The ridiculous race is on to get readers to click on the SPG Amex 30k affiliate links! Make fun of them and enter to win two AA Admirals Club passes!
If you like what you see here, please let others know by passing them a link to my blog, thank you!
TRAVEL
Bruarfoss, Iceland. By Twisted Sifter
Red Bull Illume Photo Contest 2013. 38 pics of pure awesomeness!
MILES/POINTS
Great news with Award Wallet! They made up with American Airlines and we now can track our AA miles on AW, yippee! Magically, my balances went up by 904,414 miles…with more coming from the US Air merger, oh no! I need to burn burn burn. I see so many bloggers passing their AW referral links, so here is mine. I am supposed to get something but do not know what it is as I always send them some money every six months because I am a big fan of AW! I also noticed I have 10 free upgrade coupon codes for first time users, email me if you would like one. I so wished United does the right thing and follows along! I could care less about Delta, no longer earning Skypesos anymore!
The good news continued with BA making the following announcement on Flyertalk:
– Up to three available cabins will now be displayed when you searches for reward flights on ba.com. [yes yes yes…now how about them ridiculous fuel surcharges huh?]
– This functionality is available for British Airways and partner airline flights [nice]
– Improved RFS (Reward Flight Saver) signposting and new icon to distinguish from standard redemptions. [a new icon, wow!]
– A ‘change flights’ button on the fare quote page to make it easier for you to change selected flights. [brilliant!]– A new ‘back’ button on the fare quote page to allow enable easier navigation between pages [a “back” button, are you serious, get out!!!!]
The Wandering Aramean on “Comparing the players in the Transcon Wars“. Good analysis.
American Airlines/Citi Reduced Mileage Awards tables for August – November 2013 are out.
ON MY MIND
I have been getting some spammy proposals lately, I usually ignore them. But the last few sounded a bit more legit so I asked for further info. I was offered $90 for a company to write a “tailored” article and add a backlink to their site. Interesting! I am learning how this online world works. Murky indeed! When I ask them I need to read the article first to make sure it can add some value to you I am pretty sure I will not hear back from them:-)
I woke up at 9.05 am this morning, has not happened in years to wake up so late. Remember the Dunkin Donuts commercial “Time to make the donuts?”. For TBB is…”time to read the blogs on Feedly” lol.
ODDZ & ENDZ
25 Kinkiest Boat Names of All Time. Mega lol. I better not say here…oh what the hell? Here are a few: Blow Me, Full of Seamen, Superdong…and more:-)
Wow, this looks just awesome, my favorite animal too! Do you know who I am? 🙂
Some crazy and bizarre tombstones. By Seriously For Real? Some of these are very hilarious!
What a bizarre story, did this really happen? “Escape artist drops out of a plane at 14,000 feet locked inside a coffin and survives“. Wow!
BLOG BUZZ
Well, you were all warned, it will be a giant “look mommy, get your own freaking SPG Amex card, extra 5k points, woohoo”. Sick of this crap. What I find even more sickening is seeing bloggers trying to sell more cards in the same blog post. Really The Points Guy, really? Like the SPG Amex was not enough, you had to stuff your readers with over twenty others…seriously?
The whole scene is masquerading as miles/points and travel blogggers and they are all getting paid stuffing dangerous financial instruments down their reader’s throats!
Screw you all. I went for it and used Frequent Miler’s links. At least he is not out there pumping it like it is the second Coming or something. And one day I am going to have my wife (me really, hehe) apply the crap out of my own TBB links…one day Jose!
So many expert bloggers out there! Rom’s Deals starts his post with “About 2 years ago, I signed up for my first miles credit card.” Yeah, aha…sure, it must have been so exciting! Two years ago I was on my my XXXth binder full of canceled credit cards buddy;-)
I think Online Travel Review‘s content has turned way too much into the affiliate/credit card mode in the past moth. Very sad to see.
Mommy Points wrote “Last Call for 50k Southwest Offer This Time Around”. Sounds like a bar to me, last call! Until next time around.
As you know, per TBB policy, I avoid linking in the Blog Buzz unless I find it necessary. Well, I hate linking to this but I need to show you what happens when a blogger writes about a comped stay. Check the disclosure at the end: “Comped but Never Compromised: I received a complimentary stay at Terre Blanche but I am free to write whatever I want.” Yep sure aha.
