Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as 25 money investing lessons, the great AI hype correction, why we have so many lawyer billboard ads, the tallest skyscrapers, the amazing 100k Capital One Venture X Card offer still standing, 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. Have a great weekend!
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
Hello from Newark, New Jersey heading back home to Michigan after a week in New York area for the holidays.
See you Tuesday for the second edition of the 2025 Annual Best of Lists collection.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The stock market is a giant distraction to the business of investing” – John Bogle
MUST READ GEMS
I read this awesome feel good story early on Christmas Day. If you want to feel good about humanity and good old America, this is it: The Boss Who Gave His Employees a $240 Million Gift. When Graham Walker sold his family’s Louisiana company, he made sure his 540 employees got a cut. When I sell my blog business I would gladly do the same! Lol.
And this is another gem: Oh, Go On. Read it all, it explains very well what some of us in the financial advisor world try to do. I like to say that we are in the behavior modification business. We try to get clients to the promised land by helping them avoid committing mistakes that can set them back for years along the way. Easier said than done. Because we are…human.
Most investors don’t fail because they’re wrong. They fail because they’re human. We show up to markets with emotion, ego, fear, and overconfidence. And a deep need for randomness to make sense…then we act surprised when those traits get punished? The market isn’t just a pricing machine. It’s a behavioral sorting mechanism. It transfers money from people who can’t manage themselves to people who can. Which is why good investing’s first principle is avoiding unforced errors. Or, more practically: increasing the odds that you won’t regret your decisions later.
Risk is uncertainty about whether you can actually live the life you want to live.
The reason I advocate for sensible, “boring” investing isn’t because upside doesn’t exist. It’s because tail risk dominates everything else. Most people don’t need heroics to live the life they want. They need durability. They need portfolios that survive bad luck, bad timing, and bad decisions — especially their own. When you start with, “What does a perfect day/life for my family actually look like?” the portfolio that follows is usually far more conservative than Wall Street wants to sell you. Not because it’s optimal on financial metrics — but because it avoids potentially ruining your life. [Amen!]
This is why we need structure, rules, and constraints.Being a pea-brained human is hard. We can’t find keys or phones. We can’t remember what we ate or where we were trying to go. Yet somehow we will pick the perfect stocks and own them for the perfect amount of time? Oh, go on. If we want to be good investors, we must work around how terribly we are wired to be so. [Added the bold font for emphasis. The hardest thing is to stick to them and this is where a good financial advisor comes through].
PERSONAL FINANCE
Another recap: What’s changing for retirement savers and retirees in 2026.
At least we have Jason Zweig at the Wall Street Journal still looking out for the small investors who are about to be bombarded with the next Wall Street “must have” fad, be careful out there: When Your Private Fund Turns $1 Into 60 Cents. As nontraded funds go public, the market is deciding they aren’t worth as much as managers say.
“…any asset is only worth what you can get someone else to pay you for it.” [Never forget that!]
Money is personal. And Jason Schroeder over at The Root of All Substack writes so eloquently about this. I am a subscriber by the way and highly recommend you subscribe as well. 25 Lessons on Money and Meaning. Some good reading below:
Money helps nurture the things that give you meaning
When we embark on that final, inescapable journey, we can’t take wealth with us
We regret what we didn’t do more than what we did
The pursuit of what’s easy often leads to a life marked by dissatisfaction
Very interesting visual here: Ranked Countries with the Lowest Government Debt to GDP Ratio. Not sure Macao counts…
CRYPTO/TECH/SCAMS
Singapore’s government has declared that fighting scams is a top national priority. It should be a top priority all over the world in my opinion. Anyway, if you are a scammer in Singapore your ass is going to hurt starting very soon: Singapore to punish scammers with up to 24 strokes of the cane from Dec 30.
AI
Really good take on the subject: The Great AI Hype Correction of 2025. We are definitely seeing signs of it happening this year. And…
When the wow factor is gone, what’s left? How will we view this technology a year or five from now? Will we think it was worth the colossal costs, both financial and environmental?
I think we don’t know. And…
But the hype was never sustainable—and that’s a good thing. We now have a chance to reset expectations and see this technology for what it really is—assess its true capabilities, understand its flaws, and take the time to learn how to apply it in valuable (and beneficial) ways. “We’re still trying to figure out how to invoke certain behaviors from this insanely high-dimensional black box of information and skills,” says Benaich.
