Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the wealth of Top 1%, the Korean stock market crash, UNESCO Mount Olympus, Thailand retirement visa, how to supersize your retirement accounts, cost of aging, diversification is awesome, AI jobs situation, young runners and trackflation, mysteries of missing passenger flights, top 100 coffee shops, global air travel is at its peak, the best photography and Thailand links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil” – Aristotle
MUST READ GEMS
Title of this section is misleading, it should be MUST WATCH GEMS since I only have a video for you below this week:
Best Goal of the 2026 World Cup
PERSONAL FINANCE
This is great advice: The Everyday Guide to Supersizing Your Retirement Account.
Sobering facts: As the cost of aging soars, families’ wealth is evaporating Growing old is eroding the inheritance Americans hoped to leave behind, a Washington Post analysis found. Many will have nothing to pass on.
Nationally, the median cost of a private room and basic services was about $74,400 a year in 2025, according to a CareScout Cost of Care Survey. For those who need the more extensive services of a nursing home, the annual median cost was $129,575 for a private room. Seven years of that for someone with dementia, and the bills would add up to nearly $1 million.
This is great! Invested Instead. You bought the thing. You could have bought the company.
Pick a product. We take its launch-day price, pretend you put that money into the manufacturer’s shares the same morning, and show you what it would be worth now. Sometimes the thing was the better buy.
I am just going to drop this here and move on…
TECH/SCAMS/CRYPTO
If you are a crypto bro, don’t take it out on me, I am just a curator here ok? Anyway, I agree with the author and I just wonder how this ship has not burned down yet: Bitcoin is a Zeppelin. And if it doubles again from here you must realize that if you own none of it you lose nothing. By not losing and staying invested and, more importantly, staying diversified: 4 Ways Portfolio Diversification Has Paid Off in 2026.
I think I warned about these two dudes when they first came out with a “brilliant” idea to have investors send their crypto company money to buy real estate in the US. And of course you know what happened next: The $140M Real Estate Company That Trapped Thousands of Investors. Don’t ever do that, come on!
AI
Stanford does a deep dive on this: What is really happening to jobs? Separating AI hype from reality.
Key takeaways
- AI’s effects on overall employment is likely small, though a tough job market for new graduates may be partly due to AI.
- AI’s impact on worker productivity is mixed but generally positive.
- Firm adoption has accelerated but unevenly across the economy.
- Early evidence is hardly the last word on the future of work in an AI world.
Hot shots like this guy stay hot for a little while and then they crash and burn: AI investor Leopold Aschenbrenner forced to unwind all public stock positions after steep losses, sources say. Talking about crashing, the South Korean market has seen one of a kind of a bubble burst. Back in March, the main KOSPI stock market index went nuts, as in going from 5,000 to over 9,000! But starting last month it has been back down all the way to where it started. And in the meantime, many Korean investors speculators lost everything because they were going all in and leveraging at insane levels. Because, in bubble times, it appears you just can not lose. I have seen this movie before, experience matters.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Yeah, I keep seeing youngsters breaking crazy records in running. As a former marathon runner I am still drawn to running related articles. Reading this I felt kind of sad, what are we doing to our youth? Elite Young Runners Are Becoming Freakishly Fast. Welcome to ‘Trackflation’. Four-minute miles are almost routine. Middle schoolers are beating college runners. Inside the youth track boom that’s turning kids and teens into speed machines.
We like airplanes around here. So this was very interesting, I sure learned a lot about some forgotten ones: The Unsolved Mysteries of 8 Missing Passenger Flights.
I had no idea what happens after you spot an alligator in Florida. Fascinating article explaining it all, wow: The Florida Alligator Dragnet When an alligator kills someone in America, it can make international headlines. What happens to the thousands of gators that people deem “nuisances” does not.
I feel like screaming several times a day, what a great idea lol: Screamers welcome: Chicago scream club lets people ‘give in and let go’.
TRAVEL
Let’s start this section off with a hilarious read. We have all been there, a long haul flight…in economy: Please Return to Your Seat.
