ODDZ & ENDZ

What an absolutely amazing find: The Manhoff Archives. Stalin’s Soviet Union comes to life in full color with the discovery of a long-hidden collection of images. Wow to infinity. And through blogging here I bring you material that also brings me joy discovering it. And sharing it with you. Enjoy this treasure. I must admit, watching Stalin’s funeral procession filmed from the US Embassy and sometimes the US flag flowing in front of it is beyond surreal. Am I wrong wishing this giant piece of shit burn in hell instead of being put away with such honors? Ok, don’t answer that lol.

Major Martin Manhoff spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s, serving as assistant army attaché at the U.S. Embassy, which was located just off Red Square at the beginning of his time in Moscow. He took full advantage of his post, using his gifted photographic eye to capture hundreds of images of everyday life in Moscow and across the U.S.S.R. When he left the country in 1954 amid accusations of espionage, Major Manhoff took with him reels of 16 millimeter film and hundreds of color slides and negatives he shot during his travels – including of one of the Soviet Union’s pivotal events, Josef Stalin’s funeral. But after his return to the United States, the trove of rare images lay forgotten, stored in cardboard boxes in a former auto body shop in the Pacific Northwest until its discovery by a Seattle-based historian.

What a story, what a hero. Some people are just born for war. We should be grateful for their courage and share the pain with his father. Texas Monthly comes through again with this gem: A Texan Risked Everything to Defend Ukraine. So Did His Father.

Erik Giggleman was an elite Army soldier who went in search of a righteous struggle and found it in Ukraine. As his commitment deepened, his father confronted an excruciating truth: Either the conflict would end, or Erik would die fighting.

Heads up, you are warned. Start planning for this chapter: Americans Are in Denial About Elder Care. Many assume that if they can afford paid help in older age, they won’t need to rely on kin. They’re wrong.

For most of us, truly preparing for old age will mean getting much more comfortable with asking for help and offering it to those around us, regardless of whether we’re bound by blood or law. It will require thinking strategically and long in advance about where we live—and whom we live near. It will mean resisting the temptations of digital convenience and instead opting for human interaction. More than anything, it will mean accepting that we still need one another in a world that makes it all too alluring to act like we don’t.

Amazing photography: The 29 Finalists for Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

 

THAILAND

I am adding a new section to replace the Iran War section. Because I have been learning a lot about Thailand as we have been visiting for the past three years and visiting soon for the fourth year in a row. Needless to say we fell in love with the country and looking to spend more time in it. And possibly at some point retire there. Or at the very least spend a substantial amount of time in it. I think it would be ideal to spend three months in the US, three months in Thailand, three months in Greece and three months traveling around the world. So, in a way, this is the goal. We all need goals to strive for.

Over the past four years I have learned a lot about Thailand. Including all types of visas available to stay longer than 30 days (currently most tourists get a 60 day stamp entering the Kingdom soon to revert back to 30 days). This can be easily extended another 30 days. But after that, it gets more complicated because there are so many available visas to choose from. You can learn more about the visas at the Thai E-Visa Official Website.

After pondering all the different visa options, and of course considering that we are not moving there permanently in the near future (if ever), I decided to apply for the newish DTV visa, you can learn more about it HERE. It is basically a fairly easy and cheap 5 year tourist visa option that allows us to stay in the country for up to 6 months at a time which is of course way more than we will ever stay. At least for next several years. There are many other retirement type visas available and you can do this on your own. But for peace of mind I recommend using a visa agent to assist and after providing the necessary documents to them they go on and just take care of it. I used the services of Siam Legal and I have been very happy with them. I have my DTV visa on hand right now and I am good until 2031. My wife’s application as my dependent just went in and we await her approval as well. I can answer questions on the subject, please ask in the comments or email me directly. Priority is always given to readers who are supporting this blog over the years with credit card apps and coffees and the rare Paypal donation (thanks Brian!).

Over the past four years I have been following several Thailand based You Tubers and I am keeping notes of way too many places to check out (restaurants, places to visit/experience, condos, hangouts, rooftops, things to do, cafes, co-working spaces, shopping/malls, night markets, medical related and many more). I could probably start another blog or You Tube channel on the subject. Apparently, many Westerners are now vlogging on “how to retire in Thailand”, it is becoming a trend I guess. Of course I am not going to start another thing online, I am focusing on making my weekly blog posts the longest ever in the online universe LOL.

Ok, let’s move on to the subject of medical tourism. Which is one of the primary reasons I fell in love with Thailand. For several years after my running injury my US doctors have been trying to determine the cause. Numerous doctor visits and all kinds of tests. And after doing my own research and telling them that it appears I have peripheral neuropathy they insisted I do not and, well, more tests. And all these tests I had to wait to schedule a very long time. Last year I decided to check out the medical system in Thailand. After research I decided to schedule a full checkup at the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok. Medical tourism is a big industry in Thailand and I can see why after my stellar experience. There are many packages to choose from. And here are the check up packages. Last year I went for the top of the line Comprehensive Vitality Program and this year I am doing the Holistic Male checkup (along with a food allergy comprehensive test and a full ear/audio test).

