We bring you another Monday Buzzy edition with details about The Points Guy empire, help you fight tax identity theft, the first US cannabis cafe opens, the sad tale of The Plastic Merchant bankruptcy, I keep racking up Hyatt points, what happens if you fly close to the US President, one of those must read articles about the forces shaping the world, how the Saudis killed Jamal Khashoggi, some amazing world records, gotta love dogs, money with an expiration date like the milk in your refrigerator and other stuff I bring to you for free for almost seven years wow!
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
Support TBB by applying for CREDIT CARDS and visiting our LINKS!
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
MILES & POINTS
Interesting article. Oh how I would love to see the financials to confirm stated profitability! How The Points Guy built a 100-person media company off affiliate fees. Pound them newbies 24/7 365! Our little obscure “hobby” is not in Kansas anymore…Care to guess why we are not a rounding error anymore and keep getting hit from all directions? See you at the next devaluation!
Speaking of good travel rewards credit card deals out there, how about the Citi Business AAdvantage Platinum card offering 70k AA miles? Available with my links. But TBB you do the same thing like TPG? Exsqueeze me? I am fairly certain that NONE of my readers carries a balance on their cards. Unlike TPG readers. Told by a friend recently a stat that 60% of credit card holders carry a balance in the US. And this is why we still get bonuses like this! But they are being restricted left and right with the influx of so many newbies…So sad! Update: Doctor of Credit now shows a higher offer for 75k AA miles…and this is why I will not ever get an offer to sell to The Points Guy sad lol! This will never get through their editors to be published, a higher offer offering more miles to their readers, blasphemy! How do you expect for all 100 staff to get paid huh? Update2: Sharp reader pointed out that the 70k offer has a $4k minimum spend and the 75k offer has a $5k minimum spend.
Serenity now, I got a little distracted. Again. Lets turn positive like all other bloggers who are so so nice, being positive and all, work that SEO hard baby, linking to others hoping for a back link, pumping those dozens affiliate links all over each blog post, blah blah blah..
Another 61k Hyatt points in the bank. I should probably use them one of these days…
TRAVEL
Did you ever wonder what happens when you happen to fly near the President of the United States? Intercepted By An F-16. “Aircraft at three-thousand five hundred feet…say intentions.”
Who needs Amsterdam? America’s first cannabis cafe opens in California. In pictures lol. If my site hits 20 credit card conversions in a month I will sponsor a reader meetup here. Will pour my blog profits back to sponsor it #givingback. Bwahahaha!
Genius move to sleep better in your hotel room, thank you!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Drop everything. Right now. I no longer do Best of Web posts but if I did this would have been the leading one for sure. Like I said, drop everything and place this at the top of your reading list. Do not skip it. I repeat. Do not skip it.
Three Big Things: The Most Important Forces Shaping the World
By the way they are: Demographics, Inequality, Access to Information. And ponder about this table and think of the numerous credit card pumping, clickbaiting, shocking videos and all the drivel your eyes are exposed to every day before you come here to get educated, entertained and inspired sometimes okay?
Another deep article here that was going to be a strong Best of Web candidate: The story of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and how the world looked the other way. Phuck MBS and Kushner, can TPG say that? Nope!
Here is something to laugh with! This video of a preacher checking his phone while speaking in tongues is my favorite video on the internet right now.
Wow, this will shock you. For real. And make you shake your head for a while, crazy! 19 Of The Most Bizarre World Records You Never Knew Existed. Like…most consecutive pinky pull ups: 36!! Fastest time to eat a bowl of pasta: 26.69 seconds! And then there is this, lol: Largest table tennis/ping pong bat: 11 feet, 7.8 inches tall and 6 feet, 7.8 inches wide.