The meal cart appears two hours in. You can hear it banging into passengers’ knees before you see it, and the sound causes the entire cabin to sit up slightly, like meerkats detecting motion on the savanna. A flight attendant leans in and asks the question that will define the next twenty minutes of your life. “Chicken or pasta?” This is not a real choice. The chicken is a portion of protein in a brownish sauce that could be curry, could be gravy, or could be both, seasoned with what feels like an entire day’s worth of sodium. The pasta is the other option. Both come with a bread roll that requires enough force to open that you risk elbowing your seatmate. From behind the curtain up front, there is the faint clink of actual silverware. [Probably me. Of course I used my miles to fly up front lol].
I must admit I was shocked when I saw the number! Global Air Travel Had Busiest Day on Record Despite Recent Headwinds. Can you guess the number of commercial flights that broke the record?
Global commercial aviation set a record on July 23, with flight-tracking platform Flightradar24 recording 153,359 commercial flights in a single day…
I grew up and could see Mount Olympus from my back yard. Well, not exactly but it was very close within an hour drive from my hometown in Greece. Hopefully this will lead to more tourism! UNESCO adds France’s D-Day landing beaches, Greece’s Mount Olympus to World Heritage List.
I spend a lot of time in coffee shops, maybe you too? TOP 100 Coffee Shops. Which is your favorite?
Another daily game to play: MapTap for the traveler in you. Fun game but humbling because I was so way off with a few places, embarrassing really. By admitting this publicly I guess I am excluding myself from being pursued to become an influencer. Don’t cry for me, I sure don’t lol.
THAILAND
Shocking news of the death of a popular young Thai YouTuber: Thai YouTuber ‘Hlun Solo’ found dead in Georgia. I did not know him or follow him. But having over one million YouTube subscribers at such a young age is astonishing. RIP and condolences to his family.
Excellent video on the subject: BANGKOK’S Full Transport Guide: Trains, Boats, Taxis, Scams & Everything Else. I have found Grab to be indispensable when the two trains systems (BTS and MRT) can not get you there. And using the Airport Rail Link train to get to/from the airport is fantastic. I still have not figured out the boats and the local bus systems. And I refuse to get on a Grab bike, way too dangerous imho.
The most common visa expats get when they retire in Thailand is the Retirement Visa. And the most common path is you obtain the Non Immigrant-O Visa first at your home country which is good for 90 days, you travel to Thailand immediately afterwards, you get situated by getting a place to live and open a Thai bank account. And transfer 800,000 Thai Baht (about $24k-$25k USD) into this account and after it stays in the account for 2 months you apply to extend your visa for a year. And you keep renewing this visa for an additional year every year (while the money stays in the Thai bank account). Oh, and you have to be at least 50 years old. The article linked provides all the details. I still think for anyone not ready to make the full time move to Thailand looking into the DTV Visa is the most flexible option. Me and my wife recently acquired the DTV Visa and we can come and go anytime for the next five years. We expect life changes and certainly visa changes to take place and then we will reevaluate.
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…
This complicated crap having to consult tables of what each fare includes is getting out of control, here comes JetBlue’s turn: JetBlue Launches BlueFirst and New Base, Standard and Flex Fares.
As I was saying, the Basic cancer spreads: Air Canada Premium Economy & Business Class Basic Fares. And of course Delta AGAIN takes this to yet another ridiculous level wow: Delta Slaps Basic Biz & First Fares with Egregious Cancellation Fees. If you are a little confused about Delta’s fares you are not wrong. I mean, you need a giant column matrix to figure out the differences between all the cabins and fare levels, yikes!
This is good, hopefully some award space does appear here to act as a placeholder as we continue to search better options to SE Asia to avoid flying this airline and going through the Manila Airport. Which was to be avoided in the past. But maybe no more? Philippine Airlines Awards Now Bookable with Alaska Atmos Rewards. Any feedback from a reader who flew this airline and passed through MNL recently, has anything changed for the better?
Good resource to check when needed: Award ticket change and cancellation fees.
Starbucks rewards used to be pretty good. Not anymore. Linking your Starbucks account with your Delta Skymiles was painless for a few miles here and there. Amazingly, it is now even worse and requires an actual flight on Delta. This is a general trend of loyalty rewards lately and it sucks. I have recently started saying no at new retail establishments at checkout when asked if I wanted to join the loyalty program. Nope, I had enough, it won’t move the needle and I get enough emails already. Oh, I got carried away, here is the link: (Update) Delta & Starbucks Partner, Earn Free Stars & Miles For Linking.