Der Erste?
Que? You are always so far ahead of me…explain por favor:-)
Too funny about being on your second binder of cc’s (same here + I had been doing with my college kids which paid off with excellent credit history by age 21). 1/2 the blogs out there are from newbies with nothing new to offer. But I do like their passion for travel!
I actually meant to say second cabinet:-)
I am not seeing much passion for travel in the miles/points blogs as much as I see in pushing the last cc promo!
Speaking of comps….
/rant on
Some of these comp’ed trips for bloggers are getting a bit over the top. AMEX stars for one. They get free flights (!!) for them and a guest and 2 nights at these over the top hotels – but of course that’s not at all why they are going… rather they get to give away 30k SPG points as well (from MP – “I remember reading posts about the program last year from other bloggers… Mainly what I remembered from their posts was that their participation meant they got to give away lots of Starwood Preferred Guest points to their readers, so I was very interested in bringing those points to some of you!” – yea, I’m sure the free trips to luxury hotels and events was the last thing you remembered).
SPG gives them 30k poitns to give away – which is served with a 1099 tax form (typically NOT disclosed). If you win, your on the hook for $200-$300 in taxes. SPG points are a decent deal at 1CPP, but bc of this are no way free (mind you, the bloggers won’t pay taxes, rather this is a business trip).
But, I love how they try to fit these free trips into the theme of their blog. MP writes about family travel – so of the list of hotels she was presented with, instead of taking the comp’ed trip to a hotel that actually meets the theme of her blog, she goes with the St Regis Bahia Beach. How this is remotely a family hotel is beyond me… not to mention the 35,000 pt/night + $68 dollar per night resort fee.
Bloggers use this as a guise for a free trip… good for them, of course. But spare me the “I only went on this free trip (unrelated to the theme of my blog) so I could give you some points AMEX is providing”. How generous of you, you get the trip, I get the tax bill. And no surprise they all wax poetic about how awesome SPG and AMEX are during the rest of the year…. yea, I wonder why….
/rant off
Jay: That was one of the best rants on TBB ever! And, imho, you are RIGHT on!
None of the hotels on the list were overtly family oriented ones like say the Westin Swan at Disney. I was picking from places like the St. Regis in California that Lucky visited, properties in Miami, Scottsdale, or this one. I would say about half the people at this resort that I saw were families, so I’m not sure it is fair to say it isn’t a resort that would interest families. No doubt this place is pricey whether you are on points or dollars, but it actually is pretty family friendly with a zero entry pool, on-site beach, kid’s club, etc.
I can also assure that this was the most expensive free trip known to man. Okay, maybe not, but it certainly wasn’t cheap. It was still an amazing opportunity to have flights/hotel cost covered, but it still resulted in a fairly substantial out-of-pocket cost that I otherwise would not have had. Amex does 1099 the points, but I don’t think that is a secret with the giveaway. I owe them a returned 1099 myself as we speak for one of the opportunities coming up. I agree it needs to be all be disclosed so folks can make their own informed decisions. The 1099 part stinks, but not much you can do about it since the retail value is rather high.
I hope to visit as many places as possible to offer a better and more well-rounded perspective on different properties and different types of properties. Most will be 100% out of my pocket, but sometimes an opportunity like this come along and it seems to be overall more of a win for all involved than a loss.
If I’m invited to do it again next year I’ll have to see if I still think it is more of an overall win after the year is up. Good luck tomorrow if anyone here does decide to enter the 30k point giveaway!
Sorry, I meant W-9. 😉
“but sometimes an opportunity like this come along and it seems to be overall more of a win for all involved than a loss”
Um, no
It’s a win for you (you get a free vacation). It’s a win for the person who gets 30K SPG points (at 1 cpp)
It’s a loss for everybody else (aka, all the readers of your blog) who would be better off if your objectivity when it came to Amex wasn’t bought off
MP will claim that her objectivity isn’t compromised. So will Lucky. So will TPG with all his Chase promotions
It’s all a load of crap
Amex knows what they’re doing. They’re not giving these away to bloggers out of the goodness of their hearts. ‘wink wink’ here’s a trip to a 5* resort in Puerto Rico
Objectivity? Does it really matter? Is a blogger suddenly not objective if a trip is paid by their parents or employer? I look at trip reports to see what a property looks like, a feel for the room size and decor, and what benefits are offered to both normal guests & elite members. That is a service that bloggers provide for free, and for this, I am grateful. However, they are NOT influential in other regards, like choosing providers, expecting upgrades or special treatment or even good service or whatever.
