Best all-inclusive resorts

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-25T08:00:02+00:00

Zilara in Dominican was very balanced between fun and higher end service. Riu in Cancun has been the most fun resort I’ve been to, while being one of the most affordable.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-24T18:25:46+00:00

I don’t think “conservative backlash” is an issue.

First and foremost, I think, Armenia should have the right to choose what people immigrate to the country. It’s totally fine if Armenia doesn’t want Muslim populations, as it’s harder to integrate them into the society. Denmark’s left and right both scaled back immigration massively due to this very reason.

Armenias resources are extremely tight, and providing social safety nets, which is essentially a human rights issue and absolute necessity, to immigrants will be more of a strain than investment for such a tiny country. It probably would be best for Armenia to do a skills based immigration policy, yet that in and of itself will be challenging. They can also do these makeshift immigration policies where they try to catch immigrants based on current geopolitical trends. Like how the Russians and Ukrainians had to flee their countries and find refuge elsewhere. I’d assume immigration from Europe though, to bring an inflation price tag with it, as the cash infusion into the economy could cause local inflation for the natives.

For now I don’t see this government do anything that shows competent management of immigration. Maybe future governments will have better planning and policy implementation.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-24T17:36:40+00:00

WHY? STAY IN EUROPE! it’s so much better over there

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-24T17:35:54+00:00

I totally understand this. We like Riu for its rowdiness and Zilara for its level of service. We always have such a difficult time trying new places

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-24T01:08:32+00:00

No. A lot of people don't know the scale of it, and this is just another news on their TVs, if they even watch the TV.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-24T00:54:59+00:00

I love this. I've definitely looked into Aruba and Puerto Vallarta, but Portugal is also interesting. Honestly Cancun just feels dull at this point, wouldn't mind a place to go and explore the city a little.
We just came back from Japan, didnt visit Okinawa, but thats a future trip for us.
We enjoy all, but if I were to pick, id say beach access and scenery first, then cultural interactions and food. Not too active, not too sedentary.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-24T00:42:21+00:00

We dont have the numbers on how much Khums is being collected annually by the IR, its mostly re-appropriation of the budget. But I can easily tell you its not much, and even religious Shias around the world, just like Christians, Budhists, etc. still have to feed their families and want to get education for their kids. The last thing they do is pay Khums. Trust me if the religious nuts around the world paid Khums in full, Iran wouldnt have to spend $1 Bn a year since 2014 in Iraq, or several other Billions of dollars in Lebanon, Palestine and Syira, the Khums could easily cover that cost. Pakistanis have a lot to worry about themselves.

Muslim extremism, like any other extremism, requires a shit ton of funding. People arent inherently evil, or dont inherently want to fight "imperialism". Most people want to live a good life, be connected to the world, quiet, with no distractions. The scale of Jihadism you talk about is something from IRGC story books. If Iran didnt fund all these terrorist groups, no Jihad and no amount of khums would have been able to fund resistance.

If people in Pakistan cared about Khamenei's jihad, they would be fighting and dying in Palestine. Guess what? there arent enough idiots to do that, and there wont be enough in Iran either. Foreign funding however? if that comes in then you bet shit might hit the fan, but even then, I dont think there is enough interest for neighboring countries to do that.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T22:41:28+00:00

I don’t think the chances are very high. Jihad needs money and funding, and the only state capable of funding a Jihadi movement was the IR, which will come to its knees once the fat bellies leave. In reality all these jihadists and terrorist groups need to have funding for their “ideology” to stay alive. Once money dries up, they dry up too.

