Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as tax breaks for kids, AI profits drought, the highest bars, my trip to Greece, tariff insanity, what some short people do to get taller, Apollo in real time, most dangerous beaches, tallest statues of Jesus Christ, 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.
Hello from my hometown Larissa in Greece. Most of this post was prepared while back in the US and while traveling here. I will try to keep up my almost 13 years of at least posting once a week next Friday. But it won’t be easy as I am super busy here looking after my mother, seeing family and friends, etc.
PERSONAL FINANCE
My wealth management practice is mature. How mature? There are only two kids from clients still in college and they are both halfway through. If you have kids this article will help, tax wise that is: Your Kids Are Your Pride and Joy. They Are Also a Tax Break.
I get approached all the time to get my clients to invest in “alternatives”. There are always people in Wall Street working to separate you from your money, it’s all in the marketing folks. Stay basic and stay the hell away from these things: The Ivy League Keeps Failing This Basic Investing Test. Elite universities are again stuck with illiquid assets just when they badly need cash.
In good times, investors give no thought to liquidity, because cash is plentiful and the need for it isn’t pressing. In hard times, liquidity becomes the only thing investors can think about, because cash is scarce and the need for it is desperate. And when you have a sudden, urgent need for cash, good luck selling your alternative assets. [Never forget this!]
and this:
Don’t be a monkey. Don’t put a penny into alternatives that you can’t afford to have locked up when you suddenly need cash.
The insanity of US Tariff Rates by Country.
Another insane fact: There are now more ETFs than stocks: 4,300 vs 4,200.
Something needs to be done about this: American Income vs Home Prices.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
I had never heard of this guy. Probably because he died right at the height of his philanthropic generosity fraud binge: The Most Generous Man in New York. Before his mysterious death, Matthew Christopher Pietras donated millions to the Met and the Frick. It was stolen. Some people just seem immune to doing things right and want to take a Ferrari to become mega wealthy.
This probably belongs in the next section but since it involves tech and, you know, it feels scammy I am placing it here: ‘Being short is a curse’: the men paying thousands to get their legs broken – and lengthened. Before you click, please be aware that the images you will see will most likely give you nightmares, you have been warned! It looks like medieval torture, from the metal rods inserted into sawn bones to the months of agonising recovery. But to some, travelling to Turkey to gain a few inches is a (very high) price worth paying. This excerpt below stuck with me and then a peak at the images and the super grueling recovery after the procedure makes me scream phuck no!
Frank is determined he won’t be treating shorter men any differently now, but one interaction with another patient has stayed with him. “I saw him as a short man for the first time. Not in a bad way, but I saw why people perceived me as a short man – and I felt tall compared with him. Now, every time a woman comes near me, they’re shorter,” he says, with undisguised glee.
I think this is a must read: The A.I.-Profits Drought and the Lessons of History. Like the steam engine, electricity, and computers, generative artificial intelligence could take longer than expected to transform the economy.
As we are all trying to figure out where we are going with AI, I can’t help but marvel at the absolutely gigantic amounts of money being thrown at it. And the bubbly aura around it. I personally don’t find it that imperative to pay for it (yet?). Son is gladly paying $20 per month for ChatGPT, fine. How can $20 a pop per person ever recover the endless billions being thrown at it? I guess time will tell. This is just my personal take on it. I am the same guy who still believes all things crypto are a giant pile of shit…so there, you decide what is best for you. Anyway, a few excerpts from this down to earth balanced article:
And yet, a new study, from a team of researchers associated with M.I.T.’s Media Lab, reports, “Despite $30 – $40 billion in enterprise investment into GenAI, this report uncovers a surprising result in that 95% of organizations are getting zero return.”
Another important thing to note is that adoption of A.I. throughout the economy could well be a lengthy process. In Silicon Valley, people like to move fast and break things. But economic history tells us that even the most transformative technologies, which economists refer to as general-purpose technologies, can’t be exploited to maximum effect until infrastructure, skills, and products that can complement them are developed. And this can be a long process.