For me, cost ($ or pts) and location dictate where to stay, and not b/c of a trip report from blogger X.
Travel bloggers should be paid by someone, and it might as well be CCs and travel providers. This isn’t political commentary or even movie/music reviews, where opinions and influence really can be purchased.
“Is a blogger suddenly not objective if a trip is paid by their parents or employer?”
No
Because the blogger isn’t providing reviews of their parents or employer
They’re providing reviews of SPG and Amex products over the course of the year. Which is why they lose objectivity when SPG and Amex are comping their vacations
Sorry, thought that was obvious
Fascinating discussion!
I agree with Steve, for the record.
David: I believe objectivity does matter…a lot! You can never be objective when…heck, you lose objectivity when you accept the comped stay imho!
If you do accept it (hey it is a free world) I would really appreciate you disclose it UP TOP and not I have to read the whole post only to get closer to my screen to read the usually smaller font/italics at the very bottom of it (if at all!).
On another matter, trip reports bore me unless I am going to visit the place or stayed previously in it and curious to see another traveler’s perspective. My legendary freakishly long trip reports are there to justify my status as a travel blogger and pad my tax deductions lol.
I have no problems travel bloggers getting paid by someone if they add value, work hard (it IS hard work!) and fully disclose their sources of revenue. What pisses me off is bloggers who pretend they are experts, provide no value, are lazy and have horrendous disclosure practices!
I also believe comped stays are a giant load of crap.I have never been offered one…yet. I may make an exception if it is, say, Maldives hahhahahahahahaha
When it comes to writing about flights, hotel stays, and CCs, bloggers have very limited influence, so there is little need to be objective. Impersonal word of mouth carries zero weight with me.
I treat trip reports like wikipedia, as a reference tool. You take in some of it, but you know a % is questionable. But I need more of them…I hope companies comp more trips so I can see what these planes, hotels, and rooms look like, what’s offered at breakfast, if a lounge is useless, or how hard it is to get to the city centre from the airport. Even if subjective, this info can be useful to me.
Why would you care about a trip report to a place you have no interest in visiting?
Or about yet another Business class flight on Lufthansa?
I think I read about 5% of the trip reports out there. I may scan up to 15% of them, that’s all. Nothing personal of course.
But when I do read them I read with great interest. It happens when I am considering visiting that location next, flying that airline, or visiting that hotel!
Well, I might be interested eventually, so I’m glad they come up in a google search…I don’t regularly read any of them unless the city is interesting to me.
This 1099 thing is surely a joke. What is it with the US tax code?!
Obvious thing to do is to persuade Amex to accept winners from any country, as the rest of the world has no similar tax issues!
US Tax code blows!
I wouldn’t be too cycnical about the disclosure on the Terre Blanche comp. it is an independent hotel now, not a chain. It’s not as if the author is risking being blacklisted by a big group. Obviously dissing an SPG Stars freebie would be different.
One final thought about ‘objectivity’ in reviews. I just did trip reports on Swiss F, airberlin J, Sheraton FRA, IC NY TS and IC Boston. I didn’t pay a penny for any of these because I used miles and points.
Does that make my review more objective than a comped trip? Not sure if it does.
After all, I give airberlin a positive view ( despite serving brussel sprout soup) because I got a flat bed to Europe for £1 tax rather than £300 tax on BA. However, if you were paying cash for a similar flight – and BA and AB cost the same – then actually BA would clearly be a better choice ( and no brussel sprout soup).
I think it makes a huge difference on objectivity! If it didn’t you would not have an industry of this whole comped trip business:-)
I read your airberlin & Sheraton FRA trip reports. Why? I am thinking about burning on airberlin and I have stayed at that hotel.
Thanks for the shout out! I’ve never claimed to be an expert. I just wanted to show that you can accomplish a lot of free travel in two years. I like to share my passion for travel, bingo! I like to think I provide another perspective on things so people my age and stage of life can relate to.
