TBB Answers Readers’ Questions Part 1

Thanks for all the questions in this post!

Here we go, let’s have some fun:

 

bluecat: What is on your list of places to see in near future (using your points, of course?)

My next target is Maui next Spring Break. At the present time, I have my (award) tickets to Maui but still looking to find us a way out of there. Other than that, I have no specific targets. I was going to take a trip by myself to burn some US Air miles and fly around the world and finally make it to Hong Kong through Bangkok or some other Asian destination but I just can’t afford to take the time off these days with work and this little blog 😉

 

Edward: If you had a spirit animal, what would it be?

Oh boy, I never thought about that before! I am just glad to be a human. I would love to be a strong animal so nobody would mess with me and I get all the girls competing for the privilege to spend some time with me.  Umm, would that be a lion? In my former chasing Elite status slut days I swear I was thinking like a giraffe 🙂  Follow Up question by Another Mark: “Why?”  About the giraffe? This is why

 

Susan: If there were one all expenses paid 2 week trip to anywhere in the world for you and your family, where would you you want to take your children so that they would have a ‘maximum’ once in a lifetime experience? What would you want for them?

Actually when I win something the destination is predetermined 🙂   Hmm, that is a tough one. I would like us to do something that will create lasting memories. Maybe Safari somewhere in Africa, roam through South Africa, go all around Australia or, oh yes yes, Antarctica!

 

Tara @ Miles To The Wild: If you won a “boys weekend away” but you must take Ingy, where would you go and why? (You have 100,000 UR points per person to spend on this)

Heck, I ‘ll go anywhere as long as we are in separate rooms and don’t see much of each other every day. If that is not possible I need to seriously consider about refusing the prize. And that just kills me as I am not fond of turning down travel prizes! You can be cruel 😉

 

AgendaGuy: Shouldn’t this be a filler on Saturday?

Yes.

 

Spencer F: How does the Mexican National Team right the ship and defeat New Zealand and make it to the World Cup?

The NZ players are very fit and very physical. They can make Chicharito wish he was never born 🙂 If I had to pick who would win I would pick NZ. Mexico has some serious problems, just not a good TEAM, it needs complete overhaul. It should be great games to watch.

 

TWA44: When will you post your “Blogs I Avoid” list? Every time I see the news and it shows the green “Health Insurance Marketplace is Open” screen of the ill-fated healthcare.gov website, I wonder just who that woman is. Do you know? Do you own stock in Panera? (That’s a joke – none of my beezwax!)

Sometime in November I will publish that list. There are a few blogs on the bubble and am struggling whether to include them or not. I am giving them some time to…shape up 🙂  I have no idea who that woman is! I do not own any stock in Panera even though I am in there almost every single day!

 

Nurse Traveler: Will you ever post the list of blogs in your Feedly?

Is there an easy way to extract all the names other than cut and paste? I could I guess, I just did not think there would be much interest. Lots of them are personal finance and miscellaneous blogs, including some in Greek. Hey, it’s Greek to me and I am fine with that 😉

 

Wany: TBB do you think it is possible one day you do a LIVE video of you going through your Feedly with audio comments? May be on the day when there is a big CHASE or AMEX card push? That would be really entertaining.

I agree that would be really entertaining too. But the techie aspects to it all are a bit too much for me. And the video would be filled up with so many bad words that you guys would think that I actually do get angry lol

 

Jo: If you could wipe three travel blogs off the face of the internet, what would they be?

It varies. Right NOW I would say: Delta Points, Milevalue and Points, Miles & Martinis. The bias of what gets posted there is just…extreme. This is my personal opinion and it does not constitute advice. You are responsible for your actions 😉

 

FullMoon: Do you feel bloggers should disclose that hotel links in their blogs are lucrative for them?

