Another amazing ride with your Supreme Buzzer showing you how to learn all about United Routing Rules, the secret Bank of America phone numbers, a very good summary of the state of Miles/Points metagame, visit Beirut and Meghalaya India, more awesome personal finance links, and just odd stuff about fees to the airlines, best time to drink coffee. We finish with the biggest baddest Blog Buzz mega crap polluting the blogosphere we cover for you. An announcement is strategically placed at the end of the Blog Buzz too.
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MILES/POINTS
The Complete Guide to United Routing Rules – By Travel is Free. WOW! Others pump credit cards non stop, others are adding value like this! Who would you rather help? Think!
Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles are now a transfer partner with Citibank Thank You reward points. That’s it. Move on, yawn. What an easy way to sell some credit cards with posts like this huh? Check the Blog Buzz section below for crap.
Southwest schedule is now extended through April 6, 2015.
Working phone numbers at Bank of America to call for follow up/reconsiderations (HT Rapid Travel Chai):
- Personal: 866-505-7481
- Personal en Espanol: 866-865-7843
- Business: 866-695-6598
My Thoughts on the State of the Miles and Points Metagame By As The Joe Flies. These are some very good thoughts and I tend to agree with most of them!
TRAVEL
American Airlines stopped selling tickets on Orbitz. I predict an announcement soon that American Airlines will begin to sell tickets again on Orbitz after both sides negotiate the best deal. Some blogger out there will make a post about that too again and sell some credit cards for sure. Yawn…
Timelapse Video of the Heavens over Observatories. At The Adventure Blog. I think I like these timelapse videos a little too much…
A Day in Beirut. At The Gate. Nice trip report. Glad not to see another toilet in Vendome or some other luxury hotel 🙂
Meghalaya, India: The Wettest Place on Earth. By the Atlantic.
PERSONAL FINANCE
10 Ways To Get Rich According to Warren Buffett. At Memolition. No arguments here.
Go Ahead, Spice Up Your Investing Life. At the New York Times. This is just awesome. I had a prospective client once tell me my style was not exciting. I told him that is correct, my style is as exciting as watching paint dry. I leave the excitement for travel hacking lol.
The Relative Value of $100 in your State. At Yahoo Finance. I like visiting New York, Hawaii and California. But I love living in Michigan because I am a value oriented person since birth 🙂
ODDZ & ENDZ
7 Retaliatory Fees Travelers Should Be Charging the Airlines. At Len Penzo dot Com. Lol, we charge the airlines these fees: small seat fee, excessive boarding groups fee, kicked seat fee, lost baggage fee, non-reclining seat fee, missing gate assignment fee, hurry up and wait fee. Sounds great to me but I am afraid this will not fly 🙂
The New Habit Challenge: Drink Your Coffee When Science Tells You To. At Fast Company. As a devoted coffee drinker, this gave me a headache 🙂
Dizzying footage of a rooftopping adventure 346 meters (1,135 feet) above the streets of Hong Kong. At Twisted Sifter. Hey, let’s go eat a banana up there!
BLOG BUZZ
Note: This section is for long time followers of this hobby and references to blogs/bloggers may not make much sense if you are new to this. You are welcome to stay and read it of course but if you go WTF just remember this note!
I know many bloggers read me. Some of them are true to travel blogging believe it or not and are not out to sell every darn credit card in the face of the earth to everyone 7 to 29 credit cards at a time! For you real travel blogger, here is a link at Travel Tester with many other links about, well, true travel blogging, including how to start one! Hope you find something helpful here. You are welcome.
Great, Prior2Boarding blogs are now doing posts cross linking to each other. Google SEO rankings had nothing to do with that I bet!
Warning: I am angry and following therapist orders to “let it all out” after my eye sockets were attacked repeatedly by stuff like this below:
Platinum Delta SkyMiles Companion Certificate: Is It a Good Deal? – Million Credit Card NonSecrets [No would have sufficed. Of course we go on a long treatise written for mentally challenged readers that pummels them with reasons to get the card. Sell it boy. People comment and get ignored, obviously they are too busy preparing next credit card pump post. ]
Strike Three With My Marriott Business Card Application – Frugal Travel Guy [Wonder how much KKR pays for each mailed in post? For the record, our household has never been denied for a credit card by Chase. So there. Stay Chase-y boys and girls.]
Is coach good enough – NO – the ride is just as important a part of the adventure to me! – Delta Points [Makes a pathetic case for not flying in coach. Of course it takes more miles to fly up front and he can sell you the credit cards…of course this had absolutely nothing to do with it! These posts make me…search for the nearest wall to bang my head on!]
