Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the new tax deductions, AI bubble, the 10 most haunting hikes, Amex empire of plastic, US wealth by generation, the value of advice, the murder guide book, the scale of life website, the human stain remover dude, the 50 best restaurants, the geeky world of plane spotting, 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 and stay cool.
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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.
“Every day you live, you make a difference. You matter. You’re here for a reason. Find the reason. And do your bit. Then, we can save the world.” – Jane Goodall, RIP
PERSONAL FINANCE
Brace for all the New 2025 Tax Deductions. I can see many law-abiding challenged employers trying to get around the new regulations of what constitutes overtime. And tips income #goingtobewildoutthere.
I am adding this link because I am biased, full disclosure. The Emotional and Time Value of Advice. I think having a good financial advisor is well worth it. And I quote:
Using a survey of 12,443 investors (including 7,746 advised clients), we found that:
- Advised clients are less financially stressed than self-directed investors. Advised investors are roughly half as likely (14%) as self-directed ones (27%) to experience high levels of financial stress.
- Advice delivers emotional value to clients through more peace of mind. 86% of advised clients report having greater peace of mind when thinking about their finances, compared with managing them on their own. Advice improves investors’ positive emotions and seems particularly effective at lessening negative emotions regarding personal finances, such as feeling overwhelmed and worried.
- Advice saves clients time. 76% of advised clients say advice saves them time — namely, a median of two hours per week (or over 100 hours per year) — from thinking about and dealing with their finances.
- Advice saves employers time through employees’ reduced financial stress. Workers in employer plans report spending an average of 3.8 hours per week distracted at work by financial stress, leading to a yearly productivity loss for employers of $5,950 to $6,775 per employee. Half of the advised clients in employer plans say advice reduces financial stress at work. Overall, advice saves clients almost two hours per week at work (over 100 hours per year), improving worker productivity by $2,200 to $5,850 per year.
Okay, I swear, this is the last link about Jonathan Clements. I think. Anyway, the best was left for his friend (and successor columnist at the Wall Street Journal) Jazon Zweig to write about Jonathan In Memoriam. And it is a wonderful tribute indeed:
His pen was sharp as a needle, but he wielded it with humor, grace and a confessional, personal touch. Readers felt they knew him—because they did. More than any commentator before or since, Jonathan made personal finance personal.
He knew, from painstaking reporting and exhaustive research, that the claims that were central to the financial industry in the 1990s and 2000s were not only bogus but bad for investors. [Count me in as one of those whose investment philosophy was highly influenced/changed by Johathan. And it is so absurdly weird how all those heretical beliefs back then are now treated as gospel, amazing.]
In Jason’s article, he includes Jonathan’s first ever “Getting Going” column from way back in 1994, it is an absolute gem.
Ok, one more, I can’t help it. Here is a collection of the Best of Jonathan’s HumbleDollar Posts.
Saw this somewhere online (Bloomberg article I think) that blew my mind:
There are 19,000 private equity funds in the US. There are 14,000 McDonald’s in the US.
Visualizing America’s Wealth by Generation
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Crime pays. As in getting locked up for years. The final chapter of obnoxious Charlie Javice who managed to trick Chase Bank to buy her flawed startup through brazen fraud: Charlie Javice Sentenced to 85 Months in Prison for Fraud. When Chase Bank sued her, she chose to hire expensive lawyers to counter sue and go on the offensive showing absolutely no signs of remorse. She changed her tune at sentencing with:
“I accept the jury’s verdict and take full responsibility for my actions,”…“I have remorse deeper than I knew possible,” Ms. Javice said during the hearing on Monday. She tearfully apologized to JPMorgan shareholders, its in-house team, her parents, her boyfriend and Frank’s employees who she said were “in some way stained by their proximity to me.”
But don’t cry for her yet. She will appeal and did manage to lower the sentence from the 144 months prosecutors had requested. And I think she stays free until the appeal.
Excellent podcast about what we are all pondering these days: This Is How the AI Bubble Could Burst.
This graph in this article shows where we are these days…
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Wow, what a hell of a story! Someone has to make a movie out of this, speechless: The Florida Divorcée’s Guide to Murder. Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors inspired a triple murder and led to a major First Amendment case. Still, the book is just one chapter in the bizarre story of its author, “Rex Feral,” a 77-year-old great-grandmother wrestling with decades of guilt and living anonymously—until now.
Another amazing story about, well, cleaning up from a master of this skill: The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job. From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order. Some of his descriptions almost made me throw up, you have been warned.
