TBB Mission: To Entertain, Educate and Inspire. Aim to at least do one well!
This blog has been a labor of love so far. If you like what you see here, please let others know by passing them a link to my blog, thank you!
TRAVEL
25 Natural Wonders that will Inspire you to Explore. From Matador Network
Aerial Photography: 30 epic and wonderful photos. By Blog of Francesco Mugnai
18 of the Most Surreal Landscapes on Earth
A stranger in the streets of Santiago, Chile. Found at Vagabondish. Santiago was fine, made it there through my MegaTrip romp across the US and South America!
11 of the Most Unusual Elevators. By The World Geography
Inside a Radisson Blu in Berlin-Mitte
MILES/POINTS
Southwest devalued its Rapid Rewards program by 15%. So instead of 60 points per dollar for the Wanna Get Away fares it is now 70. Here is the notice with the point change at the bottom. Great to give plenty of notice, new price starts after March 31, 2014.
50 Answers to Your Frequent Flyer Questions. By Online Travel Review. This is good and entertaining, a rare writing feat! I make a comment, I click Submit and nothing happens…this practice makes me a bit angry! At least show “awaiting moderation” or something…it’s not like it is in Boarding Area where they just take my comments straight to spam 🙂
Excellent post by PointChaser: Beginner’s Guide to Free Travel: Fast Track to Hotel Elite Status Saving the best for last PointChaser 😉 Why are you…, never mind!
Frequent Miler has THE blog post on “Best small business cards with annual fees“. Clearly this blogger is in a league all by himself, a natural! I bow to your bloginess (blog..what? This just came to me, sounds kind of stupid lol)
Planning a free week in Bora Bora. By Travel is Free (is not and let me prove it: The IHG Rewards free night cert is not free, annual $49 must be paid first…so there!). Good thought process of how to think about targeting your trips with your miles and points.
ON MY MIND
I worked on something in addition to the Buzz post for my blog, hooray! And no it was not to contact the person in charge of affiliate stuff referred to me many months ago…You are sharp, sure you noticed it!
ODDZ & ENDZ
My Close Encounter with Lions in Botswana. By Twisted Sifter. Reading this and looking at these stunning pictures…I think it makes me a better person. Wow! Photographs by Nicolai Frederick Bonnen Rossen
20 Most Epic Entries From the 2013 National Beard and Moustache Championships. By Bored Panda. What the hell!
At 77 He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage. Ok, a little bit of my other passion showing here (Personal Finance). This guy is very likeable and admire his attitude. And it appears most of his problems were derived by a tragic event in his life. But he still should have tried to save more with all the income he used to bring in! But what shocked me was this: “At 64, when an 800 square foot manufactured home he’d seen in Plant City, a Tampa suburb, became available for $21,500, he purchased it with a credit card to amass frequent flier miles” [WTF!!!!!]
I almost did not click on this headline “ Heartwarming Video Follows Retired Russian Farmer On His First Trip Away From Home — To New York City“. And then…I am so glad I did. This is a fascinating and so heart warming video ( 20 minutes long so only watch it if you have the time). Just to give you a heads up what is all about it, here is this excerpt: “Russian Esquire decided to forgo the usual model and celebrity cover stars and focus on someone quite different — 67-year-old retired farmer Vasily Ilyin. Ilyin lives in a village called Ryshkova in the Kursk region of Russia. Although he’s now retired, he had never left the area. So, when Esquire decided to shoot a portrait of Ilyin, they decided to give him the trip of the lifetime and fly him to New York City.” Watching it I could not help but think if he signed up for a frequent flyer miles account, lol! Seriously, he rips on the Soviet leaders, marvels at American farms and more! I remember this line by the old guy “I never took anything seriously in my whole life”. LOVE it!
BLOG BUZZ
Note: This section is intended for long time readers and miles/points addicts who follow the blogs in this space. Readers not familiar with this crazy hobby could skip this section! Do not take anything personal. TBB reviews blogs and tries to entertain above all. Call me Siskel. Furthermore, a link appearing in this section is TBB approved! The rest are just TBB crap; don’t take them too seriously, it’s mostly entertainment! You feel hurt the entertainment is on you? Well, excuse moi, perhaps you should try to earn the link if you are so sensitive with what appears in your blog, no one is stopping you!
