Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as how the new ETFs mostly suck, state of AI, the collapse of knowledge system, the 25 best islands, new Sapphire Cards, the growing millionaire class, 1,000 ChatGPT prompts, the importance of foreign students in the US, rare earth elements, visit parks around the world for one minute, 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. 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.
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
PERSONAL FINANCE
There are so many gimmicky new ETFs coming out all the time. Most do not make it while they all hope they catch a certain buzz and haul in enough assets to survive and sometimes prosper. So, Investors, Be Careful When Buying New ETFs. A growing number of exchange-traded funds look questionable—if not downright dangerous.
Other ETFs, such as those focused on cryptocurrencies, niche themes, and single stocks, raise big red flags. Many exploit investors’ worst emotional tendencies to gamble on a potentially big payoff. The providers creating these ETFs are playing the same game. They’re blasting a swath of speculative ETFs onto exchanges and betting that one or two perform well and become wildly popular. One or two big hits would be more than enough to justify the costs and effort of launching a bunch of duds.
I admit I thought this number was lower: About six in 10 Americans report that they have money invested in a retirement savings plan such as a 401(k), 403(b) or individual retirement account (IRA), either alone or jointly with a spouse.
Ownership varies most by household income, followed by education and age.
- Eighty-three percent of adults with at least $100,000 in annual household income have a retirement savings plan, 55 percentage points higher than the rate among those in households earning less than $50,000 (28%).
- Similarly, 81% of college graduates versus 39% of adults with no college education have a retirement savings plan.
- The rate jumps from 39% among adults aged 18 to 29 to 63% among those aged 30 to 49 and 70% among those aged 50 to 64. It remains high, at 62%, for those aged 65 and older.
There is also a sizable gap by race/ethnicity, with 68% of non-Hispanic White adults having a retirement savings plan versus 42% of people of color. There is little difference by gender.
Everyone still bitching while we have experienced The insane growth of America’s millionaire class. More than 22 million households have a net worth of over $1 Million in the US, one out of every six. This number includes housing. It is 15 million households after excluding housing. Some fascinating stats and graphics in this article, enjoy.
In 1983, the US had 2.4m households with a net worth of at least $1m in 1995 dollars — 2.9% of all US households.
In 2016, the US had 9.1m households worth at least $1m in 1995 dollars — 7.2% of all US households.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Mary Meeker back in the crazy internet go go days used to come out every year with a state of the internet report. With amazing Powerpoint slides. Last we heard from her was back in 2019. She is back! And throws down 340 amazing slides and it’s all about AI baby. Have fun going through them, I did. Well, I am about half way through, 340 is a lot!
There is a prompt in this link for you I am sure: 1,000 Chat GPT Prompts.
My wife got one and she showed it to me and I must admit the scammer did an amazing job, be careful out there: Michigan doesn’t have a DMV or toll roads; they’re not texting you about unpaid tickets.
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ODDZ & ENDZ
If you are going to read one article today, make it this one: The Ten Warning Signs. The author believes that we are experiencing a massive cultural shift and gives it an alarming and disturbing name: The Collapse of the Knowledge System. And I sadly agree, please read in its entirety…as all these are happening at the same time:
As a former foreign college student in the US, I am appalled of what is happening all over the country that is leading many students to choose elsewhere. Not talking about the human element and huge beneficial returns back to the US over the long term alone. It just makes no economic sense either: NAFSA International Student Economic Value Tool.
NAFSA’s latest analysis finds that international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $43.8 billion and supported 378,175 jobs to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Well, these are in the news lately: What the hell are rare earth elements? …
Amazing photography: The Funniest Photos So Far in the 2025 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. Not posting the best photo here because I don’t want to get sued and taken out of business.
TRAVEL
One Minute Park. Exactly what it says, must click if you want to relax.
Which one is your favorite? 25 Best Islands to Visit Around the World. Nice to see so many from Greece and Thailand.
