Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as ETF slop, AI chatbots, the 100 best podcasts, the best Thailand hotels, a few pics from Greece trip, stock investing and pain, more hideous fraudsters harming people, ear medical issues and insects, traveling in Athens and North Korea, the best photography 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. Enjoy the weekend and stay cool.
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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.
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
Currently in Greece traveling with my family. Most of this post was prepared while back in the US. Really struggling how to keep up with the regular posting here but not giving up yet, been the same story for almost 13 years now.
PERSONAL FINANCE
This is a comprehensive analysis geared to professionals: Breaking Down The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”: Impact Of New Laws On Tax Planning.
I singled out this to hammer some points: Going to Extremes.
Stock market investing requires a near superhuman ability to withstand pain…the median stock experienced a decline of 85% at one point or another. Worse yet, more than half of these stocks never fully recouped their losses. The median stock recovered to just 90% of its prior high-water mark. Among those stocks that were able to reclaim their prior highs, it was a long process—about five years, on average.
The bottom line: Picking stocks can be entertaining. But according to the data, it’s not the most reliable way to build wealth. What’s the best way? Index funds. Why? They cast a wide net and are unaffected by emotion, allowing investors to benefit from the growth of exceptional stocks while simultaneously limiting the impact of drawdowns.
These are great: 50 Facts From 1H 2025. I pick the five best to excerpt below:
If you had invested from 1960-1980 and beaten the market by 5% each year, you would have made less money than if you had invested from 1980-2000 and underperformed the market by 5% a year.
58 wallets have made over $10 million each from $TRUMP, while 764,000 wallets lost money.
Steve Ballmer receives roughly $1 billion in Microsoft dividends annually.
LCH Investments estimates of the $3.7 trillion in profits the hedge fund industry has earned since 1969, $1.8 trillion has gone to fees.
Nearly half of America’s “billion-dollar” startups were founded by people born outside the United States.
So many ETFs out there smh: ETF Slop: How Wall Street Flooded the Market With Gimmick Funds. The author singles out how single stock ETFS opened the floodgates and how “income” play ETFs have continued the onslaught. Which is likely to continue. Because, you know, again and again, fees can be so lucrative. The fees the buyers pays of course. And then enter Buffer ETFs. And on and on and on it will go on.
This graph found here stood out as worthy to share with you:
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Online you can be anything you want. So many charlatans. Guess where this guy is now? Yep, prison. Where he belongs: He Claims He’s the ‘Sports Betting King.’ What Are the Odds? Mazi VS has become a major influencer by flaunting his expensive lifestyle and his big-winning wagers. Other gamblers say he can’t be what he seems. If you ever call me influencer for anything I will block you lol. Also, please don’t gamble.
Interesting list. Why aren’t plumbers on it? I wonder about that every time I call a plumber to fix something in my home lol. Microsoft’s top 10 most AI-safe jobs.
- Phlebotomists
- Nursing assistants
- Hazardous materials removal workers
- Helpers, painters, plasterers
- Embalmers
- Plant and system operators
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeons
- Automotive glass installers and repairers
- Ship engineers
- Tire repairers and changers
Why companies like this one are allowed to exist? This Secretive Company Built An Empire By Hawking Bad Financial And Health Advice On Facebook. Avoid these outfits like the plague. Because everything about them is the plague.
The Agora makes its money by selling subscriptions to “natural health” newsletters that are a vector for its wellness supplements business, as well as investment advice newsletters that can cost thousands of dollars a year. Across the internet, the company spends millions to place its outlandish claims in front of American social media users. A current spate of ads insist that President Trump will soon “unleash” a $150 trillion “secret trust” that has been hidden from the American people, and you can get rich from trading on it, if you just subscribe.
I knew ChatGPT was bigger but not to this shocking degree: The 10 Most-Used AI Chatbots in 2025.
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Great resource: The 100 Best Podcasts of All Time.
More To That opens up: Tales from the Island of Illness. This is a tough read. Especially for anyone suffering from tinnitus and ear issues in general.
Despite knowing that death is inevitable, we are somehow convinced that our bodies will remain healthy until that day. This is a product of subtle conditioning, whether it’s in the form of lofty promises or distorted beliefs that are dispensed by others. The truth, of course, is that all of nature follows a decay function, and none of us are immune. So the thing to consider is if you can accept the pain that accompanies the human body, while also reducing the suffering using the power of the human mind.