Million Mile Secrets is hiring TWO full time people to help with his blog! Here are my comments yesterday in the…TBB comments:
I saw the ads, wow! MMS is stepping it up to be..TPG 
Let’s see if it becomes a mega cc pimping site and whether the mother in law rule stays intact. Ball game changes when you need to meet payroll. The commercialization and continued pumping of this quirky hobby to the mainstream will eventually lead to its demise…I think. Until then, I think the sky is the limit to make money. Love to see bloggers making money while keeping up their credibility and offering something of value. Can it be done or will the pressure be too much to withstand the…need to make payroll? 🙂
Daraius is a smart hard working guy. I have no intention to hire anyone around here full time by the way (open for a WordPress whiz intern #hint) . I always had issues with scaling and delegating properly. In my real job and here I AM the brand. And I like it this way. I keep control of my brand to ensure its credibility stays intact 
I always said it and always will: If you are in it for the money, you focus on the newbies!
Many bloggers tried to spin the Southwest devaluation news AND push the Southwest card again, little boo for you! If you did that AND tried to sell additional cards, major BOOOOOOO! Apparently, you feel no shame; TBB Editorial Dept. feels you should. We are not angry, just a little pissed off for such blatant marketing attacks unleashed on your readers. You probably think they are dumb…well, I could take this a little further but I won’t 🙂
Points, Miles & Martinis tells us to get ready for the AMEX Small Business Saturday promotion (comes on November 30, so what if it is only September 23, you need to be ready). Or maybe it was a dump of pretty much every AMEX affiliate credit card link, 14 to be exact. Ugh. Update1: Selling PMM napkins, ugh again! Update 2: Selling the Southwest card, no word on the proper timing for the Companion Pass. sotbbh (Shaking our TBB head)
The Points Guy selling credit cards for…movies today!
Does anyone still read Milevalue?
OMG. Frugal Travel Guy (the blog) also wrote about the Southwest devaluation and did NOT, I repeat, did NOT try to push the credit card! The FTG Staffer responsible for this: Explain this in your next performance review, how did you dare?
I think Gary Leff totally over reacted on the Southwest devaluation. Lets move on. This is what is happening everywhere. And it will continue! If all devaluations were like this we would be totally fine 😉
I got a nice plug from Personal Finance Digest: ” A BLOG WORTH CHECKING OUT: I recently had the pleasure of discovering Travel Blogger Buzz, an enjoyable and occasionally hilarious collection of links and commentary from around the travel blogosphere. If you’re looking for new and interesting stuff, or if you just enjoy watching somebody call out bloggers for pimping credit card links, give it a look! And while you’re at it, you might want to consider the Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard, a credit card which can heal the sick, give sight to the blind, AND give you 2% back on your purchases!” Ok, it should be up to 2.2%, come on! Are you just another expert like so many in my Feedly list? Seriously now, LOVED the “credit card which can heal the sick, give sight to the blind” line, made me laugh! Finally, some originally funny credit card pimping. TBB approves! Now we go back to regular programming to learn more about the Southwest Companion pass and how the Ink cards earn 5x in office supply stores… these two tools together can bring eternal peace on earth! I like how you are putting Personal Finance and miles/points together…maybe it can be done? If you are going to the #FinCon2013 conference please let me know. And also nice catch to see how JP Morgan Chase has been fined $8 billion in about two years. Dear readers, guess where the money comes to pay such fines…
Delta Points: Could have stopped at “No’ asking if SkyPesos Auctions are good use of them SkyPesos. But needed something to push the Delta Amex credit card link, geesh! Has added a daily recycled blog post for Top Tips. Today’s tip was to get a whole bunch of credit cards, brilliant!
New Champion on the number of credit card links in ONE post. And this one will be the record holder for a long long time. MilesMomma with 71 (Seventy One). Speechless. The excuse? “Best Cash Back Credit Cards” Yep, they ALL have a cash back feature, even the Chase Ink cards…Will be speechless for a long long time. This came after the post to get the Southwest card telling readers to “hurry”.
