News and notes from around the interweb:
- Rakuten has the most generous shopping portal initial bonus right now, a best-ever offer of $50 if you spend $50 shopping online at a store you click on through their portal. The referrer gets $50 as well. And the offer for new members runs through September 30, 2025.
You could literally buy a $50 gift card and get $50 back. Or make a purchase you were going to make anyway at a store, as long as you start your shopping through their site.
And Rakuten lets you choose cash back, or Amex Membership Rewards points (this is 5,000 points – my preference since I value Membership Rewards points at significantly more than a penny apiece).
- It looks like the Amex Platinum refresh, with higher annual fee and more credits will be unveiled September 18th.
If it takes even more effort to stretch to an even higher fee, I wonder if the Entertainment Book-style couponing model has been stretched too far? We’ll see this week!
CONFIRMED: Platinum Card refresh date – 9/18/25
byu/HippoExotic6050 inamex - Marriott has rolled out a feature for elites to search for hotels with lounges. However, “you should always check that the lounge is actually open and what services it provides.”
- Air India pulls plan for Dallas – Delhi flight
- I did this once, only realized when I took my shoes off at security, went right back landside to the Johnston & Murphy in the terminal. Cheaper than missing the first leg of my trip to Malaysia, connecting to a Cathay first class award.
guys, i accidentally left the house w/ mismatching shoes & now I’m at the airport publicly suffering the consequences of my own stupidity. pic.twitter.com/7fDV0enxFz
— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) September 12, 2025
- WSJ: Toxic Fumes Are Leaking Into Airplanes, Sickening Crews and Passengers Related, I wrote about the issue of fume events that weren’t getting the needed attention six years ago.
Amex Platinum… $1,000 annual fee?
*vomits* @Gene, I’ll take four, please…
Anybody paying an annual fee is a poseur loser. Amex offers its Centurion card with no fees to high-end professionals. While I myself am not a high-end professional, I know this from my personal relationships with Centurion cardholders paying no fees.
I love the experience of inhaling the odor of toxic fumes emitted by a leaking jet engine’s bleed air or an auxiliary power unit (APU), contaminated with vaporized tridecane in the morning. This exposure can lead to headaches and a feeling of stupor, due to the presence of the organophosphate tributyl phosphate (TBP).
@Un — I thought you were a ‘centi-millionaire’… oh, right, being wealthy doesn’t make you a ‘professional.’ Almost forgot. Hey, how’s @Unintimidated, @Erect, etc., doing these days?
@1990 – no I’m not a centimillionaire, that was a fake identity. I relentlessly post ragebait under a number of identities on this website. I do this because I don’t have a meaningful career, or girlfriend. I’m trying to better myself, but that is a lengthy process.
My friends Unintimidated and Erect have been permanently banned. They are working on new identities.
@Un — I’m grateful that Gary still allows comments, discourse, banter, and memes on here. The spice of life!
Tell you ‘friends,’ I’ve enjoyed their ‘contributions,’ and look forward to whatever comes next!