First, I would love all affiliate links were absent from the body of the posts. As soon as you include one the reader has to think if this is posted for my benefit or the blogger’s benefit (of course if they even knew about it!). Of course this is not going to happen. I only know Frequent Miler does it this way and recently Travel With Grant vowed to do this. So, next best move would be to include “affiliate link” right next to every one of those links. If not, disclose somewhere on the top that the post contains affiliate links (and preferably identify which ones like Million Mile Secrets does). If not, at least somewhere at the bottom of the post disclose it so the reader is informed. Of course, if you have established full trust and a pattern of always putting the reader first you can be excused of skipping some of these disclosures, especially when you have come out and did not hide the fact you are trying to feed your family and you have proven your expertise too! (DansDeals). This is how I think about this at the moment. Oh, you were asking about hotel links 🙂  Yep, same applies, they should not take a pass. But I would go easier on them as they are not nowhere near as lucrative and they can not mess up people for the rest of their lives (like credit cards). The thinking about this is evolving the more I learn about blogging.

 

Another Mark: When will you share the secrets of the latest deal you stumbled on? What’s it been, 2 weeks now?

Several have figured it out. A small circle of trusted friends have been informed. We have been milking it but the milking has stopped. We need to determine if it is finally dead or some major tech glitch is in play. When it is officially dead I will likely say something. TBB does not kill deals, there are other websites that do that.

 

Another Mark: Say, for example, you could make one recommendation to Rene at DP. What would it be?

You don’t wanna know 🙂

 

Another Mark: If Randy was willing to implement ONE of your suggestions on Boarding Area, what would it be and why?

Not let Delta Points leave Boarding Area when TBB joins it 🙂

 

Lonely: Could you set me up with a date with FTG?

Let me get an affiliation link lined up and then I can help you do it if you click on it!

 

ed: Would you eat durian?

I would go out on an island with FTG than have to eat durian. Seriously! First time I encountered this thing I thought there was a dead animal nearby. And then I saw humans eat it. OMG. A traumatic experience, I am scarred for life! Mrs. TBB likes it and she has been told she is not allowed to eat it when I am in the same state. It’s okay when I am in a different continent and never inside our house. By far, the most disgusting vulgar smelling fruit God ever invented!

 

Andrew C: Recognizing that some bloggers will always produce content for free, but some of the best will only do so if there is some financial reward, describe what you see as a less objectionable and more sustainable business model for the miles/points/travel blogging space.

That’s a tough one. What makes it perverted is how vastly superior to all other compensation is with the credit card affiliate links. If banks were not doing this then it would be an even more level field.  Let’s admit it. We are all producing content for free. And then many rely on aggressive pimping, horrible (lack of ) disclosure practices and bad advice to boot! The whole business model is just warped! This is why you see so many newbie “experts” dishing out advice lately! Why should they have a business model if they clearly do not know what they are talking about? They should just go back to their day jobs or keep working there. We certainly do not need more “pseudo experts”! Once you get in the dance, you need to produce or you may get kicked out. This is why you see more and more content driven by what pays. And then pure greed takes over. At TBB we try to shed some light who is doing it right and who is not. Making a difference? I would like to think so but, in the grand picture, probably not. Who knows, I am enjoying it. This is a developing field as I learn more too.

 

Scott: Is this your first official filler post?

No. I had several “TBB Gem Comments of the Week’ posts earlier 😉

 

Hutch: If you saw Rene (DP) at the airport would you
A) buy him a drink
B) walk the other way
C) tell him to buy you a drink and you’ll stop (just for a week) writing about him
D) give him a wedgie

I would buy him a drink if he accepts it. But I am sure he would walk the other way, probably not enough time going to next mileage run!

 

Another Mark: What did you think when it looked like Greeces financial system was going to collapse?

Well it has not completely collapsed but, let’s not kid ourselves, the place has taken a nuke with 27% unemployment, 30% loss of GDP in 5 years and over 60%  in youth unemployment. I am too busy to think about that; I tend not to worry about things I can not control. You think we have a dysfuctional govt in the US (and we do)? It does not come even close to the complete junk of the Greek politicians, they are in a league of their own. It is sad watching it play out. Mother’s pension has been cut 22% and she complains. But she voted for the arsheholes!