First??
I think this is a first first for you 🙂
So much wrong with that Tahiti for “free” post. Don’t know where to begin.
Yeah definitely not his best work. But I liked the thought process of how to plan a trip you target. I thought readers can benefit from it. Now regarding those upgrades to overwater bungalows…cough
But the danger is the arrogance, entitlement, and getting the details wrong.
Details like?
Details overlooked, based on my research into an affordable Tahiti trip:
Stating a six month expiration for the annual certs (1 yr for Marriott, Hyatt IME, maybe IHG too).
The plan to stay in Hiltons on weekend certs when your chosen flights operate Saturday late night only. Flight timings suck here.
Ignoring TN fuel surcharges of $300 plus with SkyMiles, (also, “wide open” is a stretch).
Ignoring the unavoidable transfer costs between airport/ferry and hotels.
Also, no mention of the 20K RT HNL-PPT with VX points.
I’m sorry you feel that it’s arrogant.
The annual certs for Marriott and Hyatt are indeed 6 months, so I’m not sure what your problem is.
Sorry about the flight times being inconvenient. It’s not the crux of the trip.
I don’t actually plan to use SkyPesos, so again forgive me.
What’s a VX points? :-p
With respectful dialogue we can bring eternal peace on earth too 🙂
Thanks guys, I know you are not angry.
I am going to the gym to abuse my body right now, hiya!
Just trying to say that your proposed hotel plan and your flight plan are incompatible, especially with your goal of “free”.
Arrogant might be harsh, sorry, but it’s definitely entitled to think that if the space is available it should be yours, especially with a “free” status.
And my Hyatt cert is in my account still and is valid 1 year. I used a Marriott cert 11 months out, but I must have lucked out with that. My bad.
Yea, my goal is to not be arrogant.
Yea, my shtick is free… and in this case, it’s about as free as one could get. But I know Bora Bora isn’t where I should go for free travel.
Third!
No finance talk today? 😉
In Merkel We Trust 🙂
I wonder how the Greek viewed the results. Another 4 years of German oppression (= austerity)?
Greeks in Greece who depend on the government in some way of another ( a huge part of the population and most politically active) absolutely hate it! Greeks abroad tend to see things differently. I actually love it as the phucked up corrupt political system in Greece needed someone from the outside to PUSH them to cut down the train wreck that was totally out of control and also push necessary reforms. The sad thing in this whole travesty is that the Greeks never did any REAL reforms and what they have done all these years after the bailouts was to cut across the board salaries and pensions AND protect the jobs in the public sector while the private sector (these people actually WORKED) burned and…is still burning. To this day it has been awfully hard to fire ANYONE in the public sector. The ones who were let go were let go with FULL pensions. The ones about to let go will still collect most of salaries for a while. This place needed a SHOCK and AWE treatment from day one but no politician had the cojones to do it. The politicians in Greece make the US politicians look like absolute geniuses. Not sure what is wrong in Greece, maybe it is the sun, the water, or they spray them with lsd gases. All I know is it is the most dysfunctional economic system, I call it Byzantine communism.We call the motherland the land of the absurd. As someone said “It is a poor country full of rich people”.
Maybe I should do a post on it? Father left some inheritance and I have spent more time in line in Greek Tax offices trying to settle the crap he left us than in almost 30y years in the US. Actually, I have never waited in line in an IRS office here lol.
It’s a Greek tragedy. There is real pain and, in my opinion, it was unavoidable. Fear is now the society breaks. Today there were huge fights between communists, anarchists and fascists! Complete mayhem. Others say let them kill each other. Others say “hey, these are the only ones who have not governed, so maybe they should get a shot at it as the mainstream guys already have done such a legendary mess of it”.
My mother’s small pension was cut 25%. And it was guaranteed. Nothing is guaranteed. Unempolyment almost 28%, among youth is over 60%. GDP cut 30% in 5 years. Amazing how the place has not exploded yet. I fear for my mother’s safety, too many robberies of seniors going on lately.
