TBB Mission: To Entertain, Educate and Inspire. Aim to at least do one well!
If you like what you see here, please let others know by passing them a link to my blog, thank you!
The contest for the two American Airlines lounge passes is over and I will announce the winner when I get around to it, most likely this weekend. Thank you all for entering, it was fun!
EPIC RANT: WHAT IS TBB ALL ABOUT?
Very thoughtful post by What’s Your Point in “Why Do We Wait Until People Die Before We Express Our Positive Thoughts?“. And I absolutely agree! You should always do that in your daily life! Let me take that one step further now and explain (for the nth time) what TBB does and why:
This ain’t no hobby anymore. The days of getting excited about getting 40k miles with MCI, loading up on multi year subscriptions on valuemags.com (are they still around?), dissecting mileage runs, killing time in Flyer Talk’s OMNI forum and making friends in small DOs (gatherings) are mostly over (not really but you get my point). The landscape has completely changed. After the financial crisis this hobby has become BIG business. We have a gazillion blogs with a gazillion affiliate credit card links pumped out on a daily hourly by the minute basis. The old days of purity of helping each other are mostly gone (not completely).
Now, you get 600 people paying real money and going away for a long weekend in Frequent Flyer seminars. Understand…this is a BUSINESS! Seminar organizers are not doing it all out of the goodness of their hearts, they are doing it because it is good BUSINESS! The bloggers presenting are there because it is good BUSINESS targeting many new hobby enthusiasts/newbies who never had more than an ATM or cash rebate card in their lifetime!
Well, we had all niches filled, you name it! Maybe it was time for the Siskel and Ebert show critiquing all these travel/miles/points/financialservicesales businesses. And pointing out the good, the bad and the ugly. Readers demand it because they are overwhelmed (thank God for Google Reader Feedly). For the record, Siskel and Ebert gave out more thumbs down. If TBB could have dozen hands his thumbs will be definitely broken because with the 594 595 blogs TBB reviews you just can not imagine the horrors/drivel/psuedoexpertise/aggressive pumping we see! And the good content we find we feature here (always adhering to the mission to Entertain, Educate or Inspire).
And we speak our mind. If you do not like it, bite me. Improve damnit! Give something positive back, work a little bit harder, earn your clicks! TBB is like the Siskel & Ebert/Consumer Reports/60 Minutes of this business. We value our independence and will continue going it alone while putting our readers first as long as we can! Seriously, what I am doing is insane but I now feel like my readers need TBB. Thank you to all for the positive feedback, I sure appreciate it.
I also feel very strongly about NOT censoring, so Unamerican! Who am I to stop you from freely expressing yourself? Besides, you taking the time to leave me your comments is showing me that you actually care (thank you Rick) deep down. Negative feedback is actually the best because you get to learn so much from it. Ok, some of it does make your head shake violently but that’s okay. Part of life! Heck, I need TBB too! Yeah, I smoke my own crack lol. Like I said in my incredibly awful video, it takes a toll but I like it lol.
And a lot of what shows up here…it’s entertainment. I want my readers to smile, learn something and maybe once in a while get inspired. In other words, make it a fun short read. And try to capture what you should know what happens in this space because you do not have the time to go through this crap. I don’t either but I do anyway. The mission, the mission, the mission. So focused on the mission I always run out of time to do anything related to the blog business. A big thank you to all who have clicked on my “Filipino women dating” ad, it has been a huge money maker for TBB. Mega lol.
TRAVEL
Awesome picture of Hong Kong at night!
Prague (Praha) on my mind. By Loyalty Traveler. I had a travel moment here in…1987 during my college credit travel European tour. Late at night, coming back from the castle, over Charles bridge, light raining, a bit buzzed from a few beverages, listening to my Walkman (yeah, remember?) and listening to the Smiths…Wow. I still get the chills. During this trip I got the travel bug. Then I got married, kids came along and it has been downhill ever since…just kidding! Prague was SO insanely cheap back then, not any more!