Oh no, better hurry up: Soviet-era gas crater ‘Door to Hell’ is finally dying down after 50 years of burning. In Turkmenistan. The Darvaza gas crater has been burning since 1971, when Soviet scientists accidentally hit a gas pocket and set it alight.
RIP to Silver Airways, suddenly calling it quits. When you can’t even come out of bankruptcy…it is evident that everyone is better off without you in the air. Good luck to the employees out of a job.
Another Thailand related video, an update with this guy we met some time ago with one of the most amazing life stories (retold in the first 20 minutes of the video for new viewers). So happy to see he got his kidney transplant and is going great: American’s Thai Family Stole His House and Land (Big Update 2025).
Traveled drove to Detroit to finally visit the Selden Standard restaurant for an early Father’s Day celebration. The squid/octopus dish was amazingly delicious. No Santa Claus references please. You bet we got 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the gourmet fat bill lol.
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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…
Thanks to blog reader Sam for sending this one in. So many articles lately about this formerly weird hobby: The Move Towards One Rewards Plan for All Your Travel. Notwithstanding the expansion of the Avios currency to different airlines, I am just not seeing this go anywhere. But no worries, there will always be companies that take money from deep pockets, looking at you Bilt taking Wells Fargo for a ride. And good luck to startup Rove, you’ll need it.
And another one from the mainstream press. This one is all about Hilton’s brand, the one and only Hampton Inn. American Mid: Hampton Inn’s Good-Enough Formula for World Domination. Yeah, when you hear “Hampton Inn” the word Mid sure comes out lol. I guess waffle makers are a big draw smh. No doubt it is a dependable brand, you just know what you will get. I prefer Hyatt Place when mid comes to mind though. If I could get even a mid bang for my Hilton Points on a Hampton Inn I would certainly consider it more often. But I save my Hilton points for aspirational stays that go for 150,000 Hilton Honors per night. Oops, excuse me, make that 200,000 points per night now.
Decent World of Hyatt promo to earn up to 16,000 bonus points, register HERE.
Good promo to unlock up to 2 free nights by Wyndham Rewards, register HERE.
For the best weekly summary of all things miles and points, the weekly Thursday video on Traveling on Everyday Spend is the most comprehensive take. With my blog and his video we save you so much time! I have become a member to support and encourage him to carry on #hint.
Is there anyone who does not have a Rakuten account yet? Anyway, if you are on the last remaining holdouts, here is my referral link, we both get free stuff we probably don’t need and, you know, it is better when it is free lol. Interesting story: Why my Rakuten account was shut down (and then resurrected).
My daughter passed through the Amex Centurion lounge at SFO, here is the video walk through. And…about a week after that it closed, see the note in the description. Click Like and Subscribe, trying to get past 67 subscribers lol.
Another devaluation, hits keep on coming. This one does not really affect most of us but still: Goodbye To American’s Fixed Upgrade Award Charts, Hello Dynamic Instant Upgrade Awards.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
The Chase Sapphire card changes are almost here, all the rumors and blog posts and videos were getting extremely annoying: Rumors Confirmed: Sapphire Reserve Business & Personal Card Refresh Coming. Per MEAB‘s anonymous trustworthy source:
The changes will be officially announced with details on June 17, and the program will switch on June 21 which gives you a few days to decide whether to exist under the old or the new program. Apparently significant parts the old program will be grandfathered for a significant amount of time for existing card holders.
Oh, wait…for the latest rumor, I guess the new benefits will go live on June 20. Oh, what to do, what to do. So many card signup bonuses, so little time few slots open. You could have skipped every single post about the Sapphire Reserve changes until the official announcement. Or maybe you want to start preparing for them new Sapphire Reserve cards.
Good addition, saves a phone call: Chase Now Allows Self-Service Moving Credit Line From One Card to Another.