Well, this is, unique? The Scale of Life. Everyday in real life. It will take a few seconds to realize what your eyes are looking at and then you will say “Wow, thank you TBB and head straight to buy me a dozen coffees“. Ok, I am dreaming lol.
Amazing photography at the the 2025 Bird Photographer of the Year.
TRAVEL
For foodie readers: North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025: The Full List. If you have the Amex Platinum card, check to see if these are part of Resy and enjoy $100 off every quarter, you are welcome.
For aviation geek readers: Inside the Joyfully Geeky World of Plane Spotting. A day spent at JFK airport with self-proclaimed “avgeeks” who track and record rare-aircraft sightings.
If you go to London, maybe add the David Bowie Centre to the places you will visit.
Maybe when I was younger I would be so ready for these: 10 of America’s Most Haunting Hikes. With names like Bloody Lane and Devil’s Path you should know what to expect lol. Love to see your comments if you managed through any of these. Each comment drives page views which drives ad revenue…oh wait, never had any ads smh.
I knew Kosovo may not be the greatest place to live in but still shocking to see it leading the list of The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries.
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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.
If you are into this points currency: 2025 Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide.
Japan is getting to be a deal lately. And tourism has gone way up. Some good ideas here: The Best Ways to Book Flights to Japan in 2025 or 2026.
I guess this is good: Delta Will Launch Nonstop Service from JFK to Porto Next Year. And here comes Southwest Airlines finally to Alaska.
The latest Hilton Honors promotion is the most pathetic ever, wow. Register HERE if you have nothing better to do. This program is phasing into oblivion surely and steadily imho.
And this hurts: OUCH! Brutal No-Notice Devaluation: Air Canada Aeroplan Doubles Cost Of Domestic United Awards.
Following along, on a lesser ouch scale it appears at first glance, here we go: Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Flash North America Award Devaluation.
As I was thinking about this recently, a central hub to access all the different experiences from airlines and hotels using miles/points: Experience Points: Book activities for no cash with these miles & points. Maybe I am starting to get bored and need some excitement?
When I first looked at that Pepper Rewards outfit I thought it had no chance to make it. Well: Blackhawk Network suing Pepper Rewards App parent company for $65 million+. Hope no blog reader here got hurt.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
This is an amazing deep dive read, in other words, a must read: American Express: An Empire of Plastic.
Why do people still park their money in this bank? Bask Bank Savings Account Offers American Airline Miles Instead of Cash Interest (1.75 per $1).
Maximizing The Resy $400 Dining Credit On American Express Platinum Card.
What if Southwest pulls the plug on the Companion Pass and this is just a tease to get more credit card signups? I mean, the airline has already done so many non Southwest like things in the very recent past…is this the last straw? Well, all these years I have been saying I can not believe the Companion Pass survives…I am tired. Anyway, keep this in mind while you ponder how to Turn The Southwest Performance Business Offer Into A Companion Pass For 2 Years.
I need to rethink how I do the travel rewards credit card section around here. The truth is credit card sales drive 95%+ of blog revenue. With just two credit card sales in September it is very clear having all the credit cards listed with elevated offers, along with detailed information such as annual fees, earning rates, etc, well, it sure is not working so well. And probably turns off readers for overselling LOL. Since the few plastic sales this blog makes come from long time loyal readers who have been in this hobby for a while like me I am going to experiment with just listing the elevated offers and cut out all most of the other info. You can track down each credit card on my page you can clearly get to and read all the detailed info about it. And it appears the credit card site had an upgrade and you can easily now search for the card you want as well. Or, to make it easier on you, just email me ok? Always open to ideas how to beat The Points Guy woohoo.
For my deeper cc commentary, please see the MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING Section below.
NEW OFFERS:
Amex just came in with elevated offers on all four Hilton Honors cards:
– 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
The rest of the offers below are old “new” offers 🙂
These two stand out and they are back!
Two NO ANNUAL fee cards from CHASE, the CHASE Ink Business Cash and the CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, for 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for $6,000 minimum spend.