This will shock you. Ok, well, maybe not. But it is one of those special reads about one of the most shameful events in US history imho: The Age of Incarceration. During World War II, the U.S. government invoked the Alien Enemies Act, ultimately incarcerating more than 125,000 people of Japanese descent — including many American citizens. The act uprooted and split families, causing them to abandon their homes, businesses, and communities. It has been 80 years since the war ended and they were released. In these testimonies, nine of the last survivors of Japanese American incarceration reflect on their stolen youth and how this injustice impacted the rest of their lives.
I was absolutely shocked about the answer to this question and you will be too: How Many Types of Insects Are There in the World?
For every person on Earth, it’s estimated there are 200 million insects.
TRAVEL
Many are traveling to Greece these days, so here you go: 19 amazing things to do in Athens. This ancient city still holds so many secrets – these are the best things to do in Athens according to an insider.
Some amazing resources in this article, enjoy: Driving Cross Country? Here Are the Apps You Want Riding Shotgun. On a road trip from New York to Los Angeles (and back), a writer found digital tools that helped her navigate and find a cornucopia of “weird attractions.” Some have been mentioned here in my blog in the past and there are some new interesting ones.
Been a while since I posted something about North Korea. It is time: My trip to North Korea’s ‘Benidorm’ – flanked by guards and full of rules. By a Russian blogger of course.
The obligatory Thailand related link: The 21 Best Hotels in Thailand To Book With Points [Marriott, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt].
This is great: Ranked: Southeast Asian Countries by the Numbers.
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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
Here we go again.
Pretty good list: 20+ Great Hotels To Use Your Hyatt Free Night Certificate In The US.
Good roundup, these keep popping up lately: Luxury booking showdown: Fine Hotels & Resorts vs The Edit vs The Reserve vs Premier Collection.
Good reference, especially these days: How to Find & Book the Best Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Deals.
Ooopsie, there goes two of them: Alaska Airlines Members Lose Access To LATAM & Singapore Airlines Awards From October 1, 2025. I have never seen Singapore Airlines award seats on Alaska Airlines, minor detail.
I was not aware of this hotel wow: Four Things I Loved About My Stay at Intercontinental Crete.
We are well on our way to making Wi-fi free for all: Southwest Adding Free Wi-Fi for All Rapid Rewards Members Next Month.
Good Hyatt promo, make sure you register for it in the app: Hyatt Regency Promotion Worth Up To 20,000 Bonus Hyatt Points.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
Nothing to add here for now #toobusytraveling
NEW OFFERS:
Brand new elevated IHG and Delta SkyMiles offers just launched yesterday:
- Chase IHG One Rewards Premier: 165,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Traveler: 2 Free Nights + 40,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. Each Free Night is valued at up to 50,000 points.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Business: Earn up to 200,000 Bonus Points. Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 60,000 Bonus Points after spending a total of $9,000 in the first 6 months from account opening for a total of 200,000 Bonus Points.
If you love IHG, the Premier card always made sense to make it a keeper imho. If you hate annual fees, the current Traveler card also makes sense, especially if you have targeted a particular property for a two to three night getaway. Lots of IHG points to score if you can swing the very high (for a hotel card) minimum spend for the business card. Don’t have the time to list the other benefits of these cards while traveling you guys, you know what to do and thank you.
And here come new Delta Skymiles offers again:
- Amex Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business: Earn 125,000 Bonus Miles after spending $15,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 10/29/25.
- Amex Delta Skymiles Platinum Business: Earn 100,000 Bonus Miles after spending $8,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 10/29/25.
- Amex Delta SkyMiles Gold Business: Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles after spending $6,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 10/29/25.
- Amex Delta Skymiles Reserve: Earn 125,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 10/29/2025.
- Amex Delta Skymiles Platinum: Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Amex Delta Skymiles Gold: Earn 80,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 10/29/2025.
BANK OF AMERICA ALASKA AIRLINES THREE NEW ATMOS CREDIT CARDS
100K AND 25,000 Point Global Companion Award Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Card: The new premium credit card we have been waiting for a while. $395 Annual Fee. Fairly low $6k minimum spend in first three months. Earns 3x on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines purchases, dining and foreign transactions, 1x on everything else. 10% bonus points if you have an eligible Bank of America account, so the 3x becomes 3.3x oh la la. Can earn 100k Global Companion Award cert if spend reaches $60k during the year. 8 Alaska Airlines lounge day passes and 8 Wi-Fi passes every year (2 per quarter). Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six on same reservation. 10,000 status points every anniversary. 2 status points for every $1 spent, uncapped. Waived partner award booking and same day change fees. $50 vouchers for cancellations and 2+ hour delays. One free cocktail drink at each lounge visit (through 2026). Points sharing with up to 10 Atmos Rewards members. 20% off in flight purchases. $120 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre. If you had requested to be waitlisted for this card you should have received an email with an application link that can earn an additional 5,000 points (on top of the 100,000).
