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| Boom! |
ON MY MIND
All hell breaks loose when Mr. Pickles learns of some new requirements for the Mega DO 5 event. He wrote “Frequent Traveler MegaDO Smells Like a Big DooDo“. The comments are equally entertaining! Here is the original announcement. To pony up $2k or $500 is quite a lot of dough! The $10 makes sense of course. I went to Mega Star DO 2 and had an unbelievably awesome time. BUT I paid nada! No sponsored trip or anything of that sort of thing, I don’t do those (I would love to be offered one so I can turn it down so I can feel I have arrived lol). I won (yes, again) a twitter contest by Lufthansa which paid for all flights, hotels and program fees (Freddies). Would I be paying this out of pocket? Absolutely not, I am not that crazy. BUT, bottom line is, these have become wildly popular and they sell out in minutes! If people want to pony up so much money for the right to have a ticket or the privilege of bidding for one, well, it is a free society. How the non profit status comes into play in all of this I have no clue. I have always been very critical of the whole charity publicity thing. I think charity should be a private matter…I am very uncomfortable when it gets thrown out in the public so easy. So…it is interesting to see how all this plays out. I bet there will be takers for all the paid slots!
MILES/POINTS
Mastering the Art of the Retention Bonus. From The Points Traveler. Former employee in Citibank’s Retention Department! #insider
Not to be outdone, we now have Points Summary organizing an Abu Dhabi & Oman DO to occur August 2014. My initial reactions were: “Too damn hot and too long!”. But there will be takers, this community has some crazy people indeed. Hope you don’t charge a fee for your 2015 DO:-)
View from the Wing wrote “Are Travel Bloggers Who Take Press Trips More Ethical Than Traditional Travel Media“. The comments are most interesting to me, especially Loyalty Traveler’s response. Hmm, maybe I should reconsider my stance? It is irrelevant anyway, no trips have been offered to me yet! What the hell am I? Points Blogger? Travel Blogger? I am having an identity crisis, thanks a lot!
Looks like affiliate links are out for the Lufthansa Miles & More…oh boy.
Will Run For Miles is running to First2Board too. Who is next? Contest to guess who is next?
TRAVEL
Frequent Flyer Guy has this to say about the too many Hilton Brands:
Conrad: New luxury
Hilton: Business travelers
Double Tree: Shabby Hilton plus a cookie
Embassy Suites: Big room, free breakfast and beer
Hilton Garden Inn: Better roadside hotel
Hampton Inn: Basic roadside hotel
Homewood Suites: Basic extended stay
Home2 Suites: Basic extended stay with a touch of W
Hilton Grand Vacations: Timeshares
United will be selling annual subscriptions for Economy Plus and Checked Luggage. It will also allow the purchase of United Club membership with miles. Interesting development.
Barbara Delollis leaves USA Today and Hotel Check-in, this is her last column, oh nooooo!
The Gate has a fantastic and comprehensive post on Identity Theft-and How to Reduce Your Risk of Exposure to It
Insane video of the biggest bicycle you will ever see. I am dizzy watching this, WOW!!!!
Another insane video of surfing a monster wave! And here are 12 awesome pics too!
ODDZ & ENDZ
27 Awesome Photos of Cultural Icons at Prom. From Flavorwire. I don’t get into this celebrity crap at all but these were really funny. Love the Mitt Romney pic and the tagline!
5 Core Skills Your Life Depends On. From Marc and Angel Hack Life. What great advice. Show this to youngsters!
United has been hawking/selling E+ annual subscriptions for some time. I don’t understand why this is news
Yes…it was more for the luggage (which can be taken care of with the credit card I think.
They ditched the annual subscriptions and finally brought them back once they got the IT straightened out.
Looks like the IT straightening out is a very long term process at UA:-)
Test for all bloggers to see who’s greedy and who’s nice:
There’s a Barclays/Lufthansa non-affiliate link offering 50K for a lower threshold ($2.5K spending). __Who links to it and who doesn’t?__
A MegaDO that involves hours on an airplane to listen to the pitches of company PR execs in multiple countries … isn’t for me. Matter of personal taste. I like travel, not flying.
