ON MY MIND
I started doing a “rant” post by adding the titles of some credit card related posts (so many) I saw over the weekend and writing what’s on my mind. Well, it just got away from me as more and more keep coming. It’s insanity, pure and simple! And some practices totally disgust me…
I fly to Vegas tomorrow. It is 1.30 am Monday night and still not done with this Buzz post. I had a late start tonight after playing a soccer double header game…I am beat up.
Sorry I could not get to all the April 6 Buzz post comments. I will do so eventually.
Expect lighter posting schedule all this week.
I was contacted by Inside Flyer, they really liked one paragraph from my review and want to publish it in an upcoming magazine issue.
Looks like the move to WordPress will happen the weekend of May 18-20. Anyone know how to port over the pictures along with the text from Blogger to WordPress? I am going very light on pictures from now until the move.
I am not even editing this until tomorrow, need some sleep before packing!
MILES/POINTS
While we know of the Frequent Flyer University and Chicago Seminars events, Dan at DansDeals quietly managed to get 450 attendees at two seminars! Probably more suited to an advanced level of miles/points addicts.
Travel Summary has a guest post titled “Refinancing While Churning Credit Cards: 10 Lessons Learned“. Well, those 10 lessons were excellent, here they are:
- Even though signing up for credit cards is fun, it’s more important to stay on top of other aspects of your finances like your mortgage and retirement savings.
- The more money being financed, the more scrutiny there is. Mortgages are much more rigorous than credit cards. Car financing is somewhere in between (but much more like a credit card).
- Even with a high credit score, expect probing questions about recent shenanigans.
- Although recent inquires reduce your credit score in a minor way (3-5 points per inquiry in the short run) they do seem to cause concern in a mortgage scenario. That said, their concerns can be overcome if you’re open and honest about why you applied for new credit -and- you haven’t tapped into the new credit in a major way.
- American Express credit cards list their account open date for all cards the same as the first AmEx you get. So get an AmEx early and never cancel it. If needed, downgrade a fee card to a fee-free card and keep it in a drawer somewhere.
- Sign up for Credit Sesame and Credit Karma. They’re free, provide an accurate proxy of what your actual credit score is, and monitor your credit report.
- Avoid carrying high balances on credit cards, especially in the month or two before seeking new credit. Pay balances off before closing if necessary. Keep your overall credit card usage at any moment below 5% (or lower when you’re going for new credit). Credit Sesame and Credit Karma track this for you.
- Avoid carrying a lot of small balances across different accounts. If you want to use a card for its unique benefits, pay the balance off quickly.
- Avoid the temptation of going for airline miles as a benefit associated with financing/refinancing. For example, you can earn up to 50,000 United miles by refinancing through Chase. When I compared the rates and closing costs from Chase to what I could get through a mortgage broker, the cost savings of the broker offered were far more than the value of the United miles.
- Be on your best behavior for the entire duration of the refinance period. Take it easy on the Vanilla Reloads, don’t sign up for any new credit cards, and act like a normal credit user. You’re not in the clear until you close, and you don’t want to give the credit agency any reason to look at your account with a more critical eye than they need to. You don’t want to give them any reason to deny you credit.
Saverocity goes off on a fellow blogger The Wandering Aramean. Out of ALL the bloggers around you found Seth to rant on, are you serious? Seth has resisted the relentless credit card pimping and has put together a great roundup of techie tools to help the miles/points crowds. And most of it is free. I can’t believe it!
And your post again is way too long, try to limit the size as people’s attention span is just not that long these days. I liked your graph, way too many parties involved getting a cut!
Loyalty Lobby has done a comprehensive analysis of the most rewarding hotel loyalty program. I really liked the “Burning Points” segment. Winner: Club Carlson
TRAVEL
Doubletree has a video contest. Six winners will embark on a two-week to two-month adventure to one of six continents. I do not like to enter any contests that require any talent at all and/or are popularity contests since I really, trust me, have no chance of winning!
These guys will run 1,430 miles through the Gobi Desert. From the Adventure Blog. This is totally insane!! And you thought running marathons was tough? Yes I am talking to you Kathy at Will Run for miles;-)
Yomadic posted “Communist Architecture of Skopje, Macedonia“. Loved big and ugly communist architecture, what can I say?
The Man in Seat 61. Wow, this guy has built a massive resource about train travel! Bookmark material!
Hilarious pics of the Wandering Earl getting high on Qat in Yemen.
ODDZ & ENDZ
TIME’s Techland 50 Best Websites
10 Places You Must Have Sex Around the World in 2013 One is a hobbit hole, really? WTF!!!!
It’s been months but I finally made it back on TBB! Sadly it took a guest post to get here haha. Clearly I’m slipping…
Maybe you needed a nudge;-)
450 people in an NY seminar on Sunday and there should be another 300 tonight in round 2 in NJ.
The Avios flight from DTW to NYC today is on me if you’d like to attend and share your 2 cents.
Thanks for the offer. I am off to Vegas until May 13!
Replacing point addiction with gambling?
