Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as Wall Street traps, AI distorting everything, Hantavirus cruise nightmare, missing Spirit Airlines, investing during uncertainty, AI hyperscalers spend binge, Vladimir fraudster gets busted, more magical Artemis II photos from NASA, more on the sub-2 hour marathon triumph, 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. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
First big life change revealed: My wife is retiring from Ford Motor Company, her last day of work is June 30, 2026. Not going to make a difference here in the blog, unless she applies for an open internship position. The job interview will be intense because blog management is only looking to hire the best. My kids say I laugh at my own jokes, it is true lol.
More changes coming soon. The blog will stay on someway somehow but going to be different, stay tuned.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Always beware the man who stops digging for gold and starts selling maps to the gold mine”
MUST READ GEMS
One of the best photo collections I have posted here in my own biased opinion:
Photo contest finalists tell stories of the planet’s natural wonders and the people who study them
PERSONAL FINANCE
Great read: How Not to Invest During Times of Uncertainty. Especially two really bad ideas that always pop up during such times, market timing and portfolio concentration (on what’s currently hot).
We have an incredibly strong instinct to act and to do ‘stuff’ – don’t just sit there, markets are moving! For investors that often means trying to make predictions about what happens next. While the urge to do this can feel irresistible, it flies in the face of the evidence about what is likely to work for us over time.
Being diversified means owning things that are performing poorly and that, in certain environments, we should expect to perform poorly. It is incredibly difficult for investors to embrace this idea – we just want to hold the good things that have been working.
The sense that markets are unusually uncertain is the time when behavioural discipline matters most, but also when we are highly likely to abandon it. Market timing and portfolio concentration feel right, but really they are just the easy options that make us feel good, while being very unlikely to work.
Needless to say I agree 100% with the above. So, diversify!
Lots of good sensible advice in this as well: Wall Street Trap. Remember, Wall Street is not your friend.
For almost 100 years, the data has been clear that stock-picking is counterproductive.
Over the past 10 years, fewer than 15% of funds benchmarked to the S&P 500 managed to beat the index.
…the accuracy of Wall Street prognosticators is approximately zero.
[many of the new funds]…funds were overpriced to the point that their expected return was actually a bit below zero. How were they able to market such an inferior product? Henderson’s hypothesis was that the fund companies designed them to be intentionally as complex as possible in order to exploit individual investors.
CRYPTO/TECH/SCAMS
Remember when I posted about this guy who managed to scam a Mexican billionaire? And I wondered out loud why is this guy still out free. Well, justice caught up with him and is now behind bars: Lender Who Used Astor Family Name Is Charged With Fraud. Vladimir Sklarov, who operated under several identities, offered loans to company founders who had wealth locked up in stock.
This guy is a piece of work smh:
In spring 2021, Sklarov, a Ukrainian-born American, negotiated terms to extend a $115 million loan to Ricardo Salinas Pliego, one of Mexico’s richest men, the Journal previously reported…Sklarov, calling himself Gregory Mitchell, and another man, calling himself Thomas Mellon, allegedly told Salinas Pliego’s representatives that the Astor family would be funding the loan from an entity called Astor Asset Management…Astor on its website said it was built on the highest principles of John Jacob Astor, the German-born fur trader who was credited as America’s richest man when he died in 1848…The loan to the businessman was secured with around $450 million worth of stock. Sklarov paid Salinas Pliego the proceeds of the loan from the stock, which he sold without telling the Mexican billionaire, the grand jury alleged. Sklarov and others then kept the remainder of the proceeds, according to the indictment…The money was sent to multiple accounts controlled by an unnamed co-conspirator, according to the indictment. From there, it was sent on to Sklarov, Sklarov family members and others.
His first big financial success came from his role in an alleged Medicare fraud, and he later said he turned $1 million into $60 million by investing in real estate…Names of companies he used to advertise the lending included Bentley Rothschild, Cornelius Vanderbilt Capital Management and Shearson Lehman.
Mind blowing graph showing: Battery costs have declined by 99% in the last three decades, making electrified transport a reality.