Ok, that was more than you expected really. All it has happened so far is that the bleeding has slowed down. But the bleeding has never stopped. This Greek Finance Minister is a real hero. Well respected guy who is working his butt off to save the ship. Probably the only guy in the govt who knows what he is doing. And he is the only non politician, coincidence?
I for one would love to hear a post on that.
Well, read, not hear. Although these YouTube videos are all the rage now.
I will try, too busy with life and reviewing blogs for TBB lately 🙂
I was quite taken with the photo of Patagonia from Matador Network’s Natural Wonders. Never been there. But a few of the others brought back some nice memories, including the Wadi Ram and the Hawaii photos.
We spent a few days on and around the Li River in 2007. We arrived at our hotel at night and awoke to the extraordinary sight of the sun rising over the river and the karsts. Later we took a hike along the river, returning by boat to where we had started. It was a lovely few days. HT to our son who had been there before us and urged is to include the Li River on our China trip.
so many places to visit but I am too busy answering TBB comments lol.
One day I will visit both Li river and Patagonia
shameless plug – my Patagonia gallery:
http://lenticulartravel.com/patagonia/
and my post about where to stay there for the best view:
http://lenticulartravel.com/one-picture-of-patagonia/
Wow! Just increases my interest in going. Really gorgeous photos.
I really wanna know what the salary is for that MMS job(s). It says it pays well, so my guess is $50k? Maybe more?
I have to say I really enjoy this blog and wish there were others like it. I’m sad you won’t be posting everyday but understand you actually need to breathe, too.
I’ll be attending FTU this weekend, btw. It just happens to me in my backyard, and I’m still new enough I might actually learn something. Hoping at the very least to meet other points and miles addicts so I don’t keep pestering my friends about stuff they don’t care about.
Thanks for the kind words. I think I have found a groove doing the Buzz summary posts three times a week. That does not mean I will NOT be posting the other days…I will try. Just imagine what I can do here if I did not have a real job and family 🙂
Careful with FTU. You may get sucked in and before you know it you start flying all over the world for “free”. There are many who identify with the hobby and the “mystique” of being surrounded with others who think the same. The hobby appeals to introverts and a bit weird people and at events like FTU you realize “hey I am normal like them” lol.
Just don’t lose perspective of the grand picture and realize the big bloggers want you, at the end of the day, to use their own links…It is a business after all even though you will NOT hear how they make their money or how much.
I have a feeling you won’t be speaking at a FTU in the near future.
Yeah, I doubt it too 😉
Do all BA blogs not let your comments through? Is that because they come from your blog ID instead of a personal one?
Tough news with Burleson, he was looking pretty good, but so is Broyles when he stays healthy. I think you guys could make a big difference if Pettigrew and Scheffler are utilized properly.
i think there’s some system that requires comments that are from a new IP/user/whatever (i’m not a techy guy) to be manually read and approved.
BTW George your alerts are still up there and haven’t opened fyi. hopefully they will soon.
I think my comments go to spam and BA bloggers must unspam me to let me in 🙂 I know Frequent Miler has done it. Not sure of the others, maybe they are afraid of me lol.
Thanks Jeff, let me know when u see anything.
Dropped by to read the buzz comments.
Each BoardingArea blogger has the ability to set their own comment settings. Some blogs require all comments to be approved. Some let all comments through.
I start each day deleting the spam comments. Back in April and May it was Thailand based websites spamming me. The past couple of months it is spam originating in Germany.
Occasionally a legitimate comment goes directly to my junk folder, but most get posted. Fortunately, most of the true spam gets filtered out before reaching the comments.
We have a baby due in November, so I’m sitting out FinCon2013.
2.2%, right! Most of my blog posts tend to be written late at night when I want to go to sleep… Need to sell some more credit cards so I can quit that darn day job!
Diapers are expensive, been there twice. Just keep it fun and you won’t get yelled at by me. Full disclosure: All bloggers have been pissed off at TBB one time. If not yet, it will happen. So, don’t take it personally. It is the nature of what we do around here, dispensing praise and constructive criticism where warranted. And &)Y^&%$%^ too where warranted too 🙂
Thanks, this is baby #4 for us.
