Let’s go to the Moon again and the Ann Arbor Art Fair DO, learn about Unaccompanied Minors, catch up on the Family Travel 4 Real Life & Vendoming, cry together (not really) for the CSP 7% dividend loss OMG!, visit Yugoslavia ruin porn, smoke some weed qat in Sana’a, and learn that picking winner active mutual funds and expect them to stay winners is a fantasy!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order
You can support TBB by clicking/forwarding any of our Referral Links and starting your online shopping at our Amazon affiliate link . Or click on the Amazon Banner on the right, thank YOU!
We had a fantastic time at the 2014 Ann Arbor Art Fair DO this weekend. A round of applause for organizer Dave Bikeguy, Drew of Travel is Free and Tahsir and Amol who both write at Hack My Trip. All of these guys are TBB approved by the way! True hobbyists who know their stuff and blog in a responsible way adding value to readers’ lives without resorting to tediously repetitive credit card marketing posts every day!
I enjoyed meeting everyone and thank you for all your kind words. It does feel nice being told that you like my blog and what it stands for. As in those old Mastercard commercials…it is priceless!
Note to New Readers
To all the new readers, welcome! To get an understanding of what TBB is all about, well, TBB is an experience! Just joking, we do a lot of that around here. Entertainment remains priority numero uno!
This quirky hobby has grown so much in almost 20 years I am involved in it that I thought there was time for a blog to review other blogs. I waste my time so you do not have to waste yours! I go through (nearing) 600 blogs, pull out my hair and beat myself up all day long (it appears) only to find the best posts to feature here. Everything is based on my own judgment and my own biases because I am not accountable to any banking institution or any other company for that matter, I am only accountable to my own conscience and to you! Speaking of biases, I do have a few such as: I love quality posts by true and talented experts who are proud of their work which adds value to readers’ lives! I despise pseudo experts/credit card sales experts who pose as experts when they are so busy pumping credit cards and complying with the credit card pumping requirements and PR efforts to keep up with the knowledge necessary to be experts!
So, in the name of mega miles & points, please support the blogs in the TBB Love and Like lists as I believe they truly deserve your help! Make it easier for them to continue their work so we can all benefit! Please ignore these blogs as they do not need any more help because they entice enough newbies from google searches to make obscene amounts of money that (imho) do not deserve! In other words, my favorite motto here is:
Don’t Be a Tool, Think!
“Woa, you are so mean against the Ignore list bloggers, why are you so angry TBB?”. Well, you need to take the time to read my masterpiece: The “Travel” Miles/Points Blogosphere Has Turned Into a Giant Credit Card Pumpization Scheme!”
I just think there are better blogs out there who respect their readers and do not treat them like a punching bag serving them gazillion (the same ones!) credit card affiliate links day in and day out as instructed. If you like that, well it is your choice I guess. Supporting them encourages to…pump more (hard to believe, oh the horror!!!)
Sorry for the long intro….On to the Buzz post!
Unaccompanied Minors: Your Complete Guide to Each Airline’s Policies, Fees, & Rules. By Trips With Tykes. Excellent comprehensive post on this!
On FT4RL, Vendoming, and Momentum. By The Deal Mommy. More info on the upcoming seminar focused on family travel and the (hilarious) “Vendoming” term. The comments are excellent. And not even one word about the credit cards until much later on in the comments! I participate in my usual sarcastic way 🙂
Holy crap, there are now 30 bloggers writing at Prior2Boarding.com!
In case you dropped dead, you probably heard the earth shattering news that Chase Sapphire card has dropped the 7% annual dividend and added primary rental car collision damage. Ok, I give you that this required a simple mention if you are in the miles/points blogosphere. What was totally ridiculous was the fact that some bloggers made several different blog posts wondering if this change was coming and conveniently inserted the card link…and the even more lucrative Chase Ink credit card links, wow! Actually, what a shitty way to pump your readers with more credit card links, blogging about totally moronic thoughts (the 7% “may” go away) while all along hoping to rope in some suckers from google searches to apply for these cards you have linked to a million times before. That just blows! Who cares right? TBB is just angry again…right? Yeah I am a little angry at times, this crap drives me crazy. And apparently you pumping blogger have lost all sense of reality to keep excusing such practices.