You know I was never a Bilt fan. And this company just continues going down. I remember blogs mentioning that the latest Rent Day promo was good not only for the first day of the month but also for the second day. At the time I thought that was so unlike Bilt and I had a thought that maybe, just maybe, they are trying to improve and it would be so Bilt like if they screwed members for doing the promotional transfers on the second day of the month. And, yep, here we go, not surprised at all: (Update) Bilt Rent Day for June: Up to 200% transfer bonus to Accor Live Limitless (ALL).
Oh boy, I guess this is not surprising: Coinbase One Card to Earn up to 4% ‘Cashback’ Everywhere. I am staying away from this one for obvious reasons.
NEW OFFERS:
We have several new offers:
Brand new offer is the CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash business card. Signup Bonus is $1,500 Cash Back once you spend $15,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. The signup bonus has doubled since last time. The annual fee is $95 but it is waived for the first year. Card earns a flat 2% cash back on everything and it is unlimited, it can’t get simpler than this. And it also earns 5% on hotels and rental cars booked at the Capital One travel portal. And if you have a Capital One card that earns miles you can indeed transfer these points out to partner airlines and hotels and could should get more bang. After the minimum spend is done you will have $1,800 cash back or 180,000 miles to transfer to travel partners. No foreign transaction fees. Cell phone protection up to $800 per claim after a $50 deductible.
Another round of new Hilton credit card offers without any Free Night certs at this go round. Other changes are that both Aspire and Business cards went up to 175k points, the Surpass card has the annual fee waived in the first year and the no annual fee card is now offering 100k points AND a $100 statement credit for only $2k spend. All offers now give you 6 months to meet the minimum spend which I think is a true enhancement and hope it sticks around:
- Hilton Honors Card (no annual fee) – Earn 100,000 Bonus Points and a $100 Statement Credit after spending $2,000 in the first six months of Card Membership.
- Hilton Honors Surpass Card ($150 waived annual fee) – Earn 130,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Plus enjoy $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150.
- Hilton Honors Aspire Card ($550 annual fee) – Earn 175,000 Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in the first 6 months of Card Membership. (This card also comes with a free night certificate as standard.)
- Hilton Honors Business Card ($195 annual fee) – 175,000: Earn 150,000 Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Earn an extra 25,000 Points after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first 6 months of Card Membership.
EXPIRING OFFERS:
The best offer is the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card offering 5 free nights (up to 50,000 points each). The annual fee is $95 and the minimum spend is $5k in three months. Note that the free night certs expire in one year and they can be topped with 15,000 points per night. Read all the details about this offer and the card HERE. I have no affiliate link for this card, thank you in advance for showing an interest to apply to help this blog. This offer expires 7/16/25. I am no fan of the Marriott Bonvoy program. But, you know, this can be a free 5 night vacation, just like the IHG One Rewards Premier card offer below. Question: I believe there is a Marriott property at Machu Picchu, can a reader identify that property and whether this card will cover a stay there with this card offer? Thank you.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
#1 OFFER STILL PAYS FOR ITSELF:
The 75K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has a minimum spend of $4k in the first three months. If you like simplicity and looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with an easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its own travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait, there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add four authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership and, this is BIG, they can bring in unlimited guests with their FREE Priority Pass card! You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car top elite status. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points each. And lots more. If you prefer, this is my personal referral link.
MAJOR UPDATE: That amazing free ride accessing all the Capital One and Priority Pass airline lounges is over. Basically, no more free lounge visits other than primary cardholders effective 2/1/2026, please see details HERE.
Here are my three TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
The 75k Capital One Venture X card.
The 75k Chase Ink Business Unlimited card.
The 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash card.
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
Would you like to be automatically notified every time a card comes out with (or is about to remove) an elevated welcome offer? If yes, I highly encourage you to sign up if you haven’t yet. And when you apply for a credit card from a link in these emails you help support the blog.
