We bring you news about the Ultimate Rewards pooling future, do a Marriott Platinum challenge, reveal the greatest Bitcoin scam, some revealing tipping stats, vsit Baku and Michigan National Parks, help you have better conversations, love your phone less, listen to Cuban music, more news about the United Explorer card, get citizenship abroad and lots more freeeeeee!
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
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The British Airways Visa is again up at 100k Avios. Not subject to 5/24. Available with my links. You may have seen it around the blogosphere 😉
I usually do not deal with rumors in this blog. Simply because there are so many out there and would rather not bother and waste your time. But this latest rumor that Chase may stop Ultimate Rewards pooling is important to remind you to move points from one of the “cash back” type cards (Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Cash) to one of the premium cards (Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Ink Business Preferred) ASAP. Why do I think that this may indeed happen? Because Chase recently offered the Freedom Unlimited card with 3x for the first full year. And blogs screamed how you can get the card and then move the points to Sapphire Reserve to make them worth 4.5x. And that’s just not going to be allowed by Chase imho.
When these things happen, we have a predictable response in this “hobby”. The reaction online is of rage and screams “I am moving all my business to Amex” and stuff like that. Mostly to vent and try to at least influence a roll back. I call BS. After the initial wave of rage, everyone adapts and moves on. And bloggers always find the silver lining to keep going so they can sell more plastic to you, this is their livelihood. It is not my livelihood, thank you Lord! I call them as I see it. This hobby is an addiction, we are all looking for the next fix.
Marriott has an unpublished Platinum challenge. I stay in hotels for free so this is not my thing, especially for Marriott which I consider the Delta of hotels (that is bad!). But if you are a road warrior it could be for you I guess.
As Citi tried to recently sweeten the benefits on an AA card, it appears Chase is about to do the same on the United Explorer card. It is adding 2x on restaurant and hotels. And taking away the 10k miles on $25k spend. First, if you were doing a $25k spend to get the 10k…you need to have your head examined. Bottom line, bank proprietary and cash back cards are beating the crap out of the pure airline and hotel travel rewards cards. These inadequate moves to reverse this secular trend are completely, well, inadequate! You won’t hear that from bloggers selling the pure airline and hotel cards by the way. Because…conversions. Maybe one day I will follow the script. Maybe one day the script will be good for the readers #fantasy.
Amazon Prime price goes up to $119 per year effective 5/11/18 but you member can renew at the old price until 6/15. This is a good post on how to save on Amazon. I could pump my link all over these two sentences but I just feel even more dirty from all my other pumping, sad!
Pointbreaks IHG Rewards Club hotel list is coming up on Monday April 30 and it will appear HERE. A teaser list was sent out. These now no longer cost just 5k IHG Rewards points but 5k or 10k or 15k (the few Intercontinentals).
There is a LOT of money flowing into this sector right now! Why Everybody Now Wants a Piece of the Tours and Activities Sector. Key excerpt:
Skift Research sees three main drivers of investments and in tours and activities. First, the sector has strong internal growth dynamics, in part driven by consumer shifting to experiences over things. Next, while the sector is still mostly offline, that is is rapidly changing due to a shift reminiscent of the early days of online hotel and airline booking. Lastly, all of these changes are happening at a time of consolidation for the largest, hyper-competitive global travel brands. These corporations are also beginning to shift business models toward a full-service platform approach.
Michigan has Five National Parks. Come check them out!
This may help some of you travel maniacs: The easiest places in the world to get citizenship or residency, from Thailand to St. Lucia.
This is VERY cool. Just type your first name and sit back and learn all kinds of things about it. Heck, I had no idea my name George stands for “farmer”, no idea!
This is really good advice, we all need help with this! 5 Concrete Ways to Develop a Healthier Relationship With Your Phone (No Blocking or Deleting Apps Required!).
This short video will melt your heart. Thank you nurses for what you do!
Your personal finance fix of the day is, we can be a little more specific lol. Bitcoin is the greatest scam in history.
This is just so beautiful…Four seasons in the life of a Finnish island.
Great post on all about tipping!
If you plan to visit…this is a must read post: 25 Useful Things to Know Before You Visit Baku, Azerbaijan. 
I get a lot of emails offering to partner with me, post infographics and sponsored posts. I ignore them. But one persistent guy is not giving up. He flat out told me in the last email “I will pay you for a link to our review post”. The review is about air fryers. Ok, don’t laugh. How much should I ask? DansDeals does this all the time. Then again he probably earns way a lot more than I can get away with. I should respond and say $500 and see if I get an lol back at me 🙂
I actually got to see the musicians in the Buena Vista Social Club (when they were alive) with my wife in Ann Arbor. It was a beautiful concert. Oh, the love of pure music. We are all ONE.
Buena Vista Social Club – Candela.
