Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as something big is happening with AI, financial freebies, most luxurious vacations, United Airlines changes, stock market concentration, AI agents everywhere, data center construction binge, playable record postage stamps, most beautiful gardens around the world, 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. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.

Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!

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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.

This blog stays in business with clicks ONLY from readers for credit cards and coffees. You can always get to my credit card links by clicking on “CREDIT CARDS’ at the menu on the top of the homepage or the “We make finding a new credit card simple” banner on the right sidebar. Or, preferably, you can receive new offers in your email inbox by signing up to receive alerts HERE . Or just email me.

BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Embrace the Suck”

MUST READ GEMS

This went mega viral. And everyone knows this Matt Shumer guy now. It is a long take on AI. And you should read it with an open mind and always be skeptical of course.

Something Big Is Happening

And he was then interviewed by Intelligencer and here it is: The Guy Who Wrote the Viral AI Post Wasn’t Trying to Scare You. As I said, always be skeptical. Everyone is trying to sell something out there. Speaking of always selling, remember that guy who invented that network that let loose AI agents interacting with each other we talked about last week? Moltbook or whatever its name became from the original Clawbook. Well, he did well lol: OpenClaw founder joins OpenAI to create next-gen personal agents.

Anyway, this is must read material over the weekend for you.

By the way, Matt above used AI to write his viral post. And this is where we are and buckle up I guess…

PERSONAL FINANCE

We love freebies around here: 5 Financial Freebies Every Investor Should Claim.

Every day there are market pundits out there trying to scare the crap out of you or appeal to your greed selling you the latest hot stock or whatever. One of those scary things is of course market concentration. I must admit I have also worried about this as well. The Big Scary Myth Stalking the Stock Market. But always reverted back to my long term asset allocation plan with very low cost broad based market index funds. And never forget that “For as long as index funds have existed, they’ve been under attack from competitors flinging one flimsy pretext after another.”

Over the past 90 years, if you’d cut back on stocks whenever the market was becoming more concentrated and added to stocks whenever concentration was declining, you would have earned an annualized average of 0.9 percentage point less than if you’d simply bought and held. That’s not to say the stock market isn’t risky or can’t crash. But concentration itself isn’t a source of risk that you need to get rid of.

CRYPTO/TECH/SCAMS

Amazing: Submarine Cable Map 2025. This new edition depicts 597 cable systems and 1,712 landings that are currently active or under construction.

AI

This blog post will be heavier on AI related content…

From The Atlantic: AI Agents Are Taking America by Storm. The post-chatbot era has begun. This is a pretty good article summarizing where we stand these days with AI. I have a front page view on how software engineering has been completely transformed with AI as my son is a software engineer and his job looks so different now. Sometimes I wonder how college professors even teach software engineering these days.

It’s now common for engineers to essentially hand over instructions to a bot such as Claude Code or Codex, and let them do the rest. Because bots aren’t constrained in the way humans are, a programmer might have several sessions running simultaneously, all working on different aspects of a project. “In general, it is now clear that for most projects, writing the code yourself is no longer sensible,” the computer programmer Salvatore Sanfilippo wrote in a recent viral essay. In just a few hours, Sanfilippo noted, he had completed several tasks that previously would have taken weeks. Microsoft’s CEO has said that as much as 30 percent of code is now written by AI, and the company’s chief technical officer expects that figure to hit 95 percent industry-wide by the end of the decade. Anthropic already reports that up to 90 percent of the company’s code is AI generated.

And this appeared as a Guest Essay in the New York Times: The A.I. Disruption We’ve Been Waiting for Has Arrived.

On “vibe coding”:

To vibe code is to make software with prompts sent to a specialized chatbot — not coding, but telling — and letting the bot work out the bugs. Like many other programmers, I use a product called Claude Code from Anthropic, although Codex from OpenAI does about as well, and Google Gemini is not far behind. Claude Code earned $1 billion for Anthropic in its first six months. It was always a helpful coding assistant, but in November it suddenly got much better, and ever since I’ve been knocking off side projects that had sat in folders for a decade or longer. It’s fun to see old ideas come to life, so I keep a steady flow. Maybe it adds up to a half-hour a day of my time, and an hour of Claude’s.

Also, this quote:

“All of the people I love hate this stuff, and all the people I hate love it. And yet, likely because of the same personality flaws that drew me to technology in the first place, I am annoyingly excited.”.

And yet…soooooo much money is being spent: America’s $1T AI Gamble. US AI-Related Investment Keeps Breaking Records, With Total Software, Computer, & Data Center Spending Now Exceeding $1T Per Year.

In other words, America is making a globally and historically unprecedented bet on the success of Artificial Intelligence. As a share of the economy, that AI boom is already one of the largest investments in American history—dwarfing the peak of the broadband, electricity, or interstate highway buildouts and vastly exceeding the Manhattan or Apollo projects. And yet, US tech companies are doubling down, raising the stakes on their $1T gamble that AI models will continue their exponential capabilities growth and eventually become valuable enough to repay such a colossal investment.

