Some random thoughts about the Phoenix #WestCoastDO Travel Miles/Points Enthusiasts Meeting! And a mini review of the Kimpton Firesky Resort follows.
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Just some thoughts about the Phoenix #WestCoastDO. This is live blogging the increasingly unstable and sometimes disturbed thoughts in my brain after seeing so much in this “hobby” for 15 – 20 years and going…
I had a fabulous time seeing some old friends and meeting new ones. I mean, socially, it is really hard NOT to have a good time in these meetings. People don’t look at you funny telling stories about walking into Wal Marts with thousands of dollars of gift cards or how you share an evil smile when you hear of movie titles like “The Liquidator” 🙂
I really enjoyed many attendees telling me that they enjoy reading TBB. Thank you for the kind and encouraging words, they do mean a lot! It is a bit weird to me as I tend to be low key and not into the publicity kind of thing. I mean, I got into this for the groupies….still looking for them to tell me “I am NOT a tool, but I can be yours”. Okay, maybe this joke did not come off very well. Let’s move on please lol!
There were a few who avoided me. I think the reasons were I may have said something about their blogs in the past or they are thinking about starting one and don’t want to raise attention? Or they are scheduled for a Friday interview at Million Mile Secrets? Bwahahahahaha!
Most often heard expression to me: “You are nowhere as angry in person as you appear on your blog”. I agree!
The weather in Phoenix was absolutely fantastic.
I thought the highlights were again Tahsir (Bengali Miles Guru) and Marathon Man, two individuals who are both very passionate, knowledgeable and, most importantly, natural born dynamic speakers.
I thought the panel was interesting and a welcome addition which was very effectively moderated by host Matt.
This DO felt more attention was given on the social aspect than the Charlotte DO or maybe it is because I did not learn as much. Or maybe I know so much already and/or some much crap has been killed lately.
I have not been to an FTU or Chicago Seminar meeting in a long time. I would rather hang around this group of people than the ones in those meetings. It feels more like home and more, you know, real. I am sure the people in those meetings are nice too but I am assured that I won’t read crap like “My Top 10 Never Changing Credit Cards of the Month”, or answers on moronic questions such as “Which credit card should I use when I buy groceries?” or idiotic travel challenges or every excuse in existence to push the same freaking cards to their readers. And then you find out the Saverocity group lost the Barclays credit card links. And that’s just super messed up, what a grave injustice!
I met so many readers and many who have left comments in my blog. It is ALWAYS awesome to finally put the face behind the online handle!
Only in a meeting like this you hear of characters such as the “Liquidator”.
On Bancorp: “They don’t like us, we don’t like them” – Marathon Man
“It’s all about the details” – Marathon Man
“Get ready for a post Wal Mart world” — Marathon Man
“Go Beyond” – Who said that?
In many years of being involved in this hobby I have not done any reselling which I think it is a very special niche. People who do this well can do very well. But it’s just not for me. I did sell a 2nd ticket to an Iggy Pop concert once on Craigslist which paid for my own ticket! #winning
This is more of a Manufacturing Spend crowd. And some real gamers who always make me feel so inadequate lol. And inspired too…and then life gets in the way and I can barely get to do as much as I want to…It’s a daily struggle…
I also met several newbies and I was surprised. One word of advice: Go at your own pace and don’t do stuff that you may have heard. You are not ready, just do what makes you comfortable to achieve your goals. The point is to maximize your travel experience. Ok, some people can make money in this too of course but they usually have to pay their dues (by reading A LOT and then going out “in the field” and “in the trenches” and putting everything they learned into practice.) It is indeed a craft!.
I asked many how they got into this hobby and what blogs they first discovered. A typical response was “I was researching on how to get to Hawaii/Europe and ran across an article mentioning The Points Guy/Million Mile Secrets/ Frugal Travel Guy (hint: a huge commercial “expert” blog), started reading and got hooked”. And then I asked if they are still reading those blogs and they all said that after a while they stopped reading because they were tired reading the same pumping type articles. And then, hear me out here you guys, I asked how many credit cards did you get before you realized this? And the answers ranged from “two to six credit cards”. And THAT my friends is THE main reason these blogs are so commercially successful! They get the newbies to come and then pump them before they even realize what is going on. Rinse, repeat. They leave but look at how many keep coming. “Pumping them properly”. We don’t like this practice around here, it makes me barf (and keeps my weight low so it is not all that bad actually!).