It was telling that both of the MegaDO founders who replied to Pickles could point out exactly two errors: the IRS registration and the private charter regulations… but “didn’t have time” to point out any others.
harvson3
What happened to Darius Mother-in-law rule”? Only saw $5k offer
Yes, good test indeed.
The Megados are a unique experience. I would never pay that much! But I would do it again if it was free:-)
I am not getting involved with the other points you raised. All I can say is it is a tough business:-)
To anonymous: MMS does post the non affiliate link. But he does neglect to list all the links in the disclosure up front…u know, the most MVP Chase Sapphire/Bold offers.
There is no Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Bold link in the post. The link to the Ink Bold in the post actually goes to my review post of the Ink Bold and there is full disclosure at the top.
I assume you had a late night! 🙂
I did have a late night…which is almost every night!
Here is the passage: “Spending $5,000 within 3 months is stiff. I’d rather spend $5,000 within 3 months on the Chase Ink Bold, Chase Ink Plus, or the American Express Business Gold Rewards card for 50,000 points.”
Both Chase links are affiliate links.
Maybe you had a late night? It’s okay, it happens.
To harvson3:
Looks like your hero Mile Nerd could not resist himself to add the Lufthansa affiliate link?
If he does it too…this charade makes me an…idiot? 🙂
Milevalue fails too.
harvson3
Definitely not a surprise there! I was surprised with Mile Nerd.
In fairness, the non-affiliate link gives Barclays the right to screw you. Only 5k if you’re approved for the Platinum. Both options should be presented and considered.
The airlines and hotels have hit paydirt with the MegaDOs. They’ve somehow convinced people to pay premium rates to attend their press junket. Then add $2000 for the right to buy a ticket.
Good call on the FTEF response to criticism. I see they’ve taken the DeltaPoints approach to argue the trivial details while ignoring the big issue.
I agree with all your points Tim! Thanks for taking the time to comment here and for reading.
I really wish all the anonymouses (anonymi?) would be like harvson3 and say who they are if they don’t take a second and click the “comment as” button. What are they so afraid of?
Nice post from Saverocity today.
@TWA44, Your not exactly signing in under your own name, lets face it, TWA44 is just as anonymous as anonymous. I always use my full name, be like me!
Indeed, but at least when someone replies it is clear to whom they are replying! Sometimes readers reply to Anonymous as a brand new comment, and it isn’t clear. Also, regular readers get to know me as TWA44, the same name I use on FT and MiPo.
At some point this would move to WordPress and maybe it gets better…I don’t know. I agree with TWA44, better pick something and stick with it!
Senor Buzz, what is your stance on Bloggers posting pictures of Bidets?
Toilets, Bidets…
I would rather not go there…
Totally agree. And now there’s a post about people taking photos of themselves in airplane lavatories. I could do without that too.
Just tuned in to Extra Pack of Peanuts podcast, it was about as enjoyable as hearing William Shatner sing Mr. Tamberine Man.
Hmmm, I like William Shatners, he is…out there!
Incubus, baby!!
I feel like I’m walking through a shady part of town with people hawking fake rolex watches.
“Hey, check this out…Brand new…Lufthansa card”
“Look here. Lufthansa card. Free travel”
“Oye. See what I’ve got for you. the Lufthansa card – 1.5 (!!)first class roundtrips for free”
“Hey pick me. I’ve got the lufthansa card as well.”
“this is gonna sell out ASAP.. Get this card (from me) NOWW!!!!!!!!!!!”
After I move to WordPress I can have a survey for stuff like this, i.e. “Pick the most ridiculous over the top way a blogger pushed XYZ card”.
That would be fun. And take bets on the winner? Aha, this is how I can monetize the site at last…
LOL!!!