Sometimes TBB gives Ben over at One Mile at a Time a little bit of hard time for his travel tastes, photos of Diet Cokes/wet towels/hot nuts. But the kid is a relentless traveler. If I traveled so much I would probably need a weight reduction emergency surgery and maybe brain surgery to take out brain cells burned due to jet lag! But do not mistake that he is not working hard. All the pics and commentary he does takes A LOT of time, it is hard work! And the quality of the pics is always excellent (for what he does, still almost never any real people in the trip reports…but I digress). Anyways, I just wanted to show here some readers who may not know the amazing collection of past trip reports he has in his site. If you wondered about a business or first class flight, Ben has likely done it. You wanna buy a banner ad in my site? Just kidding.
If you are traveling in Europe by train with kids under 15, you can buy a 3 day advance purchase ticket on DB Bahn trains and ALL the kids travel for free. Must at least transit through Germany. Looks like a deal to me. Thanks to The Deal Mommy.
MILES/POINTS
DansDeals wrote “120 Direct Flights From Miami That Can Be Booked With British Airways Avios“. Great stuff. Amazing how some bloggers actually put some work into their posts that may be helpful to readers! Did you ever see TBB bitch about sliding the affiliate links in such posts (prefer not to but hey, he needs to feed his family while many pretend they are doing it to help family and friends travel for “free” with amazingly lazy posts that should have never seen the light of the day if it was not for the affiliate links). Did I make myself clear? Good 🙂 Siskel says Thumbs Up!
I am impressed lately with Mommy Points. She has hit a pretty good stride focusing her message to her audience. It even makes the placement of the affiliate links tolerable because the content is solid (for her audience). “Points Programs That Allow Free Point Transfers to Family Members“. I even saved that in my Evernote because I will likely use it down the road. And she followed it with another article on airline child free seating sections. Another piece of honest and full praise given out by this TBB guy, he sounds so angry. Thumbs Up!
Saverocity continues to pick through all Category 9 Hilton Hotels to “rate” and pick the ones that he deems worthy of redeeming (in other words, the best bang for your buck). A lot of work went into this post which is a continuation of other similar posts on Hilton and Hyatt. Here is a blogger who is not mailing it in.
I so love to give praise where it is deserved – Siskel
ON MY MIND
Every day I go through an avalanche of blogs. I feel awful looking into doing things for the blog, making it look better, looking into monetizing options, adding trip reports BEFORE I go through higher priorities and…going through the blogs. They just never stop coming lol. I found a good niche (I think) but maybe it is just too good. Always material to pick to feature here along with my spin wearing the Siskel hat (come on, he was the better looking one!). The easiest thing I could do was what Miles For Family did after just two weeks of blogging: getting affiliate links from creditcards.com. But I do not think I have earned your trust and somehow I still feel I will join a freaking spiral and turn into PointValue (get it?) lol. Even though I have devoted friends and family (seriously) and several readers mocking me for giving up all this money. Or maybe I am an idiot (yes Rick I know what you think). Like I said, what is the rush? If you want, read her post “My cousin-in-law rule“. It is kind of funny actually. And I see she has a Privacy Policy up already! I still don’t have that. Idiot. Maybe I should send the link to my son and get him to put it up in my site so he stops doing that!
After just two weeks…shaking my head.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Mrs TBB and daughter stole my miles again and are off to Paris. I see lots of pizza around my house for the next week!
To the kind reader who helped me with the award itinerary, did you see my email back to you? Those dates work and can stay in Hong Kong (no Macau). If you see it can be done please shoot me an email with the flights and will call. I always run out of time to burn lately! And thank you very much!
BLOG BUZZ
Note: This section is intended for long time readers and miles/points addicts who follow the blogs in this space. Readers not familiar with this crazy hobby could skip this section!
Let me show something here that shows you what a “Travel Challenge” should be. Milevalue had one on how to get 10 nights in Hawaii and first class for free. FTG (the blog) had one on how to get 10 nights in Hong Kong and Kaui for $112.40 (forty cents…really?). Which one is better? Which one has more work put into it? TBB reviews blogs and educates its readers, get over it! Why isn’t TBB linking to the Milevalue article then? Well, we still think it was just not that good and it was an excuse to push more credit card links. Word;-) My momma told me to express myself and my therapist highly encourages it! Who am I to disobey my mother and my therapist huh? But I do applaud the effort to earn them clicks! Do posts like this win me over? Hell NO! On the same note, Million Mile Secrets showed you (in a typically detailed MMS like fashion) how to blow all your points you get from the (what else?) SPG cards for 5 nights to a few properties in Disney World plus 50,000 airline miles. If you are into Disney World and you want to do it , go ahead and enjoy Mickie Mouse shaking you down in every corner of the park (and near vicinity). TBB family says: Pfft! I guess we are just not into Disney.
