Can Blogs Kill?

I am visiting my doctor Friday morning. I think my health (and sanity) has suffered due to my intense blogging pace and way too many other commitments. I will see what my doctor says and ponder about the future of TBB over the weekend. Look for a post from me sometime this weekend. It may be the most personal post ever.

For the ones who contacted me, thank you for your concern.

Sorry I have not responded to all the comments.

Ribs.

George

May 22, 2013 - Frequent Flyer Life, Spirit, Airport customer rewards program, latest blogger buzz, Ramsey gets free burgers!

 

MVP POST WEBSITE

Frequent Flyer Life. MUST CLICK. Prepare to laugh uncontrollably...For some reason I always loved this word: uncontrollably...Not sure if it is a real word. It must be, spell checker does not come up:-)


TRAVEL

Peter Greenberg interviews the CEO of Spirit Airlines. Why am I throwing this in here? Good question! I wanted to show you that Spirit has consinstently MADE money. We can knock them down for LOTS of things but turning a profit is NOT one of them. I also think that the legacy airlines are slowly adapting more of these business practices. That also means the frequent flyer programs, as we have known and taken advantage of them for so many years, are on life support and major changes will be happening in the next few years. Delta started them...I expect them to accelerate and everyone else to be joining them. I so hope I am wrong!!

Consumer Reports rated the airlines. Winner: Virgin America  Loser: Spirit (Its CEO complained price was not a rated factor lol).


MILES/POINTS

Well, this is suprising. Dallas/Ft. Worth airport launches customer rewards program!

A reader visiting Ann Arbor asked over email about CVS&VanillaReload cards in town. I told him he is about to visit Vanilla Heaven!

Estimated taxes coming due. Which means more trips for Vanilla Reload cards to load on to My Vanilla Debit card. It's like crack.


BLOGGER BUZZ

I had trouble sleeping last night due to the intense anticipation of waiting to read yet another one of the Frugal Travel Guy churning challenges! Would the Chase Sapphire credit card link appear first or the Chase Ink Bold link? My intense curiosity was solved when....there it was:
Chase Sapphire, Chase Ink Bold followed up by Chase Sapphire and Chase Ink Bold...
Someone flog me please!

There were so many Barclay's Bank related credit card posts in the blogosphere that makes me wonder if there was a special push by the powers above. Why all of a sudden so much Barclays love?

There was heavy activity in this blog post after several people commented on the Million Mile Secrets blog post about Lufthansa awards. Even the man himself stepped in to defend himself. I also had lots to say. I won't repeat them here. You can enjoy the exchanges here.  Also you can read an excellent comment about harvson3 which pretty summarizes the state of the blogosphere very nicely. I will try to make a special post using his comments over the weekend.

Delta Points is back in good form. He tells us the good and bad of the Ultimate Rewards program and dishes us the Chase Sapphire/InkBold/InkPlus. Here I was hoping for two days in a row without an affiliate link!

View from the Wing wrote "Should You Get the Ink Bold or the Ink Plus Card? Which is Better". Seriously? Come on!

Another blogger, the Frugal Travel Lawyer, joined First2Board. I should have a contest asking readers to guess the date First2Board passes the number of Boarding Area bloggers:-)


ON MY MIND

This is how I do the blog updates: Throughtout the day I go through all my Google Reader feeds and mark interesting blog posts. When I get some time I scan the marked posts. I quickly eliminate most of them and ony leave marked the ones that will make it to the blog update. If I find something else I bookmark it. Late at night I go at it and get them all in adding my incendiary commentary. I better stop here because some readers objected to me whining. All I got to tell you is this:

No time to burn!

If you think something I should be taking a look at...please send it to me at:

travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com

If it does NOT make it to my blog please do not contact me about it. I do have an eclectic and quirky taste and my threshold is high (or at least I think it is high!).

Will something entertain? Educate? Inspire?  Also I like to be something that my readers may not have seen before. I always loved discovering new stuff and new places!