Love this! Gang of Dogs Turn Up at Hospital to Wait for Homeless Owner Who’s Being Treated Inside.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Tax identity theft is when phucking scammers file a US tax return before you do. So, when you file you get the dreaded error message “Someone has already filed using this Social Security Number”. And then you are in a world of hurt trying to fix the mess. Best way to fight this is to file your tax return early to ensure you do it before the phucking scammers do! As this issue has been hammering US taxpayers and the IRS for several years hitting a peak some years ago…the IRS has been fighting back. One way is to issue a PIN to taxpayers who were already victims who must send in the code when they file. IRS sends them a PIN each year. The IRS has been very slowly expanding the PIN program to other states and started making it voluntary last year to 10 states, which included Michigan. I took advantage of it and it worked great. This year it expands to another 10 states. I would encourage you to look into it and take advantage of it. The screens are very thorough, I must warn you. Hey, they REALLY need to make sure it is you and not a phucking scammer! Here is an article about this subject: Taxpayers in 19 states and D.C. now can get special IRS PIN to fight tax identity theft.
Interesting read about Silvio Gesell who wanted to create money with an expiration date. He is coming back to vogue with negative interest rates becoming a reality lately. The ‘Strange, Unduly Neglected Prophet’. Well, you can say he was an interesting character for sure!
He had a bunch of eccentric views, criticizing monogamous relationships and advocating free love. He lived in a vegetarian commune near Berlin for a time. He was a bohemian utopian who advocated for peace between nations. He was critical of big business and finance, but he believed in individual freedom and market competition. And he was a committed anti-racist. As fascism rose in Germany, Gesell would call the scapegoating of Jews for the nation’s problems “a colossal injustice.”
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
The bankruptcy filing of The Plastic Merchant is quite something, wow! Can you believe holding the bag for 90k omg! I saw others holding the bag for $32k and 22k. I felt really bad about the couple running TPM as I saw many medical expenses in the list of debts. Not sure if that started the whole debacle that led to thousands and thousands of credit card debt. Or did they just blow the money? Just a sad story indeed and should be a warning to everyone! This is all games and fun until you get screwed for the duration, smh. In addition, I see three bloggers and a blog reader in the list of people holding the bag, all for less than $1k though.
Only 12 miles as the long run this past weekend. Two week countdown for my first full marathon. I am very excited, can you tell?
And I leave you with this…Don’t dress up your dog this Halloween like this ok? Or maybe…do!
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Follow TBB on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2.
You can subscribe to TBB below, winners only!
Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
The Ch 11 filing of TBB LLC will make an interesting read too 😉
Can’t believe you actually split that FT thread man! I am trying to spend less time on FT…the design is injuring my eyes. How about getting the IB idiots to actually do something useful?
I think stuck720 is Rene!
There will not be a Ch 7 or Ch 11 here. I will simply…walk away 🙂
Flyertalk has many other parts to read and enjoy. And a pretty decent dupe detector, the more posts anyone makes the better.
I wonder if Ingy or Rene will be the first to post on the new FT TBB thread?
I didn’t know that ID-theft related to filing a tax returns was a thing – good to know! I always file mine pretty early.
TPG…God what a tool.
OMG the dog costume! haha!
What interesting reading! Gessel at breakfast.
The bankruptcy petition is morbid fascination. There but for the grace of God I go.
I started looking at that Chapter 7. Fcuking sad. Mainly CC debt (related to medical bills)?.
Then l looked at the list of unsecured claims. Sure enough, some got stuck with $22k in gift card debt. And then there’s John Pilafas in IL with $32k in claims. Sadly it seems that he passed away in July 2018. https://www.knollcrest.net/obituaries/John-Pilafas?obId=3165689
About the time when TPM went under.
You missed the one owed $90k. Her Linkedin profile says her job title is “Risk Manager”!
TPM was in to Bitcoin. Way deep…Sad all around for sure
I noticed not many assets…What if they stashed bitcoins and gift cards in unreachable places? Maybe THE hack of a lifetime…They may start a blog to tell us how they FIRE themselves and show us how we can do it tooooo….
I so hope that guy did not pass away due to this. It would be so tragic!
I agree something is off here. Mattress filled with gift cards?
