We bring you the final word on United 3411 flight, register for more hotel bonus point promos, visit Conrad Bora Bora Nui, beat up on mega ridiculous click bait blogging, learn about overbooking, go on off-the-beaten-path destinations, go inside Citicard operations and more!
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Thank you Sean Spicer for taking over the Internet’s attention away from the #United3411 incident, thank God! Nothing has gotten me angrier and more disappointed than seeing NUMEROUS posts about an unfortunate incident from bloggers trying to get some clicks from all the insane publicity giving it even more exposure than it deserves. There are so many more important things to deal with or even be angry about, wtf is wrong with people these days!
Lets get back to Buzzing it up…If you came here to read yet another opinion about the United incident or a play by play of the aftermath, GTFO of here and go read View From The Wing who can’t stop writing about it while doing interviews with BBC in his pajamas #sick.
This is your monthly update of systemwide major hotel bonus point promotions.
Yeah, really! It’s time for American and Delta to reinstate their interline agreement. The really sad consequence of the United incident was that the truly horrific almost week long meltdown in Delta’s operations got hardly any publicity, sad!
Overbooking: The Rules, The Rates And How Much the Airlines Make From It.
23 Off-the Beaten-Path Experiences for Serious Travelers. There are some places in here I have never heard of and look pretty good!
What happened to this guy is equivalent to what happened to the Internet with the United incident story!
I remember some years ago a prospective client interviewed me to be his financial planner. I thought he may be a good fit as he had a rather traumatic experience in the past being sold a crapload of ridiculously expensive investment products. Anyways, only to be told that he did not go with me because my approach was not sophisticated enough for him. I wished him well and never heard from him again. Sometimes, you just can’t help people who don’t get it. Complex is NOT better than simple when it comes to investing money.Β This is a great blog post on the subject, an excerpt that nails it:
Here are some of the unanticipated effects of defaulting to a complex investment strategy:
- Fewer people understand what theyβre actually investing in so at the first sign of trouble they panic or have no idea how to react.
- Investors change strategies more often because they never had an overarching philosophy to begin with.
- It becomes easier to get swindled by scams or buy into false claims by professional investors or consultants who are more adept at selling than investing.
- Investors are willing to pay a charisma premium simply because a portfolio manager or firm give off the aura of intellectual superiority.
- People assume that they will be awarded points for degree of difficulty in the markets.
I got some grief for posting too many pictures of the Stockholm subway station…so here is a link with amazing sci-fi like pictures of subway stations, including Stockholm!
The Conrad Bora Bora Nui opened April 3. So many expert bloggers were on it I see. I guess too busy blogging about their opinions about the United incident nobody gives a shit about! Oh yeah, this property does look awesome. I could try to sell the Hilton Reserve card here with the two free nights but I just gave bloggers more content and another excuse to sell more credit cards #Iamamoron #getnorespect&HTs
BLOG BUZZ
This section is for advanced level hobbyists and veteran blog readers & personal rants & stuff
Some of the more controversial things that appear here come from you guys letting me know. If you want an HT let me know too π
Some dude over at reddit/churning worked at Citibank dealing with credit cards and has some interesting info. May not be totally updated but there are still some good nuggets of info how these guys work looking at our credit card applications.
Stand with TPG, it appears no one wanted to spend $8k to hang out with him in Guatemala. So so sad. Can’t wait for this angle to sell more Amex cards!
The nice graph with blog posts that would never see the light of day if it was not for getting people to apply for credit cards so they can make money…I was going to count the affiliate links and declare a winner or see which blogger (MMS or TPG) broke the all time record of 44 affiliate credit cards in one post! (Tied by MMS…twice!). I could be kissing ass to get a back link thrown my way as almost every other blogger does…but I have no integrity at all so I won’t π
And a special mention to View From The Wing with the most ridiculous set of posts on the United incident. Such a pathetic display of writing and ridiculous click baiting is just shocking!
Sorry Miles to Memories, no more in the Blogs I Like list…Many factors but as soon as I saw the editorial on the United incident…bang! Don’t worry about me, do your thing and wish you the best.
And I leave you with this…
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
TBB
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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Sam says
Final word?
TBBTheDude says
You are golden!
Brenton says
I did find a single Sunday night in August at the Hilton in Bora Bora for 80k points, yielding an astronomical $.012/point. Otherwise, the cheapest I could see by spot checking random dates in every month was 258k points. Too bad you can’t sell me the card offering two free nights…
TBBTheDude says
I thought at first there won’t be any at 80k and awards will be starting north of 500k π
I hear you about that 2 free night card, sad!
Batman says
Gary Leff is at it again with another post on the United passenger incident. If he only spent all the time in the gym instead of blogging about this…
Batman says
Followed minutes later by sidekick Lucky raging about thuggish behavior by United. By the one who scammed them…you can’t make this stuff up.
And where is Ford?
TBBTheDude says
I see more…
the insanity continues…
Ryan says
Well in general people get more obsessed over minor things than what is really important…and I’m as guilty as anyone at times. I think the UA incident does bring to the forefront some unpleasant truths about customer service, power-trippy airline agents & crew, etc. even if it’s an extreme example. So maybe some greater good will come of it in the end.
