We bring the sad news of the death of Tim Winship, the new IHG Free Night hotel list, awesome hotel castles, the millionaire mindset, travel to Calabria and more freeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
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We start the week with some very bad news. Tim Wiship has died. Old timers will recognize him in the frequent flying world. I never met him personally but he has been around for as long as Randy Petersen! RIP Tim! In Memoriam: Tim Winship, SmarterTravel’s Editor-at-Large.
Last week I brought you the earth shattering news that Wyndham sold the Knights Inn hotel brand to Red Lion hotels. Ok, that was a joke. But here is a very interesting interview by Red Lion CEO who says things you never hear another CEO saying. In a sense, unless your hotel is part of Hilton or Marriott, all this loyalty stuff does not mean much. Hmmm, please go on.
“How consumers are booking rooms and what is relevant to them is going to change and has changed,” Mount said. “We need to understand that the OTAs are going to be faced by a big challenge too. The Googles and Amazons of the world are going to enter that space. It’s a constant evolution.”
Maybe we should listen more to this guy? Since Mount became RLHC CEO four years ago, the company has grown from having 55 hotels to a total of 1,061. When the Knights Inn deal closes, it will have more than 1,400 hotels. Let me make a wild prediction: This guy is going to be buying Sheraton #yuge! If he does, I am going to remind you. If not, I hope you forget all about it lol. In addition, I had no idea Red lion has 15 brands. I can see it now, a credit card will get you enough points to stay one night at Jameson Inn at Topeka, KS woohoo!
Now that the IHG Rewards card no longer comes with a free night at ANY property, here are 30 IHG hotels that come closest to the former bang we were all accustomed to. To make things worse for me, I spent both free nights already at the Miami Kimpton Surfcomber when I could have chosen instead to burn them at, say, Intercontinental Hong Kong. Learn from my mistakes! Trip report expected around 2021 or so, hey I am slow!
As I have never stayed in a Knights Inn or a Jameson Inn, I must admit I have never stayed in a Mandarin Oriental hotel either. And I really wanted to stay in one (MO please, come on!). You can now enroll in a new benefits/recognition based loyalty program titled “Fans of M.O.”. Couldn’t they come up with a better name? A quick run through the benefits leaves much to be desired. And ymmv per property. Pssss, get a hotel credit card and I may visit you some day 😉
I DID call this a long time ago. AMEX is ending the Plenti program on July 10. Why took them so long to put it out of its misery? The company must have lost mega millions on this! They could have consulted with me and I would have saved them all that dough. I am sure they paid some “experts” large fees to consult with them, smh.
These look great! 11 insanely beautiful castles you can actually stay the night in. I stayed in #10, the Quebec City Fairmont Chateau Frontenac (trip report here). Anyone knows of a nice castle we can stay in by burning some hotel points?
I posted before about the super crazy tough race Barkley Marathons. Of course I have no intention to ever enter it as I would probably die in the first hour! Running With Miles has a post about this very unique event, its crazy entry process and the amazing fact that only 15 have ever finished. Out of 1,000 over the years, wow! And great video about it in the end. I admire this amazing physical endurance as I need to catch my breath after just 10 burpees lol.
How Kinston North Carolina became NBA capital of the world. Fascinating piece on how a town against all odds has managed to spring so many NBA stars. Having said that, how disappointing for the Detroit Pistons not to make the NBA Playoffs again #sosad.
Once in a while I like to inspire you all. And this story is sure very inspiring! Six NASA Astronauts Describe the Moment in Space When “Everything Changed”. Wow! One of the dreams I had as a child was me…looking at Planet Earth from space. I NEVER forgot that visual. I did forget every single other dream lol.
Be careful, there are so many charlatans out there trying to sell you stuff! A Millionaire Mindset Never Made Anyone Rich.
Looks nice…22 Things to Know Before You Go to Calabria.
You know, another place that was hit hard by the real estate market collapse about ten years ago or so was Spain. Take a look at drone photos revealing some abandoned homes there!
This is, well, deep! A Deep Dive Into the World’s Oceans, Lakes, and Drill Holes. If you click on the link you can enlarge the image!
TBBers brake for ducks! So many of them #wow!
Love this song “Assawt” by Tinariwen!
A little excursion to more advanced travel hacking stuff and blog developments…
Great Travel Codex post: How to Maximize the Alaska Airlines Stopover on Awards to Hawaii.
Jasper2009 has been the moderator of the Flyertalk Fairmont board for a very long time. Best.Moderator.Ever! In this funny reply to me, you realize how bad we Fairmont Platinums are going to fare with the merger into Accor. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers you guys.