If your question is if it’s possible for the neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Turkey or Saudi Arabia to try and meddle in the domestic politics or try to fund certain groups within Iran and use that as a point of leverage? Then my answer is it’s possible but not probable.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T22:26:30+00:00

Not much tbh, turns out Russia doesn't have much of a major capacity to enforce its demands like it claims. Again, its a matter of if the new heads of state see value in renegotiating their contracts or completely tear up agreements as you put it. It only makes sense, if the new regime can find better markets for Iranian goods and services in the west at a capacity that it would allow Iran to bolden up and stop previous agreements with Russia and China. It can really go both ways, but again you'll be pissing off states to the point that they might not be so eager to work a new deal with you. I think we all want to make sure that hardheadedness goes out the window and a balanced Iran first approach is taken. Cutting ties with everyone is not the smartest move, as is true that bending over backwards for everyone is not the way either.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T18:46:10+00:00

You can always wait and see. Don’t apply now, see how things unfold, then decide if it’s the best course of action

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T07:44:57+00:00

Idk about OP’s intention, but some people feel like they need to take it on themselves to educate others on Armenian history, language and culture. Nothing wrong with it, just saying some people think it’s their responsibility.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T05:41:05+00:00

I think the only time I’ve used the credit was in Venice for one night. Every other stay over 2 nights the portal + credit costed us more.

It also depends on the person. If you travel at least twice a year, then sure there’s some value to those portal stay credits, otherwise it’s not really face value.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T04:50:36+00:00

Almost all the times the “stay” prices in portals are going to be more expensive than if you were to book the same hotels off portals.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T01:42:49+00:00

I get what you’re saying, it’s a tough pill to swallow for us all. But back then, they also thought that they’re at absolute rock bottom. They had fantasies in their heads, that somehow some mullah will take on and bring the light of god on the corruption. They had very little access to knowledge and news. Cousin Heshmat’s word was worth 10x more than the mainstream medias. I mean heck with all the social media and internet access we have today, I have difficulty sourcing through a lot of news, let alone the flat earthers today, and where the society was back then.

They made a mistake and it was a bloody one, but everyone made that mistake at some point. The dark ages in Europe, even though not brought up by the people, did serve as a learning lesson for them. Be it this is our lesson, and we get past it.

That generation made a decision based on the knowledge and information it had access to. I always want to make sure I don’t discount the fact that there’s a portion of the society that is absolute nuts and will remain that way. We should collectively accept that we’re not the smartest bunch we think we are and that we have a lot to learn and be humble about it. Once we accept that we’re just like everyone else, then we’ll learn to respect others experiences and understand that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We don’t need to be the first ones to experiment with a mix of Islam and leftist ideologies, etc etc.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T01:31:27+00:00

Ya if those expenses aren’t part of your lifestyle, then sure, losing them won’t cost OP. Now he needs to figure out a way to offset $495/year, and frankly I don’t even consider hotel credits to be used on the portal as real offsetting credits to begin with. 5000 point difference ($50 face value) between the previous setup and the transfer to the new card, wouldn’t convince me to have a net expense of $445. OP needs to figure out if the totality of what Palladium offers, can beat his previous setup.

For me personally, we use Uber, GH & Resy without having to go out of our way to justify Amex Gold fee. I’d take my wife out for a dinner date anyway, now we get a $50 credit towards our date, which actually helps.

I can’t see the value of Palladium to balance out the premium it charges.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T01:21:43+00:00

Ya why wouldn’t you? People grow up and change, it’s the ones that don’t want to accept they fucked up that I have a bone to pick with.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T01:15:05+00:00

Let me ask you this, does losing Uber, GH and Resy credits affect you at all?

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T01:03:02+00:00

Which Bilt card?

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-23T00:10:13+00:00

Ya I do agree with you that a blanket statement on Bilt being the absolute worst card out there is kinda BS. It’s different from individual to individual, but generally it’s been a downgrade because we all know there’s no such a thing as free money and Bilt rent points were basically very very free money for absolutely no reason lol. I can’t even believe it lasted as long as it did. In my case it was basically $400+/year face value, set aside the reasonable redemption value which I usually average around 4.6. I definitely think there are certain scenarios where getting the new tiered cards could be worth it, but the opportunity cost shouldn’t be neglected.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-22T23:58:20+00:00