Ok, I wasted some time reading about this FoundersCard that The Points Guy even had a referral link for! Not impressed. This would never show up at TBB even though it may make sense 1 or 2 out of 100 cases. $490 in the first year (includes $90 Initiation fee, what the hell, is this a fraternity or what?) and then $395 every year after that. Only 10,000 members so far, probably some techno geeks with too much money to care wanting to be part of the “club” and network with each other. Well, I would love to at least get an invite out of the blue; I am sick and tired of getting spammed from the scooter store!
TBB has praised Travel is Free (is not) several times here for the excellent (innovative and original) blog posts he does in da internet:-) But I am not so sure what he was thinking when he tried to pass off the inferior affiliate US Air credit card…I wonder if he reads TBB or he was too excited to start raking in some dough. I have given out and explained the many reasons why the non affiliate US Air credit card offer is better! If anyone does not know about this, well look back in previous posts or email me. DO NO HARM! Come on dude! I am not angry, just a little disappointed…About the Pacific Hopper post: Quite complicated and as soon as I saw starting at Guam, I lost interest:-)
Apparently some firm named Deloitte (I am an alumnus) made a study to show off its consulting prowess. Gary Leff over at View from the Wing went off on it and gave it way too much space. Thanks for the effort. Lets move on now. Pretend it did not happen. Not a big deal.
When I see FTG Staff I know the post will try to sell me financial products. 20k Virgin Atlantic card, seriously? Pass!
We Fly Free was selling the inferior US Air card offer. TBB has a special place for bloggers who do this and is not very sanitary! All it shows is you either have no clue or you deliberately promote this offer that pays you! Readers get screwed. What, you have a quota? Well, too bad. Readers rely on you the expert for reliable advice and NOT to get hurt by it. I should start a separate button with bloggers promoting such practices? How can this be excused by anyone? I am not angry but I am pissed 🙂
Ahphuckit! FREE PUSSY RIOT. I just always wanted to say that!
TBBon!
All of the above is my own personal opinion only.
Brought to you by TBB
a division of Hypopimp Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: PIMP)
To my Dearest Ingy, George’s last name is all over the internet, google it, it’s no secret to us, his adoring and obedient followers. Buzz i hope you won’t mind if I tell everyone………………..it’s..George Albert Sinatra, we call him Buzz and call you WACKO! very cordially yours, Ingyisanass Ramsey
Who’s the contest winner? If your buddy Grant wins another contest, I know the fix was in.
So much fuss about my name! Georgegate has now surpassed authorgate scandal in the blogosphere!
I got 33 entries. I will pick a winner by the weekend. I am too sleepy now.
This blog post took a lot out of me but I like it:-)
It was actually a different Grant. I was kinda disappointed.
You can enter the next contest. I may have a Marriott $50 gift card…maybe:-)
George – don’t get wound up about ingy. its a complete joke that he takes pleasure in trolling your website, while when he was running FTG he took great pleasure in not allowing any discourse in the comments.
Its the height of hyprocracy. Ingy – here’s a challenge… only post comments that YOU would have approved on your blog.
What you say is true. But at least Ingy doesn’t go so low as to viciously attack people personally on irrelevant topics. I know Rick routinely received comments about his personal history and pathetic attacks on his family members. Disagree on many things we all may, but as far as I can tell no one’s truly threatening others or seeking the absolute worst in their rants and criticisms.
I agree.
@AZ, I’m trying to understand your post. (Are you being sarcastic that Rick is not attacking on irrelevant topics , such as a person’s last name? 😉 )
Are you saying that Rick’s blog censoring stems from his past dealings with some nuts who posted there? And that’s why he (er, the blog) still does it?