However the over the top way many P&M blogs kept harping on this was just sad for them. Though I suppose the pattern is the same as any other popular story in that blogosphere…monkey see, monkey do. No one wants to be left out I guess so you get one inane post after another.
But I couldn’t help thinking, you know what industry REALLY mistreats their customers on a daily basis and focuses only on bare bones legal compliance rather than being humane? Nursing homes. With very few exceptions the treatment received is at best disinterested and more often than not downright shameful. All this at the cost of many thousands of dollars per month for the “privilege”. And in that industry the everyday employees are treated almost as poorly as the residents, which clearly is part of the problem. In rural areas, like where my family still lives, you may have no reasonable choice. To me that should be a top story that everyone is up in arms over. Anyway, wandering off topic.
I see some intriguing spots in that AFAR list!
TBBTheDude says
So many stories that we should be up in arms than this…, so many.
There are even more blog posts about this today…I am about to flip any minute now
Sam says
Buzz-
You’re my guru, but I liked Shaun’s editorial on the UA incident. I think he’s right-companies don’t give a hoot, and is there any airline that really competes on service and providing value to the customer? It’s a race to the bottom, which is where the airlines think their customers are. $400 RT to Europe-step this way.
TBBTheDude says
Capitalism in all its glory…Right now, it is very anti us “self-entitled” (per Jeffrey Sm. hehe) folks…
It is what it is.
When I make moves in my Blog Review lists…they are cumulative. Another straw or something….makes me move. After seeing hundreds of posts on the incident…another editorial was the final straw. So many deals posted there these days and direct cc links. Less travel posts. Just not the same anymore…
At this rate, there would be no blog posted in the Like list. Two of them there have pretty much stopped posting…
#alwaysdeveloping
My lists are my own. Alexa says…who cares? π
ABC says
How hard will the U.S. BANK ALTITUDE RESERVE card be pumped? What’s in it for the titans?
TBBTheDude says
To my limited knowledge….US Bank is not involved with affiliate channels.
? to other bloggers: Am I wrong?
If true, Doctor of Credit will say something and others will keep on pumping the cards that pay them π
Chris says
Well, once you get a taste of affiliate money, you might as well go all the way and completely whore yourself out and sell every single bit of integrity you might have had… Like putting up your mother in law for sale. As long as you’ve got sheep still clicking, it’s all that matters.
Also, I find it hilarious when people swear that they will take their business elsewhere to another domestic airline given the race to the bottom. “Oh my god, Delta keeps screwing us with their skypesos, no more Delta for me.” Ok, so do you take your business to UA? Not if you want to get beaten up and dragged out of the plane.
Well then, what’s left? AA? Ha, their award availability has been horrible. Southwest? Given the number of idiots who wanted a Amex metal card immediately to have a “LOOK AT ME, IM SO COOL”, I don’t think many people would seriously give up their status with a legacy airline to fly Southwest.
Then you get the “so-called thought leader” who keeps rambling about how airlines lose their customers trust when they devalue their frequent flyer programs…
Anyways, I’ll keep applying for more cards, get my sign up bonuses, MS on my Ink, spend $0 in cash tickets, and keep redeeming miles award seats while the titans post amazing deals for business class tickets costing 2k.
TBBTheDude says
Wait…I thought I had no integrity whasoever left….If I don’t have any per Sad troll…u saying I can go all the way now, might as well?
Just kidding.
That was a great comment, thank you!
DML says
The Wall Street Journal’s piece on the United v Delta practice
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-united-and-delta-manage-overbooked-flights-differently-1491951711?tesla=y
(I hope that isn’t behind a WSJ paywall)
makes a helpful point that United pays off in vouchers good only for United flights whereas Delta pays off in gift cards close to cash equivalents. I presume everyone saw the Bloomberg story about the travel writer to was paid $11k (in American Express gift cards) to agree to have her family bumped three times by Delta. “Gloat” is an under statement.
I presume the rush to defend United by the Pumping Titans was a move to protect their income stream. If the readers won’t fly United then the Chase transfers get less valuable.
TravelBloggerBuzz says
The familia who managed $11k out of Delta are my heroes!
I think you can bank on it that United will change the way they do this.
And you can also bank that in case it ever gets to this point…passengers won’t go lightly…have your cell phones ready people!
Phil says
Think the BA people had a meeting up there in Denver and told everyone to bring on junior writers and produce more content doesn’t matter what it is. M2M used to be one of my favorites, it has gone down hill fast. I thought when he left FM his own blog was going to go up in quality, sadly it went the opposite.
That Conrad Bora Bora looks nice, we had a great time at the Four Seasons there.
TravelBloggerBuzz says
Just saw another BA blog with a new writer who posted a very interesting piece on award booking…Hmmm, debating whether to feature here tomorrow.
M2M is taking steps to take care of his family. I would rather see him do well than everyone else in the Ignore blogs list. No, no plans to add it there π
Got some good stuff for tomorrow already…