pm |
@Mad Fientist, I am assuming you have dabbled into put/call/spread/etc options (possibly futures/forex), do continue to use any of those strategies to hedge any of your risk or do you just monitor the index funds closely?
I would assume, from past experience, that if I were to do the exact opposite of what I have done in the past, I would have made some money…
Mad Fientist | July 20, 2013 at 9:28 am |
@Grant – Nope, I’ve not dabbled in any of that. I simply put as much money as I can into various index funds and then I just let them do their thing. Simple is often best when it comes to investing.
Wow, very funny and…very sad. I am shaking my head, the kid is clueless to get into this stuff. WTF!!!
Mad Fientist sounds to me he got his head straight, listen to him Grant!
Big boys eat Grants for breakfast every morning. Please stay away from this stuff, they are detrimental to your financial well being. Some people just never listen…
And on it goes…
I feel sorry a bit sorry for Grant. He’s one of those millennial college grads without a job, who came to the party too late. Were he a bit younger, he could have been getting spurious complaint vouchers and committing wire fraud by reusing them multiple times, then building a brand in soulless luxury travel for dipsh.t readers. As it is, he has affiliate links and a knack for awkward self-promotion. Buzz, you asked a while ago why he had some bizarre question about life insurance. He’s in some MLM scheme to sell life insurance, per Linkedin. It’s a bit sad.
I’ll call bullsh.t on that cheap/expensive airport list, insofar as it probably depends on where people are headed. People flying to Fresno and people flying to JFK are probably coming from different locations. The study, unfortunately, isn’t transparent.
The Delta app stinks. The AA app stinks. The United app is meh. The US Air app will probably stink, then it will go away. Their website already stinks.
Again, enjoy vacation. Have you calculated how much you saved by hotel hopping? I’m sure by the fifth hotel your wife and kids will be overjoyed at the $xxx or so saved!
I am sensing u may be getting a little angry…I like it:-)
Ahhh, the life insurance MLM scheme now makes sense. If there is one thing in life I absolutely despise is…MLM schemes. I had saved a great anti MLM article but can’t find it right now.
The airport list was at least amusing. These top 10 lists can be so subjective!
Right on about the apps!
Yeah I should sit down and run some price checks. I am sure it’s quite a nice sum! I think I am killing this one even more than my Amtrak/Santiago/Buenos Aires romp.
I am paying quite a bit for the mid size SUV…I ‘ll manage I guess.
Ok, last comment, taking off for the airport shortly.
Wish me bumps to kill it even more!!!
6 hotels in 12 nights and that’s a vacation? I’d hate to be one your brats.
Yeah, definitely more than I expected.
We are going for the two Fairmonts. Landing in YYC at 11.45 pm so 1 airport hotel is a must…so we have 3 so far. Got several comments to add Jasper, so I added a Pointbreaks hotel…so 4 hotels now. Messed up on the timing of certificates and adding the HI in between the two Fairmonts was not in the plan and I will look to do away with that. Then on the return to Calgary we decided to stay one night at the Country Inn which comes with a free 2nd night to at least get a little bit of sleep to catch the 4 am shuttle for the 6 am flight. Voila: 6 hotels w/ 5 distinct locations…
Never did more than two so this will be new—>adventure.
Ok, I am outtahere!
First2Bore = First2Shill
http://first2board.com/deals/emirates-announces-special-fares-from-usa/
Their “deals” aren’t just bad affiliate revenue pitches. They put what little credibility they have on the line by endorsing $1300 – $1544 airfares: “We think Emirates offers a fantastic product, and at this price is real value for money.”
So much for the claim that F2B ‘deals’ isn’t a blog, so shouldn’t be judged, it’s just an ad page or something like that. They editorially endorse bad deals, “We think….” Which F2B bloggers are “we” and should more of them be running for the exits?
@Anonymous: Don’t know what you’re on about, but I like to fly Emirates and these are good fares. We’re not all miles and points freaks and some of us do actually pay to travel. I appreciate sites like F2B sharing deals. They don’t all work, but many do.
And, I couldn’t give a sh!t if they make $3 off my click. Why do you care so much?
$1500 airfares are not deals worth raving about. And we know you’re actually one of the First2Bore folks — no actual reader would appreciate the ‘deals’ found on F2B since they have yet to post one that’s actually been good on that deals page. Not a single one.
Are you getting paid for it? Did you mention that?
I dont read your site and have not come to trust you, but if I did read you, I would no longer trust anything you promote.
My 2 cents: There are fares, good fares and deals. The Emirates fares may be good fares. People who don’t know much may actually think they are deals. There is a website who made a killing out of these people:-)
George: just because u r on vacation does not forgive your responsibility to your loyal readers. They will expect you to post at least once per day while gone and update your comments regularly.
And you call yourself a blogger? Slackard is more like it.
I’ll use your favorite word: “Disgusting”
I’m angry
Trying to be funny, Rick? Don’t be a douche.
Rick, We are old enough to handle a few days without TBB. Vacation is among the most important things in life. We create memories with out families that will last.
I am sitting here in my Fairmont suite after a session of whole body stretching with my daughter who wanted to show off what she learned in her 2 week dance camp. We are all tired and we haven’t done much at all. Son is not feeling well and he may have passed some germs to us. We are going to call it a night early and get up early and hit the free breakfast place:-)
I know Rick is kidding. I could have done something easy, say, like my Top 30 Pet Peeves about blogs that aggressively market but you know my credibility is my most important asset indeed:-)
I may update it tonight and recycle an earlier post or something. I have not even checked TBB email at all, I should.
This Banff Springs is a bit stuffy, only 2 nights here. There is SO MUCH to do in this area is completely overwhelming!!!
Screw it, will just take it slow.
Rick is never funny…neither are recalls, speeding tickets or ftg’s 30 days of hellish affiliate links.