No worries, I don’t take this stuff personally. By all means, fire away, that’s part of what’s enjoyable about this blog. 🙂
I thought it was the pictures 🙂
Not sure I understand your MMS comment
“if it becomes” a major CC pushing site?
Um… hate to break it to you, but it long ago became one
Ever since the Drew Macomber/plagiarizing moment, he’s just completely mailed it in and became another TPG. Not surprisingly, he has become a prolific censorer and stopped enganging you on this blog since then
To a point I agree of course. But still the mother in law rule mostly applies and there is a disclosure at the top of each post. Have you ever seen a disclosure at top or anywhere in the body of the post like at TPG or FTG? With the paid staff coming…the future is not good as the pressure to be just a CC selling machine will be, well, unbearable…
To be continued.
Maybe I should do a survey if you guys want me to add affiliate links now 😉
With all due respect to his mother-in-law, who I’m sure is a very nice person, her mention is just a tool used to come off much better than he actually is
That became readily apparent when “his” mother-in-law was invoked on a post that “he” didn’t write
When a post on his blog with 15 CC links contains content about how “my mother in law” would approve of…. but makes zero disclosure that the she isn’t the mother-in-law of the person talking about “my mother in law”, then tries to squash any mention of such intentionally misleading wording, he loses all credibility
Lots of the posts on his blog over the past few months probably weren’t written by him. But every post on the blog is presented as written to him misleading people into thinking these were his unbiased opinions
If the only difference between him and TPG is that he’ll disclose at the top of his 25 part series on the Lufthansa Mastercard that he makes money off it….. then he’s a pretty awful blogger
I think the ghost written posts in the blogosphere are much MORE prevalent than we know…just my gut feeling. There was a mistake that they got caught 🙂 Let’s not throw in the mother in law into this please.
I respect your opinion. I will rate MMS ahead of TPG and FTG and so many others. Jury is still out if he joins them. Hope he doesn’t get there before I do my Friday interview lol.
Regarding the “ghost writers”: I read yesterday that 20% of Yelp reviews are fake and are written (can I say “churned out”, or is that term already spoken for?) in India, the Phillippines, and Eastern Europe.
This entire “I’m-a-friendly-website-trying-to-help-you” angle is quickly crumbling. Caveat lector.
Yeah, read that about Yelp. Never liked that website anyways, not surprised at all.
Informed readers know about these. These are not the people most blogs target 😉
For the noob, can you summarize what happened with Drew Macomber?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/external-miles-points-resources/1469742-who-writing-lufthansa-series-mms-blog.html
Looks kinda quaint with the passage of time.
Sorry, but that Bora Bora post is a complete BS.
You can’t use a free IC weekend cert without paying for another weekend night.
IC Thalasso is not ONLY over-the-water bungalows, but they made two garden ones
exclusively to place the point guests there. You “might” be upgraded, but no guarantee.
Also availability on points is very limited, 1 or 2 rooms max, so book early.
The best strategy is what I’m doing – book on points, contact the hotel and negotiate
the upgrade. For returning guests like myself it might be very reasonable.
A much better shot is IC Le Moana, an older IC on the main island. Availability on points
is better, but there is many types of rooms, many on the beach. So no guarantee of an upgrade
neither. Still a better chance, the hotel is quite nice and a free shuttle will take you
to Thalasso for a drink or to use their pool (which BTW is not looking great today, some glue
issues with the renovated tiles). The shuttle also is not always free, so plan ahead. They charge
for later boats to avoid guests going to the main island for dinner instead of staying at IC.
Delta availability is ZERO. I’m not sure where he’s seeing it.
Actually American for Air Tahiti is the only doable shot.
This is actually a good timing as I’m going to Bora Bora next week and that will
include many blog posts and updates. I’ve been there several times before
and this guy is a pretender, sorry TBB…
I featured it mostly for the thinking that goes behind targeting a trip. I am pretty sure he will put it all together and correct the obvious deficiencies of the post as he is clearly not an expert on Bora Bora.
What TBB does is not rocket science. I put my posts together late at night too 🙂
Let’s see if you do better then 😉
Love the criticism and you guys calling me out. I LEARN from it. I am ashamed of many things I have done in my life and I am sure it will continue lol.