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ODDZ & ENDZ

This definitely fits in here. The Curious Tale of Bhutan’s playable record postage stamps. I had no idea that this was even possible. Made of plastic and embossed with a melody, these tiny record stamps are among the strangest, most enchanting bits of vinyl out there. Chris May investigates how the Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan came to produce the world’s “first talking stamps”.

Hey, there is a reason I have titled this section ODDZ & ENDZ. Because where else would I place links to stories about postage stamps with music and a London vigilante cyclist like this guy: “Jeremy Vine loves him, motorists hate him. Is this man London’s most controversial cyclist?” And his arch nemesis is a lawyer known as Mr. Loophole lol.

Amazing photography in this link: Striking Photos by Peter Li Capture the Soaring Majesty of Sacred Spaces.

 

TRAVEL

I have posted here travel links with the best beaches, waterfalls, islands, museums, etc. How about the 21 Most Beautiful Gardens in the World.

I always wanted to do this but as I get older I don’t think it’s going to happen because it’s way too much driving: Route 66 Road Trip: Must-See Stops From Illinois to California.

When I sell my blog I am going to knock off every single destination on this list: Your Guide to 21 of the World’s Most Luxurious Vacations. Oh wait, if you thought that this was not a joke maybe you should just stick with reading The Points Guy smh. I must admit that the Wilderness Bisate Lodge in Rwanda looks amazing, pic below. Also, to stay there “…rates start around $2,400 to $3,600 per person, per night, depending on when you go.” At the present blog sales pace I am scheduled to visit there for one night spending blog profit dollars in 2039, thank you!

 

 

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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

Two big things stand out over the past week, the Hyatt premium credit card rumor and the United Mileage plus changes so here we go again:

UPDATE: [This was ALL fake, apparently part of a school projected enhanced by AI, sorry about that! The only time I decided to post about a rumor smh.] I don’t do rumors here. But I guess this is such a big one that I have to mention it: [Unsubstantiated Rumor] New Chase Park Hyatt Card ($795 Annual Fee), Category 9 & 10 Properties And More. I am not sure what to make of it. It all started by this Reddit post HERE. I firmly believe that all these are started intentionally by the marketing people at these companies to get a “feel” of the reactions by members. So maybe if we all react with “these changes suck and we are all going to Marriott Bonvoy now” we may end up faring better? 🙂

United, after copying Delta for years, they are now taking the lead to morphing its frequent flyer program to a pure frequent credit card holder and big time spender program: United MileagePlus announces huge changes to earning and redeeming miles. No big surprises in giving award discounts and more award seat availability to credit card holders. But the changes in earning rates to punish non credit card holders and reward even more credit card holders are taking the lead in this space and now I wonder if Delta and other airlines start copying United. And here is a mainstream article’s take on the changes: United Airlines overhauls MileagePlus program – here’s what to know.

Good reference post: Do Your Airline Miles Expire? Policies for Every Major Airline. Another burden on mental bandwidth in carrying on with this hobby.

The bubble in new hotel loyalty brands continues unabated: IHG Launches New Brand: Noted Collection by IHG.

This was helpful as I am trying to find me a 2 night stay with this Edit Hotels thingie before I close my Chase Sapphire Reserve for business card: 5 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Booking The Edit by Chase Travel.

 

TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS

For ANY questions on cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com

So many blogs that survive/exist/thrive in this space by selling credit cards, they just keep coming up with tailored content to, please sit down, sell the merchandise. So, here we go of course pushing them Capital One cards: Guide to Capital One Airport Lounges: Locations, Amenities, Access, and Guest Policies (2026).

Just as some of us are thinking to cash back cards to simplify life, considering the increasingly heavy hits the travel rewards cards have been enduring, I had thought maybe I go back to Bank of America and just hit hard that cash back 2.65% rate. Well, NEVER mind lol: Negative Bank of America Preferred Rewards upcoming changes: Lower bonus rewards, higher eligibility requirements. What was $100,000 parked at Merrill Lynch will now have to be $1,000,000. There is clearly one response here: WTF and HELLNO!

First, I was able to get my $200 in very early January. Second, we will see if this sticks: American Express Platinum $200 Airline Incidental Reimbursement – No Longer Works On United Travel Bank.

By itself, this is a nothing burger because you should never consider such a move: Chase Will No Longer Allow Points Redemptions Into External Accounts. Taking the overall moves by Chase into context though, it shows we are not in Kansas anymore and this is a new world order in the world of miles & points, sad.

 

New interesting offer for the personal Hyatt Visa offering 5 Free Night Certificates (Category 1-4) after a total $15,000 in the first six months (three of the five FNCs after $5k spend in first three months).  This offer now ends February 26, 2026.

Southwest is probably the one airline that changes its credit card offers more often than any other airline. And it is not even close. New offers offering Companion Pass and some points as well right off the bat:

– Plus: 20,000 points plus a Companion Pass through February 2027
– Premier: 30,000 points plus a Companion Pass through February 2027
– Priority: 40,000 points plus a Companion Pass through February 2027

Please let me know if some of these offers are no longer valid.

• United Explorer: Earn 70,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles after spending $3,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account, plus $0 annual fee for the first year.