Thank you to Matt for organizing another great meeting and creating a wonderful and growing community. Lots of class and “doing it right” which has been what drives me. And thank you to all the volunteers and everyone who was part of it.
I am usually the guy who never stays in the conference hotels because they are too expensive. This year I have stayed in the conference hotel for all three conferences I have attended! Maybe I am just getting older and not as easy to get around. Or maybe the hotel points deals staying elsewhere were not as strong. I am not sure, maybe a combination of both…
Kimpton Firesky Resort: First stay in this chain after being matched to their highest Elite level (Inner Circle). I have read so many raving blog posts about the Kimpton hotels I wanted to see for myself. I got a rate of $159 per night for two nights. You add the resort fees of $22 per day, taxes and fees and final bill came to $422! And since my expectations were high I must admit I was not impressed.
My upgrade was to a courtyard view (of course I did not get the Presidential suite I deserved lol).
Get to my room, the cleaning staff was in there cleaning it. I had to wait (ok, I read TBB comments while waiting).
When I go in, it is two double beds! I called for a new room with king bed but only have one with view of the road. I took it, who cares? I hardly spent any time in my room!
Amenity was a nice plate with some fruits and cheeses. I had asked for healthy items and NO popcorn. So I got some crackers and crappy popcorn (which I gave away). And some wine too.
A few little knick knacks they leave behind are fine (dark chocolate per my profile, handwritten cards, and then a jar with…candy??)
Rooms are totally fine, beds are very nice, wifi is great. Hallways have a not so luxurious look, I wonder what this property was before Kimpton!
Lobby area is gorgeous. Wine tasting every day from 5-6 is great and so is the coffee/lemonade in the lobby.
Plenty of restaurants within walking distance.
Pool area is fine but does look so much nicer in the hotel’s website.
Service was really good. The food and bar hour they did for us was excellent. Conference room was great too in all aspects.
In retrospect, I should have spent points elsewhere and/or perhaps went for the IHG Rewards Into the Darkness promotion. Thank God for Barclay Arrival points. With this type of expenditure in my TBB business I may need to pump some credit cards to turn a profit you guys LOL. All travel experiences are “marked” by your expectations. I had too high expectations obviously. It’s the little things that count and make a huge difference on whether you will be back. The popcorn “incident” bothers me as it looks like they did not read my profile carefully and so much has been written about the little things this chain does. Whatever. No big deal, just my thoughts. This is the end of my hotel trip report. No reason to do a separate blog post and show you pictures of things you can see on the hotel website and trip advisor or doing a google search. And for the love of god why would you post pics of the toilets?
OTHER REVIEWS OF #WESTCOASTDO
Big Habitat (Reselling presentation)
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
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Primero!
PS: Comcast sucks!
Number One!
Comcast came on time, everything is back up and running. I think they get too much of bad rap 🙂
Second
Missed you in Phoenix!
Thanks! Still haven’t figured out how to be two places at once….developing
Segundo?
I stayed at some cheap IHG properties in Phoenix to score points for the IHG promo. Based on your review of the Kimpton, I’m glad I did!
I had a chance to chat with Matt after you took off for dinner Saturday night. I told him I had a great time. But to my surprise he actually wasn’t happy with the DO overall. While the presenters all did a great job, he noticed a lot of people were disinterested as they were playing with their phones or laptops much of the time during the presentations. He said that he’ll probably change the format very significantly for the next DO, to put more emphasis on the social aspects (perhaps with small breakout sessions to encourage more audience interaction) and networking opportunities.
And he thinks that the next DO probably won’t be in America (perhaps the Caribbean or Mexico). That could be interesting.