80k Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature Card: $95 annual fee. Comes with a $99 Companion Fare. $4k minimum spend in first four months. 3x on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines purchases. 2x on gas, EV charging, cable, streaming and local transit, 1x on everything else. Earns 1 status point per $3 spent (up to 30k status points in 2025 and uncapped starting in 2026). 10% bonus points if you have an eligible Bank of America account. Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six on same reservation. Preferred boarding. 20% inflight purchases. $100 off annual Alaska Lounge membership. No foreign transaction fees. Here is a link to get you 85k miles instead of the 80k affiliate link.
80k Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Business Visa Card: $95 annual fee. Comes with a $99 Companion Fare. $5k minimum spend in first three months. 3x on Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines purchases. 2x on gas, EV charging, shipping and local transit, 1x on everything else. Earns 1 status point per $3 spent (up to 30k status points in 2025 and uncapped starting in 2026). 10% bonus points if you have an eligible Bank of America account. Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six on same reservation. 20% off inflight purchases. $100 off Alaska Airlines Lounge membership. No foreign transaction fees. Here is a link to get you 85k miles instead of the 80k affiliate links.
EXPIRING OFFERS:
125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve: Chase raised the Signup Bonus to 125,000 from 100,000 points. Which is great of course. But it also withdrew the $500 statement travel credit in the original offer, boo. Then again, you know, getting an extra 25,000 point is certainly a lot more flexible. The minimum spend is $5k in the first three months. As with all cards, you know what to do to help the blog, thank you. You can read a lot more about the Sapphire Reserve cards HERE.
30k CHASE United Gateway: One of my favorite no annual fee keeper cards. Just $1k minimum spend in the first three months. Earns 2x on United purchases, gas stations, local transit and commuting, 1x on everything else. You get expanded award availability and 2 free checked bags after $10k spend in a calendar year. 25% off in in-flight purchases. No foreign transaction fees. Many spend based promos with this card from personal experience, there is always a spend based promo going on, it is surprising and love it.
We have a great REFERRAL offer from Capital One: 75,000 Points + $300 Travel Credit Capital One Venture. If you value simplicity, this card earns 2x points everywhere (and 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal) with a $95 annual fee. No foreign transactions fees, Visa Signature benefits and credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
Capital One is at it again with a revised offer for the Capital One Spark Cash Business Card $1,000 Signup Bonus With $10,000 Spend. The card has its annual $95 fee WAIVED for the first year. No annoying credits to deal with, it just earns 2 points everywhere. And you can earn 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal too. And when you have a Capital One Venture X or the Venture card above, the $1,000 can be turned into 100,000 miles.
After waiting for Citi to introduce a premium credit card, it finally arrived. Please click the link below to get all the info you need about the card and email me if you want to apply.
Citi Strata Elite Review: 80,000 Points Bonus, $595 Annual Fee, $300 Hotel & $200 Splurge Credit
Citi has a new offer for 30,000 Thank You points for its Strata no annual fee card. Very good earning rates for a no annual fee card: 5x on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com, 3x spent at Supermarkets, Select Transit, Gas & EV Charging Stations, 3x spent on an eligible Self-Select Category of your choice, 2x spent at Restaurants and 1x on All Other Purchases.
Chase Southwest Personal Cards: 100,000 Points with $4,000 Spend In 5 Months. 100k Signup bonus for all 3 personal cards is excellent. If you like 100k bonuses and free bags it makes sense too as each Southwest point could be worth around 1.3 cents, so we are talking $1,300 travel value. You know where to find them, thank you. All three 100k offers end September 17, 2025.
My still favorite bank Chase is at it again. We have two new 100k offers on United business cards. Actually, the United Business card is decent, especially for people who have United elite qualification aspirations. I have it myself and not keeping it past the first year by the way. Ends November 5, 2025.
The STANDARD Amex Platinum offer is now up to 175,000 Membership Rewards points. The annual fee is $695 and the minimum spend is $8,000 over six months. 5x on Airfare and Hotels and 1x on everything else. Superior Centurion lounge coverage and of course Priority Pass lounge membership. No foreign transaction fees. A long list of couponized credits, up to $1,800 if you took advantage of every single one. Which you won’t. The easiest credits are the $200 airline fee credit, the $240 Digital Entertainment credit, up to $200 Uber credit and $200 hotel credit…and many more.