“another perspective…..people my age”. Many, many bloggers in this space are in their 20s. What’s the alternative perspective that you bring to the table?
@ABC, +1. I see his latest 3 posts on his blog are all about pushing credit cards. Seems like every other blogger….yawn
Rom: Would you be doing this if it was not for the $$ dough from credit cards? I think 90% plus of bloggers in this space will…go away and focus on their full time jobs. Grant would still not get a job though:-)
All comped stays are infomercials. If they are not outright FAWNING about the hotel they stayed at, then they are at least very positive.
Think about it: if they slam a hotel stay they will never be offered another freebie.
>>>> if they slam a hotel stay they will never be offered another freebie.
Bingo! They probably get on a Black List these vendors pass to each other “Avoid this guy like the plague” or something. I would love to be offered one and then burn them (all involved in this legal bribe process).
My mother always said I liked trouble, hehe
Regardless of whether I am on a press trip, self-funded trip or special event, I write about my experiences with travel and hotels, good and bad.
I was actually very easy on the PR firm for SPG Amex Stars last year despite what I considered such poor travel planning that I wonder why they have the SPG Amex account? The SPG Amex Stars experience kind of turned me off to sponsored trips.
SPG Amex Stars did not invite me back for this year. I guess telling readers that I really don’t like being greeted by all the staff at luxury hotels was not the kind of feedback they expected after my three St. Regis stays in December 2012.
MGM may just revoke my M life Noir card after the Hyatt Gold Passport/M life launch event in Las Vegas. I loved the party at The Mansion. I like beautiful architecture and free alcohol and gourmet food is pleasing. Writing the next day that my stay at the Fairfield Inn Tehachapi was better than the free room at the MGM Grand probably did not endear me to the executives of these hotel chains.
I tell it like I experience it. Good and bad. I do not work for the hotel companies. I appreciate the insider access I sometimes receive, but that does not skew my opinions about specific hotels and issues I face and other travelers face at hotels.
Way back in 2009 I attended a travel blogger seminar about press trips and an executive of one of North America’s hotel chains stated that making a bad comment about a complimentary hotel stay will potentially get you blacklisted from press trips as a blogger. He said the hotel executives know each other and share information and they don’t appreciate getting knocked by bloggers. He suggested that bloggers simply not write about the stay at all if the blogger has negative opinions to share with readers.
I’ll continue to write my opinions and share my thoughts, good and bad, about hotels and hotel chains and loyalty programs.
Free rooms at luxury hotels are a nice thing to receive, but I do not expect them and I rarely need or desire them. Most of the free hotel stay offers I receive, and I get several every year, go unused.
Speaking my mind is why I started Loyalty Traveler and I will continue to talk about travel as I experience it with the good and the bad points.
I could just see them sending an envelope to deposit your Noir card in that must be returned within 5 business days. 😉
It still amazes me how many unsolicited offers for free travel I receive as a miles and points blogger. I’m sure some of the larger and more established sites receive exponentially more than I do. Like with Ric, the overwhelming number of offers are declined. For me, there has to be a compelling reason to say yes.
Ric: You know I hold you in highest regard! I am ok with your comped stays because, well, I feel like I know you as I have been reading you too long. So…I WAS right about the black list!!
MP: I have never been offered a comped trip. Maybe it is because I have never put myself in the position to make myself available? (TBEX, etc.). Or maybe I am already in the black list lol.
That NYT article was very good, what an eye opener. For the record, after a few glowing comped trip reports with a tiny disclosure at the very end is a sure way to send that blog in the “crap” category.
Come om MP, you make enough from credit cards, you can afford some of these trips. Don’t forget your roots, you know, real family travel. You have come a long way from the days of “taking kids to see grandma in Kansas City” girl:-)
No worries about the roots, still take the kid to grandma’s on a regular basis. 😉
Thank you, Ric and MP, for that fascinating behind the scenes looks at what we all suspected goes on anyways: that you bloggers are getting a lot of freebie offers and, wink, they’d love you to do a review…. 🙂
I especially like Ric’s remark about loving that Tehachapi hotel more than the Vegas one—I absolutely loved the juxtaposition of the low budget next to the hoity toity. (I remember once calling you out on infomercial-like stays on your own blog, Ric, and I know you felt offended, but it’s good to read your philosophy on all of this. )
This touches on the bigger question of “who do you trust?” Marketing companies know that some bloggers have earned trust with their readers and it is a smart move (for the marketing companies) to use them as an avenue.