As part of my check up last year there was a consultation with a neurologist. Who took the time to really examine me and it did not take her long to confirm I do have the peripheral neuropathy condition. I felt relief to finally learn what the issues with my feet were all about. So I am now a big fan of the Thailand health care system and Bumrungrad and can’t wait for my checkup this year to see how I trended from last year. I see myself doing a comprehensive medical checkup every year. Best part about the experience is being able to see a specialist right away. If not the same day, the next day or two certainly.

Bumrungrad is considered tops in Thailand. And it comes with the highest cost considering the alternatives. And I am okay with that after my experience. Best part is that there is a Hyatt Place in Soi 21 that is almost connected to the hospital making it the ideal place to stay. Another hospital highly rated and cheaper is Samitivej Hospital. And another one up there is Bangkok Hospital.

Again, I can do my best answering any questions you may have.

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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

So, here we go again…

It appears that Hyatt’s obsession with all inclusives is not slowing down. On the contrary: Hyatt Expands All-Inclusive Portfolio With First-Ever Park Hyatt & Grand Hyatt Resorts.

If you are into the Avios currency, this is good to know: Transferring Avios Between Accounts is Easy, But Beware of New Hurdles.

Rove continues to add partners. Ok, it is Frontier but still: Rove Adds Frontier Miles as Transfer Partner + 25% Transfer Bonus. If you find yourself excited about this partner and this transfer bonus you probably cried when Spirit Airlines went down?

 

TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS

For ANY questions on travel rewards credit cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com

What the hell has happened over at Chase Bank lately? It is like a knife in our backs that just gets deeper very slowly…and painfully: Chase Sapphire Reserve 1.20% Pay Yourself Back Categories: Gas, Public Transit & More (Q3 2026). So, this went down from 1.50% to 1.25% to 1.20% smh. And the Chase Sapphire Preferred is now down to 1.05% for public transit and 1.10% for pet supply stores & vet services, how insulting.

Very nice Amex improvement: American Express Adds Benefits Tracker (Coupon Tracker in the login).

 

100k CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED REFRESH:

This card has become a no brainer for, well, almost everyone. Especially if you are new into this travel reward cards space and absolutely do not care about Hyatt points whatsoever. Let me explain why you should get this card. Well, most of my readers either have this card or can no longer get it again due to Chase Bank’s new severe restrictions eliminating us credit card miles/points enthusiasts. This IS a great card for someone starting out by the way. We all have it in my household and are definitely keeping it. Because for just $95 dollars annual fee you get:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Primary car rental insurance
• $100 Annual Hotel Credit. (This is per cardmember year, rather than calendar year. Must be booked through the Chase Travel Portal.)
• Card earns at the following rates:
  • 5x on travel booked through the Chase Travel portal.
  • 3x on Dining/Streaming Services/online grocery (excludes: excluding Target, Walmart and
    wholesale clubs)
  • 3x on Gas/EV
  • 3x on Airbnb, VRBO, Plum Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com, and Vacasa
  • 2x on other travel
  • 1x on all other purchases
  • 5x on Lyft rides through 9/30/27. 5x on Peloton purchases of $150+ through 12/31/27.
• $120 credit once every four years for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS.
• One time offer (not ongoing): Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year when activated by December 31, 2026. 
• Transferable points (reminder: Hyatt transfers are 4:3)
• Complimentary DashPass membership ($120 value) for 12 months. Plus, DashPass members get a $10 promo each month ($120 annually) to save on groceries, retail orders, and more.
• Chase 5/24 rule applies to this card

and of course for just $5,000 minimum spend in three months you get 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points! Even if you did not do much with the points and just cashed them out for a penny per point, it means you pocket $1,000. For an annual fee of $95 plus all the goodies above, DO THE MATH! Of course, you can transfer the points out to travel partners like United or Southwest or Hyatt and get way more than a penny per point. Yes, it is a bit more work but it can make this card even more valuable.

There are many places online you can use to apply for this card. For the love of God, do not use the links from The Points Guy or any other big outfit pretending to be “in the hobby” when they are a big business selling plastic for the banks. Maybe prefer a small independent blogger who is into this for the love of the game and been doing it for decades and would still be here most likely if banks stopped paying bloggers to sell plastic for them #hint. Anyway, email me with ANY questions, thank you for the support.

 

LATEST OFFERS:

CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business: 200,000 Points Sign Up Bonus

CHASE INK Cash & INK Unlimited 100,000 Points Signup Bonus

 

100k CHASE Sapphire Reserve: $795 Annual Fee.  Minimum spend $6,000 in three months

 

A whole bunch of new offers for Delta Skymiles, ENDING JULY 15.

90k AMEX Delta Skymiles Gold: Minimum spend is $5,000 over six months

100k AMEX Delta Skymiles Platinum: Minimum spend is $6,000 over six months

125k AMEX Delta Skymiles Reserve: Minimum spend is $9,000 over six months

90k AMEX Delta Skymiles Gold Business: Minimum spend is $6,000 over six months

100k AMEX Delta Skymiles Platinum Business: Minimum spend is $8,000 over six months

125k AMEX Delta Skymiles Reserve Business: Minimum spend is $15,000 over six months

 

150k AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Business PLUS $125 Statement Credit: $125 Annual fee, minimum spend $8,000 in the first six months. For more info on the card’s benefits click HERE. ENDING JULY 15.