Maybe I am harsh with Kimpton. Or way too many Inner Circle members or something 🙂
Never got a chance to chat much with Matt. Same as in Charlotte. And he has not contacted my agent about that offer TBB can not refuse yet lol.
I think it may have something to do with the deflating in the enthusiasm the OBC shutdowns may have had. And the list of other unjust events lately…
There were several instances where speakers said ‘I can’t talk about that”…which left some attendees with not pleasant feelings. So….the breakout sessions or smaller roundtables would be a welcome addition). I don’t know. Everything is a learning experience I guess. I sure had a blast!
Pulling this off in the Caribbean or Mexico may be much tougher and I think we would definitely have time to sign up then 🙂
When is the next DO? Believe it or not, in all my years at this hobby (9?), I never been to one. Was this pre-planned ahead of time, did you post about it, and I just didn’t pay attention — probably… would like to come out one day, especially if AA/US fly there.
Thank you for your report, sounds like a blast.
Cheers,
PedroNY
This was being planned and then one day the announcement came out and it was sold out in a few hours I believe! I just happened to be online when the news came out and was able to snag a ticket. I guess my offer for letting me know in advance in exchange for a pack of 12 glorious links to the Saverocity blogs was (gasp!) turned down, just kidding.
Like I said, it is hard NOT to have a blast!
Good review! I hadn’t been to any of these types of meetings, but I didn’t love the content of some of the presentations/speakers. (But as was the intent, did quite enjoy the socializing/networking) It was as if some of them couldn’t quite decide whether they were giving a tutorial, presenting their philosophy, or bragging – all of which is fine, but it made the overall slate seem a bit disjointed.
I agree about the Firesky – I don’t know what “normal” prices are for that area (expensive, I’m guessing) but I was not impressed, even at the group block rate. The common areas were pretty nice, but the room not at all. Certainly not Matt’s fault, though!
I think your feelings “made the overall sense seem a bit disjointed” are shared by me…
Ditto on the Firesky too.
Thanks for the recap, but where is the i’m-jammed-in-a-broken-elevator selfie?
I agree, even though you probably can’t see me in the corner.
Definitely need to post the elevator picture. If I had to be stuck in an elevator with any 15 dudes… I guess I’m glad it was you guys
If anything happened to us in there, it would have been the worst disaster in MS history! Thank God we made it out alive!
Yeah that was epic. Or it could have been epic fail. I started having visions of the local Fire Dept coming to get us all out, sirens and all lol.
For the record, this was NOT in the Firesky!
I believe me and Grant were in the corner so I don’t think the selfie was able to include us. Maybe not. Feel free to email me the picture. But then again, as I am not too camera friendly, it may ruin the picture.
This could have been the best breakout session ever in the history of this hobby LOL
Hmmm… why would you pay for a ‘socialising’ event?
Cost of entry just covered the cost of hiring the hotel facilities, food and wine (which were all excellent). We made no profit at all. In fact for CLT three of us individually underwrote the event and agreed we would make up any shortfalls personally (it turns out we broke even and didn’t need to). It’s one thing to have a social with a dozen friends, arranging it in one place for 125 is something else
Exactly what MilesAbound said!
I thought the other events were all non profit too, no? 🙂
I ate and drank enough to make up for it. I got pretty good value. I don’t think I got good value from what I, sorry, Barclay Arrival points paid for the hotel.
Bizarre you had a bad (or underwhelming) experience at the Kimpton. I matched to Inner Circle also and the 2 stays since have seen me get a huge suite in Boston, complete with wine, a bottle! of Macallan scotch, and special vegan desserts (they had to walk around looking for them) and in Portland, a 2-story hotel room. That room was unbelievable. I could enter from the 7th or 8th floor. So I am a huge fan for sure.
I checked in around 4.30 pm. I am sure others preceded me grabbing the better rooms. Which is perfectly fine, I hardly stayed in the room. I think it all had to do with expectations. Mine were way too high.