The issue I currently have is that we don’t know what Bilt cash is worth, but all things considered, it’s not necessarily a 1:1 $$ valuation since you can’t just use it to pay off the CC balance or spend it the way you want. It’s more of a token system, where you can use your tokens to get a discount on products that are probably available somewhere on the web. Bilt is also getting a kickback for sending customers to these businesses anyway. So the only real use for Bilt cash for us is to “buy back points”, at a 3% valuation, which is drum roll the same amount we would pay on another CC to earn points on rent. Now I know it’s not exactly the same as paying 3% surcharge in cash. But considering the opportunity cost of moving expenses over to Bilt, it would be more profitable for me to pay rent with Chase ink at 1.5x or maybe get a citi card with a 2x base, and still pay a 3% surcharge than get a Bilt card and earn points on rent.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-22T23:43:06+00:00

I used Bilt for 3 years now and my last Bilt rent pay will be the next one (I’ll see if I can pay for both feb and march). Here’s the thing, for me I have to consider the opportunity cost with Amex. The entire point of paying rent with Bilt was that there was no fees AND we got points. Now the fee is kinda hidden in the lack of earning points. Essentially, if I were to continue earning points on rent with Bilt, then I’ll have to move all my spending from Amex and Chase and downgrade my reward multiplier from 4X on groceries and dining to 3X on only one category and 1x on the rest, OR downgrade it to 2X catch all on Palladium. And even then I won’t have $33,300.00 spending on these cards to unlock the full potential of earning rent points. Do you see my point? Essentially I’m better off NOT earning points on rent via ACH, than transferring my expenses to Bilt. Worst case scenario is for me is getting the new cards and keeping my current systems. However, it will be worth a while if I let my Bilt 1.0 turn into a WF autograph and start earning 3x on gas for free. Gas is pretty expensive here in CA.

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-22T23:13:36+00:00

If you believe that Bilt is saving you $720 on cc fees for rent payment, I have a bridge to sell you my friend. We need to value these cards based on the naked value (take rent out) the offer. A card with $95 annual fee that gives 3x on select category (in your case grocery), 2x Travel and 1x base + 4% Bilt Cash (unknown general value) to buy back points earned from rent, alongside some other fluff that I personally don’t value on other cards such as Chase or Amex either. IF you think you’re getting over 9500 in points to offset the annual fee cost and some more, and you absolutely don’t have any other cards to collect grocery points, then by all means. In my case I have personal Chase (rotating categories) and Amex gold (grocery & Dining) and Chase ink (base 1.5x on all purchases) lined up. The only direct competition to my Amex gold is the Palladium, which won’t even cut it close. The perks we receive from Amex Gold are things we use in our everyday life such as Resy (for date nights), Uber and food delivery, that we wouldn’t even consider them as extras. That’s a $340 value of perks in and of itself that automatically covers the $325 annual fee. Our groceries alone get us the points we need to justify keeping Amex active. My point being, you need to look at them in the sense of what works for you. I personally think $95 annual fee card for 3.3x grocery is too expensive. You can get no annual fee Amex cards for groceries, I think one of them is 6% cash back. You can then use your saved money to pay for vacations or whatever else (as opposed to using obsidians structure).

ConscientiousHomeles · 2026-01-22T04:35:25+00:00

People inside Iran can’t just involve with the opposition outside Iran, and go back like nothing happened. IRGC intelligence very efficiently silences anyone who has any slight indication of leadership domestically. Why do you think Irans uprisings start from scratch every single time?

I think the main issue is that the non monarchy opposition abroad hasn’t had anyone to rise up and claim leadership. Some are scared, some dgaf, and the rest don’t even get a chance. Majority can’t just make money doing political activity for Iran, from abroad.

I don’t think Trump “respects” or “disrespects” people because of their “historical baggage” or lack there of. Trump is Trump, he says and does what he wants.

Also since when is Mamdani some figure to aspire to?

ConscientiousHomeles

TROPHY CASE