Elevated Card Offer Notifications
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
There is a lot going on, fasten your seat belts, here we go:
I have two big family trips to Greece and Thailand I am slowly working on. And pieces are coming together. Since last week I burned:
50,000 World of Hyatt points for 10 nights at the new Hyatt Place Sukhumvit 1 in Bangkok, Thailand
36,000 World of Hyatt points for 3 nights at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok, Thailand with confirmed suite upgrade cert
80,000 United miles for business class ticket from Detroit to Thessaloniki, Greece via Newark and Brussels flying United Polaris and Aegean
60,000 Alaska Airlines miles for RT from Seattle to Bangkok flying Starlux via Taipei and Qatar via Doha
Some notes on the burning spree above: I may adjust the nights at that new Hyatt Place in Bangkok since I don’t have my airfare itinerary set yet. I intend to just walk over to the Bumrungrad International Hospital to do lots of testing/screening. And of course it gets me closer to requalifying as World of Hyatt Globalist elite. I pick up my daughter from the airport and we are heading to enjoy three nights in a nice suite at the Grand Hyatt Erawan before we head to the Koh Samui Hyatt Regency. This will be our second straight year to spend Thanksgiving in Thailand #winning. Got plenty of Alaska Airlines miles and the itinerary fit perfectly to burn 60k to fly daughter to Thailand for a week before she returns to work in Seattle. And she gets to fly two very nice airlines, Starlux and Qatar. Admittedly, it is in economy. But she is young and can take a little bit of suffering for another free ticket from dad. Ok, I paid to get her an exit row seat in the Qatar flight.
The tickets to Greece are coming along much slower. United saver award availability is not bad…at first glance. Lufthansa and Swiss business class seats show up. And every single time I clicked on them I get the dreaded error message that the seats are no longer available. On the web and the app. Then I called and same result. I complained. I got 2,500 United miles. So, I gave up and just got me a placeholder ticket flying economy from Detroit to dreaded Newark, then finally a United Polaris business seat to Brussels and back to economy on Aegean to Thessaloniki. I will look to improve on this.
Many more tickets to do…I am prioritizing convenience over bang these days. No more too much energy to spend as little cash as possible. Maybe this is a sign of aging? Or just too many devaluating miles in the bank? Or both.
Wife added daughter as an authorized user to her United Explorer card for an easy 5,000 United miles. No spend requirement. This is a layup move.
I am close to hitting $10k spend year to date on my no annual fee United Gateway card. When that happens you get the improved award availability for the rest of this year AND all of the next calendar year. I may keep it and just close the United Business card I got when that first annual fee hits next year. This Gateway card just keeps coming up with fairly easy and lucrative targeted spend promos.
Breaking: Looks like milesfeed.com is down and out? Can you recall the other aggregator and let me know please. I had to add most of the blogs I kept track of with Milesfeed back to my Feedly account and all the duplicate low quality clickbait crap coming from Boarding Area are triggering me.
Ideas for Thailand: I need to look into booking airfare to Koh Samui from/to Bangkok. I know Bangkok Airways has a monopoly pretty much and I have seen posts about how unique the flying experience is with this airline. Any tips are welcome. I may burn my Capital One miles buying these tickets, we shall see. After five nights in Koh Samui that I have booked so far (three at the Hyatt Regency and 2 at the Conrad) we return to Bangkok. Without daughter, we have another week or so left before we return to Detroit. Thinking maybe…we go to Vietnam? Everyone raves about the Saigon Park Hyatt there and do have another suite upgrade cert to burn. But I am guessing it would be harder to find award business class seats back to Detroit from Saigon compared to Bangkok. Maybe go to the Andaz in Pattaya? My wife loves Andaz hotels, I don’t really care much for them. And Pattaya is probably not anywhere near the best destination for couples lol. Maybe we knock out Chiang Mai which I don’t think has any Hyatt hotels and I am always looking for more of them to hit 60 elite night credits to requalify for World of Hyatt Globalist status. At last count, with projected Hyatt stays, I am going to be at 44 elite nights.