Great Patagonia post by the way.
we are all friends, no need to apologize for anything. “Shame” was a wrong word,
I’m sorry 🙂
Look, I think the problem with this kind of posts is that they require precision. Just showing
“your way of thinking” is not gonna cut it. I didn’t do anything like that yet because
I need time to do it right. When I will, I’ll be sure all the details are correct.
If not you are misleading your readers and giving them false hope that something is “easy”.
I agree. It’s just that most bloggers in this space do not take the time to do it right and unleash blog posts just to get it out there. Some even have payroll to meet lol.
>>>>>>>>>Misleading readers and giving them false hope that something is easy
I look around and see SO much of this! Ok, not one of TIF’s best posts and I am willing to bet he will do a great post when he puts it all together. Maybe he should have waited on this one…We are all human and experts in our own minds lol.
Thanks for keeping me in line, I appreciate it.
George, these are quite harsh words when the readers don’t even know the difference between a BOGO and a free night certificate. Or the partnerships… and yet harsh words.
I’m thinking Rick maybe right about a few things. People unite over a common enemy, so if there’s none for the day… find one right? It’s kind of an odd, judgmental pastime to find enemies and the bad blogs… which apparently includes TIF.
Also, Rick Ingy made another point in which you responded saying that you use positive reinforcement… But as entertaining as the blog posts are, that doesn’t seem to be the theme. But there may be some Irony in someone calling someone else arrogant (for posting decent information) and passing off harsh judgement.
It seems as though TPG gets mentioned for every credit card he posts (free advertising for him) and good posts get mentioned at best. It’s probably best for readership.
Obviously, I’m used to hearing negative feedback… I work online. :-p
But 1) well, the information pointing out the “shame” was… just bad info itself. So can’t help but to react somewhat when a noobie says I’m a pretender. Though I should probably have tougher skin by now. and 2) just thought I’d share my thoughts. 🙂 I enjoy stopping by. My wife finds TBB quite entertaining too :-p
But I’ve always thought, boy, I wish I was TPG so I could have the free press. 😀
But I also don’t post 8 times a day.
Drew: Take it easy my friend, I was defending you dude! Thanks for coming here to respond. In my book, you are one of the top bloggers in the space, for the record.
I believe much of the “arguments” to be a misunderstanding? Maybe I should make a separate blog about this “TIF vs TV and LT” 🙂
I have no control of what people comment on. And I think that is a beauty in itself. Let the people express themselves! From respected dialogue between us here, beautiful things can happen.
Come on, you’ve been around online, it comes with the territory. I am shocked how overwhelmingly positive the response to TBB is. And yes I take the criticism and lawsuit threats and other bizarre stuff that happens as the cost of doing business online (actually, what business lol)
Do you see me mentioning TPG (and not linking back) as free advertising? I hope not most readers take it this way. If you do, I need to reconsider my practice.
I go through many blogs per day. I usually have a very short time span to decide if a blog post makes it. I found yours worthy. Readers did not think so and heard them. You responded. I think readers benefit from the interaction! If they did not care, they would not respond.
Thanks for not pulling an Ingy move on us. You should get to know TPG better, he pays well from what I hear for content.
I probably had the worst and most expensive pizza at the Moorea Sheraton (now Hilton) in my life!
My wife finds me entertaining too 😉
Whoa, yea. You’re right. Got defensive for sure. I was up too late (in Europe time). Sleep makes things clearer.
Wait. Lawsuit threats? I’ve been told by a few bloggers who run booking services that I’d be amazed what people will sue for. What kind of crap are you getting?
Dear Andrew,
Before you go calling something BS or pretender, with all due respect, you should know what you are talking about. You are misinformed and confused on so many levels.
1) The credit card comes with a free night every year. It is not weekend night cert and it is not after a paid stay. The BOGO certificate, which isn’t mentioned or referenced is something entirely different and an Ambassador and RA benefit.
2) “Guaranteed” upgrade is an Ambassador benefit and since there is only one room category at both ICs on Bora Bora, you will get an Overwater Bungalow.