Another amazing investigative article on New Orlean’s Car Crash Conspiracy. High-speed accidents, crooked lawyers, and poor people desperate for cash—it was the kind of scheme that could have been cooked up only in the Big Easy. Definitely in a different league than the Vladimir dude above.
AI
Yes you were not mistaken. The money spent on AI is mind blowing: What I Learned about Hyperscalers’ AI Spend.
The four biggest hyperscalers reported earnings this week. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet collectively told investors they will spend roughly $700 billion on capital expenditures in 2026. That is nearly double what they spent in 2025. Three of the four raised capex guidance during this week of reporting. Only Amazon held its number, and only because it had already published a $200 billion forecast in February 2026
The headline says hyperscaler capex is roughly doubling. The platform shift to a new tech stack is real. AI revenue is growing fast. None of that is wrong. What is also true is that funding is increasingly off the balance sheet, that supplier relationships are being prepaid, that lease commitments are being deferred for as long as accounting rules allow, and that a meaningful portion of the AI revenue and AI investment gains are flowing in a circle through the same small set of AI labs. The platform shift is real. AI engineering is real. So is the financial engineering. Let the good times roll.
This is pretty much what is going on these days: AI Is Distorting Practically Everything About the Economy.
Until recently, artificial intelligence was a welcome tailwind for U.S. growth. We’re beyond that now. AI is more like a hurricane-strength weather system making itself felt across the entire economy. It is distorting the stock market, profits, the speed and composition of economic growth, trade and even our moods—especially about the job market.
AI thus feeds the disconnect between what the data say and how people feel. It lifts the spirits of businesses and investors, while doing the opposite for ordinary workers.
IRAN WAR
This is turning into an absurd mess. So, phuck it, the answer is to laugh (instead of crying):
Hegseth and Patel Iran Press Briefing Cold Open – SNL
Colin Jost and especially Aziz Ansari are just perfect impersonating Hegseth and Patel! And they sum up the Iran war so well too.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Interesting: Slang Dictionary. Hard to keep up with the younger crowd with some of these slangs. I never heard of these below:
almond mom – a mother who pushes her daughter to be skinny, through diet
41 – a nonsense expression used by teens
choppelganger – a less attractive version of someone or something
Amazing: Magnified Sand. All about sand, wow.
The world is still stunned about this: Sabastian Sawe, Adidas and the Sub-2 Hour Marathon. Also, the article gets into the shoes and more, enjoy.
Take the time splits for Sawe’s marathon run…they are mind-boggling:
- a pace of 4:33 per mile (the record for one mile is 3:43 and he kept the pace 26x)
- or 2:50 per kilometer (he did it 42x)
- his 100m pace was 17 seconds (which he did 422x)
- he was faster in the second half (59:01) as compared to the first half (60:29)
- the average speed was the same as Kipchoge’s at 13mp/h (21km/h)
- the average men’s marathon time for 5km is ~30 mins (Sawe’s 5km pace was 14:10 mins, which he did ~8x)
- the world record 10km track run is 26:11 (Sawe’s 10km pace was 28:19 which he did ~4x)
Amazing dump of over 12,000 photos: NASA Releases Thousands of Unseen Artemis II Photos.
TRAVEL
I remember when Covid started a colleague was quarantined in one of the first cruise ships that was caught at sea with Covid rampaging aboard. I remember how horrific it all was. I still think about that when people mention cruises. And then, it is hard to imagine happening again. Hold my beer: The Horror of a Hantavirus Cruise. I just hope experts can get a handle on this because, you know, we’ve been here before and this particular virus is no joke. It is the virus that killed Gene Hackman’s wife by the way. I think I may put Antarctica off the future plans. Because ships leave from Argentina where this outbreak probably started. A lot unfolding, it certainly has a similar feel to the first reports of Covid cases, doesn’t it?
More horrors revealed here, some YouTubers are on board, this was an experienced group of travelers paying $29,000 per person for this cruise: The 33 day ‘Atlantic Odyssey’ That Turned Into a Hantavirus Nightmare.