Chatty Capital One rep told me “many have more than two Capital One credit cards” after discussing how I could possibly get me one more Capital One card after recently getting my second one (75k Venture Rewards card.) We chatted more about the Venture X changes, the differences between the two Venture X cards, new rules, etc. I am sensing this bank really wants me lol. Especially after I hinted I am looking for a new business card for my “high” business spend. She became more eager when I mentioned “more than 75k business spend”. It was a very, well, unique conversation to say the least.
I am trying to eat less carbohydrates lately to help with the feet nerve issues I have. So, this means less movies. Because…watching a movie without popcorn is like a morning without coffee for me lol. Not that there have been any must watch new movies lately…
Wonderful video if you are a fan of the World Cup: Every FIFA Men’s World Cup Trophy lift from 1930 to 2022. And what the hell is wrong with the USA men’s team? Bring back Berhalter to save the sinking ship me thinks.
After losing Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, we lost another one: Nitzer Ebb Frontman Douglas McCarthy Dead at 58. Frankly, I am shocked this wild dude lived so long and thanks for the tunes and the crazy concerts back in the 80s and 90s.
I don’t do clickbait posts around here. So many airline aviation experts telling us what went wrong with the Air India Dreamliner crash and how tragic it all is, it is nauseating. All I am going to say here is how shocking it is to see a survivor walk away in one piece.
As I was putting the finishing touches in this post I saw Israel attacked Iran. I no longer have a Geopolitics section. If I did, well, it would be dominated by this latest development.
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 150k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 150k AMEX Business Platinum AND $500 statement credit, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 5 Free Nights CHASE IHG One Rewards Premier, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, 90k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 120k CHASE IHG One Rewards Traveler, 80k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 625,648 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,519,810 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.
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Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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Pointsbuzz is the other aggregator
Yes, that is the one, thank you.
I added it to replace milesfeed…for now. These guys still show Million Miles Secrets/Frequent Flier/Pointscentric, sites that died many years ago.
If there is a tech entrepreneur to put something like this together that would be great imho.
Anyone know what happened to the guy behind milesfeed?
Sounds like you have a lot of fabulous travel plans in the works. GH Erawan, have to say they have probably the best lounge staff I have encountered. Not a fan of the room though. PH Saigon, we loved that place, the best ricotta pancakes with honeycomb for brekky. Beds are hard so ask for a topper. Best activity we did was a city tour on the back of a Vespa. Gave us a better sense of traffic. We are big Andaz Pattaya fans, but we are the type to stay on property, go to the gym, have spa treatments daily and the food there is fabulous. Check out the FT thread and you will see someone had a rodent in their room recently. That would have had me in hysterics. Re the HP near Bumrungrand, there is a lady in the street who does fabulous banana rotis. Good job on being proactive and getting those tests done. We will be there in October and doing the same. Now you have me wishing we were going next week.
Back of a Vespa in Saigon sounds dangerous 🙂
Not sure I can take so much relaxation to tag on the Andaz Pattaya after coming from the Conrad and Hyatt Regency in Koh Samui and before that the GH Erawan 🙂 Have time to figure things out. Oh, a rodent…that may just seal it and leave it for another visit.
Thanks for the banana roti lady suggestion. I need to do more research on visiting Bumrungrand and what to do while there. Will be there in mid November by the way.
Good morning!
Thanks for all the great links. One of the most interesting aspects of the change
that Chase is making to the Sapphire Reserve is the (possible) upgrade
of the value of UR points on the travel portal. If it value moves from the current 1.5x UR
to 2.25x UR (I’ve seen that as a temporary number) then the value of Freedom Flex / Ink Cash will jump up.
I have a strong feeling that you are being very optimistic. My gut feeling is that the easy $300 travel credit won’t survive the coming changes next week. And, more importantly, that 1.5 SR/1.25 SP cash out of UR points in the Chase travel portal is in jeopardy as well…and it may go down to 1/25/1.00, hope I am wrong.