Coinbase issues a 1099 if you have more than $20k,
I think these bitcoin crypto people can hold bitcoin without a broker like Coinbase. Right? And then something happens to them and the inheritor does not have the password. Or it gets hacked from a Russian scammer. Tough to believe this shit is still going on. Having said that, bitcoin may have another run and no I am not putting any money in it!
Add one more of your readers who got 2k shorted by Plastic Merchant
I just saw Mary Ann Mastri in Houston, $90k, “….Seeking Full Time Opportunity” since mid 2017. Maybe you shouldn’t go all in when you don’t have a full time job.
WOW…omg, this gets worse!
They probably discovered the hobby in a TPG post…
Roll eyes
Some lost credibility giving TPM access to their platforms.
Saverocity’s Observationdeck had him on the podcast for 1h. And Miles to memories was promoting the site pretty often. Based on their CREDIBILITY I also tested TPM out a few times. Fortunately, I’m into quick hits and don’t trust strangers.
Every day I am approached by outfits to “work together” and “make money” in getting into bed with them. And I delete them, they all seem sketchy and/or I do not have the time for me to PERSONALLY test them. And I fear outcomes like this! So I am just going to stick to a little whining here instead when conversions fall of the cliff.
Thanks to the reader who got an IHG card. #4 this month, if this keeps up I ‘ll stop whining lol.
If you ask me, all the greedy plastic ‘hobbiest’ should have been wiser. I’m guessing all the newest people got screwed. When will they learn?
Facebook travel pages also push their agenda. It’s never pretty when I politely offer a differing ( and valid) opinion.
Last? 😉
They say the most expensive lessons are the best ones.
Everybody is selling something. I would too if my livelihood depended on blogging lol.
Just saw VFTW had a post about stinky fruit…I look at my blog post today and this guy posts about stinky fruit to give himself a break before posting about some other credit cards he is always selling…
Never last here!
Well, there is often a lot that stinks around the VFTW blog to begin with – so I guess it’s only natural!
I think we are watching someone more mentally disturbed than the Joker, wow!
“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!)…”
I think it must be cocaine…
Ramsey, some logic please. Please admit that this is some beyond embarrassing shit WOW, the guy is not a stable genius but an unstable moron…COME ON, WTF!!!!
i love him more than ever!
Use the Bully Pulpit Donald.
Ramsey is the guy Trump was referring to when he said he won’t lose any fans if he shot someone in the street!
https://twitter.com/FlyerTalkerinA2/status/1181318815893934080
Did Ramsey just go away on his own or did you banish him?
he is back…in this thread….two commnents above me 🙂
TBB Top 10 Gif today.
FYI Mr. Sanders is fine, he has the heart of an 80 year old, and will be totally fine if he takes it easy and does not do anything or get involved with anything stressful.
Mention the world Billionaire and the guy will have another one…
I give you something….The Dems are a bunch of morons as well.
Yeah I’m not seeing any candidate anywhere that I’m interested in.
At this point I will vote for ANYONE to get Trump hauled away in jacket straight to a mental clinic where the guy clearly belongs!
Must read article on Trump….I wonder how this guy is still married to Kellyanne!
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/
I agree the bankruptcy filing is quite something, but I don’t want to make any judgments other than to share your feeling bad for everyone. Maybe the business wasn’t sustainable, or maybe one medical event destroyed the finances (as can cruelly happen in the US). Maybe the creditors understood and accepted the risk they were taking, maybe they didn’t. Probably a lot more who could have ended up creditors but who just didn’t have exposure at the moment it collapsed. We’ll likely never know the full picture.
I am amazed at a quote from Brian in that Digiday article: “exclusively focusing on credit cards is not a smart strategy”, which he uses to justify where he sees TPG going. But that seems like a giant warning alarm to me — isn’t that, as the article notes, basically TPG’s entire business right now? All that other stuff — events, communities, tools — seems much trickier to pull off and lucratively monetize in a way you’d expect necessary for an investment firm held, 100+ person company. And its stuff they don’t really have any experience in, and that others are trying / have tried.