Who Is Eligible For Delta American Express Sign-Up Bonus? – One Mile at a Time [Now that Amex pays me again, it is time for me to pump some posts about Amex credit cards! Some claims are just so pathetic….eeeeek! ]
Comparing the Amex EveryDay and EveryDay Preferred Cards – One Mile at a Time [Ummm, didn’t I just say that? Hey, are you still telling ME that this blog along with its sister View from The Wing does NOT belong in the TBB Ignore list, seriously? ]
Maximizing IHG Rewards Card For Free Nights – The Points Guy [Written by hired gun Jason Steele. In passing you see this sentence “However, there is another offer still available for 80,000 points.” No link, no nothing! And the inferior 60k offer all over. Jason, you know better. Or you just don’t care as long as the employer pays you? I did not vote for you for that award this year. The reason is…don’t have time for it. ]
Do you take the “good stuff” from Delta for granted? I don’t! Let me show you what I mean. – Delta Points [Like we warned here, took a few days without getting paid and the affiliate links are back. Not only them but even the crappy Delta Skybonus referral link too! “Our Delta” WTF! Reaching deeeeeep and touting the Biscoffs & Woodford Reserve crap while acknowledging they are not good for diet and they are “nummy”. I am about to lose my head from banging it so hard against the wall here for YOU! 🙂 ]
How and Why I Was Totally Wrong about the Avios Devaluation – Milevalue [Why do I read this blog? Because it is great for my diet as I barf almost every time!]
Final Week: Chase United Airlines Explorer 50,000 Mile Sign-Up Bonus – Million Credit Cards [“Note: There is a better offer with a $50 statement credit that is also ending. But not everyone may be able to see this offer.” What do you call this huh? Of course this was not approved by the mother in law ^$#@*(&. ]
Year Two: Barclaycard Arrival vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred – Frugal Travel Guy [When you can not repeat the same old stuff, might as well sell the same credit cards again by using Template1a.]
Noob Q&A: What Can You Do With 40,000 US Airways Dividend Miles? – Noob Traveler [Just because we can’t stop selling credit cards over and over to noobs who don’t know any better. ]
Devaluations Without Notice are the Worst Thing a Program Can Do, Don’t Give British Airways Too Much Credit –View from the Wing [Lol. How to spin a blunder into a positive by changing the subject smh. ]
Credit Cards That Earn Citi ThankYou Points (and Now Transfer to Flying Blue and 8 Other Airlines!) – Million Mile Manure [You take any excuse to pull out a template to pump all the Thank You Citibank cards. Because you just have not done that before. Why does this crap make me barf?]
Is The Disney Credit Card Worth It? – One Credit Card at a Time [Use a lead into an opportunity to pump every credit card in existence. Barf again! Thank you, barfing is great for losing weight!]
5 Days Left for Free Amex Statement Credits in Houston and Beyond – Mommy Points [You can bet your clicks that if there was no Amex card to sell this would probably never see the light of day. At least we get no pictures of little C. holding Amex cards!]
Why is There Ice on my Bow Tie? – Million Mile Buckets [Oh god, Emily dumps Daraius with ice. While he wears a bow tie. For the record, TBB has NEVER done a bow tie. Actually I have…once! It was at a dance at a local Chamber of Commerce function where someone had a brilliant idea to raffle a private dance by local businessmen. Don’t ask. All the money went to the charity by the way…for real! We also want you to know that Emily volunteered in the Dominican Republic. We will go back to our regular credit card pumping ways in our next post, thank you for clicking ]
Act Now: Two 50,000 Point Bonus Offers Disappearing Soon – View from the Suite [ Sell sell sell…create that urgency! Wrong on Avios…just saying! ]
Citi Improving Its Thank You Points Program With a New Transfer Partner! – View from the Bank [ Notice the exclamation mark at the end. From cutting edge industry commentary to being wrong and just cutting edge credit card selling in 2014. This TBB commentary was not approved by any bank, you can bank on that, as long as we can hold our dignity, thank you for your support! ]
Chase Freedom Ends 10% Annual Bonus & Other Changes – The Points Guy [ Are you kidding me? Readers are told these “news” now? Didn’t we talk about this last week? Cutting edge expertise huh? Or is it a repeat so more cards can be sold? Funniest part of this was at the end we see “HT TPG Reader Daniel”…we are talking about cutting edge stuff, folks…grrrrr]
Two Jet Blue 20% Off Fall Promotions (But Must Book Soon) – The Miles Professor [Almost missed this one but an alert TBB reader led me to it…Could not imagine that a Barclaycard arrival link was thrown in there for a deal that is ending TOMORROW! EXSQUEEZE ME? ARE YOU SERIOUS? JUST COULD NOT RESIST THROWING THE LINK IN THERE HUH? And thanks so much for the wonderful expert commentary on Iberial and Avios. I guess could not make it three in a row without getting paid. So many experts, so many sales people! ]
Buy Alaska Miles with 40% Bonus – Canadian Kilometers [ Been holding back on this blog that made it in the TBB Ignore list recently so deservedly. It has morphed into a credit card pumping machine to go along with killing the Lifemiles program deal. ]
CITI THANK YOU POINTS ARE NOW TRANSFERABLE TO AIRLINE PARTNERS – Miles Momma [ If Wallet Slot is in the Ignore list this one should be too. Or take WS off as both are tiny. This one just keeps pumping and posts sporadically…to pump. I should not even bother but really wanted to ask the Wallet Slot question! Which leads me to the next question… Is Wallet Slot done? Is he/she alive? Wish him/her the best! ]
Going forward, the Blog Buzz section will be reduced and only contain some true “gems” because, I mean, look at it above…I got no template for me to keep me doing this! If you think about it this is kind of insane and need to better control…my insanity lol.