Humanity is better off now that Rene blogs (or should be…blocks lol) only on weekends.Here he is in a FT thread going after me lol. Okay, you guys, I am trying to be positive here now. But sometimes someone needs to speak up 🙂
We received two small checks by Citi. They are related to our previously canceled Premier cards. Sadly, we also received statements with a zero due payment. Hate when Citi does that and I just hope they were indeed canceled and it does not interfere at all with resetting the 24 month clock! Anyone else?
And I leave you with this…Sad TBB after he sells out and realizes life can so boring lol.
TBB
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Good morning! Great duck crossing!
It they all came from the same father…it was a duck robot!
Very cool reading about those astronauts. I always wanted to travel into space. I probably dreamed about being in space as a child but the only recurring childhood dreams I actually remember are one where the furnace came to life and tried to eat me, and one where a freight train was about to crash through the house and I was lying there paralyzed in its path.
I actually stayed in a Jameson Inn once, in Warner Robins, GA. It was a last-minute work trip and the only option that had something available within per diem. I don’t recall anything horrible about it, though I wouldn’t purposely stay in one again given other choices. Never stayed in a Mandarin.
Enjoyed the RHLC CEO interview. I may have stayed at a Red Lion once years ago in CA maybe? He’s probably right about loyalty traffic. I think even for Hilton and Marriott things will change over the coming years. There is so little value anymore in the hotel programs for the most part, aside from a signup bonus or an annual free night (such that it is anymore) I don’t focus on hotel programs much at all for personal travel. Work travel always involves a chain hotel so I do earn on those trips.
Hi,
I had typed a response, then something happened and got distracted and then clicked away without posting the darn comment!
Mondays are crazy around the TBB World HQ’s…tracking all the conversions from the weekend lol.
Well, it looks like Marriott is about to drop the hammer and the Titans will likely increase their valuations so they can do more conversions lol.
You should have a contest how many ducks are in that video! #BOOM
In the meantime, OMAAT welcomed a new credit card writer named Spencer who is raving about, what else, Chase credit cards.
And it appears each team member at MMS must now take selfie holding credit cards they sell there every day.
We don’t give a crap about Ingy, you were the only one mentioning him and reminding us all he still exists.
Speak for yourself on Ingy. He was a pioneer in selling credit cards and his blog bought in dozens of conversions.
Someone should give him a medal or erect a statue in Hilton Head or Traverse City.
We’re have a prototype in progress in the basement.
Hope the prototype includes a horse!
Maybe I can do a Kickstarter!
Since MO logo is a fan, the Fans of M.O. loyalty name isnt so bad.
Btw, the Vegas M.O. is nice but not great.
When I see the name MO…I think of the name Mo. And every Mo I know was weird 🙂 My point is that they could have done a better job coming up with a more creative name.
I’m really sorry to hear about Tim. Cancer sucks.
Back around 15 years ago when it was still going strong, I preferred his frequentflier.com over the much broader flyertalk. Frequentflier was a nice manageable size.
Calabria looks fun. Between that and the little video I saw from Nat. Geo about Romana del Casale recently, I’m really wanting to visit that area of the world.
I remember frequentflier.com I agree with what you said!
Yeah, that Calabria place had some awesome pictures indeed!
RIP free breakfast for Gold Marriott Reward members
Lol
Sad!
I got a $.27 check from my canceled Citi Premier as well. I called when I had received the statement and they said it was a refund from a pharmacy which made no sense.
My fear is we apply for a Citi card, get denied, we call in and we are told you still have the Premier open (or closed it when those checks went out) and since it is less than 24 months…no soup for you.
Actually, I would not be shocked if it happens…
Best western has a hotel inside la Cite at Carcassone, France. There’s another more expensive hotel too, with a beautiful courtyard.
Great, I knew one of you guys will have the answer!
I have enought points for a free Best Western night. One day…
Kiss your SPG transfers to airlines goodbye!
You.Don’t.Say!
Not sure what to make of that rumor that they will end on 16 Apr with no official notice – the source seems to be one person posting several times at OMAAT and VFTW. I have no doubt the SPG xfers will end but talking about the no notice aspect.
Great links George. Calabria looks great for a shoulder season trip. Have 2 Hilton weekend nights expiring and have no clue where to spend them, #churningproblems
Marriott kills all senses of hotel loyalty you may have been harboring
#revenue bsed
#elite spending requirements
#PhuckHotelCards
#HelloAirBnb
The end
The end…
is appropriate!