The 90K CHASE Ink Business Unlimited card is back. This is a NO ANNUAL FEE business card that earns 1.5x on everything, unlimited. The minimum spend required to earn the Signup Bonus is $6,000 in the first three months. Don’t use this card abroad as it has a foreign transaction fee. Chase may advertise this card all over the place as a cash back card but it does pay the Signup Bonus in 90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. Of course, extended warranty, purchase protection and primary CDW when renting a car for business purposes also apply. All these goodies for no annual fee, wow! Needless to say you don’t have to book travel in the Chase travel portal to get the travel values above. You can transfer your points to airline and hotel partners and possibly get even more more value than what you can get at the Chase travel portal, assuming you do have one of the cards mentioned above (Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred). But that requires a little more legwork from you to transfer, find availability, book award trips, etc. I like to transfer to Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan, United and sometimes Southwest. Available from my favorite bank links above.
The 90K CHASE Ink Business Cash is a NO ANNUAL FEE card. The card now offers the 90k Signup Bonus after $6k spend in the first three months. It earns 5x on office supply stores and internet/cable/phone services on the first $25,000 and 2x on gas and restaurants on the first $25,000 and 1x on everything else unlimited. Don’t use this card abroad as it has a foreign transaction fee. I usually go to Office Depot and buy gift cards of the stores I usually shop at, hello 5x Amazon! You can transfer your points to airline and hotel partners and possibly get even more more value than what you can get at the Chase travel portal, assuming you do have one of the cards mentioned above (Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred). But that requires a little more legwork from you to transfer, find availability, book award trips, etc. I like to transfer to Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan, United and sometimes Southwest.
Attention all you Southwest Companion Pass lovers and seekers:
Chase Southwest Business Performance Card 120,000 Points Signup Bonus (Companion Pass With Single Card Signup). $299 annual fee. $10k minimum spend in 3 months. If you time this right, you can earn the Companion Pass for all of 2026 AND 2027! Offer expires 10/22/2025 by the way. So if you apply in early October you can get the bonus posted in early January 2026 and boom!
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.
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 (most getting 80,000). 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.
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, there is always a spend based promo going on, they never stop, love it.
75,000 Points + $300 Travel Credit Capital One Venture
If you value simplicity, this card earns 2x points everywhere (and 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal) with a $95 annual fee. No foreign transactions fees, Visa Signature benefits and credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
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 Elite Review: 80,000 Points Bonus, $595 Annual Fee, $300 Hotel & $200 Splurge Credit
City Strata no annual fee 30,000 Thank You points
Two new 100k offers on United business cards Ends November 5, 2025
- Chase IHG One Rewards Premier: 165,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Traveler: 2 Free Nights + 40,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. Each Free Night is valued at up to 50,000 points.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Business: Earn up to 200,000 Bonus Points. Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 60,000 Bonus Points after spending a total of $9,000 in the first 6 months from account opening for a total of 200,000 Bonus Points.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
THIS CARD 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.
Here are my three TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
90K Capital One Venture X
90K Chase Ink Business Unlimited
90K CHASE Ink Business Cash
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
All you have to do to receive these free notifications is:
1. Click on the link above
2. Create an account
3. Subscribe
MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
Ever since I came back from Greece I was slowed down by some bug. Or Covid. Or something. Slowly better every day, today I am almost back at 100%.
I did my last post on Instagram about my return trip to USA from Greece. And I have some thoughts. I still can not believe no good business class award availability came up. In late September from Greece, come on. I did have some choices but they were all horrible. So I flew coach and it was fine. Aegean Airlines is always reliable with better than average food. I found Swiss Airlines to be perfectly fine and seat legroom was very good. Entering the US in Washington Dulles IAD could be a much more welcoming experience instead of the zoo we are faced with. I mean, I need to really make sure we land in Detroit entering the US. Less of a zoo but the thought of home being half an hour away makes it so much worth enduring the ordeal. Made it much more complicated since I had a checked luggage with me for the first time in a very long time. If no luggage to get through customs (what a joke) and recheck to let it fly to Detroit, it would be so much easier. Because Global Entry has made entering the US even easier than ever with the automated selfie pic process, so smooth. So, get your Global Entry done asap, so so worth it.
I now need to do the tickets for wife flying to Bangkok (after Turkish Airlines canceled her ticket) and then I need to do two return flights back to the US from Kuala Lumpur. PointsYeah award service used to alert me frequently with (mostly) inconvenient award availability choices. But lately, crickets. I also track all these flights on Google Flights and I almost jumped at a Royal Jordanian Business Class fare at just over $3k. Hmm, sometimes I wonder why I still play this game with so many devaluations lately and this clearly worsening award availability. Anyway, this hobby is not what it used to be and I need to really concentrate my efforts and stop sweating the small stuff. Because it is just not worth it.