Welcome: UNESCO names 12 new Global Geoparks. Greece gets one and Malaysia two, nice!
For my aviation geek readers: 15 innovative, wacky airplane seat designs. Which one is your favorite?
All of us travelers will miss Spirit and the low fare competition it contributed in this super competitive industry. Until it lost the battle sadly: I’ll Miss Spirit and the Haters Will, Too. The demise of the low-cost airline, the butt of plenty of jokes, will leave all travelers worse off. Especially in my home airport in Detroit. If you were caught in this, this may help: Spirit Airlines What To Do Next: Rescue Fares, Chargebacks, Points, Credit Cards & More.
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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…
Alaska Airlines keeps growing in methodical slow and steady ways, I am impressed. Well, I am flying them this weekend so give me a few days to confirm these initial positive feelings ok? Alaska Airline’s First-Ever Europe Flight Takes Off – Here’s What It Was Like in Economy.
I predict this is the next shoe to drop: Why suites are now the sweet spot inside World of Hyatt.
Us in this travel hacking hobby are natural born deal hunters. So, here you go: The Ultimate Guide to Birthday Deals: Restaurants with Free Food & Discounts.
Happy 13th birthday to Grant and his Travel With Grant blog. Hard to believe we are both still around blogging away and…has it really been that many years since that Phoenix meetup, wow!
One of these days I am going to start using Rove, after I get that first Rove referral lol: Rove Adds Aeroplan As 1:1 Transfer Partner + 25% Transfer Bonus.
Register HERE for the latest IHG Rewards promotion.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
For ANY questions on travel rewards credit cards, contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
These are great…if you can get them that is: American Express Charles Schwab & Morgan Stanley Platinum 150,000 Points Bonus.
LATEST OFFERS:
I will make this section increasingly smaller. Because my posts are too long and nobody clicks on these links anyway…
150k CHASE Sapphire Reserve: $795 Annual Fee. 150,000 points after spending $6,000 in the first three months. Lots of benefits and credits and earning multipliers.
185k CHASE IHG One Rewards Premier: $99 annual fee. 150,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first three months. And another 35,000 points after spending a total of $6,000 in the first six months.
125k CHASE IHG One Rewards Traveler: No annual fee. 90,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first three months. And another 35,000 points after spending a total of $4,000 in the first six months.
To learn more about these IHG new offers above, please click HERE. The Premier card offer is great that comes with a Free Night cert every year that can be topped off.
150k CAPITAL ONE Venture Business: $95 annual fee. 75,000 miles when they spend $7,500 in the first 3 months, plus an additional 75,000 miles when they spend $30,000 in the first 6 months. Two separate $50 credits: travel credit and advertising/software credit. 2x on every purchase and 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal. $120 Global Entry/TSAPreCheck credit. Shockingly, this card will NOT report to personal credit bureaus.
50k CAPITAL ONE VentureOne Business: No annual fee. $4,500 minimum spend in first three months. 1.5x on every purchase and 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal.
Amex is going all out on both Business Platinum and Gold cards!
As High As 200,000 Points on the AMEX Business Gold after spending $15k in the first three months
As High As 300,000 Points on the AMEX Business Platinum after spending $20,000 in the first three months
Excellent new Bank of America Alaska Airlines Atmos card offers as well:
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 & 200k AMEX Business Gold
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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BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
Will be in Seattle over the weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day with our daughter. And looking forward to meet long time blog reader Carl, one of the joys of this blog.
I deleted two Spirit Airlines miles accounts from my Award Wallet. The life simplification continues lol. For the record, there were no miles in either account.
When we get to Bangkok and Singapore and Vietnam later this year, thinking about hitting Krabi for 2-3 nights too. Any hotel recommendations? Or areas to stay in? I guess taking boat tour(s) to nearby islands is a must…
It didn’t take long but the next United Gateway card spend based promo appeared yet again. This time is to spend $3.5k in the months of May, June July to earn 1,750 bonus miles each month. And if done all three, then earn another 10,500 miles. So, it works out to 1.5 miles per $1. I registered for it but I don’t think I am going to do it. I can get 2 points on my Capital Venture X card or Ames Blue Business Plus. I would be all over this promo up to last year by the way. This year? Not feeling it anymore.