And, like I said…
This hype correction was long overdue. But know that AI isn’t going anywhere. We don’t even fully understand what we’ve built so far, let alone what’s coming next.
And always diversify!
This is hilarious. Athropic gave an AI vending machine to Wall Street Journal staff to test it and…you won’t believe what happened next. Actually, I am not surprised at all: We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars. Anthropic’s Claude ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI agents.
ODDZ & ENDZ
I swear driving around Michigan every billboard is being used by a lawyer. We used to have marijuana related billboards but those have evaporated (pun intended). I always wondered how come all these lawyers pay for these, it can’t be cheap. Well, after reading this article you will no longer wonder about this: Why lawyers buy so many billboards. But first, the shocking numbers:
Love this: Freakpages. You are welcome. This definitely belongs in the Oddz & Endz section lol.
Freakpages is a community-curated directory of esoteric articles across the internet, primarily from Wikipedia. Here, we encourage you to learn about interesting topics you have never heard of.
As our families have been impacted by the hurtful jaws of addiction as well, I can’t get the Reiners off my mind lately. Maybe this article is too much, you have been warned. I feel this tragedy deeply: These Parents Understand the Reiner Story All Too Well. Parents of addicts face an impossible choice: Offer help and risk enabling their child’s behavior, or sever ties and maybe lose them forever. Which leads to this sad impossible predicament:
If the Reiners, with all their money, connections, effort and love, couldn’t successfully help their son—or protect themselves—what can any parent do?
Ok, heavy stuff here. Why don’t we atone by just watching a tire roll down a mountain. And roll and roll and roll, the mother of all rolls: World Record Tyre Throw?
TRAVEL
I recently stayed in the #2 skyscraper on this list: The Tallest Skyscrapers in the World, and the Colossus Still Rising. Which happened to be the Kuala Lumpur Park Hyatt. For free using World of Hyatt points of course. Because this is what I do 🙂
I have enjoyed my flights out of Flint and Lansing in Michigan and Toledo, Ohio at their small airports. Not sure how many of the flights I took are still operating in those airports though. But still, it’s nice to get on the plane shortly after parking (usually for free) the car: America’s Tiny Airports and the People Who Love Them. Small-airport devotees brag about cheap parking, minimal TSA waits and friendly employees.
Very interesting list: These Are the Cheapest Places to Fly From Every U.S. State. Or, in other words, this is why we need Spirit Airlines to survive:
Airport: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
- Domestic: Tampa, FL — $50
- International: Cancún, Mexico — $157
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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.
Actually, this is not a bad summary of this hobby: Miles & Points: The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times. Sure, just be aware that the author sells lots of credit cards for the banks and has become very rich from this “hobby” big business.
It is no secret that the airlines have made it so much more difficult to find award seats lately. This can help and good luck! Trying to Use Your Miles? The Best Websites for Finding Award Availability.
Nice summary all about the Chase Sapphire Airport Lounges: Where to Find Them & How to Get In. Nobody doubts that these lounges are great. But the Chase Sapphire Reserve has missed the mark and Chase is not expanding lounge locations at any meaningful pace. And never forget you get one free entry per year PER Priority Pass membership.
The aviation YouTuber Sam Chui was called out recently for getting paid by the airlines and he felt he needed to respond. Also, no more flight reviews, say what? An Honest Update From Me – Life, Aviation & What’s Next?
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
Sign #235 the refresh of the Chase Sapphire Reserve has just not gone well: Reports Of $400 Retention Offers On The Chase Sapphire Reserve. So do I call months before it renews to try to score me $400 and then proceed to close it at anniversary? 🙂
Wife, son and daughter applied for the 100k Capital One Venture X card this month and were all approved. Details in the MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING section below.
I added expiration dates on the 30k CHASE Freedom Unlimited and $250 CHASE Amazon Prime cards. Rest is the same, sorry.
NEW OFFERS:
30k CHASE Freedom Unlimited: No annual fee. Minimum spend only $500 in the first three months. Marketed as $300 Cash Back but you actually get 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This card earns 1.5x on everything, 5x on travel booked at the Chase travel portal, 3x on dining and drugstores, 2x on Lyft. 0% APR on purchases during the first 15 months of card membership. If you have an Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Reserve for Business you can and you should transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points out to airline and hotel partners (ENDS 1/8/2026).