You may be confusing this due to the fact that Chase is running VERY targeted promos with very limited opportunities to do that 2.25x thingie. I see those the same way Delta is marking the Flash sales. Very short term and very targeted and before you discover them…they are all gone.
We’ll find out next week.
Thanks for all the good reading! As per usual, it is going to take me a couple days to get through it all. I hope your feet problems continue to improve. I am battling similar plus a sinus infection that seems to be trying to spread to my eyes somehow. One doctor Wednesday and next week another one. It’s no fun getting old(er).
I’ve been to Vietnam (Saigon & Hanoi) and had a blast. That was about 10 years ago so I am sure the experience is even better. I have not been to Thailand though and know basically nothing much about it. I am surprised though you can stay 10 nights in Bangkok for 50k Hyatt points, if I read you right. Is most of Thailand fairly inexpensive? Can’t walk long distances anymore and am not a beach person, either. What’s the best time of the year there versus rainy seasons? I’d love some ideas since apparently I can get there fairly easy from SEA.
Stay healthy and have fun!
Sinus infection…spreading to eyes. Make sure it has nothing to do with shingles asap.
I am becoming a Thailand expert, fell in love with the place. Yes, brand new HP Cat 1 at 5k points per night. There is another one I stayed last year, same bang in the Phrom Phong area. I think that one is not throwing the amazing free breakfast to Globalists anymore though.
Yes, Thailand compared to the West is much more affordable. It has gotten more expensive lately and expats/tourists seem to be preferring Vietnam and Malaysia lately a lot more.
Best time of the year is mid/late November to end of January. When it is considered high season and the weather is pleasant. Translated: It is not hot as hell.
Yes, very easy from Seattle. Learned that with daughter, both times was very easy. From Detroit on the other hand…
Bangkok is a huge megacity, 16 million people. Fantastic infrastructure. Hellish traffic but amazing public transportation. And Grab, the SE Asian version of Uber is fantastic. Lodging is very cheap as well, can easily hit Globalist 🙂
Bangkok has so much to explore. Maybe one day I retire there, buy a magnificent penthouse after I sell TBB for millions and then invite over all the blog readers who supported this “venture” over the years and host you guys. And maybe I start doing Bangkok walking tours. We start first at the temples of Nana and Soi Cowboy. LOL. Google it, I could not help myself.
Oh, Thailand is super safe.
Gotta run….well, crawl is more appropriate these days.
Travel thought leader expert so many bloggers link to smh
Flight Attendant Finds Hidden Camera Still Recording In Her Layover Hotel Bathroom—Colleague Jailed For Planting It – View From The Wing
Also, bunch of clickbaity non sense about a blogger who I won’t be surprised if he intentionally created the drama for…clicks.
And on and on nonsense about the Air India bank sales representatives smh.
Missing milesfeed…I am being triggered by Boarding Area nonsense. Friends don’t let friends’ eyes get assaulted by: Eye of the Flyer, Points with a Crew, Paddle your own kanoo or something and more…
I know it’s fashionable to hate on dynamic award pricing, and usually with good reason, but I’ve been getting good value out of AA domestic economy for family vacations for the last few years now.
Man, I don’t think I’ve heard a reference to Nitzer Ebb in decades.
Yeah, this dynamic pricing stuff could work out in some cases but…
So, I guess you never joined in the chant fully? #NE reference 🙂
I’m too busy listening to Blink-Juan-82: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6Xzoq6jeI48
Καλημέρα from Amorgos. I was supposed to check out today, but given the near gale force winds forecasted I decided it wasn’t the day to try hopping on a ferry. I’ll leave next week for either Iraklia, Donousa, or Astypalaia. But those are the main targets before leaving the isles. Guess I’ll head north when it gets too warm or the tourists start showing up in droves. I’ve seen just in the past day a couple of restaurants that have been closed starting to ramp up activity for opening up so I know it’s coming soon….