There’s at least one CVS on the strip, close to the mall!
From TBB: I am ANTI gambling. I just do not do it. I have been to Vegas several times…the only time I gambled when I got rid of my change:-)
thanks for the CVS info, do u know where exactly! Need to get my 6x AMEX Hilton points (my statement closes on May 9th)
Hey George,
Are you saying I can’t go off on someone because you like what they have done in the past? Is my point valid or not, based upon my long winded explanation?
Best,
Matt
I understand your complaint about WA leaving the link in the comments. I think you have a right to police and edit your own comments, and to clear of comments you perceive to be spam.
I would agree with an argument that WA is a lesser offender who contributes much more to the community than he takes away. Or maybe George has another point; I can’t speak for him.
Also, TCB is currently offering 7% on hotels.com, which beats WA’s link. I know George loathes TCB, but it has worked for me.
On the other hand, please, for Queen and country, be more succinct. I couldn’t get through that much text.
harvson3
That was exactly my point!
I did not have a good experience with TCB. I want to get something and not have to keep checking or escalate the issue to customer service. I never had a problem with ebates. I am not big in online shopping anyway.
What was your exactly your point? You said you ‘couldn’t believe’ I would have a go at Seth? I am having a go at the principle, not the person.
But if you want to open the person line of thinking, I think it is even more hypocritical when a person is portraying themselves as holier than thou, and in reality is doing exactly what they said someone shouldn’t.
Duly noted on length of posts guys, I will cut them down.
My advice to you is to focus on the length of your posts. Or summarize at the top. It’s hard work to say want you want in fewer words….
My point: Out of all bloggers you found this one to pick bones with?
Ok, let’s move on…
He criticized WA because it was WA that left the affiliate link in his comment to the original post.
By the way, I think Matt might have done more to highlight in the original post that all the hotel bonuses were coming from bonus/sign-up spending on the hotel cards, rather than from normal spending on hotel cards, which is generally foolish. I don’t think WA would have disagreed with that; I recall that WA objected and left near the same comment on Howie’s post at FTG on April 9th in which Howie proposed putting normal spending on hotel credit cards. (Seth was right; Howie was wrong.)
I think Matt has every right to censor someone trying to profit from his post.
My only qualification is that WA’s transgression is very minor compared to the constant, blaring transgressions happening with on other blogs.
harvson3
Nope, sorry, it was some other FTG post, not April 9th, which has now disappeared down the memory hole.
harvson3
I just read the article about the Wandering Aramean rant
It was the first and last time I’ll be visiting that Saverocity site
The blogger comes off as a whiny crybaby, likely trying to pick a trivial fight with someone relevant just to get attention to his blog
Seth did nothing wrong, and Saverocity loses all credibility when it edits and then misrepresents Seth’s quotes
Surprised you didn’t know about Seat61. If you’ve ever needed to take a train overseas, he’s the “go to” guy. The only problem with the site is that he probably likes trains more than you do. So when he says a train trip is “fantastic,” it’s probably only good. If he says its “enjoyable,” it’s probably only tolerable. I learned this lesson from following his advice in Thailand. Now I know what to expect, and it’s all good.
Meanwhile, there are few bloggers that I really want to know more about, but “DansDeals” is one of them. I guess I’m somewhat intrigued by this “religious Jew, mileage junkie” thing. It’s a different angle, and his blog is good enough that you don’t need to be in his target audience to make it worth reading (kind of like “MommyPoints”). So where’s Darius’ interview of Dan? 🙂
Yes I admit I did not know. What a fantastic resource. And thanks for the feedback on how he rates the train trips:-)
If Darius interviews Dan, we will at last have an interview with a renowned expert…One of these days mine will appear there…no time for it!
+1 to the idea of a Friday interview with Dan of DansDeals.
“no time for it”? I’m sure Dariaus is busy, but can make time. 😉
WT…. April 7th. So which one of us went on a month long bender and lost 30 days? 😀
This is not the first time I confuse May for April. WTF to me:-)
By the way, Daraius has some pushback on the LH card issue, stating that even those denied for the top card get 50K points for the lower card. Gary has a wait-and-see on this point. I’m tempted to side with Gary, but if Daraius is right, then the calculation shifts slightly. The foregone $2500 in required spending is worth at the very least $50; taking the non-affiliate route may be a worthwhile risk for some.
harvson3
I am following that…Darn Barclays Bank…Maybe it is better to skip the Lufthansa card all together to keep sanity intact. I plan to:-)
Buzz, Kudos to milevalue, you have to admit his Lufthansa piece today, is some dam good content.
Yeah, not bad, once in a while now there is some good content…when earlier it was every day;-)
I have 9 out of 10 of the places to have sex knocked off the list, Rabbit Hole was a blast.
So…which one was missing? 🙂
Number 10: “a woman’s vagina”
One of the more bizarre blog topics I’ve seen but, hey, at least it’s different. I don’t think I’ll partake of his advice, but if I’m in Reykjavik, and it’s nearby and inexpensive, I might pop into the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Where else are you going to see that?