On the technology J curve, once the “frictions” are overcome, productivity takes off. But since the journey along the curve can be lengthy, it’s hard to predict which firms will emerge as the winners and losers. During the commercialization of the internet, many of the ultimate winners didn’t emerge until after the dot-com bubble had burst, in 2000. (Google was founded in 1998, but it didn’t go public until 2004. Facebook wasn’t created until 2004, Airbnb until 2008.) There is no guarantee that history will repeat itself.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Wow, it feels like you are in it: Apollo in Real Time.
I like this short collection of a few stories: What A World. By Morgan Housel.
The CEO of Bronco Wine – which sells the Charles Shaw “Two Buck Chuck” wine at Trader Joe’s – was once asked how he’s able to sell wine for less than the cost of bottled water.
He replied: “They’re overcharging you for the water. Don’t you get it?”
This guy proves we are all slackers when it comes to reading: A Man Read 3,599 Books Over 60 Years, and Now His Family Has Shared the Entire List Online.
Amazing photography: World’s biggest photograph contest reveals top ten images from a staggering 656,000 entries.
TRAVEL
Cool: The 7 Highest Places in the World to Grab a Drink. I have been to the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong.
Taking a different take on the links I have provided in the past to the best beaches, how about America’s 10 Most Dangerous Beaches. All ten are in Florida wow.
Very cool: The Tallest Statues of Jesus Christ. I was not aware of most of these.
For my aviation geek readers out there, you will love this: 15 fascinating photos of flying through the decades.
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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.
I am currently traveling in Greece so the content here will not be as up to date as usual, my apologies. You can ask for a refund from the appropriate TBB department and an imaginary intern will get back to you maybe someday.
I always despised having to deal with all companion award tickets. Just another mental burden to get through in this increasingly couponized hobby. So, here we go: All About Atmos Global Companion Awards.
Here is a really good Comprehensive Guide to the New Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Program.
Southwest keeps on trucking (pun intended), here it goes kind of getting in bed with a second international airline: Southwest Announces a Second Partnership With a Taiwan-Based Airline — EVA Air This Time. I really need to fly EVA Air soon. Not to be undone, here comes JetBlue Adds Loyalty Benefits to Condor Partnership.
Register for the latest Best Western Rewards promotion to earn 2,500 bonus points per stay HERE.
And the devaluations continue unabated: Singapore KrisFlyer Devaluation from Nov 1, 2025.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
Citi is becoming relevant again: Citi Strata, Preferred, Double Cash & Custom Cash Cards Can Now Transfer Points To American Airlines (1:0.7 Transfer Rate).
The credit card offers below are pretty much unchanged from last week. Please let me know if some of them are no longer relevant or have expired. I just don’t have the bandwidth to keep up with them as well while traveling. And always let me know if you have any questions about them or you need a link to apply, thank you.
NEW OFFERS:
125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve: Chase raised the Signup Bonus to 125,000 from 100,000 points. Which is great of course. But it also withdrew the $500 statement travel credit in the original offer, boo. Then again, you know, getting an extra 25,000 point is certainly a lot more flexible. 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, it is surprising and love it.
BANK OF AMERICA ALASKA AIRLINES THREE NEW ATMOS CREDIT CARDS
100K AND 25,000 Point Global Companion Award Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Card: The new premium credit card we have been waiting for a while. $395 Annual Fee. Fairly low $6k minimum spend in first three months. Earns 3x on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines purchases, dining and foreign transactions, 1x on everything else. 10% bonus points if you have an eligible Bank of America account, so the 3x becomes 3.3x oh la la. Can earn 100k Global Companion Award cert if spend reaches $60k during the year. 8 Alaska Airlines lounge day passes and 8 Wi-Fi passes every year (2 per quarter). Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six on same reservation. 10,000 status points every anniversary. 2 status points for every $1 spent, uncapped. Waived partner award booking and same day change fees. $50 vouchers for cancellations and 2+ hour delays. One free cocktail drink at each lounge visit (through 2026). Points sharing with up to 10 Atmos Rewards members. 20% off in flight purchases. $120 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre. If you had requested to be waitlisted for this card you should have received an email with an application link that can earn an additional 5,000 points (on top of the 100,000).