I’ll echo what Vicky said about the GH Erawan lounge staff. I didn’t have a great experience with my suite upgrade however, which I suspect was due to a international hyatt globalist line staff member not knowing what they were doing, where they had no record of my suite upgrade at the hotel. They could see that I had had a certificate removed from my account but nothing ‘in print’ on their side or my side. They did have a wedding going on the weekend I checked in, so not sure if that was the cause of my upgrade being ‘lost’ or if it was legit. But they tried the best they could by making it right by giving me an upgrade to one of the villas next to the pool (yes, the infamous ‘tea’ drinking villa was just 2-3 doors down) for 5 of the 7 nights I was there.
For Samui, you have to pretty much bite the bullet and fly with Bangkok Airways, your other alternative is flying south to the mainland and getting on a ferry but those can be rather dodgy and kind of kill the vibe of the trip vs. just showing up at the airport and landing and being ready to roll.
Late November in Chiang Mai would be a great time to be there, the rain season will have came to an end pretty much and the temperature will be quite reasonable. Saigon would also be good, probably would avoid Da Nang since that is their rain season. There’s also a Park Hyatt in Siem Reap, if you’ve never visited Angkor Wat it would be a good time of year to visit there as well. But Cambodia is a pretty depressing place, so fair warning you might not feel great having a suite and all you can eat buffet while seeing kids digging through trash and begging. Also I think the new Park Hyatt in KL might be open by then too?
Enjoy the Greek isles touring. Consider the three islands in Central Greece, Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonisos. Skiathos is the most touristy one with a famous airport for landings. Skopelos is my favorite, mostly because of the memories with a Norwegian tourist one summer in my high school years, been downhill ever since lol. Alonisos is being discovered very slowly…
Interesting about the GH Erawan suite upgrade…I need to check more closely in my reservation because I thought I should have one less upgrade cert in my account. Oh, I am not telling familia about that tea room by the way so they don’t freak out, do they rent it out like a normal room these days? I have not looked at the villas/suites differences at all, should I prefer one over the other? I can always pull the “do you know I am a famous travel blogger with a huge following on YouTube?” line lol.
I need to book those Bangkok Airways tickets…I always wanted to fly this unique airline. I think 5 nights in Koh Samui may be more than enough.
Thanks for the other tips what to do after returning to Bangkok. I have not decided yet. Will definitely leave Danang for a trip down the road. I may add an alert for award space out of Saigon to see if I get anything…which will mean we visit there. I think it may be tough flying out of Cambodia back to the US and may not have time to return to Bangkok. Oh maybe a weekend trip there to see Angkor Wat is fine…Have time to figure these things out, I need to get going to get more Greece bookings done.
KL Park Hyatt will happen down the road. Any other Hyatt properties in BKK I should check out? Is the PH worth it? One night or two and worth to burn a Suite upgrade there? I see the Standard is too far out and I am not sure when the Andaz will open…and its location also leaves much to be desired. Also, what is the top Hilton BKK property, the Conrad?
Went for ice cream so I need to hit the gym hard this morning.
Thanks for the isles info. Alonisos sounds interesting. Ever since battling tourists hoards on the cruise ship, along with dealing with the throngs in Santorini and Mykonos, and unexpectedly more people in Naxos, Amorgos is a welcome change. Good hiking trails. I did a 8 mile, 2000 ft elevation hike early one morning last week. Only saw 1 person on the trail for the entirety and I think he was a shepard tending to a flock of sheep/goats.
As for the GH, yes, the villas are significantly better than the standard suites. Not to mention have their own hybrid steam room/shower and private outdoor lounging area. They use them during the day for massages and the spa rooms. I would say the rooms overall are a bit dated there, but the ‘soft product’ is quite exceptional.