For example, I decided to go for the JetBlue Passport Challenge promotion. Even though I knew I should not bother because it is probably going to take too much of headspace to track these partners down. Well, the first two (Dunkin Donuts email and TrueBlue Dining dine) posted right away. I am still waiting for the Airport Rewards and the TrueBlue Shopping transactions to post. And I ain’t got time to follow up, so screw the Budget rental car. This is the crap I need to cut out of my life.
I am doing better in another department. Cutting out programs I no longer care for. After redeeming one IHG Rewards night last year, my account was left with just 973 IHG points. And Award Wallet let me know they expired. No tears were shed. I extended the IHG Reward accounts of my wife and daughter by transferring 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to their accounts. At some point they will have enough to redeem one hotel night and then let those accounts die/expire as well. Same with son’s account in a few months. We are getting there. Then again, with Hilton’s latest shenanigans maybe I should relegate that program to this fate and revive IHG? I can not bare the pain one day when the World of Hyatt points are devalued in a bigly way, that will be the day to just go ALL cash back and say up yours to these loyalty spender programs.
I have been trying to get the 125k Amex Schwab Platinum card. Several ways and I always get the popup telling me I am not going to get the bonus. I need to decide if I should just get it without the 125k (so sad) and drop my Amex Business Platinum. Because the credits on the Schwab Platinum are so much more lucrative than the Business version (which imho now it just sucks). If anyone finds any no lifetime language Schwab Platinum card links please let me know. Or any tips on how to get the dreaded popup to go away? I am not sure it is feasible since you apply with your Schwab account login credentials so Amex knows and clearly thinks I am just not that good of a customer for them. Maybe I should start shifting some spend on my few Amex cards.
Speaking of spend, I am having elevated amounts at this time since we are in the process of renovating the kitchen and the master bathroom. Paid half down on new appliances and the only positive aspect of it was the miles/points from it lol. More spend is ahead. And traveling to Thailand/Malaysia next month for a month sure does not make this time suitable to target getting some new credit card signup bonuses. But starting in January I intend to stay home for several months to supervise the construction and then…we have the World Cup you guys in June, so exciting.
Here is my latest World of Hyatt Globalist requalification campaign:
I am going to get another 2 elite night credits from another $5k of spend on the personal Chase World of Hyatt Visa to get to 63 and then I am going to cancel my 3 nights in the metropolis of Flint, Michigan and get back 15,000 points. These 3 nights were booked in case I needed them to hit 60. Which I did, until this latest recap.
If you have any tips on Koh Samui, I am all ears. I just have not had the time to look into that, I am good on Bangkok. We are spending 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency and then 2 nights at the Conrad. Do we need a rental car? Top 3/5 things to see/do/eat, anything, I am all ears, thank you.
In a few weeks, we will be in Toronto for the Marathon. My wife and friends are running the half marathon and I will be in the cheerleading section once again. Can’t believe I am out of running still #itsucks.
Finally went to see a movie. Unfortunately, I did not like The Long Walk. I thought the plot was dumb and the acting way too…predictable.
I have several videos from Greece I need to upload to my YouTube channel, my 72 subscribers are no doubt waiting for them lol. Anyway, maybe if you subscribed and I got to 100 I will be more inclined? #hint.
I DO have a separate page listing my affiliate links HERE for: Rakuten and Top Cash Backand more.
I am giving myself a challenge to average 5 credit card sales and 15 Buy Me a Coffee sales per month. If I can’t even hit these low targets after almost 13 years of blogging I am out. We now have:
August:
Credit card sales: 8 Buy me a Coffee sales: 22
September:
Credit card sales: 2 Buy me a Coffee sales: 18
October to date:
Credit card sales: 0 Buy me a Coffee sales: 0
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 175k AMEX Platinum, 90k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 90k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 200k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 120k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 100k CHASE Air Canada Aeroplan, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 1,487,212 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,075,474 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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This site may receive compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. Travel Blogger Buzz and Your Best Credit Cards may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not necessarily include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.
Good you are getting used to watching marathons and not breaking something!
Last week I gave the class an AI assignment. Ask AI a question to which we have a photo of the answer. I did not say which AI program. About half the answers were wrong. Moral? Diversify!
Maybe we need index funds approach to AI
Thanks for the links!
Hey Buzz-
Fridays are the highlight of my week as you bring the madness back in focus.