ODDZ & ENDZ

Hospital Price Comparison. These guys made this site from the government's original Excel spreadheet that had 160,000 rows (yeah, this is a correct number!). Nice job!

Charles Ramsey gets free burgers for life. Not sure this is really an award!

May 21, 2013 - National Geographic photos, Be Swedish, Go Bank, better offers at the branches?

TRAVEL

Super awesome pics in the 2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. Dear reader, you MUST CLICK this link and see these pictures. Stop, DO IT! If you don't do it I will come and find you and beat you upside the head with a bunch of Vanilla Reload cards and several Sapphire cards in my possession:-)

How to be Swedish. Hilarious video found at Gadling. First part is not that good but then it gets better, much better!

35 of the most spectacular actions shots ever taken with a GoPro camera. From Blog of Francesco Mugnai.

For the life of me if I had a dollar for every time I pulled up at the wrong side at the gas station. But NO MORE! Fly Gracefully wrote "Don't pull on the wrong side again when refueling a rental". Look at the arrow! You see it, it is on the left! Been driving for so many years and I now feel like such an idiot!!!

MILES/POINTS

Are you serious? ANOTHER way to manufacture spend, are you kidding me? Million Mile Secrets wrote about "Go Bank". Load with GreenDot MoneyPaks and owned by GreenDot---->bad news! I think I am passing on this one. Besides, I ain't got time for dat:-)  The Flyer Talk thread is here.

USA Today published a list of how to sign up for all emails and alerts from airlines. Nice resource.

The Miles Professor, after uncovering better Chase credit card offers at the branch, continued her bank branch visiting and discovered that there are better offers inside Citibank branches! Hmm, interesting....I am starting to wonder if the banks are experimenting with different offers at the branches to get us to visit so they can cross sell us AND stop feeding the affiliate companies (not cheap!). Probably not...just wondering.


BLOGGER BUZZ

OMG! Mark this date down, May 21, 2013. Delta Points did NOT have a credit card link in the body of the blog post today! It may snow tomorrow in Michigan:-)

Every time I see now one of The Points Guy blog posts I am making it a game. I try to guess how many affiliate credit card links appear on it. I am getting so good at it I keep givin me a high five! myself:-)

DansDeals must have had a big bill due -----> "My MVP Cards"

Apparently there is a new blogger and she just joined First2Board: Point Princess. Her initial post there is, well, kind of funny. I have seen this phenomenon before. I feel like a grandfather with my experience compared to her "I have been enthralled with this hobby for the past 18 months or so".
She says to keep a lookout for her evil twin Mile Slut. Sounds exciting to me, I always loved princesses who were sluts lol. Ok, welcome aboard. Hope you have something to contribute! The Buzz section does not provide direct links but I am making an exception here


ON MY MIND

If you like my blog please pass it around. You can contact me here:

travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com

and follow me on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2

Blog mission is: To Educate, Inspire and Entertain.  I always aim high and try to do two of these three things right:-)


ODDZ & ENDZ

Zach Galifanakis (Greek blood) shows what's all about.

Tornado survivor finds her dog in the rubble while interviewed.

The worst driver EVER!!!!

May 20, 2013: BAcon credit card conference, Peru, sky & scuba diving, Google Wallet & more

Found this somewhere, forgot where! See lower left corner
 

First, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Oklahoma and everyone caught in the path of the horrific tornadoes!


MVP POST OF THE DAY

Loyalty Traveler talks about "BaCon Bits about credit card affiliate marketing". Must read in my opinion. I made a comment there expanding on the topic if anyone is interested!


TRAVEL

There are certain bloggers who love traveling in luxury. Okay then, how about one of you having a pic in a hotel suite with a Gold iPad huh? Can you do that? We are all getting tired of your rubber duckies at the Frankfurt Lufthansa First Class Lounge!