Yes, that caught my eye as well. Are they seeing something coming down the line? As in more restrictions? As a cut in commissions? Maybe they have an economist on staff who says the clouds are getting thicker? All bloggers have been affected by this when in the early days any blogger could get direct cc links and make up to $500 per app. Well, those days are long gone and are likely not coming back. Maybe, they are experiencing the ceiling in the newbie market? Can they pivot to do what they stated in the article? I doubt it. Then again, I never thought TPG would be here in its present form either…so what the heck do I know? I am certainly not a thought leader on anything!
Yeah, we will likely never know what really went down at TPM. I am glad I did not contribute at all to any of that heartache.
Thanks always for you great comments, you are a great observer…casual_observer! 🙂
Could be they sense things changing in the card market — doesn’t it seem like things have cooled off quite a bit? Hard to believe the CSR was three years ago.
My mind, though, goes to the traditional media competition that the article mentions — we’ve talked about this before, but The Wirecutter still seems like it should be an existential threat. I would love to know how much TPG spends on search ads (obviously, a lot) relative to the commission earned. I wonder if the cost of acquisition associated with snagging the top search result is getting too high.
Always enjoy the links and community discussion here; I hope your new schedule has helped make things feel more sustainable.
CSR was already three years ago, wow!
I would love to know how much TPG spends on everything! Just the fixed costs of salary/benefits/rent alone requires hundreds of cc signups DAILY! The SEO group has 15 staffers in it alone!
I don’t have to rush to do a post tomorrow. Or pay Andy all of the monthly revenue…so it definitely helps. Depending on how conversions go I may go back to him every other month or so because his content fits perfectly the blog mission here.
Hey, even I know my own business will drop dead one day – why do you think I’m headed to space?
Hey big boy, put that banana back in your pants.
I thought Bill was the only one with the banana ??
Oh, definitely not the only one, sweetheart.
I hadn’t realized that TPG had actually bought out MMS, MP, and -with much sadness- TIF. I thought they just went to work for him.
Oh yes…
MMS left alone to sell plastic.
MP ditched Randy and Boarding Area and ported all her content to TPG and is a happy employee there doing what they do best…selling plastic while enthusiastically liking and retweeting all other content by TPG employees.
TIF was bought in a package deal to get Drew in the TPG team…do not expect much to happen in that site…not like much was posted there anyway since the ink was dry.
If only Ingy had waited a little longer…instead he took the low offer from Internet Brands to sell FTG…only to come back pushing Dosh referral links at Pointchaser and peanuts to write again at FTG and Pointchaser…oh, how SAD is that!
Time for your Daughter to update the blog status spreadsheet.
Did she think your blog was dead after she read “Good Luck to You, George”?
https://thegate.boardingarea.com/an-homage-to-travelbloggerbuzz-good-luck-to-you-george/
First2Board was also mentioned AND Mr Pickles.
TravelBloggerBuzz says:
March 29, 2015 at 9:42 pm
Thanks. And I am not dead yet!
Reconfirming this is true LOL.
Thanks for the nice links and comments today. The TPM bankruptcy is pretty interesting. I don’t want to bash them too much because probably none of us would want our details publicized like this. But I did sort of lol at the asset of Magic the gathering cards. And it’s pretty ironic that someone who was helping others get gains from CC companies wound up being over $55k in debt to Amex and way over $100k to Chase. The poor banks… Hey, hey, hey, get your biz platinum today.
You are very welcome…
I missed the Magic cards…they declare that as an asset, wow!
Hey Buzz-
I don’t know where to start on The Plastic Merchant. That deal went under in the summer of 2018. So why the chapter filing 17 months later? What has happened in the interim? Wouldn’t you love to see who got paid what and why along the way? There are some names on that list of people I think dealt in volume, yet they have only claim of a thousand or two.