And I leave you with this…See you Sunday for the Best of Web, meow!
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
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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.
Good morning!
It’s Friday!!!!
Second. I will take it.
Does that mean I am taking third?
Extraordinary images from Korea to digest #wow
When that first image of Kim Jong Un and Pompeo came out my first thought was: Doritos!
Has anyone here stayed at the Conrad Maldives Rangali? I’m considering it to burn through the rest of my Hilton points. The thing I’m most curious about is…. Did you try to keep it cheap, get sucked into paying way more for things you didn’t want/need, and how much was your final out of pocket cost? I think I’m going to be able to get there via Cathay first and come home in etihad apartments, so I’m willing to spend a little more on the trip than I normally would…
The choices ahead for you are so so hard 🙂
I have not done Maldives. This is why I am no thought leader yet.
TPG is pumping the hell out of the Capital One Venture card today…These guys will sell anything for a sales commission!
Anything is an understatement!
% of UK citizens who tip a bartender = 0%
Same as the rest of the world.
I tip my bartenders. Always.
I am one of the best tippers. They need it more than me.
Take notes TBB, this is how you sell the Ink Business Card!
One Mile at a Time – Is This The Best Ever Welcome Bonus On A No Annual Fee Card?
Hope you guys get it with TBB’s links before this bank takes away the pooling feature!
How did you miss this post on locking in the $99 Prime rate?
https://www.dansdeals.com/shopping-deals/amazon/amazon-prime-going-99-119-per-year-heres-can-lock-99-rate-future-years/
Interesting you raised this.
This is a play by play:
Saw it. Read it. Added it to today’s post. But I could not resist to start counting all the blue links and sooner than you can say Sapphire…I got blued on the face. If I kept going it would be a blog world record! I decided not to send my readers directly to it because you got featured here several times on the Marriott SPG merger content (which you killed by the way).
So, when I saw the DoC’s post on it…I featured that instead.
I like to help small bloggers. Not sure if DoC qualifies as small but at least you can count on two things in that blog: No affiliate links so pervasive all over and the much hated now occassional links to VFTW.
Have a good weekend.
No idea why you linked to that DoC post which doesn’t even address the Prime hike, but the correct DoC post does HT me. I came up with the Prime strategy in 2014 myself and updated it for 2018.
But I understand that I had one credit card affiliate link in that post, so it totally makes sense to go to the secondary source as punishment for that offense 🙄
But you did get me to make a post on the UR rumor that I’ve been avoiding, so there’s that.
I missed that one cc link because I was buried in them Amazon links man #wow.
Hey, MtoM did not HT you, complain there 🙂
The UR rumor has been around for a long time, yes. Amazing it has not happened yet…just like the Companion Pass. But this time around we don’t have the 3% FU card and I think this is the game changer…I think it will happen. By June.
Full Disclosure: I have been wrong before and I am no thought leader.
I’m definitely not going to kvetch about missing HTs, I just thought your post was odd.
Now I just think it’s childish 😉
Go Cavs!
Go Pacers!
You are welcome for all the links to your blog.
Yes it was odd. This is an odd blog from an odd blogger.
I’ve gotten tens of visitors referred from TBB over the past 5 years!
Thanks this is good to know!
A long long time ago a reader got the US Bank Altitude Reserve card with my links.
Just want you to know that you were LAST. Which is equivalent to FIRST in the comments.
I am dead meat, going to join the other BA bloggers who lost their links, sad!
On the other hand, about to have another Westin stay. After having yet another awful stay with them. Actually, I do not remember ever being satisfied at a Westin which I think is the most over rated and obnoxious chain ever. Thankfully in between I have stays at Swissotel and Fairmont. Only staying at the Westin because that is where the conference is at.
In Chicago.
Go Bucks on Game 7, beat the Celtics #GreakFreakFan
Donald you have done it again! Do not expect anyone to publicly express their gratitude, but I’ll say it “thank you”.
You ended the Korean War with your tough talk and Chubs will soon be dismantling his nukes’ capabilities.
You knocked off ISIS and you got our economy humming and people are finally making earning more money or move on to a better job. It was only a couple of years ago that College Gratuates were taking jobs managing Panda Express. You did this when the guy before did nothing.
You are throwing those bastards from MS13 the hell out of here and had the balls to send cruise missiles to Syria.
You are fighting the war on the opioid epidemic. Yes your style is sometimes rude and crude but I love how you flex this countries muscles.
Now you will fix the trading that has taken away so many American jobs. Good Job Sir.
But nobody can come on the internet to praise you, it will not be tolerate by the left wingnuts who are more concerned that Melania wore a white hat, or that the Russkies were on Facebook.
The sad paet abt your unhinged comment is…that enough morons agreed and voted for this unstable jackass.