Same deal with the STANDARD Amex Gold card now up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points. The annual fee is $325 and the minimum spend is $6,000 over six months. This card’s main appeal has always been its earning power at 4x for dining worldwide and groceries and 3x on airfare. Crazy couponing comes with it, such as $7 per month on Dunkin Donuts, $10 per month on Uber Cash, $10 per month on 5 Guys/Grubhub, Cheesecake Factory, Wine.com or Goldbelly, two $50 Resy credits for dining per year and $100 hotel credit per year.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
THIS CARD STILL PAYS FOR ITSELF:
The 75K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has a minimum spend of $4k in the first three months. If you like simplicity and looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with an easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its own travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait, there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add four authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership and, this is BIG, they can bring in unlimited guests with their FREE Priority Pass card! You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car top elite status. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points each. And lots more.
Here are my three TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
The 75k Capital One Venture X card.
The 75k Chase Ink Business Unlimited card.
The 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash card.
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
Hello from Larissa, Greece…
I decided to burn another 94,645 Capital One Bank points to erase the Aegean Airlines charge for four full fare economy flights from Thessaloniki to Kefalonia this Sunday. Leaving me with just 20 Capital One Bank points at the moment.
Finally enjoyed a home soccer game back in my hometown with my #1 favorite team Larissa AEL FC. And I now have season tickets. I will catch two more games it appears before I return back to the US. Oh, I don’t have any return to US tickets yet. Points Yeah award alerts have completely dried up by the way all of a sudden, I will not renew my membership and time to try another service.
A few pics from the trip:
I DO have a separate page listing my affiliate links HERE for:
Proton VPN, Uber and Lyft.
I am giving myself a challenge for the summer, average 5 credit card sales and 15 Buy Me a Coffee sales per month. If I can’t even hit these low targets after almost 13 years of blogging I am out. We now have:
June:
Credit card sales: 7 Buy me a Coffee sales: 1
July:
Credit card sales: 6 Buy me a Coffee sales: 24
August:
Credit card sales: 8 Buy me a Coffee sales: 22
September to date:
Credit card sales: 0 Buy me a Coffee sales: 0
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 175k AMEX Platinum, 100k CHASE Southwest Plus/Premier/Priority (ENDS 9/17), 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 80k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 1,431,212 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,082,139 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
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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Looks like the fam are enjoying Greece, but then again who wouldn’t. That Standard Hua Hin is being pushed hard on every list as a best hotel. Someone needs to take one for the team and do a stay. Re the Singapore flights on Atmos, bizarrely I recently found some in business class going from Singapore to Oz. Of course it was not for a time that I actually wanted to go, but they do exist. Tinnitus, we both suffer in our household and fantasize about one day there being a cure but so far not a single thing to help ease the symptoms.
So many good links today!
The tax information post was great. Lots of things
that didn’t make the papers … next year will
be “interesting” …
When we went to Santiago last year, it was via LATAM.. Quite nice flight except no wifi and Mr Trump was shot that day. I guess Delta is playing rough with Alaska.
Good afternoon Buzz,
Thanks for another great post. And great to see the family having a great time along with your mom…and of course seeing your team play.
Sad day for the desert rat, I have to cancel the trip to Greece and miss the upcoming game on 9/20, was really looking forward to that.
Have a great time and best to the family.
wow beautious pix!
Looks like you and the fam are having a great time there in Greece. My next foreign travel is not much, just a drive to Vancouver BC, but hope to have fun anyhow. Thanks for the good stuff here as always!!
Having a fabulous time in Greece, now in Kefalonia. Trying to find time to work on the Friday blog post is very difficult but I am focusing on it. Which makes responding to comments impossible at this time, apologies. I post more on Instagram about the trip. Kids don’t want me to post photos of them anymore, AI you know and stuff like that. Kefalonia is very nice and so unlike any Greek islands you may be familiar with. Wedding attendees start arriving today so it will get even more difficult to prepare the blog post so today Tuesday is my chance to wrap up most of it and will schedule to post automatically.
Greek national soccer team was beaten by an amazing Denmark team at home by 3-0, ouch. We are down from the highs for this young team, advancing automatically by winning first place in the group is going to be extremely hard. But 2nd place leading to a playoff contest should be very doable. Tonight Giannis takes the Greek national basketball team to Lithuania to play them with a semifinals birth in play. Shockingly, Spain, Italy and France were all eliminated. Hope we don’t become the next victim.
Need to control myself eating…Eating and traveling, my next greatest challenge to conquer…starting with next trip lol.
Thanks for reading and commenting. Sorry for not replying individually. Now going to get another coffee ready to go drink it at our balcony with the most amazing view of the Ionian sea…