Another sidebar to the tale is that after the big fall, TPM resold some gcs they had bought to another gift card middleman. Seems some of the folks who sold to TPM who didn’t get paid decided they still owned the cards and sold them again. However, the second middleman disagreed, claiming that he owned the cards:
https://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/giftcardmart-letter-to-tpm-sellers/
This is like those final exams in law school that lay out a three page story, and the only question asked is: What are the legal results to all the parties involved, and why?
I recall there were some glitches with TPM before the big blow-up. Why did people keep sending him gcs with a warning like that? And didn’t he appear and speak at one of those ‘dos’? (Note to Ingy: Is the plural of ‘do’ ‘dos’)?
I have read some really harsh comments about TPM over the last week. i know nothing but my guess is that one or more of the people he sold to didn’t back a purchase commitment, or maybe TPM bought anticipating a commitment that didn’t show up,
This whole sad saga takes me back to words my mother used to say: There, but for the grace of God, go I.
Sad saga indeed….Thanks for the feedback. I guess we’ll never know.
In my great and unmatched wisdom, I am pretty certain, TPM was never recommended by TBB 🙂
It is Wednesday shortly after 6.30 am and it is my habit to come here to see if DML had posted yet. Or Scott Castle surprised us again. 🙂
It is like a piece of me missing today…
But I like it as I now get to focus more on more important stuff, be more eclectic for the Monday and Friday posts. I have a draft of the Friday post in already and not even ONE Miles & Points related link, WOW! About ten other awesome ones….Can you say BORING hobby these days or what?
And thanks to reader T who emailed to let me know he went for the Capital One Sparks card and telling me “I got to keep you blogging”. Thank you. At #5 conversion I may bring Andy back for a post next month…need to launder some of my profits from blogging LOL.
Just saw this headline from MMS: Last chance to pick up 100,000 bonus miles with the United Business credit card.
$25k Min Spend! If you can MS it and you are under 5/24, it could be worth it for you. And certainly from me 🙂 Take that Ingy with your crappy Dosh referral links, you should not have sold so early to…Internet Brands LOL.
Came here for my Wednesday TBB and then remembered the sad reality…
Also came here out of habit. Sad!
Me too! Lol
I canceled my Amex Business Platinum today and, you know, it felt good, really really GOOD!
The circle-jerks continue as “Miles to Go” (on BoardngArea) does a podcast with Summer Hull and Richard Kerr from our beloved TPG! Woohoo so exciting!
When I started blogging I was told numerous times the way to grow the blog is to keep linking to other blogs, interview them and make comments with your link…I remember, back in those days, I used to see the DoC leaving comments left and right…back then when I was reading close to 700 blogs and having no time to go to the bathroom…if I had used that time instead to do these blog marketing friendly things instead….imagine that…smh…Having said all that, I am happy with this new posting twice a week reality, will make my two posts COUNT 🙂
Remember how Daraius would interview a blogger each week?
Help me out here-What king of chain is that?
Hint: One of the questions was ‘What the best way to earn miles’. Can I call a friend?
Richard Kerr is a Miles Savant…..so back off Ryan
actually I just watched all his youtube videos from last year, and I actually learned a few tricks I did not know, I like the Dude
You should sell T shirts with “I survived #40kFarAway”!
Lol…Is it over yet?
Here we go again! Any bloggers, WTF do they want???? I am getting really tired of this crap!
———————–
Hello,
Your Associates account is at risk of closure.
Why?
We reviewed your account as part of our ongoing monitoring of the Amazon Associates Program. During our review, we determined that you are not in compliance with the Operating Agreement, found here: . The violations include the following:
-You have created Special Links to an Amazon Page that does not contain any products.
An example of the above violation can be found here: Xhttps://travelbloggerbuzz.com/support-tbb/
What’s next?
Within five business days please correct the violations and notify us when you are in compliance through our customer service contact page: X. Please choose the subject ‘Warning/Information Request Response’ from the dropdown menu, and be sure to reference Issue Code 83441-US in the comments field.