Siem Reap airport offers quite a few connections to larger airports, so wouldn’t be too far out of your way. I flew on Hong Kong Express and connected onto a Cathay flight. But yeah, if you are looking to get on a middle east/asian carrier, more options out of SGN direct. I think VN even flies nonstop to SFO? Might be able to put some worthless skypesos to use since they are part of Skyteam. Both the large Korean carriers fly nonstop out of Chiang Mai, along with Scoot to SIN, all the Taiwanese carriers, and I want to say Ethiad was going to start flying there at some point if you want to avoid having to go back to BKK from up there.
As for BKK, given how bad traffic is and not having to constantly ride the MRT, I usually put more premium staying in the neighborhood I like vs. staying at a more premium hotel. I think I’ve mentioned this before but I prefer staying in more “value” hotels in the cheap southeast asian cities and using my points/free nights/upgrades in more expensive cities of the world. So having said that I’d look at the Hilton (across the street from the HP) or the Doubletree (next Soi down) in Phrom Phong vs. staying some place more upmarket. Plus, I get taken care of quite well at the HP, it took me lighting them up on a review the first time I stayed there to do it, but ever since then it has been flawless treatment.
Thanks a lot for all the info. Been checking award availability to/from Asia and it’s been dismal so far. TK fares are reasonable, I could send wife easily to BKK on the perfect itinerary…but in Economy for less than $700. She says go ahead and I am like, wait, something in C may open up. She is ok with it if we fly back home in lay flat beds…Wondering if I will ever get to use them AA miles, dismal to absolutely nothing.
I am out of Skyteam currency pretty much.
I passed by both the Doubletree and the Hilton after staying lots of nights at the HP Soi 24. I love the Phrom Phong area. May stick around there after Koh Samui and start looking at some condos, talk to other expats, maybe to a few visa agents as well. 4/15 -10/15 in Greece and the other 6 months in Thailand…retirement dream? 🙂
Huge turnout yesterday in Ann Arbor in the #NoKings protest.
After the earthquake you might find some screaming hot deals on high rise condos. Thais are very superstitious, so they might not want to be in that market any more BUT they are notorious for not taking baths on property sales. They’ll have a place sit empty for years rather than take a discount on rent or outright sale.
Best friends here in Ann Arbor are Thais so I am in tune with the culture quite a bit. From what I have learned so far about Thailand real estate, I do not intend to buy there ever. Well, never say never of course…but renting there makes so much more sense. Or staying in Hyatts lol.
Interesting article on remote St Matthew Island:
https://hakaimagazine.com/features/the-island-humans-cant-conquer/
Had not seen much about this island. And that first header pic is amazing.
Milesfeed is back
Great, wonder what happened, hacker attack or something?
Oh dear God, after numerous posts/videos with people just speculating nonsense about the new Sapphire cards coming…we will now have numerous nonsense posts about the Amex Platinum refreshes.Do NOT click on this crap, let’s just wait until the actual announcements, all the rest is just BS and online “content creation”.
OMG, Boarding Area now has an AI blog smh.
With 3 credit card sales and 0 coffees sold month to date, along with losing 3 email list subscribers, I think I am going to give myself a 3 month challenge to keep this blog rolling or just move on with my life.
Average of 5 cc sales and 20 coffees sold per month
To keep it respectable and perhaps avoid showing a loss for the year. Of course getting paid for my time has always been a fantasy around here. If I can’t even manage this low bar, after almost 13 years, I am moving on to transform my firm to the next level to take care of clients for the long term (more than my own useful life).
Omg…It is Sapphire day all over the blogs/vlogs
What’s YOUR favorite Chase Sapphire Reserve Business?
Holy crap! I think the current blog post draft, with all the CSR changes, is already super long. I may publish it before Friday, heads up.
New Post, early!
https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/fire-and-retirement-costs-bitcoin-believers-tallest-bridges-massive-sapphire-reserve-card-changes/