The enshittification of this hobby continues. The Aeroplan business class awards are going from 70k+ to 93K on June 1st. Of course we all know the mega Hyatt devaluation on May 20. And airfare prices keep going way up. You may say, well, miles/points can go further. But award availability is getting absolutely destroyed too. I hardly get any emails from PointsYeah anymore based on my alerts I have set. And Chase has cut the gravy train that made unlimited generation of its points. And Amex does not like me anymore. I mean, I think the only credit card my household got this year was the no annual fee United Gateway card for my wife. Because I guess I was bored.
I am going to try again for the Schwab Amex Platinum card, especially now that the signup bonus went to 150k from 80k. But I have no doubt I will get the pop up jail message denying it to me, it has happened numerous times, so sad. I may have my wife apply for it, just to see if she gets the same popup. I think she had the regular Amex Platinum many years ago, before Covid for sure. But she won’t keep track of the credits. So I will have to do it. I am used to this. After I come back from Seattle I will give it another shot.
I still have not done it. Spend my cash for business class fares that is. Because, you know, I am the miles guy and I fly up front for free. Anyway, with the current dreadful situation in this hobby I keep looking at the cash fares and I know I am getting closer to pull the trigger. Because I can. But, you know, it is so hard lol.
Many bloggers in this space make a living out of this hobby. And it is in their own self interest to keep hyping you about it to keep you involved. Don’t fall for it. The value is steadily getting too distorted to stay in it. I can tell you this because I have a good job that pays the bills and thank God I do not rely on this blog for anything other than psychic rewards. This is what happens when so many flood this hobby, led by opportunistic bloggers who suddenly discovered (how much banks pay them to push plastic) and wanted to share to the world how they fly for “free”. Don’t get me wrong, it has been a hell of a ride and we should be grateful. Also, these bloggers also keep pumping crap like this to get the $ clicks:
View From The Wing: Video Shows Rental Car Returned With Spaghetti On The Seat
If you click on shit like that you don’t belong here in my blog, please leave.
The Detroit Pistons finally won a playoff series. After going down 3-1 to the Orlando Magic and scaring us all. Cleveland Cavs are next and we are up 2-0 already yeah!
The trailer for the new movie The Odyssey looks epic!
I finally got around to posting a video of the room we had in The Shinola hotel in Detroit. It was an AMEX FHR stay for the $300 credit, the $100 dining credit and the other FHR benefits.
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HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
150k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 150k 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, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 200k AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, 175k Marriott Bonvoy Bevy (ENDS 5/13/26), 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 371,515 miles/points year to date (after burning 1,893,248 miles/points in 2025 and 2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,206,464 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.
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Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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Comments (14)
Good morning!
Those are some links! I couldn’t save the “crasher” scam until the weekend. That is really something.
A retirement at home! Oh my. Time passes.
Woot! Silver! Skimmed through and will be giving so many links a good read! See ya tomorrow!
I wanted to do a Michigan trip this summer but the AAwards just aren’t cooperating with our schedule. Ditto for Quebec and Nova Scotia. Therefore the top contender for this year’s summer vacation is… Minnesota. Duluth beckons! The whole Lake Superior area looks really nice.
Crazy story about the hantavirus cruise! For some reason I didn’t think it was the get on get off kinda cruise. Duh! Of course the pax would’ve mixed with locals etc. And I just did a cruise from USH to ANT! Of course, we did not stop in the drake passage and shore landings did NOT include any ppl only wildlife!
Congrats to your wife retiring.
If Battery costs have declined by 99%….. why aren’t Duracell batteries cheaper?
Will WC ticket prices drop close to the games?
I believe the type of batteries is the rechargeable ones for mass storage and cars and such.