There were other small instances:
I asked for a late checkout kindly. I was shocked to be given to 1 pm. I originally wanted 3 pm so I countered with 2 pm. Felt ilke they were making me a HUGE favor. Dozed off, cleaning lady knocking on my door at 2 pm sharp! Called front desk, kindly asked for 10 extra minutes. Again I felt I was asking for the moon! And I was Inner Cirlce member. I threw away the candly, kept the jar. Stil can’t get over the profile…I had healthy and no popcorn in Caps!
Finally, we were given directions to the hotel that almost got us lost!
Over $200 a night? Man, that’s pricey for something that’s not even THAT special.
On a contrast, $200 in Cancun bought me a 5-star AI Moon Palace at TBEX (that’s a single rate, much cheaper for the double) with top quality food and of course, top-shelf drinks.
In the US, Diplomat in FLL (which has transitioned from SPG to Hilton now) can be booked for something like that on a group rate, and it is a MAGNIFICENT property right on the beach, with an amazing pool area. And who is not Gold with Hilton?
Although, I know, who cares, it’s all about work. 🙂
Yeah, as far as value goes, this was definitely not it. And I am a value guy 🙂
I need to check out this Diplomat hotel in FLL one day. I hope the points required are not astronomical!
Unfortunately, your hopes are misplaced, LOL, I think it’s Cat 8.
Good recap. Yes the hotel was a little pricey and the rooms were not that great but I will say I pushed to have it in a resort like this so folks could hang around by the pool / around the fire and that worked extremely well IMHO. We had a great crowd round the “campfire” in the evening and I learned so much about…. growing pot! ROFL.
Matt is very hard to please, a great thing as it keeps the standards higher, and I would expect some tweaks for the next one to maybe increase the social side and less focus on the presentations. But I will also say I thought the presentations were excellent, Tahsir definitely stole the show but I thought BigHabitat did a good job of making the reselling accessible.
If I were a gambling man I would be betting on the next one being on foreign soil 😉
I should have mentioned the campfire settings, sorry about that. Definitely a highlight. And so was the dude about the growing pot secrets, so wild!
This was probably the best presentation ever on reselling. A very tough area to grasp by its inherent nature. Just not my cup of tea. I just need to find me a liquidator LOL
Buzz-
My Kimo Sabe post was misread.
Did you read where Ingy thinks now that we should keep good deals quiet? As Tori Amos said in another context, that’s a really deep thought. Cool video on request.
FTG was never into outing deals. It was always about adding filler content around its mission: To pump more credit cards to newbies, preferably seven at a time!
I would not like me being featured there next to the amazing Credit Card tool around a gazillion credit card ads up, down, left and right. I should have asked MM if he was still happy for talking at Chicago…
Like George said, to ingy’s credit FTG was never into outing deals which is what scumbags such as MMS made their money from.
You mentioned Tori. Much love to you!
I was so disappointed in myself for not coming…oh well next time! Oh and where are your Kimpton room pics! I want to see those bath amenities! LOL
Nothing pic worthy…trust me 🙂 I am sure I ‘ll see you at another one!
Regarding the Diplomat in Hollywood, FL: It’s gone from 12,000 SPG pts to 70k Hilton pts!
Had 10 nights booked over New Years 2015 – reservation was canceled because of the sale of the property.
Starwood did nothing except offer to contact the property on my behalf to see about a “special” rate. $454 plus tax! So, let’s say a cool $5000.
Start saving your HH pesos if you ever want to stay there again.
I was very afraid to check the HH points price…for exactly this reason! Ouch.
Thanks for confirming what I thought. Hilton HHonors was my favorite program over the years. But the value proposition is so horrendous now!
Nice meeting you George, I left thinking “He’s so much less angry in person….” funny to see so many others felt the same way. I was expecting Andrew Dice Clay 😉
Nice meeting you too Sam. And I was expecting you to be older. Great wisdom/age ratio you have!
Yeah, George is all bark and no bite. On another note, if the next Saverocity DO is held in a city or island not served by Southwest, I’m going to move to the newest points blogging platform: ‘notquiteprior2boardingyet’. Or ‘stuckintraffic’.
Nice seeing you again Kenny! I am back from my Monday night soccer game, we got smoked 3-0. So I am about to wear the TBB suit and transform to an angry blogger LOL.