Crazy guy skydives into the Great Barrier Reef and goes straight to...scuba diving! From The Adventure Blog


MILES/POINTS

The Star Mega DO 5 tickets went on sale. I am not paying $1,200 for a coach seat because this site does not generate any money from pimping credit cards yet #justsaying

Get Hilton Gold with 4 stays in 90 days still going strong. Loyalty Lobby has all the details. Or you can spend $20k on the no fee Hilton American Express (this is where the affiliate link would go lol).

Milevalue wrote THE definitive post on getting to Peru on a lie flat seat. Too bad so much of the site is now dominated by credit card pumping but I understand the economics...

If you needed yet another reason to have more manufacturing spend methods...Google gets into the game, Frequent Miler has the scoop. Sigh.

Northwest vs Ginsburg. The rabbi wants $5 million compensation and the Supreme Court will hear his case! This one will be very interesting to watch!


ON MY MIND

The old man Frugal Travel Guy (the original one) can still crank out some good posts like the old days in "Diversify Your Manufactured Spending". There is a lot in there to decipher. And I always liked the advice "to stay a pig and do not become a hog...as hogs get slaughtered". This is definitely NOT Million Mile Secret material folks:-)

RomsDeals (an MMS interview graduate) is going all in on affiliate credit card links with Credit Karma. Travel Summary also started using Credit Karma recently. But many of the offers are definitely not the best current ones. This stuff is way too complicated for me and I do not have time to research. If there is a way to get them and stick them at a separate tab AND still allow me full editorial freedom ( I am not Jamie Dimon's bitch!) so, you know, friends and family can click them...please someone let me know, thank you:-)  Until then I like raising hell here, thank you for your support:-)

Delta Points says BURN BABY BURN (in all caps and in RED!) and serves a bunch of Chase and AMEX links. Some things never really change.

The Points Guy was on a roll with a mega credit card carpet bombing. I counted 37 of them! This is what is meant by Maximize Monday for sure! Then it was followed up by "My Virgin America Gold Elevate Status Ends - So What?". Ok, you think you will definitely see the Virgin America Visa pushed here of course. But noooooooo, it was not enough! At the end here come another SIX credit cards. Incredible!! May I suggest a name change to "The Credit Card Guy", it seems more appropriate!

Noob Traveler pushed more Chase credit cards and an excuse was found yet again (this time to fly Air Tran to Mexico).


ODDZ & ENDZ

China demolishes bridge. Wow

May 18 - 19, 2013 - Cuba, Virgin seat to seat, 1% vacations, Bluebird/ChaseInk award charts, solution to anxiety

Iceland. Found here

Sure slows down in the weekends!


TRAVEL

Thirteen days in Cuba. An absolutely beautiful post by Ruffin on the Road.

The Ridiculous Summer Vacations of the One Percent. From Peter Greenberg. Wow, ridiculous indeed. Best line was this: "All of a sudden splurging for the convertible from the rent-a-car place doesn’t seem too extravagant, does it?"

The hilarious things people say on Virgin Airlines. You know Virgin is starting this seat to seat talk service. Well, here is what this may lead to. Hilarious indeed!


MILES/POINTS

Travel Summary put some effort to recreate some award charts for the Bluebird/ChaseInk points "method". I am fine with the affiliate link thrown in there as the post is very useful to readers and there is at least some disclosure. I wish I can say that for the majority of bloggers:-)
The way I see it is, with just Vanilla Reloads via Bluebird, I can get a one way trip to New York from Detroit for $39.50, and minimal time (I have CVS all around me) I can get a one way trip to New York from Detroit (via ChaseUltimate Rewards for 4,500 British Airways Avios points and have 500 pts left over!). At this point in my life, I just do not have the time and patience to be dealing with gift cards, PINs, people and machines at WalMart and driving to/from there; I already have millions of miles/points I can not burn fast enough!!