If you do not respond within five business days, we may close your Associates account and withhold fees.
C’mon George, you need to be selling products! I would think if you changed the link from a generic amazon link to any product whatsoever they’d leave you alone.
DoC also has a generic Amazon link… can’t be that?
PizzainMotion and MP have been podcast buddies for a while… countless episodes. Never listened to even one.
I listened to one of those podcasts. College radio meets Hee-Haw.
Talk to Dansdeals about selling diapers.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking, just pick a couple of items each day or whatever. I’ve seen other blogs do that. Plus we can see the things that Buzz himself recommends!
If I change it to any item, will they leave me alone?
Why aren’t they picking on DoC then? This is I think the third email from them. I have changed/deleted many things to comply…and this is just getting absolutely ridiculous now!
Lol on the podcasts and diapers!
I need to find a product that does not ever change…because I am not going back in there to change it every day.
hey George,
Just back from a nice trip which included 2 glorious weeks in Greece. As part of that trip, we went with a big tour outfit, Key Tours, to give us maximum sites and zero driving. When compared to the costs of doing it yourself, it is actually cheaper. When compared to the costs of US based companies like Rick Steves or Odyssey, it is about 25% of the cost. My new travel trip is to “book local”!
We spend four days in Istanbul at the very end. Glad to have seen it but also glad to leave before they started their attack of our allies, the Kurds. Why would any group ever again want to be our allies in that area?
Anyway, I want to get back to Northern Greece. I think there is a good trip possible there, more Nature-oriented than relics…
September is the best month to go to the Mediterranean. Most charter tourists are gone. Few British, German and Russian tourists. Calmer atmosphere and relaxing. Weather is normally great and the water is warm. Sure, it’s cheaper too.
My wife and I went to Greece in the spring and it was calm and quiet, some pretty flowers too. But the owner of the condo we rented in Rhodes also said September is an ideal time so we’re aiming for around that time for our next trip to Greece – maybe in 2020.
Only problem is deciding where to go. So much to choose from in Greece especially the islands!
Turkey is another of my favorite countries, too.
So far October has been fantastic as well. Early June is great, but the water may not be as warm. Key here is to avoid the industrial holiday (Germany shutting down factories in July/August).
Yeah, avoid July/August!
When you go…SPEND money ok? 🙂
No way not to spend money but some prices are outright ridiculous. Especially at chain hotels, where a beer is $10 and an entree can be $30+. You would think these hotels could notice that no one is eating or drinking there and adjust prices. I actually mentioned this to a hotel concierge and their excuse was that the bar and resto were “world class” with a “famous” chef.
Better to spend your money at museums and mom and pop places anyways!
How did you travel to ATH from PDX (Vantucky)/ Business Class?
also did you see any HOT BROADS abroad?
Ramsey? Is that you? Thought you swore never to come back…
Flew to Ath from LGW. Which made it easier. Cost about 45$ on EasyJet.
And I usually fly coach, so I can mingle with the proletariat.
Michael C Dean and the Plastic Merchant are simply nothing more than a scammer. If they had issues they should have communicated them better. Why has it been a year since the Missouri AG and his lawyer sent the letter out to file for bankruptcy? Where did all the money go?
In the court filings, they make 5,253.17 a month in the St. Louis area. This isn’t SF or NYC, that’s a huge income for that area. They rent in a BRAND NEW development and their expenses are still only 4,213.00 a month. Insane that after defrauding so many he’s allowed to file for Chapter 7.
John, Chapter 13 is not an option. The irony is that if you have more than $394,725 in debts, you cannot file Chapter 13 even if you wanted to.
Also, PSA for anyone that he owes money to. Some of his creditors were not included in the bankruptcy filing. If you didn’t receive a notice in the mail from the bankruptcy court last week, he may have left you off of his bankruptcy filing but you may still file a claim at: https://www.moeb.uscourts.gov/epoc-electronic-proof-claim-filing
Instructions for filing a claim can be found here: https://www.docdroid.net/xnRtXN9