I saw a concert years ago with Nine Inch Nails opening for David Bowie. Intermissions are for sissys-about 75 minutes into NIN’s set, they played a long song, smoke pouring on the stage and the roadies switched the instruments from NIN’s to Bowie’d. He then walked out from the smoke and sang the last verse of the same song as NIN members walked off. Tough to describe but way cool to watch.
I need to read that AI article as I need to see how AI is viewed as risky (other than being overvalued).
I read that FM article on Amex and thought ‘right on’. Now that Chase has tossed me in the trash, I think Amex is a better source of transferable points anyway.
Leff wrote this week, seeming to agree with Southwest changes. The logic is that the old SW had run the course on free bags, open seating and credits that don’t expire. He didn’t explain why I’d ever want to fly them again.
Good afternoon Buzz,
Thanks for another great post. Looking forward to the reading this weekend especially the links for Mr Clements.
Charlie, what an utter waste of talent, and the grifter will probably only do a year or two I imagine. 144 months is too short, just sayin.
Sorry that you will only be a spectator, but a brisk walk goes a long way to your health all around Buzz.
Have a great weekend!
Woot! Lots of great stuff again! Many thanks. Catching up from having company. Love to see people but god does it throw a wrench into a regular schedule. Phew! Thanks so much and good luck on scheduling all the trips for family.
On the topic of wild real-life stories made into movies: there’s a movie opening next week called “Roofman” based on something that happened here in Charlotte, and it was filmed here as well. This dude named Jeffrey Manchester did a whole bunch of robberies, though apparently was generally a polite robber. He was eventually caught and sentenced to 45 years in jail. He escaped and secretly lived in a Toys R Us before moving into an empty Circuit City next door. He started planning a big robbery while also becoming a member of a local church and dating someone there, telling her he had a secret government job. Wild stuff, here’s the Wiki entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Manchester
The movie’s getting decent reviews so I’m hoping to see it in the theater.
Way too much going on so I will get back to the comments…soon.
Quick question:
Should I book a UA award to get me back to the US from KUL on….Ethiopian Airlines business class, KUL-ADD-IAD both on the Dreamliner? 3 hours stop in ADD.
Apparently Ethiopian makes a1/5 stops in both SIN and LFW in first two flights!
Maybe I should make it a place holder, thoughts?
Update on applying for the 125k Amex Schwab Platinum:
After applying in 3 different browsers/methods and getting the dreaded popup…today I applied via Chrome incognito and got “your application is pending further reviews”!!! So, do I call recon now or wait it out? I would wait it out with Chase, not sure with Amex, been away from this camp for a while 🙂
Never give up!
Following! Curious the outcome on this one!
I assume those ‘pending review’ messages mean the algorithms didn’t knock me out. I usually wait since I can call after a rejection to offer ‘additional information’.
Follow up on my Amex Schwab Platinum application:
Received an email with link to check my status after “the decision”.
I was expecting an outright denial.
Instead, at first, I had visions of hope seeing “provide requested information”. But after clicking on that I got to the actual decision letter:
————————————————————–
Dear __,
Thank you for applying for Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab.
We value your Membership and appreciate your interest in another American Express® Card.
We regret we are unable to approve your application.
The reason for our decision is we have received multiple applications from you recently and you have reached the maximum number of applications we will accept.
blah blah blah
———————————–
There is a phone number that I will call tomorrow Monday but don’t expect much.
So, moral of the story. Once you apply and get the dreaded popup, go back and lay it off while you increase some spend on Amex branded cards. And try again the next month. And so forth….unless you find that elusive link with no lifetime language and maybe that works, going incognito most likely.
Let me know if you have any thoughts.
Will respond to comments later today.
Sorry never got to the comments over the weekend. After watching my AEL FC soccer team suffer one of its worst home losses ever on Saturday I just did not feel like posting here. Anyway, team is in crisis, this young coach we had proved to be way in over his head and he was fired along with his staff…
So, here we go:
@ DML: Yeah, we’ll see where this AI stuff goes. Still feels so weird me being the observer of marathons and not being in them.
@ Sam: That sounds like a cool concert indeed. I am calling Amex today to recon my Schwab Platinum card, maybe I can talk my way through them and get it along with the 125k points. Went from the popups to “you applied for this card too many times”. These banks are not that easy to figure out lately…And with Chase going that once in a lifetime rule has me…looking at paid Business Class tickets and not flinching at the prices I am seeing…Not that I am pulling the trigger yet but this is progress 🙂
@ David: Thanks again for the 5 coffees. Just read an article about the even more high powered attorney she hired for her appeal. I won’t be shocked if she does not spend a single day in prison 🙁
@ Carl: The only time we clean the house is when we invite others…it appears lol.