Just trying to understand…I really don’t get his behavior lately and I’ve followed him since 2008.
>>>>>>>>>Are you saying that Rick’s blog censoring stems from his past dealings with some nuts who posted there? And that’s why he (er, the blog) still does it?
I think (and AZ can confirm) this is what he means…
Actually, Rick exaggerated things to justify the manual approval of all comments. He claimed he was only filtering personal attacks and comments about his family but those of us who were censored for other reasons knew this was a lie.
Ariana wrote a blog post saying you can comment and leave your own referral link (forgot what it was, uber?). Gary Leff did and it was deleted faster than Usain Bolt previous 100 m world record.
Why do I never get personal attacks? I wish I did, they are so amusing.
Haters gonna hate:-)
Wound up about Rick? When he trolls here the number of comments doubles. It’s great for TBB’s future credit card link business.
Actually, this is true. Deep down I think Rick loves me. Come on Rick, admit it. My blog is keeping you from yawning too much:-)
George personally, I like the guy. His insistence on tearing down others deplorable
I still love Rick. But he does not understand me.
TBB reviews blogs…Yawn:-)
Tolerable to thumbs up, I guess that’s progress 🙂
BTW you have got to ditch whatever caching plugin you’re using. Have to refresh your blog several times just to get it to load new
entertainmentcomments.Yesterday’s entertainment made me happy that I had people send donations directly to charity for tickets to the 4 seminars I ran. Less icky and I’m happy to burn a few Avios for my own ticket.
What is that caching plug in you are talking about? Please elaborate. All I see in my plugins is that some of them always need to be updated, it never stops. I am not seeing any plugins. I see a Jetpack in there but I don’t think it is even installed. So maybe it is a ploy to force you to keep refreshing lol.
Your way of seminar is up front. Then again you are the main and only show. Longer festivals/seminars are sure more complicated (like food,etc.)
Oh, and no doubt, in your way all proceeds do go to charity. Any meeting planner points? Ok, keep them;-)
As mention yesterday and in the ft thread the meeting planner points are donated to charity. Try reading before degrading. It reflects poorly on you
My statement was addressed to Dan.
Thank you for taking the time to comment!
Saverocity made a bad call. The Hilton Park Lane, whilst ostensibly ‘best bang per buck’ in Cat 9, is a dump. When you saw your room, the 1960’s building and the utilitarian public areas you’d be regretting blowing 90k, esp when the brand new (given it was totally rebuilt) IC next door is 50k.
Hey Raffles,
A fair shout. I did reply to you in the post too, but why not discuss here also. The value of the Park Lane is that London is a destination that many would consider, and if you do have these two free night certs they would be a good place to cash them in – I mainly say this as the alternative equivalent to the Park Lane would be costly either in real money or in points.
Like in NYC, where I see the WA as a dump (and you drew the analogy to the Park Lane) I would suggest the DoubleTree as a better use of two free nights (the Conrad looks nice, but it is too disconnected from the City for my liking).
I just don’t think you can exclude a city as expensive as London from the list of places to cash in your ‘coupons’ but would be glad to hear about The Bentley or the Waldorf-Hilton if they are better.
Also, I did only say that the Park Lane was the winner by Price alone (which by its nature can be a contrived thing). If I was planning to visit London in the next 6 months or so (when the coupons expire) I probably would stay there for a night or two so I could save my points currencies for other options.
But my actual winners from the Cat 9s were:
Shanghai on the Bund
Trianon Palace Versailles
London Park Lane
The Bentley, South Beach
In no particular order….though the latter was included as the best ‘value’ option if you need to stay in the states for a shorter weekend type trip.
Hilton lacks a superb London hotel. The ‘best’ in terms of modernity are unfortunately the ones out of the centre, ie Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf. However, the Mint chain they bought – now Doubletree Westminster and Doubletree Tower Bridge – was very well regarded before acquired.
The Trafalgar, whilst I’ve never been in a room, has a cool rooftop bar and is funky enough not to carry any Hilton Group brand. The Waldorf had a modernist makeover when a Meridien and if the rooms look good (no idea) it is a good tourist spot. The Palm Court is also beautiful inside.