I keep mental note of every time I see a comment by another blogger in one of the Blogs I Ignore list. And if I think a blog post is worthy to feature here by them…I won’t do it #hint.
One of the most pathetic Reader Success Stories at Frugal Travel Guy. Hey, they pay $25. And easily sell some Ink credit card products, what a deal!
I must have seen the millionth picture of a meal and flat bed in first and business class by today. Enough already, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!
How to be a points-n-mile blogger. Or not...By Personal Finance Digest. Leads with TBB reader harvson3’s comment here which I was planning to add to the latest Gem Comments!
Exploring the Ruin Porn of Yugoslavia – Dim The Lights, Shut the Door. By Yomadic. My favorite travel blogger by far. ” The mysterious appeal of surreal abandoned environments, which in a perfect world wouldn’t exist, is a strong drawcard for many reasons. Being a gen-x’er, I was raised on the exploits of Snake Plisken, Terminator, Mad Max, and video games set in post-apocalyptic cities. But, the phenomenal popularity of ruin porn goes well beyond generational boundaries, and pulls in a wide variety of fans.” I must admit I am a fan and love this ruin porn stuff too! “Most people are searching for a little adventure in their lives, and urban exploration is one way to scratch that itch. But, if you decide to take part, remember that it’s dangerous and illegal. Don’t go alone, bring a flash light, and consider asking for permission before you enter any abandoned building. Bad things can, and do, happen.” I also hope to get some readers who google looking for porn in former Yugoslavia too LOL.
This is a very interesting travelogue about Sana’a that I found at Idle Words. I love unique places, enough Vendoming ya’all!
Personal Finance article: Who Routinely Trounces the Stock Market? Try 2 Out of 2,862 Funds.
End of the Ann Arbor Art Fair DO…
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
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Join over 2,903 TBB followers on Twitter @ FlyerTalkerinA2 and add TBB on Google+
First on the moon?
What did you declare?
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/how-do-we-welcome-astronauts-back-to-earth-by-making-them-go-through-customs/282122/
That makes me Buzz Aldrin?
Thanks so much for the mention! I think I need to now quit blogging — 1 positive mention on TBB and 0 negative. Quit while you’re ahead, right?
Surprised to see no mention of the possibility of the Fairmont card disappearing/the 10% freedom benefit disappearing from the offer pages by other bloggers. I think Gary has an inquiry in with Chase now, so we’ll see how that pans out.
Will be a shame if the Fairmont card is dead, was great for luxury stays in Canada.
Are you honestly surprised? There’s a still active zombie link in the FT thread.
…and one that doesn’t profit the affiliates: http://www.fairmont.com/promo/card (amazing what picking up the phone and calling Fairmont Presidents Club can do!). The rep’s supervisor I spoke to was surprised it didn’t show on Chase’s website.
Fairmont card has never paid commissions actually, that’s why you don’t see it listed often.
Just another day in the miles and points blogosphere. New credit cards come out, get heavily promoted, change their terms, then disappear. It would be cool if there were more research about this issue with a possible infographic. Anyone?
Even though P2B is much smaller than BA, I think P2B has more variety. Since many of the smaller blogs don’t have CSP affiliate links, there is nothing gained or lost by the recent change. No CSP affiliate links = no CSP blog updates. Just a biased observation from the inside.
Glad you had fun at the Ann Arbor Art Fair Do. The real party will be at #westcoastdo. Cya there George.
Question is what niche all the new blogs will try to fill: travel? Doesn’t look like it. Finance? No way. Travel on points and stay in chain hotels in the usual ‘foreign’ destinations? Meh.
That Yemen article was really interesting, thanks. I wonder if it’s possible to get there on points?
One of the links referred to some in the miles community as idols…Idolatry is reserved for Super Bowl MVP Quaterbacks and maybe TBB 🙂
@ Spencer F: Moon, first on TBB comments…same type of high? Discuss 🙂
@ Adam M: Lol
@ Leslie H: Whatever you do TBB is watching you bloggers 😉
@ William Charles: I will wait to see what’s going on with the Fairmont card. I am not in the ‘it may go away, stay tuned” type posts. Full disclosure: TBB management does not like it when we see your comments in the Ignore list blogs. It does not correlate well with the TBB motto “Don’t be part of the problem” overly ambitious and idiotic rebellious movement to reclaim this space from pumping charlatans.