Takes a lot of integrity for the bloggers/reviewers to resist that.
>>>>>>Takes a lot of integrity for the bloggers/reviewers to resist that.
Bingo!
I need to sign up for AW so I’ll be glad to via your link. I’d love an upgrade coupon if you have one left. Thanks!
Jen,
ygm
Troublebloggerbuzz? Still TBB
Great, thank you!
Speaking of AwardWallet referral codes….you can apply for the SPG card through them.
More than happy to support them with that today. They’ll need to pay the AA bill soon.
http://www.awardwallet.com/cards.php
Yes, their website isn’t updated for the 30K, but click through and you’ll see it. I even got a 30K confirmation on my approval page.
Great tip, thanks!
Ric G I appreciate your blog and really like your “about me” page. There are so many new blogs without info on the writer-as if a ghost is writing!
For the record, TBB has never used a ghost writer for content:-)
We always criticize TPG for never coming up with original content and just taking others content, but today Lucky blatantly ripped off TPG original content…
I’m of course referring to the last question in Lucky’s manufactured FAQ section of the SPG Amex (the one where the “frequent” questions are mostly softballs that he’s covered a zillion times already just to hype the card)
Seriously Lucky, have some dignity – if you’re going to shamelessly use the “If you’re going to do an AOR anyways, here’s 20 other links to click” tactic, at least have the courtesy to give a H/T to TPG who came up with that creative way to post dozens of links in a post that had nothing to do with them
I think the number of links at TPG was 27! All with a title about the…SPG card.
I remember Lucky when he didn’t even have a credit card and look at him now:-)
I still remember his RyanAir trip report, which contained a link for the Lufthansa Mastercard
Just wanted to say the last few posts have been vintage TBB. Good stuff.
Thank you, I sure appreciate it!
I think Jay and Steve are right on. And kudos to MP for her measured and thoughtful responses.
It does feel strange though when MP tries to position these as “family trips/destinations” but doesnt even take the kid along. (I completely understand why the parents want to vacation alone, but I dont see how these trip reports are that much different from, say, Lucky’s).
I so wanted to leave my kids behind but nobody would keep them:-)
Always happy to try and respond. We bring her when it makes sense and seems in her best interest. I just didn’t think it was fair to her to haul her to Puerto Rico for less than 48 hours, though she would have had fun while she was there. Instead she got four fun days with her cousins and grandparents where she had a ton of fun!
Really appreciate the blog. Love Ric’s blog, as well. Really hate all the SPG pimping and links to other cards, etc. You are here to represent the silent majority. Keep up the good work.
I am not sure about the “silent majority”. And the tough thing is that we…can’t find out if that is the case!
Thank you!
I’m excited to keep blogging. Don’t worry I have a real job and don’t need to depend on a blog for income. I have a few tricks for some unique content coming up. I still have to finish my London/Germany trip report argh.
If you have unique content, then why is a boring trip report filler series getting in the way of it?
You have unique content, and you’re pushing it off to write stuff that dozens of bloggers have written about ad nauseum?
I think Lucky has trip reports to Germany every 2 weeks
Let’s see the unique content then!
TBB is all about content, nothing personal…ever!
Not sure if Lucky appreciated me pointing out that the gnocchi or whatever on his LH flight looked like witchetty grubs (something Aboriginal Australians eat)! LOL
I am getting really frustrated with Barclays! Still pending after 9 days, why is it taking so long? This is a bank I don’t want to call because the last time I did, they pulled all 3 reports. As far as I can tell, they have only pulled TU so far. I’m hoping it will just process through some over-worked staff member’s pile of apps who will just look at my Fico and approve the damn thing!
Barclays is just a…weird company to deal with! And so is US Bank. I wish they both get their act together and allow us to churn the crap out of their cards like the other lol.
they both actually behave like risk averse financial institutions.. that’s just unacceptable!
Yeah, it is quite ironic, isn’t it?