The Bentley is is a townhouse hotel, very upmarket – I have eaten there but not been in a room. Probably the ‘classiest’ option.
The other Hilton on Hyde Park is being refurbed as a Doubletree at present. Very small public areas, though, which I doubt will change.
If I had to book myself a Hilton room tonight I would go for The Trafalgar, and probaby put my parents in The Bentley.
Ironically, I stayed at the Conrad NYC in February. In terms of space (huge rooms) and modern styling it is great. Not close to much, of course, but if you can live with that it is fine. I would stay there again. Only other NYC Hilton that seemed ok was Millennium, but with a new tower going up directly opposite it is probably very noisy and dusty.
Yep, I like the Conrad too, but the location is just a little annoying in a city where I subway everywhere. I was down by the Millennium yesterday for some Century 21 shopping, Sooo many tourists there due to the 9/11 memorial which made me pull my hair out, but I agree it is an often overlooked example.
Most people I know go from ‘oh that looks interesting’ to ‘er maybe not’ quickly when it comes to that property.
Thanks for your insight on the hotels, perhaps its time to dig into Cat 8 and see what they open up for London alternatives and price points…
This is a great and very educational exchange, thank you!
I stayed at the Doubletree Heathrow for 43 pounds one night. I thought it was very nice:-)
George, I meant what I said on Twitter! Better fix your rant and say, that I have been blogging for a month instead of 2 weeks. Or I will sue and give half of proceeds to the poor. Oh, and I will get FTG to cover my legal costs. Do it now, or else.
Send a letter like all the others. Address it to “TBB:Legal Department” 🙂
Georgie Georgie. Lets give you a few facts for your blog and maybe it will help you refresh your memory and enlighten your crowd.
The first Chicago Seminars was held and scheduled before credit card links became fashionable and we all paid our own way. Let me hear you tell Cliff Stratton, Sharon Adcock, Howie Rsppaport, Steve Belkin, Denny Flanagan and many others who volunteered their time they did it for business. Tell speakers that spoke did so without renumeration or even any idea about credit card links at the time, they did it for business.
Yes there is a faction of the hobby that do this clearly as a business, and some of us got damn lucky to be in the right place at the right time (me included).
You quite honestly should be ashamed of yourself George for distorting the facts and efforts put in by so many freely into our group.
You and your gang can call me all the names you want, but your post this morning clearly shows why you need to be challenged. With every dollar we donate to charity, every tip we share in Chicago and every laugh we have, we will be overshadowing the crap you spew here.
disgusting.
“but your post this morning clearly shows why you need to be challenged.” so you believe that george needs to be challenged?
But you also think that george shouldn’t challenge any other bloggers about dubious (and self serving) advice they serve?
pot meet kettle
It’s very interesting Rick that most of the names you mention are not bloggers who constantly shill credit cards but are long time FT posters.
Who along with the bloggers you so despise, put on a great grass roots event
Why not have a “blog” free doo? The blogs are companies, why not let them pay to get access to hundreds of willing credit card applicants.
Go ahead. Set up a blogger free DO. Oh wait, that would mean doing more than complaining. Sorry. Bad idea for this crowd
Our buddy Dave has been doing a great job in the Ann Arbor Do for many years. I think Dave should start charging bloggers to present and not just rely on killing it putting the Webers brunch bill in his credit card.
I kid. I kid.
Readers challenge me in my own blog while the blog they are associated with does not allow the same!
Bikeguy’s event has featured more than one major blogger as its speaker.
Ingy (the senior citizen)’s claim that the Chicago seminars started “before credit card links became fashionable and we all paid our own way” is a little disingenuous because HE was already making money on credit cards even if the rest of them weren’t (he was a true pioneer).
You once again PRETEND TO NOT UNDERSTAND the fact that the complaint is the business aspect of it has taken over, and clouded blogger’s judgement and content.
No one said the first Chicago Seminar wasn’t a great event.
No one said FTG (the blog) wasn’t great in its heyday.