80k Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature Card: $95 annual fee. Comes with a $99 Companion Fare. $4k minimum spend in first four months. 3x on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines purchases. 2x on gas, EV charging, cable, streaming and local transit, 1x on everything else. Earns 1 status point per $3 spent (up to 30k status points in 2025 and uncapped starting in 2026). 10% bonus points if you have an eligible Bank of America account. Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six on same reservation. Preferred boarding. 20% inflight purchases. $100 off annual Alaska Lounge membership. No foreign transaction fees. Here is a link to get you 85k miles instead of the 80k affiliate link.
80k Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Business Visa Card: $95 annual fee. Comes with a $99 Companion Fare. $5k minimum spend in first three months. 3x on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines purchases. 2x on gas, EV charging, shipping and local transit, 1x on everything else. Earns 1 status point per $3 spent (up to 30k status points in 2025 and uncapped starting in 2026). 10% bonus points if you have an eligible Bank of America account. Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six on same reservation. 20% off inflight purchases. $100 off Alaska Airlines Lounge membership. No foreign transaction fees. Here is a link to get you 85k miles instead of the 80k affiliate links.
EXPIRING OFFERS:
We have a great REFERRAL offer from Capital One: 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 is at it again with a revised offer for the 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.
After waiting for Citi to introduce a premium credit card, it finally arrived. Please click the link below to get all the info you need about the card and email me if you want to apply.
Citi Strata Elite Review: 80,000 Points Bonus, $595 Annual Fee, $300 Hotel & $200 Splurge Credit
Citi has a new offer for 30,000 Thank You points for its Strata no annual fee card. Very good earning rates for a no annual fee card: 5x on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com, 3x spent at Supermarkets, Select Transit, Gas & EV Charging Stations, 3x spent on an eligible Self-Select Category of your choice, 2x spent at Restaurants and 1x on All Other Purchases.
Chase Southwest Personal Cards: 100,000 Points with $4,000 Spend In 5 Months. 100k Signup bonus for all 3 personal cards is excellent. If you like 100k bonuses and free bags it makes sense too as each Southwest point could be worth around 1.3 cents, so we are talking $1,300 travel value. You know where to find them, thank you. All three 100k offers end September 17, 2025.
My still favorite bank Chase is at it again. We have two new 100k offers on United business cards. Actually, the United Business card is decent, especially for people who have United elite qualification aspirations. I have it myself and not keeping it past the first year by the way. Ends November 5, 2025.
The STANDARD Amex Platinum offer is now up to 175,000 Membership Rewards points. The annual fee is $695 and the minimum spend is $8,000 over six months. 5x on Airfare and Hotels and 1x on everything else. Superior Centurion lounge coverage and of course Priority Pass lounge membership. No foreign transaction fees. A long list of couponized credits, up to $1,800 if you took advantage of every single one. Which you won’t. The easiest credits are the $200 airline fee credit, the $240 Digital Entertainment credit, up to $200 Uber credit and $200 hotel credit…and many more.
Same deal with the STANDARD Amex Gold card now up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points. The annual fee is $325 and the minimum spend is $6,000 over six months. This card’s main appeal has always been its earning power at 4x for dining worldwide and groceries and 3x on airfare. Crazy couponing comes with it, such as $7 per month on Dunkin Donuts, $10 per month on Uber Cash, $10 per month on 5 Guys/Grubhub, Cheesecake Factory, Wine.com or Goldbelly, two $50 Resy credits for dining per year and $100 hotel credit per year.
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:
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
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
I managed to burn 80,000 United miles and get my wife on the same exact flights as my daughter flying out of Athens to Vienna and then Washington IAD. On Austrian Airlines business class. And then that is where they split up, wife flying to Detroit and daughter to Seattle. We can beat up on United miles but I have found availability and ease of use of the website to be working…still!