3) You don’t see Delta availability because you are using Delta.com instead of ExpertFlyer. As delta also partners with Air Tahiti Nui.
Did you read the first post on overwater bungalows?
Didn’t want to be rude sorry. I’m really a nice guy LOL
And I don’t really want to play that game, but…
My several attempts to book this flight with Delta miles in last 15 years failed (for many reasons). If you did book it – big congrats. It worked with American for me.
Ambassador benefits do NOT apply on award stays. Sometimes a hotel “might” upgrade you, but Thalasso does not do it. Several people had to stay in the dreadful garden bangalow. Check the flyertalk thread about IC hotels respecting Amb benefits on award stays and a thread about Thalasso with at least two reports about getting stuck in the garden bagalow recently. It used to be much better but a few years ago the rules got tighter…
You’re right about the one yearly cert coming with a card, but it’s treated like an award booking, so no upgrade.
Yeah, posts like that are all about precision and details, as you see…
Delta and AA have nearly the same availability on ATN. I’ll look at AMB records on FT but as I suggest, you can email ahead about your AMB upgrade before you try bartering. And obviously it’s an award night.
Details… like did you read the prequel post on Overwater Bungalows?
Perhaps I should post about the same daily promotions instead of figuring out United’s routing rules and so on. Then I could stop pretending. :’\
Look we share the same passion for travels, even the same name LOL. No need to continue this way, we started on a wrong foot, I apologize again.
I promise you to share everything I know about this amazing destination on my blog in next 3 weeks, including tons of new pictures from all 3 top resorts. I hope that will help you plan the best trip of your life, BB is beautiful and you should definitely go there!
As far as details… Not sure why, but Delta has their own ways… Even if you see availability, nothing is certain until you book it. I had trouble on every step of the process, so just feel warned. I gave up on Delta altogether, no hopes here IMO.
I’ve been Royal and reg Ambassador for 15 years and it used to be the best of the best, I was always upgraded, also on my award stays. Not anymore… So to avoid unnecessary heated discussions at the checkin instead of enjoying this paradise, I strongly suggest get your upgrade confirmation through email. The only sure way today is to pay for that, but it’s really not expensive, ~$150/night for the cheapest OWB bungalow with a shot at a better one if the hotel is not full. BTW they are all identical, the only difference is the view. Just don’t tell anyone it’s “easy” to get a free OWB there, because unfortunately it’s not true.
Thanks for the comeback. The back and forth has been very educational!
What I still find a mystery is why French Polynesia is considered such a great way to burn Skypesos if you have all these problems getting it done? I absolutely know where you are coming from as far as Delta awards online go, they have driven me so nuts that I have completely given up on the program. I will try to burn my last Skypesos to Australia and then be completely done with the program foreveh
Apparently people are getting it done or they see it and just do not go through ALL the maddening screens on the delta website?
I am definitely NOT a burn expert guys. I totally despise the whole process and a main reason I like UA miles and BA for my short haul family trips to NYC on AA. For more complicated trips I ask for help, no plead for it!
I just wanna say thanks to TBB for having a forum that makes this back and forth possible, as it makes some of my favorite blogs better.
Thank you! I always believed that the advantages of non censoring a forum vastly outweigh the disadvantages. And doing it this way definitely enhances the mission of the blog! Educating and entertaining…not sure about the inspire part 🙂
Yea, sorry about overreacting there Andrew.
sorry, noticed TJ also commented on this… Yeah, quite a shame TBB, not your best selection.
The sad thing about the Southwest devaluation is that 15% isn’t enough to make a dent in the fact that theirs is still miles better, no pun intended, than any other program (outside of BA, LAN and ANA sweet spots) for domestic travel, particularly for families.
Milecards.com has a chart on how other CCs now stack up against the SW card, given the devaluation. I hadn’t seen this site before or perhaps haven’t seen it in a long while, but noticed a tweet and found the analysis a fresh take on the devaluation.
Southwest RR program had a great bang for the Wanna Get Away fares. Now it is a good bang. The program still rocks for domestic travel imho. Love how easy it is to book and/or cancel trips!
Milecards.com is an aff cc link factory.