But credit cards links have polluted the market, FTG (the blog) became crap (though Ariana has improved it to some degree), the 2013 Chicago Seminars is full of credit card bloggers (except Captain Denny, anyone else? Yes, we know you are not in the game anymore, but no matter how much you refuse to admit it, FTG (the person) is still the face of FTG (the blog))
The cry that bloggers are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts is fake. And it is obvious.
So when the seminars are touted as 100% altruistic, being run for camaraderie and charity, it rings false. Why can’t it just be admitted that bloggers now attend because it is good for their business? Is it mentioned that the seminar presenters get cash for the credit cards they recommend? Or is that cash being donated to charity? We know it isn’t, and that is where the altruism fakeness shines through.
You call it crap, we call it consumer protection. People should understand the conflicting interests that bloggers and seminars have, and THEN they can make informed decisions.
If this was presented more openly, no one would have a problem, including George.
“If this was presented more openly, no one would have a problem, including George.”
All you need to prove that point is exactly from today’s blog….
“prefer not to but hey, he needs to feed his family while many pretend they are doing it to help family and friends travel for “free” with amazingly lazy posts that should have never seen the light of the day if it was not for the affiliate links”
I’m sure whatever affiliate money Dan will end up making due to that seminar will far outweigh the 9K avios and hotel points he spent to be there, but at least like his posts, they are actually informative to the audience and he is up front about his motives when he bombards his posts with CC’s
None of this “I wrote this post about how you can transfer 20K starpoints into 25K airline miles because I want to help family and friends fly for free. Oh by the way, here’s 15 links”
Jeff: I LOVE your comment. You get it. Thank you.
Readers: Please read Jeff’s comment, it is right on, bingo!
Steve’s too!
Ditto that, comment of the day. Thumbs up. 😀
Does Ingy even read TBB’s posts before he goes on a rant, or does he just go straight to the comments section?
TBB had an entire section in today’s post talking about how back in the day, the travel hacking field was all about helping each other and grassroots and making friends.
So how does Rick respond? “Yeah, but back in the day, the very first Chicago Seminar were run by small time FT posters who paid their own way, and volunteered their time without Credit Card links. GOTCHA!!!!! LIAR!!!!”
So basically, the very first Chicago Seminars were exactly the way TBB described the old days to be in this very post. But becuase it’s Rick, he has to pretend to be outraged with what TBB said
>>>>>>Does Ingy even read TBB’s posts before he goes on a rant, or does he just go straight to the comments section?
I used to wonder about that but I don’t anymore. I yawn.
Iggy you call this crap? Maybe my comments are crap, I’ll give you that, but this Blog is great and fun to read not to mention the comment section. You want crap, crap is a travel blog that writes a post to tell you to get 2 estimates if you are going to get work done remodeling your bathroom. Some of your finest work, btw……………………….never forget the TBB motto Entertain, Educate and Piss off Rick.
No, not trying to piss off anyone! Inspire yes:-)
It is out of my control how people react to my posts so why worry? I write it as I see it. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me (most do).
I laugh at myself all the time. U all should try it, it is liberating;-)
@Ingy at 7.50 am(!!!)
Your trolling this morning (7.50 am, earliest posting, can’t wait?) started out well but it quickly…deteriorated as usual.
I was there at the first two Seminars. The first one was indeed great and then at the second one some appeared more interested in the Nightline crew (or maybe it was the first one? Fuzzy memory due to aging). I still remember the expression in your face when I told you that the Nightline show was a really bad idea. I swear I think I saw dollar sings in your eye sockets. Hey I hallucinate sometimes, just being honest what I saw ok?
Thank you for holding that seminar and all you have done for the community…again. It IS great business and stop pretending about you doing it out of the goodness of your heart and care so deeply about the community. You and the other bloggers, geesh! I remember at FTU in the credit card for beginners section (or something similarly called), in Q&A, someone asked the three bloggers “what do they suggest in learning more”. It was a complete parody seeing all of them compete to outshine each other to promote their site. And NONE said “we make a lot of money when you click our ads”. Yep, I think that was the same couple who thought bloggers are so nice to give them all this info for free and get paid only by google advertising (please laugh at my links lol) and when pressed had to shoot high and estimate…$10 per cc app!