The one you MAY be right about is that it APPEARS we may have something good going in Korea. He will probably phuck it all up when he meets with Little Rocket Man. If you think Kim will quit his nukes for less than the moon…well, you don’t know much. Which runs in tune with Trump supporters.
We are in an echo chamber dude…
And welcome back old friend 😉
Can he do something about fuel surcharges on award tickets, SPG Amex devaluation, and prevent any UR pooling changes?
+1
He can not because the Democrats do not let him. And crooked Hillary and Obama and those fakers at CNN
We are all living in our own alternative reality these days
graduates
Cavs: They are just not a good team this year. How long can Le Bron take them. 2nd round. Maybe.
I got no referrals from Dan. Come to think of it, I get no referrals period! But for some odd reason most bloggers read me. Maybe they are all scared 🙂
Open letter to Dan:
I used to read your blog and i used your links if I found some good info. Then one day I was looking for info on an Amex card I had read on your blog a few days earlier. This was in the info section where you and readers comment, provide data points, etc.
I couldn’t find that Amex info I had read the week before and looking for why, someone said you had lost your Amex affiliate links and then pulled the thread with the info supplied by you and readers. I told myself “Au revoir, Dan”.
So was that really what happened? Is that still what you do?
On a not-unrelated topic, One Conversion at a Time listed his top 10 cards of the month. Nothing on cash back. Harsh comments which, IMHO, are well deserved. One commenter even provided links to better offers for a card or two on the Top Ten list.
But the best comment on that OCAAT post was the guy who said he didn’t mind if Ben made a couple of hundred grand a year. Is Ben only working 2 months a year now?
Gotta run-Fox and Friends is coming on and I’m hoping Doocy’s going to announce a cure for cancer. Or at least stupidity.
Do you really think I deleted a thread because I lost direct AMEX links?
Is this a joke? Why in the world would I do that?
I also have a public email address, so not sure why you didn’t just ask me directly?
DansDeals is not in the Blogs I Like list for two reasons: 1) Affiliate linking practices 2) Too many deal posts vs actual blog posts with actual content. The site has been praised here many times for what it has built, the actual knowledge of Dan about this stuff and the forums.
Oh, Pacers obliterated the Cavs. I still go with Cavs at Game 7 unless the Pacers get over the mental hump…Because, as teams go, the Pacers are better!
I do not read OCAAT anymore. There are so many fan boys there who are clueless…
Some facts from TBB land this Saturday morning.
Fell asleep right after the Cavs game ended. Woke up at 4.10 am. Went through Feedly, added a few links to the “To Read” queue.
Went to Starbucks at 4.30 am. Put together Sunday’s Best of Web post with five links I had already lined up.
Scheduled the post at 6.15 am.
Coffee refill time!
Phucking freezing in this joint. The reason I stopped coming here. But it opens at 4.30 am. Moved next to fireplace and I am still cold. WTF!
Wife went over a pothole yesterday. Flat tire. Fixed but major damage on struts and shocks which were needed to be replaced anyway. $900 with alignment after coupons and rebates. Put it on her CSP and finally met minimum spend, hello another 55k Ultimate Rewards points! Time to get another card. Need to see if I can get 100k for son for the Ink Business Preferred, may have to take him to the branch. He is in Munich today, last day before he heads to Amsterdam for five nights. Staying at a hostel, its name is Flying Pig. Last night I got him to the Doubletree at Centraal Station with 60k HH points/
Checked credit card TBB haul. It’s been like two weeks before there was any revenue earned there, so sad!
Checked Amazon haul. Made 64 cents yesterday.
I no longer check the referral links haul. It’s been months anyone clicked them.
One day I will say just phuck it like so many have. Ran into Pointscentric on Twitter. Another blog that was on the Like list but quit. Because. You know. He seems happier with out the blog. One day. Until then, you enjoy this baby while it lasts…
I hope the Bucks and the Greek Freak can beat the Celtics in Boston at Game 7.
And then there is the hard hitting investigational acumen by Rene..
Question: Is there EVER a good egg breakfast on any airline? Do you eat eggs onboard?
Jeeeeeesus help us!
I thought this was interesting (the part where he’s blocked not only a blogger but an entire network from his site) – http://www.elliott.org/thats-ridiculous-2/blacklisted-by-a-consumer-advocate/
Elliott vs Gary Leff…
Wow
And he blocked the whole Boarding Area…I guess things did not go well when he briefly moved to BA…which was bizarre to begin with!
“He started as a third-rate airline blogger and one day discovered points-earning credit cards. His site, inelegantly modeled after Fox News, is filled with hateful ad hominem attacks against anyone who disagrees with his ill-considered Libertarian views on government regulation.”
And then so many kiss up to this self proclaimed travel thought leader…