With the new Chase card reality, be aware that you can still get the signup bonus if you have not received a bonus on this card alone in the past 24 months. And of course you won’t get the signup bonus if you currently have this card. Which means you can still get the signup bonus even if you have another Sapphire or Freedom type card. Look, we know that 30k offers should not even move the needle at all. But for some strange reason this card’s highest signup bonus offer has been only 20,000 points so it may be the time to secure a 1.5x catch all Chase card going forward. If you have no Chase Ink Unlimited cards in your arsenal.
EXPIRING OFFERS:
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.
125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve/200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business
Chase raised the Signup Bonus to 125,000 from 100,000 points. The minimum spend is $5k in the first three months. As with all cards, you know what to do to help the blog, thank you. You can read a lot more about the Sapphire Reserve cards HERE.
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus: Earn a $2,000 cash bonus when you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months. Earn an additional $2,000 bonus for every $500,000 spent in the first year. To learn more about the card read this.
100k CAPITAL ONE Venture X: 100,000 points after $10k minimum spend in first six months. $395 annual fee less $300 travel credit less $100 (for 10,000 points on each anniversary). The card that still pays you $5 to carry it in your wallet. It was the #1 card offer at 75,000 so now it is offered for 100,000. See detailed description below. Click on the link, it takes you straight to the application, the only bank I am allowed to link directly to my affiliate links, thanks for your support.
200k/400k CAPITAL ONE Venture X Business: Almost identical as the personal Venture X. But higher signup bonuses and higher minimum spend requirements. 200k points for $30k spend in first three months and a whopping 400k points for an equally whopping $150k spend in the first six months. Click on the link, it takes you straight to the application, the only bank I am allowed to link directly to my affiliate links, thanks for your support.
$250k Chase Amazon Prime Visa: At $250 gift card, it is the highest signup bonus. No minimum spend. No annual fee. Requires Amazon Prime membership. Earns 5% on Amazon, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. Even earns 5% on travel purchases at the Chase travel portal. 2% on gas, restaurants and local transit and commuting. 1% on everything else. Earns 10% Prime bonus on rotating Amazon products and categories. No foreign transaction fees (ENDS 1/8/2026).
New card: CITI AAdvantage Globe Card Launches With 90,000 Points Bonus ($350 Fee). The minimum spend to earn the 90,000 AA miles is $5,000 within the first 4 months of account opening. The card earns 6x on AAdvantage Hotel bookings, 3x on AA purchases, 2x on restaurants, 2x on rides and rails and 1x on everything else. First checked bag free and preferred boarding. AA companion certificate (after the first year) for $99 plus fees and taxes. $240 credit on Turo at $30 per quarter, $100 credit on inflight purchases, $100 credit on Splurge (up to two merchants from 1st Dibs, eligible AAdvantage Hotels, Future Personal Training, or Live Nation). 4 Admirals Club lounge passes every year. $120 Global Entry/TSAPreCheck every four years. No foreign transaction fees
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. (TEMPORARILY DOWN)
American Express just came in with elevated offers on all four Hilton Honors cards, they all END 1/14/2026:
– Honors: 100,000 points after $2,000 spend in six months
– Surpass: 155,000 points after $3,000 spend in six months
– Aspire: 175,000 points after $6,000 spend in six months
– Business: 175,000 points after $8,000 spend in six months
And Chase just elevated this offer:
Chase Marriott Boundless 125,000 Points + Free Night Certificate (up to 50,000 points) after $3,000 in six months
30k CHASE United Gateway
One of my favorite no annual fee keeper cards. Just $1k minimum spend in the first three months. Earns 2x on United purchases, gas stations, local transit and commuting, 1x on everything else. You get expanded award availability and 2 free checked bags after $10k spend in a calendar year. 25% off in in-flight purchases. No foreign transaction fees. Many spend based promos with this card from personal experience.
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Business Card $1,000 Signup Bonus With $10,000 Spend
The card has its annual $95 fee WAIVED for the first year. No annoying credits to deal with, it just earns 2 points everywhere. And you can earn 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal too. And when you have a Capital One Venture X or the Venture card above, the $1,000 can be turned into 100,000 miles.
CITI Strata No Annual Fee 30,000 Thank You points
CHASE Aeroplan 100k Bonus Points. $95 annual fee. 75k points for $4k spend in 3 months. Additional 25k points for $20k total spend in 12 months.