Cliff rocks. I think IB should hire him.
Sharon is a sweetheart and can hustle the donations (compliment).
Howie imho should be running FTG due to prior service
Steve this crazy guy, good for award booking business to be out there
Denny (had lunch with him) is a cool guy. He must be bored and looking for a 2nd gig after retiring from UA perhaps?
Hey, I volunteered too a little bit, thanks for that Hyatt card, it was put to good use.
Wow, look at this list. So much praise. I am not ashamed of it or anything that I write for TBB. I am only influenced by my conscience so far. (I need to tailor my content to appeal more to have readers keep clicking my Filipino women dating ad, cant’ believe bloggers are missing this goldmine, who needs SPG for 30k yawn)
>>>>>Me and my gang can call me all the names you want,
WTF? Sometimes I wonder if we are from the same planet, geesh! Oh, I love to be challenged and I truly love (oh the irony) it is being done in my own blog uncensored (as it should be).
If I only had a dollar for every time you mentioned donating to charity…Yawn.
Why go to Chicago to laugh, I just read TBB comments lol.
99% of the tips are in the blogs. 1% is for secret sessions. You go to Mr. Pickles blog to learn that too. Come on, you are laughing about this. If not, dude, you need to chill out.
>>>>>>>we will be overshadowing the crap you spew here. disgusting.
You sound so angry why? Out of so many positive comments about my crap there will be readers who disagree with me. Its’ cool. I respect your opinion and your right to freely express it here (wish I can say that happens at FTG the blog….still cant’ believe the speed GL’s link was deleted).
I think I should cut down coffee…
Your FTU beginners story reminds me of something else. I remember going to a website, back in 2008, where the blogger offered to “review my current credit card profile/history” for *free* and then would make recommendations on how and when to get a bunch of new ones. The guy seemed to be an expert because he had a finance/banking background. I was sooooo naive—I really thought that he was doing it purely as a nice guy…. I now completely understand about the need for disclosure, and I give credit for that to you, George.
keep doing what you’re doing!
>>>>>>>>>>>I now completely understand about the need for disclosure, and I give credit for that to you, George.
Bingo. Exactly. Right on. That’s what I am talking about!
For the record, Rick used to do that actually for free for a long time before the banks jumped into the game and changed the ballgame. Hell, I did too! Oh wait, I am still doing it for free damnit! And some of these folks have been bugging me for years to do a blog to click my links. Then again, I always told them “you know when I do that I will get paid pretty good” and they said “yes” and then I said “I can buy you dinner at the restaurant of your choice with each card” and they haven’t stopped begging me ever since. Lol.
Well….you get my point:-)
There are several “Free” Credit Card consultations around the blogosphere currently. If you take somebody’s time and they are helpful whose links are you going to use?—->great business!
One of these days I will put mine up (if I have not gone completely mad) and then right below I will have something unique like this:
“Hey, if you use my links I will put the money towards my kids’ college education funds or pay more towards my mortgage (yes I do have one!). My own personal charity is none of your business but my favorites are Doctors Without Borders and Rotary International. If you do not use my links I will not like it. If I did not make you feel guilty enough to change your mind, please use the links from these following five bloggers with exemplary content and blogging practices and we are totally cool.”
I just made that up. Lunch time. Feel like pizza:-)
Yes, it was Rick I was referring to for this “free consultation”. But, yeah, there are loads more. Especially in personal finance, as you know!
Just annoying how you think someone is being uber nice and helpful but they have some ulterior motivation which they are not disclosing.
I don’t care if it’s even an Amazon diaper link from Dan, I want to know that he is making some moolah off of me. Otherwise, I feel like a sucker, in some way.
But, you know, they always say there is disclosure (if you can find it), they are complying with the letter of the law (yes but not the spirit imho) and hey, it is capitalism and it is up to you!
Don’t get me started on the armies of charlatans in personal finance industry. I am not yet ready for another epic rant, this one took a lot out of me:-)
What I don’t get is Ingy acts as if he is on some crusade to rescue the mile and point blogosphere from TBB. More bloggers comment on this site than any other blog I have seen and they are usually positive in the comments. Seems to me if TBB was so “disgusting” more bloggers would be up in arms about it. Instead many positively engage here in the comments section.