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs I Ignore
Please pass my blog link to your friends and family if you think they will enjoy it too.
TBB
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1st?
Doctor of Credit is a good site that I check everyday.I was wrong about your motives initially and would like to apologize. Keep of the good work Doc.
ramsey=classy
Thanks, that actually means a lot to me. I’ll make sure I don’t abuse that trust.
xth
Tecero
4
Location, location, location re: The Relative Value of $100…
I’d rather live in a hut in Hawaii or California or most “Blue” states than live in a mansion in any Red State. And thankfully, others think the exact opposite! Problem is too many think like me and it’s crowded 🙁
If you look at domestic migration trends, red states are more popular than the blue ones.
I am staying in Michigan!
I’m going to take a creative photo collage of Vendome toilets.
Re: Wallet Slot. Must have been Freudian, but I always read it as Wallet Slut.
Crazy 8
Regarding The Miles Professor and “the wonderful expert commentary on Iberial and Avios”. She’s clearly not a “professor” but one would expect her to put her research degree to better use. She’s either lazy or biased and she knows better. Her articles would never pass the peer review process.
Vintage TBB.
I second that emotion.
H/T S. Robinson
@ William Charles: You are Number 1. I think it is a first first too, you can not be stopped now!
@ James W, Spencer F, Anonymous, Smittytabb: Thanks for playing along, sorry Anonymous no medal for you! 8 is okay 🙂
@ Paul: Yep, location does matter!
@ AZTravelGuy: Hey, looks like a niche to me that has not been filled 🙂 As in “Look at this toilet, it is in the _______(hotel name: by template) at _________( city name: by template) and you can get there for free with (_________ credit card: by template based on what is best for blog owner’s pocket]. Brilliant. If you do it now think of us man 🙂
@ ABC: If there was a true peer review process….95% of blogs would be shut down 🙂
@ The common man: Thanks. Dialing it down. Been asked to write more for other gig & working on landing biggest client to date who found out current salesman advisor sold them a bunch of crappy annuities.
Nah, this is my second first. I just want to thank both of my parents and the fact I am in Asia at the moment for the win. Hats off to the other competitors but on this day I was just the best.
We bow to your awesomeness, we are not worthy 🙂
that’s how my mom made pasta
Aha…that explains it then! And I thought it was the ganja 😉
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TBB is in negotiations with Amazon BezosBitches Dept to come up with a special for TBB readers. Possible product categories considered:
Sex Toys
Cereal
Condoms
Knee Defender
Warm Nuts
Pancakes (bulk quantities only)
More categories under consideration. Discount applied at checkout ONLY using the amazingly handsome TBB Amazon link.
Thank you <-------------------Template inserted it!<-------------TBB Intern imitating the master pumpers over at MMS
That map of the U.S. helps remind us to look at the distribution and other statistics rather than just the average. (These lessons also apply for checking covariate balance among sample groups.) I live in western New York State, and I like to brag about how little we pay for our mortgage. I also like to wow people who don’t live here with seasonal snowfall totals, and rave about Bashu Sichuan, just a few hours’ drive away.
I’m not right in the head.
Glad to hear you’re working on getting another “biggest client yet.”
Excellent point about the distribution & other statistics rather than just the average!
I can refer you to my therapist 🙂
They find me, never spent a dime on promotion or marketing stuff! This one was impressed I sign a “Fiduciary Oath”. We shall see what happens next week. This may affect the Blog Buzz section 🙂
Where are the links?
http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/support-tbb/
Yeah, they suck. The revenue from them sucks too. I just suck in this “link monetizing” business….Definitely need a template 🙂
Lucky asks: “Is The Relative Value Of Delta SkyMiles Increasing?”
Let me see if I can field this one for you Lucky
I believe the answer is “no, you just got your Amex links back so you are pupming it”
Brace yourselves!
Loyalty Traveler (who I highly respect) let that slip in his blog a few days ago which led me to comment further and, oh boy, are we seeing a turn in BA blog content lately or what? MORE posts trying to get views to soften some of the revenue losses and, brace yourselves big time, if you thought BA was already very credit card sell happy…you haven’t seen nothing yet! Actually, you are seeing a prime example in the amazing BIG TIME pump of One Mile at a Time in the past few days! I am used to this stuff but even I am just blown away! I think in rough down revenue times from advertising sources you see the true colors of our favorite bloggers who do it for “friends and family” 🙂
I would not be shocked if some of the BA biggies decide to go it alone. Actually, I am very surprised they haven’t done so as TPG, MMS and FTG are cleaning up the vast newb market all to themselves!
Here was the quote that most missed. Nothing goes past TBB. What do we have to lose…our Amazon link? ROFL!!!
http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2014/08/25/boise-or-bust-marriott-ebreaks-labor-day-weekend-2014/
Apparently ad payouts for blogging are ‘down the toilet’ summer 2014. Do credit cards really need to advertise on blogs when the travel bloggers already personalize the commercials for them in their content?
So expect lots of catch phrase titles with less content as the travel blogosphere struggles with the new normal of lower advertisement payments.
FTG pays $200-$300/post. My guess would be Rick (being Rick) gets the higher end of that scale, so his mailed in posts net him $250+.
$300 for these so called “articles” they mail in? WOW! What are these IB guys thinking? Ok, don’t go there 🙂 I can pump out stuff like this in my sleep.
Disclosure: I am NOT advocating I want to write for FTG. I would rather be abducted by ISIS than to be associated with FTG! I repeat. Do not approach me with an offer. There is not enough money in the world to get me to associate TBB with FTG. Eeek. Credibility is the most important asset 🙂
I see Ariana starts mailing them in and, amazingly, she gets to pump her referral links in the mailed in FTG posts. Amazing!
George, Write incognito! You could whip up some ‘articles’ under a pseudonym and get paid without damaging your credibility. Of course, you’d need a pretty deep set of proxies to send it THROUGH to stay protected — and then the NSA would probably out you anyway!
Yeah the NSA probably has a file on me and..every one of us!
Then a tech person screws up like they did at MMS at least a few times and then lose all credibility….which I think is the most important asset we have:-)
Great post. “View from the Bank” and “One Credit Card at a Time” made me laugh. Love the tree bridge pic.
Got an offer from Discover Bank to make $50 for opening an acct online. No hard pull according to the CSR and no fees. He said when the offer goes public it will be less. Expires mid Sept. Watch your snail mail if you have a Discover card.
Always happy to have another bank acct. that takes MOs remotely!
The cashiers at my new WM are BB-clueless. Except for Marilyn. She just ordered a Serve card. She’s my new best friend.
The Blog Buzz section will be limited…just can’t keep it up with these guys and as I just mentioned a few comments above the levels of credit card pimping coming will make these days look like a leisure vacation!
I think I got the same offer. Waiting for the $500 to post from my local bank inside my favorite grocery store. I have been very impressed by Discover. Every interaction (online and phone) has been outstanding.
I have not been to WM for over a week! But just got my own United Mileage Explorer Visa today so I need to knock of the min spend asap.
Sucks that Loyalty Traveler has to worry about his advertising, because you know when the ax man cometh, it will be quality bloggers like him who will go first because he wasn’t willing to part with his dignity
That is the tragedy and I am angry!
Another mind blowing well researched article on Malaysian airlines by Drew while most of the other bloggers keep pumping cards. He is just leaping ahead in unchartered territory off late with each and every post. Even if some are old material like United, he is constantly adding more value in each and every additional post. George – you may want to create separate category just for him, above “Blogs I Love” 🙂
I agree, WOW! I need a template for his posts to be entered automatically in my Buzz posts. Come to think of it, it is the ONLY one in for Friday. I have NOTHING else….all the rest keep pumping along. some at deafening levels over at BA.
Not sure I can add another category but certainly know what you mean!
Another joyful post. Thank you!
Well thank you!
Why don’t you do a post of WHAT CAN I DO WITH 18 US AIRWAYS MILES???
Donate to charity….
Oooops, wrong template!
I am assuming this is the balance after a major burn….NICE!
Now, eat your pasta.