ON MY MIND

Points Miles and Martinis wrote "It's Back! 7x Points Staples And Chase Paper Tower Deal". We all love a good deal, it comes naturally to us in this hobby. Of course...it is a perfect excuse to throw SIX affiliate links to this post, yep folks...THREE Chase Ink Bold and THREE Ink Plus. One was not enough!

Delta Points has a giveaway: "SWAG Saturday! EVERYTHING IS BIGGER in Texas Right?". Umm, okay. Of course before we get to the giveaway we get this:
"I will naturally be paying with my Chase Freedom card as the 5x points they are paying as a bonus now is much better than the standard 2x points my Chase Sapphire card I normally use at restaurants is. For many “chain” restaurants I can still use my INK BOLD and INK PLUS to visit the gift card section and get 5x points that way also!"
Time to grab the Slim Jim to flog myself again!

You remember the Free Travel Guys who were interviewed at MMS? They have been on a giant affiliate link spree since then. Over the weekend they posted "Lufthansa 50,000 bonus miles credit card". Wow!!!


ODDZ & ENDZ

How I Cured My Anxiety. By CharlieHoehn. If you suffer from anxiety this article is for you. "Giving myself permission to PLAY was the cure for my anxiety." I think this is really good life advice too! When you play it does not feel like work, something I have always tried to do. And when it comes to blogging it is certainly all play so far!

Have a great week!

May 18, 2013 - Flying own plane, more Maho beach, Club Carlson deval coming?, MMS interview and more!

I just realized after all the blogs I went through....not much material made the cut here! Eclectic indeed? :-)  You don't want me to start posting filler stuff, do you?


TRAVEL

An absolutely gorgeous video from this guy who flies his plane around. MUST watch. Found at The Adventure Blog. Wow!

Did you know there was a beautiful plane crash memorial site in the middle of the Niger desert?Neither did I!

Ok, more Maho Beach extreme landings from Bored Panda. In the last video a girl gets blown away by a JetBlue jet engine!

More and faster wifi aboard Amtrak trains coming!


MILES/POINTS

Live from A Lounge did a Club Carlson survey and wrote "Is Club Carlson considering a program revamp?". Many of these surveys do not come to fruition. But this one made me afraid, very afraid. Very interesting approach if it comes to pass. Maybe we should all look to burn them Club Carlson points in a bit more urgent fashion, shall we? I think the shoe will drop with Club Carlson like the others but maybe not this year.


ON MY MIND

The Friday interview at Million Mile Secrets was a doozie! First thing you see when you click on the new Free Travel Genius (OMG, another FTG!) is this "I created this website to explain to my friends and family how my wife and I have been able to travel the world for free." Sure, we heard this one before buddy. And a bunch of credit card links are waiting for you of course! And a whole bunch of just one sentence replies. Well at least Daraius is not getting excited anymore by these interviews with renowned miles experts; we sure aren't!! I usually do not provide links in this section but I found the comments VERY entertaining, have at it! Please have some standards for the bloggers you interview, this one just did not serve your readers at all and is not helping the MMS brand!

I never figured out the obsession with Channel 9. At Star Mega DO Dos, Lufthansa hosted us and I participated in a focus group about inflight entertainment. I suggested to kill Channel 9 and fellow participants almost physically harmed me. I guess they never understood my sense of humor:-)


ODDZ & ENDZ

Unbelievable pictures of wildlife from the National Geographic Traveler photo contest.

One of the most heart warming stories I have read lately. Deployed dad makes surprise return- disguised as catcher while daughter throws first pitch.

May 17, 2013 - Loyalty Awards, Cape Town, Grand Canyon, Mona Liza, Animal Camouflage, Chase Recon Dept

I thought I had more material for you today. But as I go through the day I keep eliminating entries as I narrow down my choices. If you have something that you think has a shot to pass my incredibly high eclectic threshold, please email me at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com or tweet me at @FlyerTalkerinA2


TRAVEL

A panoramic view of Chapman's Peak Drive at Cape Town.