125k CHASE Marriott Bonvoy Boundless + 1 Free Night: Minimum spend is $3,000 over three months.

 

As High As 200,000 Points on the AMEX Business Gold after spending $15k in the first three months

 

100,000 BANK OF AMERICA Atmos Summit after spending $6,500 in the first three months. And a 50% flight discount voucher

80,000 BANK OF AMERICA Atmos Ascent after spending $4,000 in the first four months. And a 50% flight discount voucher

85,000 BANK OF AMERICA Atmos Business after spending $5,500 in the first three months

 

75k CITI AAdvantage Business World Elite MasterCard

 

175k AMEX Platinum & 300k AMEX Business Platinum

75k CITI Strata Elite card

75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X

 

Due to credit card vendor restrictions, the only affiliate links I can place in the body of my posts are for Capital One cards. You can always email me at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com with ANY questions.

 

Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!

 

 

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

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3. Subscribe

 

 

MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING

The annual fee for my Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business card posted and I called the bank to close it. Before that I transferred all of the points to Hyatt (for the last hurrah I guess) except 800 points (transfers must be in 1,000 point increments). And because I wanted to transfer the credit limit before closing the CSR over to my trusty old Chase Ink Business Cash card. And I had one of the most inane conversations with a rep ever.

She barely tried to keep me after I did mention in passing about a retention bonus (knowing full well that this bank does not do this, I was just curious). And guess what her argument was? The Edit hotel credits. LOL. My reaction to this maybe was not very respectful towards the card so it went downhill from there. She refused to save my credit limit and came up with a “you can NOT move credit limits with pay as you go cards”. And I said, say what? We went back and forth with this and I learned more things. Apparently, the CSR and the crappy Ink Premier card are the only ones that do not allow transfers of credit limits. Of course, I then asked to speak to a supervisor. And she says I am a supervisor LOL. Yeah, I could have done the old hangup and call again routine. But I just enjoyed the back and forth. So I told her do not do anything and I will investigate and will call back later to close the card. Needless to say this was a first…I will update what happened here in the comments. Please let me know if this is a new policy (she insisted it was not).

I had a placeholder United business class award to get me to Bangkok, Thailand. Unfortunately, it is flying United across the Pacific and we all know that I could do better. Actually, it is United from Detroit to Chicago O’Hare to Tokyo Haneda and then on ANA to Bangkok. Some other award openings are VERY slowly trickling in from my PointsYeah alerts. Actually just this morning as I am typing to finish this post in time to post it by Friday 8 am EST I received another alert with an intriguing alternative: the old trusty Lufthansa Detroit to Frankfurt flight, then on to London Heathrow again on Lufthansa and then an EVA flight to Bangkok. And I intend to check to see if it is still there as soon as I publish this post. It gets me to Bangkok a day early and I can book me a one night stay at the Hyatt Regency at BKK airport to check it out and unwind/recover from jet lag. #Developing.

I have 21 Hyatt night credits to date. 19 nights booked in 2 Hyatt Place properties in Bangkok and then another 4 at the Park Hyatt in Saigon. And I do have six more nights to book after returning from Saigon to Bangkok and before heading to Singapore for a wedding. So it is very likely I am going to hit 50. And then I think what I am going to do is ramp up the spending on my Visa Hyatt card since we need to finish paying for the carpet and put down a 50% deposit on new furniture to finish a large home renovation. So I guess I am going to secure World of Hyatt Globalist again. Hopefully I make more use of it in 2027.

Maybe I add the Grand Hyatt Singapore after a friend told me that he loved his stay there after it was renovated. Any feedback? I do have one night booked via AMEX FHR at the Conrad Marina Bay and we do stay at a non chain hotel for a few nights courtesy of the wedding party.

Oh, I just saw that the newest Fairmont opened in Hanoi. And now I am thinking instead of returning to Bangkok from Saigon, maybe hop over to Hanoi to check out the city and this Fairmont. I was thinking to burn my Accor Lifetime Platinum complimentary annual night at the Fairmont Singapore which we love. But maybe we save it for Hanoi. These are first world problems you guys…

I ran out of time to post pics of our home renovation, maybe next time.

Paychecks from Ford have officially stopped. Wife loves not having any conference calls or projects due, she can’t stop smiling. I am focused on taking care of my clients so I can now pay for everything, sometimes I wonder about life without stress, lol.

 

 

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Check out my page listing my affiliate links HERE including Rakuten and Top Cash Backand Rove Miles and more.

 

HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:

100k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 100k CHASE Ink Cash, 100k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 100k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 75k CITI Strata Elite, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 175k AMEX Platinum, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 300k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k AMEX Business Gold, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 100k BofA Alaska Atmos Summit, 80k BofA Alaska Atmos Ascent, 85k BofA Alaska Atmos Business, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!

 

As of today, I have burned 619,515 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025  and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,186,131 miles/points in the bank.

 

TBB’s Miles & Points RESOURCES Page

 

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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