Burned another 8,000 World of Hyatt points to stay another night at my favorite Thessaloniki Hyatt Regency hotel, returning from Kefalonia island. I should probably hit the gym hard here after the big fat Greek wedding of my nephew at the island.
Son managed to avoid any issues with his two award Air Canada Aeroplan flights, flight attendant strikes and all, great timing. And he managed to hit MVP Silver this year in Alaska Airlines Atmos. Not that it would make any meaningful difference but, you know, Silver is better than base member every time. It is nice to be earning miles on Alaska Airlines awards.
I really enjoyed my trip to Greece this year. And I managed to make many photos in Instagram posts about it. And this is why I am blessed to have chosen a hobby like this for 30+ years now:
My United Polaris Lounge at Newark Airport – “Fantastic lounge. Very large, good buffet food choices and fantastic a la carte dining in the Dining Room. Large restrooms and showers. After eating fantastic scallops and burger I retired to a Quiet Suite for an hour. Service was decent but this is not business class from an Asian or Middle Eastern airline you guys. Loved the views from the windows, so many flying birds ready to take us all over the world. Next up: United Polaris Business Class to Brussels. Last time I was in Brussels was in 1987!”
My United Polaris Business Class Newark to Brussels flight – “Best part of Polaris was not in the air but on the ground at the very nice Polaris Lounge. I slept good and I missed breakfast so that was great. Flat bed was fine. But I found the service to be slow and so lacking when compared to other non US airlines. And the food to be average at best. Entertainment options and wifi were great though. I also found the seats layout to be great…as in being private and not having to look at passengers next to you. I have a Polaris award booking to Thailand later this year and will now look into changing it, I guess I am Polarised-out already lol.”
The Loft Lounge at Brussels Airport – “Great lounge. Very large and very clean. Great shower facilities. Usual subpar food selections, I did not eat anything. Which was a huge accomplishment for me lol. Lexus was sponsoring a portion of the lounge and had some great exhibits, airlines should do this kind of marketing more imho. Great 3 hour layover before connecting to fly to Thessaloniki, Greece aboard Aegean’s Business Class.”
My Suite at my favorite Hyatt property, the Hyatt Regency in Thessaloniki, Greece: – “World of Hyatt Globalist elite suite upgrade got me this suite this time, any questions? And this is why I am on another quest to requalify for WoH Globalist elite status.”
I DO have a separate page listing my other affiliate links HERE including: Rakuten and Top Cash Back.
I am giving myself a challenge for the summer, average 5 credit card sales and 15 Buy Me a Coffee sales per month.
June:
Credit card sales: 7 Buy me a Coffee sales: 1
July:
Credit card sales: 6 Buy me a Coffee sales: 24
August:
Credit card sales: 7 Buy me a Coffee sales: 17
Update: Thank you to blog readers for the support. I guess you don’t want me to quit. I thought I had a good shot of failing the challenge above so I can gracefully move on. I am going to keep this challenge going and roll off the earlier month as we go forward. Going to hit year 13 blogging here in less than three months #wow.
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 175k AMEX Platinum, 100k CHASE Southwest Plus/Premier/Priority (ENDS 9/17), 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 90k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 80k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 1,336,567 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,152,471 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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Just wanted to say hi from the HR Thessalonoki! Was just in Larissa 5 days ago. What a small world.
What a small world indeed!
What brought to the megalopolis of Larissa?
Going back to my 2nd home on Monday…the Thessaloniki Hyatt Regency that is. Let me know if you are still there. Register for the World of Hyatt promo for casino stays, it qualifies! Got me 777 points I did not expect, with more to come as promo lasts through September!
Hmm speaking of Atmos, what gives with Alaska never seeming to have Cathay redemptions anymore? Yeah the whole AI thing, I am using ChatGPT but why would I pay for it when it gives me what I want for free? Yes another thing I don’t understand.
Hope your mom is doing ok!
The piece about how to become taller thru surgery was really something. Thanks for
all the links!