Too busy with work and watching replays of the America’s Cup races to read travel/points blogs. I sailed Hobie Cats and Sunfishes at summer camp back in the day and the vicarious thrills of a catamaran “up on the foils” is just too much.
Bora Bora looks boring boring, unless pictures of diving are included. Anyone been underwater there? Opinions?
Boring boring thing highly depends on who you are with and how much you value the pure beauty of the most beautiful island in the world. We rarely go back to the same place twice, and we’ve been coming back to BB for years. There is nothing like it for us anywhere else. Diving is good, but not as great as Australia or other places…
We have different tastes then.
I prefer going places to do things, and for that reason western Papua, Fernando de Noronha, and Aceh are higher on my list than Tahiti. As for who I go with, well, my wife’s been a good travel companion so far.
@Tara: loving the bird profile series.
I would love to read what’s on harvson’s bucket list (and why). (So tired of reading about Maldives, Tahiti, Guam, and Hyatt Paris…)
Lufthansa First Class Terminal, rubber duckies, flat beds, Park Hyatt Tokyo and Sydney, Thai First massage on the ground, ok, you know the drill 🙂
@harvson3 Thanks! I’m trying to do one parrot and one other bird species each week now that I am getting caught up. I’ll be profiling birds we saw in Central America while the series lasts.
We are all different. Some readers keep going back to the Maldives, some like Bora Bora. Some have problems going back to the same place twice (me). But I made a promise to myself to take my grandkids (one day hopefully) to the Canadian Rockies and Banff/Jasper region.
We were in Bora Bora in 2009 using Priority Club points (before I had the Chase card) and redeemed 1 night at Thalasso and 2 nights at Le Moana. I did have PLT status from some other promo at the time. I emailed Thalasso and asked some random question hoping they would notice my status and that I had booked the “coral suite” on points. They did and after answering my question, offered a paid upgrade to an OWB. I said I would think about it and they emailed back offering a one night complimentary upgrade to the OWB! When we were there, I noticed that the coral suite was occupied but not sure who was in it. We also saw several kids in the swimming pool so I guessed that either staff had family visiting or someone had chosen to book the coral suite for the safety of the kids. We probably just got very lucky with timing in this case!
With Le Moana, we took the free shuttle from Thalasso to Le Moana where points get you a beach bungalow. It wasn’t ready so we sat in the lobby while they cleaned it and my Cook Island husband (who is clueless about miles and points) chatted to the Tahitian staff in their language. I could see they were getting along great so I left them to chat a while. Then I asked how much it would be to upgrade to an OWB. They said they were full that night but they could offer a free upgrade tomorrow so I jumped on it. Both hotels also gave a PLT amenity-wine and a sarong or t-shirt and a fruit platter. The Thalasso is a more spectacular resort but Le Moana is more convenient being on the mainland and has a more Tahitian feel to it. I was happy with my decision to try them both.
Harvson3, I did go diving in Bora Bora and it was pretty nice. Nothing spectacular, just a couple reef sharks which I have seen many times and the usual pretty reef fish but the visibility is crystal clear. Diving is really expensive there! Next time we go to Tahiti, we are going to the Marquesas for the Ultramarine Lorikeet.
Visited PPT and Moorea in 2003. Won a Starwood contest and had airfare & six nights in Sheratons. Loved it. Would/could not pay for the OW bungalow upgrade and my charms did not work. I got over it. And yes we ate ramen noodles there too lol!
Yeah, I forgot to mention we ate a lot of ramen noodles, brought Crystal Light packages to mix with the local water and bought a lot of baguettes in the store near Le Moana. There’s also a fast food place near Le Moana-burgers and such. In Tahiti, we usually ate at one of the roulottes. We did splurge on one island night/luau at Thalasso more for the show than the food.
Oh yeah we ate lots of baguettes there too! A most memorable meal was we bought a chicken from one of these mobile BBQ grill places by the side of the road. We cut it up and walked back and ate on the beach. It was so delicious…We later found out that all chickens these places sell were imported from…New Zealand!
The photographer of the stranger in the streets of Santiago photo works at a bar a few blocks from my apartment. How random.
Wow, that is wild. What a small world indeed!