 

Another Mark: (selfish). Should we get in on the twitter IPO even us little guys have to buy in in the mid / upper $20′s?

I don’t do individual stocks and I certainly don’t do IPOs. Way too much drama/excitement for my own taste. Having said that, Twitter as a service is indeed powerful. How do they translate that to making profits…I have no idea!

 

Majikow: How much is AA status worth for someone in the WAS area? Gold, Plat and Exec Plat? Trying to decide whether it’s worth it to go for the 6/12/30k status thresholds under the fast track promo.

Only YOU can answer that. The game is changing. The good old days of super cheap mileage runs is over. Airlines have the upper hand now, they are in control. I decided to stop playing this game. If you do a lot of traveling for work and you are close, then you sure need to decide if it is WORTH it for you! How is that for an evasive answer? 🙂

 

Mon-Lin: How do you optimize the packing of your suitcase?

I am the worst suitcase packer out there! I just throw the crap in a few hours before my flight, stomp on it to zip it and then I am out the door! Don’t overthink it 😉

 

John: What is your favorite restaurant in A2 (not a chain)?

I am not a foodie. And I do like variety. Some that come to mind are: Seoul Garden, Palm Palace, King Shing (tiny cheapo chinese food I go and always order the curry beef noodle soup!). Great Lakes closed sadly. There is a Korean place in North Campus that makes these unique chicken wings, forget the name of it now. These come to mind. Gave you more than one…

 

Tressa: I think I’m obsessed with miles/points blog reading! Do you have this obsession and does it negatively impact your life and if so, how do you control it?

You too? Welcome to the club! This is a disease, there is no cure. We just need medicine to control it before it completely overtakes our lives and we find ourselves planning a trip to Dubai with some other sick people. I was so obsessed with it I turned my obsession to a blog and from my position I just dish it out to help me feel better about myself lol. Seriously now, this can negatively affect lives. With the social media explosion everything is so connected and it is so hard to FOCUS on specific tasks from start to finish. But it can be done. Discipline is needed. A good therapist also works wonders too 😉

 

Used to Be Angry Now Just Depressed: Will TPG be on your list of blogs to avoid??

No, this blog is not dangerous. And the content is fine most of the time. There is heavy bias of course towards content that pays. That is fine too. But what assures its place in my list is the constant pushing of the cards every single day, heck almost every single post (gotten just a little better lately I noticed). Being sold to non stop turns ME off. Brian is a great guy, don’t get me wrong. There are lots of bloggers I like and I don’t like their blogs. That’s cool. I am sure they say the same things about me. Frankly, I don’t care 🙂

 

harvson3: what do you think you “owe” your future grandchildren and their generation, and why?

A better environment? Some changes to make sure our economic system is sustainable (health care/Social Security/Medicare/etc.)? Pass down some good values and a sense of civic duty? I don’t know man, we ‘ll be dead. It is getting so late at night right now, came back from an epic dinner celebrating Mrs. TBB’s birthday a few hours ago and I am sleepy…

 

The Deal Mommy: What are your thoughts on vigilantism? (Yourself excluded, of course;)

I will respond pretending I am an attorney: It depends

I am smiling, you?

 

Marco: What is the longest business trip you have ever taken?

That is easy actually. In my first job at a small CPA firm my boss used to send me to see clients all over north Michigan. About three days DRIVING. And in winter too! Snowstorms. We are talking in the Upper Peninsula too. Thank God I never got stuck. Sometimes I had to stay in a motel and earned no hotel points. It was painful! Had several business domestic trips but nothing compared to my experience driving up north. I remember one day I drove so much I read a whole book on “How to buy a house”. Yes I used to do this “read and drive” lol.

 

Becky: Where would you travel if you didn’t have ANY miles or points to spend?

This is a nightmarish thought. Unthinkable. Don’t make me censor you…this is not funny 🙂  I just don’t know!

Will continue…

 

I leave you with this: