We bring you more on how United upends loyalty, take you into the shady world of ticket scalpers, discover world street food, lose it how a dead man laughs in own funeral, how the world spends on tourism, the Southwest credit card offers are ending but they will likely come back as they always do, laugh at WeWork, how the big 5 tech firms did with their acquisitions, laugh at FIRE bloggers, the sad story of a CIA loyal staffer who was messed up and murdered, the sad story of four homeless men who were murdered, more awesome photography, how the Southern European men stay with their mommies for a very long time, eat your apples and more!
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MILES & POINTS
Brace for crazy “Better hurry, ending October 16, best offer ever, get your Southwest Companion Pass to fly for freeeeee” and other salesy blog content that happens so often never stops. Or you can help a blogger who tries to do the right thing and not just focus on pumping you! If it can work for you, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance business credit card is offering a 80k signup bonus and if you can time it right to finish the spend in early January you can earn the Companion Pass to last you for a long time. I also predict that the Companion Pass deal will finally get killed in 2020. Sad! Also note that there are three other Southwest credit card offers offering 60k signup bonuses. Lets move on…
We all thought that Delta was going to shake things up as they usually do. And then United and American were to follow…as they usually do. But nope. This time it was United that shocked our world and it is now sinking in: United Upends Loyalty Program to Prioritize Dollars Over Miles. I have been warning you about this for years of course. I have been a free agent since 2012, the good old days of making top Elite for peanuts are OVER and they are not coming back!
The big difference in the 2021 MileagePlus program is that passengers will be able to earn elite status based on only PQPs (along with a minimum of four segments) — and the top published 1K status will move from requiring $15,000 in annual spend to $24,000. If a traveler wants to qualify based on PQPs and PQFs together, top-tier status can be earned with 54 flights and $18,000 in spend.
…It’s hard to avoid the fact that the minimum spend for earning elite status on United is going up — even at the lowest tier, which is moving from $3,000 required in annual spend up to $4,000. And that may be intentional. Since United adopted the model of using spend criteria to earning elite status, the threshold for top-tier status has gone up — first from $12,000 annually to $15,000. With that top number now at $28,000, United is firmly saying that it wants to reserve its best elite benefits for its most lucrative travelers.
This has nothing to do with miles and points. But it has to do with scalping tickets. Which it extends in a way to reselling. This is the BEST article you will ever read about the world of ticket scalpers. It is Best of Web article caliber, I guarantee it. Amazing revelations how it all works, wow! You are very welcome. Get a card if you can swing it so I don’t become demoralized when I check my conversions and Ingy gets to laugh at my expense ok lol!
The Ticket: How I scalped tickets and evaded police for years – SBNation
TRAVEL
This guy on Youtube is all about street food!
Another great one by The Visual Capitalist: Top Countries by Tourist Spending.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Hilarious posts about WeWork in GIFs! WeOffice: The Rise and Fall of WeWork.
Not exactly personal finance material but since they are a huge part of US indexes here we go with The Big Five: Largest Acquisitions by Tech Company
You know my feelings towards the FIRE movement. FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. This Twitter account sums it up perfectly with this tweet:
Why FIRE bloggers say they blog:
1. To help others
2. Share their story
3. Because they have a unique take
Why they actually blog:
1. To make money
2. To make money
3-100. To make money
101. To talk about themselves
ODDZ & ENDZ
There was a horrible murder of four homeless men in New York City recently. And then we get this inspiring story from a former immigrant who has done well: ‘I Know the Struggle’: Why a Pizza Mogul Left Pies at Memorials to 4 Homeless Men. And never forget that Mexico was going to pay for the phucking wall ok?
Never forget Frank Olson. Wow! From mind control to murder? How a deadly fall revealed the CIA’s darkest secrets.
The previous link was way too serious and depressing. So, lets cut to some Irish dude leaving a funny recording in his own funeral. Screw shocking videos other bloggers post, I find for you stuff that makes you laugh so hard you may fall down….Laughter is the best medicine, heard that before?
Some entries from the World’s Largest Photography Competition.
Italian and Greek men lol! The Age At Which Young People Leave Their Parents’ Home Is Surprisingly Different In Different Countries.
So many apples. Full Disclosures: I do not like apples!
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.
Felt so good canceling my Amex Business Platinum card you guys. Payback! Very next day I got an email from Amex telling me my Gold Marriott Bonvoy status has been canceled, these guys sure do not miss a chance to confirm how they suck hey! At least we still have the elite status with IHG Rewards even after we had those Visa cards canceled, thank you Chase! 🙂
I can’t wait for TPG to update the United miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards points valuation to incorporate the latest “enhancement” from United into its so highly regarded Points Valuation Guide, right? Riiiight?
Desperate Ingy now does not even try to “give back” anymore, he just unleashes posts pumping referral links and now blatantly asking for credit card referrals. Same old, AlwaysBeClosing Ingy! I guess FTG sale price had to be so low he probably ran out of money and he is back at it, SAD!
I was supposed to run 18 miles over the weekend in easy mode but…out of the blue something went wrong with my left foot and decided to rest it. If I don’t get to run next Sunday in the Detroit Marathon I would EXTREMELY disappointed. I think it has to do with my new running shoes, I did not break them in the right way I found out, the left one just never felt right…May go back to the old ones but they are beat up with holes on the sides…but still feel awesome. I guess the sub 2 hour marathon record is safe LOL.
City National Bank sent me a postcard telling me if I spend $5,000 over the holidays starting October 15 it would give me 10,000 extra points (on top of what I earn). In my world, this is a layup!
I think I am going to also focus my efforts next in knocking out some more free Hyatt Visa nights after spending $15k on the card since I am almost half way there…
Amazing! Making electronic music in the streets of Santiago using…tubes!
And I leave you with this…
TBB
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Hey George, your content is too great it keeps us all occupied from clicking your links. Do it like Ingy, SELL SELL SELL!
Do it like Ingy LOL
Silver from Genoa Italy! Great stuff today!!! Keep it going George!
I want to keep it going as bad as Ingy wants to monetize every paragraph lol
Thanks for the link to the United changes. Delta just made it a lot easier to make Platinum with a credit card no one likes. I wonder how the blogs will respond since there is so many commitment$ to the Chase ecosystem.
It would be a first Delta to follow United, so good luck!
Chase always paid better than Amex so…you know what that means 😉
Um, no it wouldn’t. 🙂
http://lazytravelers.net/delta-smacks-united/
Buzz-
What’s this I hear about you planning the first Travel Blogger Buzz ‘do’? I heard that all the speakers will be folks who used to have their own blog, but now do not. Daraius, Emily (not together), Drew, Mommy Points, all of ’em. They will speak in reverse order of their getting out, so Drew might go first, etc., etc.
Each will speak on one of three topics:
1. Selling credit cards-Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
or
2. How About That Points Guy?
or
3. Lessons Learned.
And the coup de gras will be the keynote speaker at the gala closing night dinner. Yes, his majesty himself, the once and now again Frugal Travel Guy.
So Buzz, what do you say? Any truth to these rumors or are these just ‘fake rumors’?
The deal was not sealed because Ingy insisted on having participants pay for selfies with his majesty, errrr, I mean, him.
We were sooooo close.
I totally agree with who is getting out first over at TPG lol.
For a moment, I thought to replace Ingy with Mileage Update giving us a gun exhibit but…that was nixed as well. Because at TBB Dos, we are not fighters, we are lovers woohoo!
Going to see doc about my left foot, hoping for a miracle so I can line up and have a shot at finishing the marathon…
LMAO at this!!
Josh:
If it was a BofA Premier Rewards card, we good, Thank you!
It was! Victory!
It was my first time getting approved from clicking your links on I think six or seven tries. My wife had the Sapphire Preferred and of course got instant approval. The times, they are a changin’. First approval in a long time.
Keep going 🙂
Thank you
Willkommen aus Stuttgart, George!
Good Evening George, It is very late here but I wanted say hallo to you and your readers and also ask a favour of yourself and everyone of your wunderbar readers.
George, do you or your readers know the secrets of the “behind closed door trick” of the United/Lufthansa 20 MS point secret trick?
Would you care to share it here? I do not know all of it but I know it does exist. I understand it is not only “scalable” but also “sustainable” as you Americans like to say. It is a big secret here in Europe that I would love to know.
Whenever my Lufthansa Miles drop below 3 million I start to get very depressed, perhaps someone will share it with us all?
If you do know this trick and would like to share it privately, please send me a message through my blog, SPRECHEN SIE MILES, Europe’s #1 Point and Mile Blog. Use contact button.
Just click on my name to da left to get to SPRECHEN SIE MILES, Europe’s #1 Point and Mile Blog. I would be extremely discreet and private with this very, very valuable knowledge and would be more than happy with sharing to you only my Delta scalable / sustainable behind doors only trick, not known publicly and you can easily get millions of miles with it.
Dankeschön Wolfgang
Willkommen aus Stuttgart, George!
Guten Abend George, es ist sehr spät hier, aber ich wollte dir und deinen Lesern ein Hallo sagen und dich und alle deine Leser um einen Gefallen bitten.