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BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
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Elevated Card Offer Notifications
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
I flew United from Detroit to Newark, NJ last week and almost scored $3,000 world of free United flights. So so close but no cigar.
Newark EWR airport could use some Priority Pass lounges. Like Chicago O’Hare ORD.
As planned, my daughter applied and was approved for the 100k Capital One Venture X card. I need to help her on that $10k minimum spend in the first six months requirement to earn the 100k Signup Bonus. She is all set up on her account online and app. And soon will shift to her the Discover card I have been handling for her since age 18. Same thing I did for her brother. Both kids are now in their second bank ecosystem in addition to Chase (son is in his third, he has had the personal Amex Platinum for a while). So, this month of December wife and kids all applied and were approved for the 100k Capital One Venture X card. I have a feeling the 100k Signup Bonus will not last much longer #hint. All of us now plan to keep this card as it pays for itself. I guess a reaction to the end of the Chase Ink train, sad.
With wife’s 100k from her new Capital One Venture X card in already, I am up to again over 4 million miles/points in the bank. And another 200k coming from the same card for son and daughter. Not a bad way to end 2025 actually. And these cards will be a keeper and let’s see when Capital One raises its annual fee, hopefully with some easy credits if it decides to go down that path.
I really enjoyed the movie The Housemaid. And I walked out not even midway during Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, which I almost never do, yeah it was THAT bad.
Spent Christmas with family over at Brooklyn and New Jersey. Full of dim sum and bagels again (New York bagels are the best). I am back in Michigan and getting ready for another tax season. And getting my blog to…profitability in 2026. Ok, I am laughing about that last one, I guess my blog entertains myself lol. I am actually shocked my second credit card vendor has not kicked me to the curb for “low sales volume” yet!
I DO have a separate page listing my affiliate links HERE for: 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.
October:
Credit card sales: 7 Buy me a Coffee sales: 12
November:
Credit card sales: 4 Buy me a Coffee sales: 19
December to date:
Credit card sales: 2 Buy me a Coffee sales: 19
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 100k CITI Strata Elite, 175k AMEX Platinum, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 200k/400k CAPITAL ONE Venture X Business, 200k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE Freedom Unlimited (ENDS 1/15/2026), 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 100k CHASE Air Canada Aeroplan, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 1,856,248 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,018,314 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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Hey Buzz-
I’ll have to increase my workout regime so I can live long enough to get thru that Freakshow site. And the tire throw makes me think maybe AI will be productive after all.
Good morning! Wonderful links again.
Hope you make your goals in the next year!
Good stuff for the next couple days of reading! I hope your Christmas was wonderful! Thanks as always for the hard work you do making these posts! Happy New Year!
Well, never got out of phucking Newark EWR. United flight is canceled, managed to get on standby on earlier flight last night…which is still showing. And I am #2 on the standby list on the small 70 seat capacity jet. Nothing at all to Detroit today and tomorrow…phuuuuuuck, only standbys and can’t be on two standby lists at the same time. And familia all left to go skiing.
United club by gate 123 Terminal C is really nice though, finally got to use a lounge pass.
Agent here in the lounge tried to rebook me and in the process somehow left me booked on a flight to Cleveland tomorrow, arrrgh. I can’t wait to get home and settle down. Pray for TBB to get on this 4 pm flight.
It’s been an amazing run lasting several years but… my points and miles unicorn died. RIP. Time to find a new one, if I can.
Did you see what happened in precious metals yesterday? Silver up 11%, platinum 12%, palladium 14%. Interesting times…
Sorry to read this that your unicorn died. Had one myself that lasted a couple years but it died 4-5 years ago. Haven’t found another and now not as interested. Sorry for your loss, though! Not sure what to make of the precious metals market as of late but I *think* it has to do with lots of people thinking that bad times are coming.
RIP to the few unicorns left.
Precious metals? I expect the unexpected short term 🙂
I have a story about my flight back from Newark to Detroit. Weather got the best of me again, spent overnight in Chicago O’Hare! I will add my story as a comment and link to it on Friday post.
I have a Best of 2025 Lists edition #2 coming out this Tuesday. And edition #3 is 90% ready, just need one more link.
Is there anything more deflating than getting not one but two emails informing me of subscribers unsubscribing on the same day? 🙁
No