@ Nick: I will look out for the Roofman movie, sounds very interesting. And I do remember that dude living in a Circuit City store, I think I blogged about it here, certainly BC (Before Covid).
You all have a great week. Material for next Friday post is adding up…
Amex phone followup about my Schwab Platinum application:
What a waste of my time. I poured on my charm and rep would not budge other than “you can reapply after 7 days”. Told her “Look, I was not approved because of the…we have received multiple applications from you recently…blah blah so not sure reapplying is not going to force the same decision automatically again”. She says I can reapply in 30 days again then LOL.
Anyway, I could not get my app in front of two eyes to take a look at it. All computer algorithm based now I guess.
Moral of the story, do not apply every day! Minimum once a week. Preferable every after 30 days.
I even asked to give up the 125k SUB and she gave me the whole spiel again like outlined above. I may apply next week one more time, will stick with Google incognito. If not, in early November (but cutting in too close to my Thailand departure date which I wanted to avoid).
Keeping the crappy Amex Business Platinum for now I guess…
Sorry to hear it turned out like this – that sucks. Good thing is that the Schwab card runs these high bonuses every so often, so maybe best to just wait for that next go around. I have the Platinum card currently, so will wait to cancel that as I’m sure they won’t approve me for the Schwab one while holding that. Sucks they added the lifetime language to that card.
PointsYeah found a Business class ticket you guys…just one woohoo.
Sadly, it is all on Ethiopian Airlines with, please sit down:
KUL-SIN-ADD-LFW-IAD-DTW
On 787-8 Dreamliners…
My initial gut feeling is to avoid…any thoughts?
Rakuten to Bilt:
Blogger who got bought by Bilt marketing team —-> Game changing [LOL]
Me—–>Who cares!
BREAKING NEWS: NEW video finally uploaded in the TBB YouTube channel, please Like and Subscribe 🙂
https://youtu.be/qJhJk_QRPrk
My latest upgrade in the Thessaloniki Hyatt Regency.
Every blogger is out with the “news” of the 100k Citi Strata Elite card offer right now. Yes you guessed it, all this means there is an affiliate offer for it. So, let me know if you need a link so I can close the loss year to date in this blog business of mine, thanks.
Samui is fantastic! I just booked BKK-CNX on Bangkok Airways using 6000 qatar points + 120B so be sure so use that to get down there as Samui is a private airport with only BKK Airways serving, as you probably know. And always pricey!
Apparently you can get creative with JAL as well (Cap1->JAL promo), but JAL’s website is awful. Was really easy to book with Qatar.
As for Samjui: Lamai is the chill spot. Chaweng the party spot, way too busy. Expats live up north in Bophut, but I hate the big busy road there. I got stuck in Lamai for 5 months during COVID and had a $250/mo villa, ahh the good old covid days.
In Lamai: Tropical Toe Knees has some great ribs and brit food, just what your wife wants to eat I’m sure. Crystal Beach is also really great there. Hungry Wolf in Chaweng has an amazing burger. Secret Garden up in Bophut has great ocean beach views and a wonderful breakfast.
Samui is really wonderful but there’s not really much that stands out. Typical Thai same-same. I think the Taxi Mafia is still strong there so I’m not sure if Grab or Bolt are working yet, which makes it hard to get around. The drive around the island would be a fun day-trip either rent a car or hire a driver. Or maybe you’d just run 🙂
If ya head over to the mainland, there’s lots of interesting things. In January I did this totally fun and quite local trip on a floating bamboo raft with Thai Moogatai (hotpot) over near Khao Sok national park. Khao Sok is insanely beautiful, as is the whole area around Krabi. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5zFsP-oFz2c
I’ll be up north riding my motorcycle end of October till Thanksgiving so if you make it up that way let me know!
I did not know about Qatar points on Bangkok Airways, thanks. And hell no I am not playing with the JAL website ever again, I am still traumatized by it lol.
Thanks a lot for all the Samui tips, took notes!
Just booked a rental car from Sixt for the duration in Samui.
Chiang Mai and Krabi are on the list but likely next year. I haven’t even been to Pattaya yet. Then again, maybe that is a good thing lol.
Will be in Bangkok for a while and Samui around Thanksgiving.
And wear your helmet 🙂