@ Grant: There are just too many blogs these days…it is kind of surreal really. Years ago we knew each other and it was “hey, so and so dude just started a blog, you need to see it” and then months passed until the next one appeared. These days it appears there is a new one popping up in BA and Prior2takingoff area. Good observations on the CSP related posts.
Oliver2002: Like I said, too many blogs with so many blogging about something trying to sound unique while finding any excuse to insert an affiliate link or two. That Travel Skills dude thought he was a little different but he started it too. I see no one pushing the Amazon link like me #unique lol.
@ Nick: Yeah, I thought it was too, thanks. Getting there on miles should be interesting. I posted another link about Sana’a many months ago by one of the better known regular travel bloggers (forgot who) but other than that you just don’t see much of that place. Maybe one day Rapid Travel Chai will pop in there. My fear is someone finds out about it here and then something bad happens to him/her while there….Oh I hope this never happens, the guilt I will feel will be way too much!
@ Will: In every miles/points gathering I go I am truly amazed and humbled about all the positive things people tell me about my blog. I am always surprised and humbled. Thank you. Please no idol stuff…I am just another crazy human being who gets a rush by taking money away from banks and airlines 🙂
Watched 300: Rise of an Empire in United p.s. yesterday. Had to laugh when the wily Greek soldier manages to bring down the mighty King Dariaus, all by himself.
I laughed at that too…so hard not to!
To the anti-Vendôme hipster crowd with your pitchforks and torches…..look what you did to the poor Frequent Miler! He now has to feel ashamed about his LH First, Park Hyatt, all-suite, all free breakfast family vacation to Europe.
LOL…I saw that this morning and thought :”Et Tu, FM?”
Yeah…the timing was kind of unfortunate. That Toronto Detroit on Delta sucks so bad I would have never done it to experience Lufthansa F, the Mercedes ride (what is it, half a mile?) and the LH FC lounge which is nice but not THAT nice imho to put up with the international flight on a tiny plane…unless he took a different flight, don’t remember, didn’t really read that post actually, just glanced it, called it “Vendoming” and went to the next one!
Wow…that Sana’a article was great. How did you manage to find that blog? Do you know if BoardingArea/Prior2Boarding charges “rent” for the blogs hosted (or linked) from that site? Just wondering if that plays a factor in good blogs that turn to the dark side when they gotta pay the bills.
All hosting is free for both sites.
I find everything, nothing gets past TBB…
At least I would like to think so anyway 🙂
Yeah they don’t pay anything…nice deal…but you are one of what 100? Fits some bloggers and some personalities well, probably not mine.
Well, I should go there too as Delta Points has promised to leave Boarding Area if TBB gets there…so that would be enough of an incentive for me lol!
That article about Yemen is a fantastic trip report. Good find. (I think hauteboy on FT also covered the city a while back. I like his TRs too.)
On qat chewing as the primary public sphere in Yemen, see work by Lisa Wedeen.
N.B.: Habermas has an argument that the transitions from monarchy to republics/democracies in Europe required people to get together in public (hence, salons and coffee houses) to discuss politics with strangers.
I am not sure how I found it. It was a link from somewhere else. Knew it was TBB material indeed.
Interesting about the quat and public sphere activities. I would really like to see Congress smoke some joints and pass laws..they would probably make more sense! I think the Alternative Minimum Tax will be killed immediately because it would make their…heads hurt so bad!
I have to agree with Ramsey from last week when he talked about Lucky and his bogus “close to home” post on the Malaysia flight
The vibe he gave off was the same kind of obliviousness as when he tries to justify his trips to countries with abominable human rights records like because he wants to “explore other cultures and interacting with the locals”…. then flies there in Emirates F and stays in the St. Regis.
Thankfully the KLM flight wasn’t booked with UR points. Because I doubt the MH flight would’ve prevented a “reminder” of which cards earn UR points
I am expecting the dude “Steve Sucks” to go bezerk again shortly…
Funny how so many bloggers are still on the “omg, no more 7% chase csp benefit” when a newsworthy development with the TYP happened and they still did not blog about it. Priorities, priorities.