George, kennen Sie oder Ihre Leser die Geheimnisse des “hinter verschlossenen Türen” -Tricks des United / Lufthansa 20 MS-Punkt-Geheimtricks?
Möchten Sie es hier teilen? Ich weiß nicht alles, aber ich weiß, dass es existiert. Ich verstehe, es ist nicht nur “skalierbar”, sondern auch “nachhaltig”, wie Sie Amerikaner gerne sagen. Es ist ein großes Geheimnis hier in Europa, das ich gerne wissen würde.
Wann immer meine Lufthansa Miles unter 1 Million fallen, fange ich an, sehr depressiv zu werden, teilt es uns vielleicht jemand mit?
Wenn Sie diesen Trick kennen und ihn privat weitergeben möchten, senden Sie mir bitte eine Nachricht über meinen Blog, SPRECHEN SIE MILES, Europas Nr. 1 Point and Mile Blog.
Klicken Sie einfach auf meinen Namen, um fortzufahren. Ich wäre diskret und privat mit diesem Wissen und würde mehr als glücklich sein, Ihnen nur meinen Delta skalierbaren / nachhaltigen Trick hinter Türen zu teilen
Dankeschön Wolfgang
@Wolfgang
Great Blog! Glad you came here. Glad to discover it but I cannot help you with United and Lufthansa trick information you seek. Does your blog have a subscribe option? I know I will be spending the rest of my night going through your blogs older post, very helpful info for those of us in the U.S.
Thank you for the 5/24 Chase workaround, extremely helpful, I am on it today. Where on your blog do I find the Amex once in a lifetime workaround you referenced in the best of the week post?
Wolfgang can guest write here on Wednesdays you guys lol.
Wolfgang, ich habe gedacht das Blasen für Punkte (Giving head4points) in Großbritannien größer ist
The Dead Pants? What kind of name is that?
#1 … as in Favourite European Blog you dummkopf
+1 Really great blog Wolfie but you may be sorry you came here because other bloggers around here are going to steal your hard work and content and then rewrite it as their own. I too do not know the trick you seek, please post it here if you find it.
ain’t that the truth
Breaking: The trick will be revealed to email subscribers when conversions surpass 100…so, START CLICKING…GO GO GO
Doing my part, for the reveal and to kill the companion pass. Enjoy the Chase $$$ from my instant :-O approval
Wow…October is shaping up to be a great month so the TBB Board of Directors will convene soon and first item on the agenda is reinstating Wednesday posts!
Literally no one is against immigrants. This is completely different than illegal immigrants. Which of course you know and someone intentionally make it seem that people are against legal immigration.
That’s not how it works.
We don’t have illegal immigrants in the UK (all that water and stuff around the edge). This means we have all the legal immigrants. In fact, like Trump, we hate people who were born here if they don’t have a white face.
If illegal immigration ends, they will come for the legal ones. Need a scapegoat somewhere.
A ‘have’ above should have been a ‘hate’!
Speaking of “thats not how it works” Taking advice from the British. Hard Pass.
Last I saw/heard was the phucking moron looking around smiling like Mussolini used to do in yet another rally (!!) after his minions were chanting “Send her back” about a congresswoman who was elected and is a legal immigrant…actually she has been living here as a toddler I think.
Slippery slope amigo…
Care to discuss his disastrous gut decision to throw the Kurds to the wolves? What, no? Oh, fuilfilling a promise to get them all out right? While sending 20k soldiers to Saudi Arabia to help them defend themselves and their oil from drones LOL.
Lets not get started about the hideous video some of your amigos were undoubtedly applauding because…it was clearly a joke right?
I hope Bloomberg runs…Here is the winning ticket:
Bloomberg – Obama 2020
That would be Michelle by the way.
Hey Buzz, Whatsamattaforu !
George I am sorry that Italy invaded Greece during WW2. I hope it did not cause any harm to your family. But look on the bright side. When Adolf sent help to my F up in Greece, it delayed his push of an Eastern Front Invasion (Operation Barberossa) into Russia. This delay caused him to get a late start on that and then he was in the middle of a good old Russian winter without any long underwear.
So these FIRE bloggers have a lot in common with the P&M pumping bloggers!
I don’t totally dislike apples, but I could take them or leave them. Once in awhile I get a craving for one in the fall, but that’s about it. I guess they’re better in desserts but even then, I’d take many other kinds of pie over apple.
Just bagged to and from Delta One Nonstops from PDX / Europe for only 80k per. Delta Flash Sale throughout system, saw it on Thrifty Traveler earlier today. Awesome redemption rate! Fish n Chips here i come.
There WILL be a post here tomorrow!