There are two newish tools out there we all should start using more, Rove Miles and Gondola (both are my Referral links). Gondola is Frequent Miler’s go to hotel award search tool.
Give United’s Mile Play targeted promotion one more try. I recently signed us all up for some extra miles for buying and flying United on a ticket ranging from $100 to $250. I generally just sign up for this type of promos and forget about it and when I see the miles post I get this euphoric feeling. Yeah, this is an addiction.
I am not linking to this but if you are using Expedia to book travel for its loyalty program please don’t. Has there been a program that has devalued more out there? And starting July 28, the company unleashed yet another devaluation of its One Key program. Move on please, you are welcome.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
For ANY questions on travel rewards credit cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Good advice for newbies from the Wall Street Journal: Think Twice Before Signing Up for That Flashy Travel Credit Card.
And let’s not forget the influencers who flood our social-media feeds with tantalizing sign-up bonuses that will, they suggest in breathless posts, turn you into a jet-setter like them. [I am not one of them. Maybe this is why my blog has sold one credit card in the month of July, sad lol @ me]
Amex just continues beating its rival banks in this space. And it finally adds a hotel partner that makes sense (do NOT transfer from Amex to Hilton, Marriott or Choice ever please) with: American Express Adds The Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club (LHW) As Transfer Partner (4:1). And sticks it especially to Citi with a transfer ratio to LHW at 5:1. I am not familiar with LHW, maybe I should take a closer look at them in the near future. Always interested in hotels in Thailand and Greece. Do not forget that if you have the Amex Platinum card you do get some elite status with LHW hotels.
Both my kids got a Discover card when they turned 18. And we have been waiting for these cards to show up in their Capital One bank portal, not yet. Discover Cards Transition To Capital One Website & App (On July 27, 2026). Update: Per Capital One emails, the transition will take place on October 19, 2026.
LATEST OFFERS:
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash : $1,000/100,000 points AND $250 Travel Credit after $10k spend in three months
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus : $2,000/200,000 AND $500 Travel Credit after $30k spend in three months
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
125k CHASE Marriott Bonvoy Boundless + 1 Free Night: Minimum spend is $3,000 over three months. ENDING 8/5/26!
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
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.
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
We had a big retirement party for my wife at home. She is absolutely loving not having any work related stress in her life anymore. Everyone loved the house renovations by the way. I will post on Instagram more pics from the party, here is just one:
Everything is moving along with moving on from Ford. We kept the same health insurance plan via COBRA and the premium payment is set to be paid electronically. More importantly, Ford has given us a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) and is reimbursing us the premium payments monthly electronically as well. The HRA will cover almost a full year of COBRA health insurance premiums. The Health Savings Account also stayed with the same provider but now we login to it directly without going through the Ford Benefits website. Maybe next year I am going to look to roll it over to another company, no rush. And, after a mandatory 30 day wait after separation, I will work on rolling over her 401k Plan into her IRA at Schwab. So it’s all good.
I am currently sitting at just 21 World of Hyatt night credits. But I have been putting some major spend (mostly home furnishings stuff) on my personal World of Hyatt Visa and I expect to get to 31 next week after the statement closes. With present Hyatt bookings I get to 57. And I am very close to breaking another $5k spend threshold on my World of Hyatt visa so 59 night credits is a certainty. So yeah, I will easily requalify for World of Hyatt Globalist again. I will have to think hard about doing this again next year after the recent program devaluations and, more importantly, the recent severe Chase bank restrictions shutting the flow of never ending Chase points which found their way to my World of Hyatt account, so sad.
I have not tried applying for the Schwab Amex Platinum in the past week. But this weekend I am going to try to apply for it on my phone this time. I expect to get the same dreaded pop up but ya never know until you try. After that rejection I think I am going to try going for the Amex Business Gold card to see if Amex will give it to me. If that happens (long shot), I am interested to see how close to the top 200k offer I could get. Been a while since getting a new travel rewards credit card. And of course I use my own links whenever I can. Because, like those commercials of hair transplant companies with people “testifying” that they are also clients, well, this sure applies to me getting travel reward credit cards using my own blog LLC lol.