Incredible picture of the Grand Canyon!

MILES/POINTS

"What's in an Award?" by Fozz On Uptime over at Upgrd. I think it is a must read because, well, it is a worthy subject to learn more of! And it sure breaks the monotony of being assaulted with yet another Chase Sapphire and Chase Ink Bold credit card affiliate link! The article ends with:

So, I ask, with a flawed voting process, lack of auditing and corruption, what is a travel award worth?  To me, nothing.  Over the years I've learned to give these awards very little credit as I've learned more and more about how they work.   Furthermore when you sit their wondering why a certain vendor won and listen to the explanation provided, they often don't line up to be truly accurate.

Personally, I always wondered how the Marriott folks win so many awards!! These awards do not mean much to me too! It is good marketing fodder for all involved in the business and a very nice way to spend an evening. The loyalty program folks burn some of their marketing budget on these events only to stick it back to us later by devaluing their programs because they were too...expensive:-) Sigh.


What's up with so many bloggers talking about how to take advantage of the Club Carlson 10k per two night stay promo? It is really not that big of a deal folks! Besides, I still have truckloads of them points! No mattress run material. If it was 50k for just one night I would be all over it!

View from the Wing had a nice post on how to keep your miles from expiring from a few days ago. I had it bookmarked in my browser and not in the Google Reader queue for some reason. Sorry about that.


ON MY MIND

Bloggers LOVE to answer questions like this: "Any idea if Chase is going to return the $300/30,000 point bonus for the Freedom card? Have the Chase Sapphire, so would like the points, but 10,000 is low right now." The usual links follow...Thanks One Mile at a Time. Zzzzzz.

We are not done....What is this? Everyone short on their bills today? View from the Wing conveniently informs us, sit down please, "Why You Should Add a Small Business Credit Card to Your Wallet". Come on guys, this is getting ridiculous! If I only had a dollar for every Chase credit card link my eyes have seen in my miles/points career:-)

Extra Pack of Peanuts does what it always does. Another app-o-rama play by play. Zzzzzzzz. And this blog has the weirdest graphics by far!

ODDZ & ENDZ

20 Amazing Examples of Animal Camouflage. From Bored Panda. Amazing indeed, I can't find some of them!

Moving Mona Lisa: The WWII Story. From Twisted Sifter. Incredible story and pics here!


CHASE CREDIT CARD RECONSIDERATION DEPARTMENT HAS CHANGED, BEWARE!!!

From this FlyerTalk thread by RetiredRoadWarrior

Me: Good morning. A splendid day, is it not? Hope you are well. I was wondering if . . .

CSR Cratchit: Declined!

Me: But but . . .

CSR Cratchit: What, you got a banana in your ear? I said DECLINED!!

Me: But but I don’t understand why my application . . .

CSR Cratchit: Too many inquiries!

Me: But but I’ve only applied for two Chase cards in the last 14 months.

CSR Cratchit: Listen, Toadstool, I said TOO MANY INQUIRIES!! Everywhere, not just Chase. Eight inquiries in the last four months.

Me: I believe it’s only seven, but . . .

CSR Cratchit: You made an inquiry to the produce manager at WalMart as to whether the rutabagas were from Mexico. That’s eight.

Me: But but I believe my Experian is 787 . . .

CSR Cratchit: It’s 784 after I dinged you for a credit pull. Bend over and I’ll do another dozen pulls and spank you into Credit Hell, you degenerate jerk.

Me: But but my credit utilization is under 5%.

CSR Cratchit: Your credit utilization is 6%!!!! You are a fraud and a despicable human being. And you smell like the inside of a Russian horse doctor’s valise.

Me: You can smell . . .

CSR Cratchit: Thank you for calling Chase. Is there anything else I might do you for today? Sharp stick in the eye? Proctology exam administered by Genghis Khan?

Me: No, thank you for your time and consideration.