Did you catch how our resident ex troll had to slip in that his new business is profitable every month. Guess that fund raising charitable site was too much work. Dinero always comes first 🙂
Remember – if you don’t make a lot of money, you’re a failure
I hear he was finally able to get rid of all the seats to the Seminars after enough prodding and advertising by the big box bloggers.
Meanwhile, Saverocity sold out his DO in about 30 seconds. But he’s not going to be making sacks money off of it. So he’s a failure.
Even my wife said ‘sure, don’t make a profit, but you probably shouldn’t pay for your own ticket’. I felt bad about raising the price point for this next one (but it is all going on food, beverage and a bit on AV rental) so it’s actually costing me money.
But I have to say, I am super excited about it, and can’t wait to meet a bunch of friends, old ones and new, and see how Kimpton treats its inner circle members #karma 🙂
There is nothing wrong with making money. The difference with our DO and some others is that its really not about that, its a celebration and gathering of the pack. You’ll note the little differences in things like refund policy, schedule, attitude, how many pints I drink with you, and so on.
Bringing the family this time, hope you guys bring yours too.
If this one goes well, I am thinking about DO3 now, either we go big, like a crazy destination, and a wonderful time with a bigger ticket, or we go small, like drop the ticket altogether and just hang out. Either way, if there is even the threat of a profit I suggest we order BBQ for everyone immediately.
Sounds good.
Need to wait for daughter’s activities schedule to decide if I bring her (them). Son will conveniently have an excuse for sure because we are just not as cool as with him any more lol.
Can you link to Ramseys post?
It was one of the last comments in Buzz’s previous post (not the Gems, the one before that)
Man, that final photo makes me regret again that I had to leave the DO early. But had to give my other half some time to explore Detroit before we flew out.
A few observations:
> A2 sure has changed since we were grad students there in the 70s. More name-brand establishments and so many new and delicious restaurants.
> Art Fair was less busy and more expensive than I expected.
> We couldn’t believe the state of the roads in Michigan. I guess the bad winters combined with a state in financial trouble makes for roads in need of repair (that must lead to your car needing repair!)
> Seeing what were once stately and fine Detroit neighborhoods now with so many abandoned and decrepit homes and buildings was very, very sad.
> Seeing some of the new enterprises struggling to make a go of it was encouraging, but gosh, they have a long way to go. If you are in Detroit and like old-fashioned, NY style bagels, go to The Detroit Institute of Bagels. Better than what we can currently get in PDX.
A fun and hectic weekend. Now back to catching up with the rest of my life.
We had an unusual harsh winter and the roads show it. I have a rental property and the cement front porch just collapsed due to so much freezing over the winter and this happens all over. They will be fixed but it may take some time.
Yeah, Detroit has issues but it has gotten better believe it or not over the past several years. We are in the upswing in Ann Arbor…even Detroit!
I heard from others that the crowds were not as packed, not sure why that is since the weather was beautiful.
Yeah way too many restaurants lately…it is getting kind of ridiculous…can’t keep up. Thank God I get 15x dining out!
Nice seeing you again. Hope your husband was not too bored! We are all interesting characters 🙂
You realize by confessing to owning a rental property within 200 miles of Detroit, the cries of “SLUMLORD!!!!” from the trolls will be deafening (*puts in earplugs*)
I am waiting for it…I am the definition of the accidental landlord…just way too much hassle to sell it
So you rent out the place you lived before you snagged a Pfizer home?
Exactly. I did not want to sell it back then at the bottom 🙂
Looks like a good decision as I got lucky with the tenant who is still there. It’s about 4 miles east of me in Ypsi behind the high school. I told them they can stay as long as they want if they pay the rent and take good care of it. I even lowered the rent this year! I am not like them slum landlords at all….I think they take advantage of me actually lol
FOR AVIATION GEEKS ONLY………………………………………………………………………. http://www.cnet.com/pictures/in-kansas-where-787-dreamliners-are-born-pictures/28/
Buzz,
I’ve been looking in the code and regs for “accidental landlord”. Is that under Section 267? (That’s a joke only for tax professionals). (We gotta laugh at something).