• United Quest: Earn 80,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 3,000 PQP after spending $4,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.

• United Business: Earn 100,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 2,000 PQP after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.

• United Club Business: Earn 100,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 2,000 PQP after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.

 

175,000 IHG Rewards Premier: $99 Annual Fee, minimum spend $5k in three months.

120,000 IHG Rewards Traveler: No Annual Fee, 90,000 for $2k spend in three months and another 30,000 points for a total of $10k spend in six months.NEW

 

75,000 Capital One Venture PLUS $250 Travel Credit

Increased American Express Delta Offers, Up To 125,000 Miles (Personal & Business Gold, Platinum, Reserve)

 

125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve/150k CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business

 

AMERICAN EXPRESS Platinum & Business Platinum Cards ($895 Fee, 175k/200k Bonus, Many New Credits).

 

100k CITI Strata Elite card

 

Due to credit card vendor restrictions, the only affiliate links I can place in the body of my posts are for Capital One cards. For the rest, you know what to do. You can always email me at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com with ANY questions.

 

Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!

 

 

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

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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING

You know this hobby has grown that you now see articles by mainstream media confessing to obsessing about travel rewards credit cards and points in general. And you know we are reaching a breaking point out there as well with Bilt going all in on complexity: I Chase Credit-Card Points. Bilt Changed My Mind.

I love my points, and always thought they were a harmless pursuit. But I am starting to think otherwise because the size of the points industry could be making the economy less efficient. It is leading people to make poor financial decisions, introducing uncertainty into the economy, and misdirecting resources that could be better used elsewhere.

Just in terms of my own limited resources, I think of the time I devote to the game, even if I do extract some utility and enjoyment from it. Every time I buy something, I think about what card to use. I spend a lot of effort planning how to use my points. And each year the rules change, forcing me to reassess my strategy. If I spent all that time on my pickleball game instead, I might be healthier and have more friends…Like gambling, the points game can be unhealthy if it takes over too much of your life — or the economy. No matter how desperate I get, however, I will never take up pickleball. [And just when I was thinking about taking up pickleball LOL]

 

My daughter can’t get a decent price coming back from Kuala Lumpur in mid March so I booked an economy flight with 42,500 Alaska Airline miles flying on Qatar Airways back to Seattle with a way too long layover in Doha. I just could not let her buy a ticket from Philippines Airlines for around $500 with a way too short layover in Manila after Google Flights alerted her to that. I am going to keep it as a place holder and see if something better opens up. The whole award availability thingie is getting horrendous you guys. And then Bank of America nerfed its cash back program so it feels like we are getting hit from all sides. I saw a comment on a YouTube video “The whole game is getting nerfed” and I shook my head in agreement sadly.

I tried to use my Chase The Edit hotel credit and I was met with shock and horror. I could book a Hyatt Regency for $384 per night at the Hyatt website and then Chase wanted $2,038 all in for 2 nights (before the credits)…WTF and LOL! Can’t wait to dump my Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business when it comes up for renewal in July. Does Chase do prorated refunds by the way? I guess when I am bored I can call and try to get me a retention bonus.

I got a warning from my current credit card vendor that I can’t keep my links due to low sales. I mean, one confirmed credit card sale since January 1 is just not going to cut it. So at some point I am going to put together my annual “I burned X.X Million Miles and Points in 2025” post and if the ax comes around that…maybe that will be the final post. One thing I know for sure that without any credit card sales this blog is toast. I have been blogging non stop here since November 2012 which is an eternity for blogs.

I just realized I could not pay for a United flight with Travel Bank funds and combine that with a credit card purchase. Which makes no sense…

If that premium Hyatt card we have been expecting for years finally becomes reality in 2026 and it is just like it is “revealed” in the rumor above…yes, I am going for it. Hopefully my credit card links are alive by then so I can get paid for it lol.

Tax season is going well. And the home renovation is also going well. And slow.

My last week’s YouTube posts:

Conrad Koh Samui Villa

Swimming in my infinity pool at the Conrad Koh Samui villa

Buggy ride from villa to breakfast restaurant at the Conrad Koh Samui (Short)

And over at Instagram:

Conrad Koh Saumi at night is magical

Conrad Koh Samui glorious free breakfast

Conrad Koh Saumi pics from around the property

Happy Chinese New Year to all by the way.

Follow on Instagram and YouTube if you want to see more from the recent Thailand/Malaysia trip, I am slowly posting them.

Check out my page listing my affiliate links HERE including Rakuten and Top Cash Back and more.

 

Blog Revenue Full Disclosure:

December:

Credit card sales: 8  Buy me a Coffee sales: 19

January:

Credit card sales: 0  Buy me a Coffee sales: 20

February to date:

Credit card sales: 1  Buy me a Coffee: 16

 

 

HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:

150k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 100k CITI Strata Elite, 75k AND $250 Travel Credit CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 175k AMEX Platinum, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 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, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!

 

As of today, I have burned 109,015 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025  and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,268,630 miles/points in the bank.

 

TBB’s Miles & Points RESOURCES Page

 

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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