Hey George, happy Saturday! When was that meetup at the Kimpton Phoenix / Scottsdale? That feels like a lifetime ago for me. Always appreciate getting a shoutout on TBB and congrats to you too on blogging away all these years. Everything has changed in the miles and points space (2-3x over) during the last 13 years.
Out of curiosity, why retire on June 30? Would insurance coverage continue through July if she retired after working a day in July? Also working that first week means they theoretically give her a free paid holiday for July 3, no?
Hi from the breakfast restaurant in the Seattle Hyatt Regency. Super busy here, our daughter is keeping us on a very tight schedule. Hike day today, we are taking a ferry to some island. Checking into the Thompson later today.
Will likely get to the comments later Sunday or most likely Monday from the SEA Amex Centurion lounge, naturally.
Great meeting Carl yesterday, we forgot a selfie!
I will be posting some photos in Instagram when I get around to it.
Ha! About 3 miles up the road I realized we hadn’t done a photo. Oh, well. Next time for sure! Had a smooth drive north too. Great to meet up! Have fun on the hike and let us know which island you went to, ok?
Glad your wife is getting to retire.
I got the popup on the Schwab card too and may try my wife as well.
Great investment advice. Thanks.
We looked at Krabi a few years ago and looked at the Holiday Inn. We ended up cancelling but were looking forward to seeing there.
Hi from the breakfast restaurant at the Seattle Thompson. For some reason, there is a brand in each major chain that I just don’t get along with.
Bonvoy: W
IHG: Kimpton
Hyatt: Andaz
Almost every stay I had with these left much to be desired. Can’t single out a brand from Hilton yet…but maybe I had too much at breakfast lol. Also, Thompson leaves me indifferent too.
Anyway….
@ DML: That New Orleans scam story was so so sad. Seeing poor people risking their lives for a few hundred dollars when that Vladimir dude was going for $100 Mil plus.
@ Carl: Yeah, sorry about forgetting to do a selfie, next time. The island we went was Whidbey, the hiking at Ebey Landing was amazing.
@ NickPFD: Glad AA awards are at least cooperating with something, even if it is Duluth. I hear the are is great but not in the winter if you are not into cold weather lol.
@ sexy_kitten7: What cruise company did you choose to do this? I am wondering if the cruise company with the hantavirus breakout will be around in the near future.
@ ABC: This blogger is not a batter expert 🙂 Also, kind of shocked WC ticket prices have not come down yet. For the record, FIFA sucks.
@ Grant: That Phoenix meetup was at least 10 years ago. 2016. Or maybe 2015. Everything B (Before Covid) is like ancient history. Those were the days, yeah, everything has changed since then.
@ Josh: You make good points. It has to do with her job, did not want to start in a new role on July 1. And there is enough in an HRA to carry us for COBRA for 18 months, we make the cut clean starting with a Marketplace (thanks Obama) plan effective 1/1/2028.
@ Christian: Let me know what happens with the Schwab Amex Plat. U got the popup while holding another one, perhaps the Business Platinum like me? Thanks for the Holiday Inn at Krabi recommendation. I have some leftover points, maybe it is time to wipe them out. Or reignite the love towards IHG now that Hyatt appears to be on a declining path…#TBD.
Oh you guys went all the way out to Whidbey? That’s great! Yes, Ebey is nice area. I usually am right by there on the occasion I take the ferry to go over to Port Townsend. Hope the return trip home goes/went good!
hello from Da Nang. On week 2 of my stay at the Wink. Pretty nice so far, upgraded to a suite that’s about the size of half of a hyatt house room. But the price is right. Breakfast is good, nice view of the river. Weather is hot and VERY humid. Have a Cat 4 free night I need to use by the end of the month, maybe will go to the Regency down on the beach. Getting harder and harder to use these free night certs at meaningful places…….
If you are looking at visiting Krabi, check out Koh Lanta. It’s getting more and more popular these days but still off the main tourist track. A lot of locals visit there as their beach of choice, but be careful of the time of year you visit. They get washed out with rain during the rain season and lots of places close down.