My wife got the Schwab Amex Platinum in late May of this year. And as of today, we have claimed $911 of credits so far #winning. With more to come. So yeah, this is why I have been trying to get the same card for myself, the credits for the personal Amex Platinums are so much better. And getting an extra credit for having our money invested with Schwab is the cherry on top. I will keep trying because I am stubborn. And I could at some point go for it without a Signup Bonus. Which is fundamentally against everything I stand for lol.
Our SE Asia trip is coming together with 31 hotel nights booked, see below. I added, for reference, another one way First Class award from Detroit to Bangkok in bold font. Yes, I now have two award reservations getting to Bangkok. I am going to sit on them for a while and prefer the AA award. But I am also seeing more award space from United flying Swiss Business Class via Chicago/Washington Dulles and Zurich and I am tempted to book that and cancel the one flying United Polaris and ANA (which was changed to its discount subsidiary airline Air Japan so hell no). As expected, in the 3 weeks from departure timeline I am seeing more award space. Even an Air Canada Aeroplan business class award seat popped up flying Turkish Airlines from Detroit to Istanbul and then to Bangkok on Thai Airways. I was so tempted to book this one as well but Air Canada does not have free award cancellations (have to burn more miles for that) and the connection was just two hours in Istanbul which means no time at the glorious Turkish Airlines Business Class lounge. Then again, I still have not found award flights back to Detroit from Singapore! So I added another alert to return to Chicago instead and…still nothing (so far).
100,000 United miles for one way Business Class from Detroit to Bangkok (via Chicago and Tokyo Haneda) flying United Polaris and ANA Air Japan
OR
110,000 American Airlines miles for one way First Class from Detroit to Bangkok (via Dallas and Tokyo Haneda) flying AA and JAL
1 night at the StandardX Bangkok for 7,500 World of Hyatt points
10 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 1 for 45,000 World of Hyatt points
9 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 24 for 40,500 World of Hyatt points
4 nights in a suite at the Saigon Park Hyatt for 80,000 World of Hyatt points
2 nights at the KROMO Bangkok, a Curio Collection by Hilton property, on AMEX The Hotel Collection booking fully utilizing Amex Business Platinum $300 credit
2 nights at the Hilton Pattaya for 120,000 Hilton Honors points
2 nights at the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach for 30,000 World of Hyatt points in a confirmed Garden View Suite
1 night at the Singapore Conrad Marina Bay on an Amex FHR booking mostly covered by the $300 credit Schwab Amex Platinum $300 credit
So I finally watched The Odyssey and I must admit that the hype did not measure up. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I think about it afterwards? Absolutely not. And it was sooooo long.
Saw this somewhere online and I laughed a lot so maybe you would too:
Do you realize that if you are sitting on the toilet at 11.59 PM, and the clock strikes midnight…
It’s the same shit, different day.
Hard to believe it is almost August already!
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75k 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 887,015 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025 and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 3,998,079 miles/points in the bank.
Let me leave you with this:
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“110,000 American Airlines miles for one way First Class from Detroit to Bangkok (via Dallas and Tokyo Haneda) flying AA and JAL” – is the DFW-HND leg in JAL’s F cabin on the A350?
Hey Buzz-
I had my first hands-on AI experience this week.
I read an article that said the Beach Boys have cancelled all their concerts for the next few months. It didn’t give the reason for the cancellations, but at the bottom was a small box that said “Meta AI: Why were the concerts cancelled?”. I hit the box and AI provided an answer.
The AI answer was that original Beach Boy Brian Wilson has had numerous mental and emotional issues over the years and these may have led to the concerts being called off.
Then I remembered that Brian Wilson hasn’t performed with the group touring as the Beach Boys since 2012. And he died last year.
Lots of good stuff as always! I have finally decided that I like the new presentation, I just had to get used to it. It took a while I guess because I am an Old. The chart of the 1% vs the 90% bugs me and this kind of thing, the worse it gets and the longer it goes on is what will bring class warfare of some sort. Things are out of balance.
That trip of yours you are planning sounds like a genuine humdinger. I am sure you will have a blast. Trying to figure my next travel and am starting to wonder if I will get to it. I hate group tours and stuff but some of the tours with all the pre-planning being done by others feels a bit more tempting than it used to be. More of the being an Old, I suppose.
Thanks as always for the work you do to send this out to us. I truly appreciate it and your friendship.