I think a commenter made a good point that TBB is like a movie/book/food critic. If Rick thinks TBB is “disgusting” good thing he was never in any of the aforementioned industries. Critics in those areas can be downright nasty. TBB is polite (albeit a little neurotic) compared to some of those critics. But like every industry critic there will be those on the inside who think you are an a**hole who doesn’t know what he is talking about. Rick is just one of those people and that’s fine. It makes for great comment wars. TBB is playing a role and so is Rick. Carry on.
Thanks Scott. Calling me neurotic is indeed a compliment, I sure appreciate it 🙂
When IB makes TBB an offer even higher than it offered FTG I would start my next post with ‘I would like to thank my biggest fan who without his relentless devotion to accomplish TBB’s mission to entertain readers, this would not have been possible”. Oh wait, I am hallucinating again.
Siskel would not have been a critic if he only gave thumbs up. Yawn!
I meant it as such so glad you took that way. Keep up the good and neurotic work!
Thanks for the shout out!
You are welcome. There is an army of grandparents planning trips with their grandchildren now on German trains hopefully:-)
I just hope I’m not on the same train car with the Duggars!
Lol!
I first found out about the miles game due to FTG when his blog looked like a buster geocities website. Then I found Flyertalk and began to read and educate on the various ways to play the FF game. As soon as the barrage of emails started coming from FTG’s mailing list a couple years ago then I unsubscribed and only subscribed to the twitter content of bloggers offering useful information. Fast forward to today and after reading the comments by Rick it is clear that he is indeed retired but also a bitter old man. I do not say these words lightly because I know they can be interpreted as hurtful.
Ingy, I know you will read this.. take the criticism like anyone who has ever been in the spotlight and act like a man that does not feel the need to express every thought that crosses your mind because the more you do the worse you sound.
George, thanks for creating an entertaining venue to express your opinion. It is clearly a void that no one else has touched on in the FF arena.
Carry on..
Thank you JackDaniels (thumbs up for creative handle)!
Very thoughtful and non angry comment. I still get the emails. You know, the mission, the mission, the mission:-)
I don’t think FTG (the guy) is bitter. I suspect IB told him to quit making a fool of himself on FT and do it somewhere else. It had to be a major embarrassment to the IB brand.
Zing! I would not want that kinda gibberish tarnishing my brand either.
I love it being done here! Entertainment at its finest!
George, one more thing. What’s up with your half a$$ (how appropriate, no?) compliment? Kind of funny? You know you liked it, so just say so!:)
Sweetheart listen.
You are very new in the blogging world. You need to sit back a little bit and listen and start developing some relationships. Even go to one of these seminars. Most importantly, focus on your content. You brought out the cc link way too fast. Too soon to establish credibility and bang, out come with your cc links. Stop talking about links and make them the focus of a single post ok?
Hey, this is tough love. People hire me (in my other life) to tell them what they need to hear, NOT what they want to hear! You got to give it more time and develop a unique niche/angle. See how Mommy Points has developed a pretty good niche…it took TIME. I just found it representative of the whole scene these days that a brand new blogger is not shy about asking for clicks from their readers after such a short time blogging. So, observe a little more, meet some of these personalities in person, and focus on content/content/content. And if you think this is hard it sure is. Or you can be like some other momma out there that only pumps out posts that always benefit her!
Hope you are not angry. Blogging online is rough. You must have a tough skin. It does take a toll…is it worth it? Well, for me, so far at least monetarily may not be but on the entertainment value I am getting, heck yeah it is worth it. I just come here and read the comments every day and laugh for free:-)
Ok, George! First, don’t call me sweetheart. That’s extremely patronizing, don’t you think? As far as links go, I don’t expect very much to come of it. But they are there, in case someone wants to use them. I certainly don’t plan on pimping them on a daily or even weekly basis. I also don’t plan to install any flashing banners, that are “in your face”. In fact, most likely the links will go away at some point, because I will not meet quota, which is fine. I do plan to focus on my content. Didn’t you see me mention that in my post? I also don’t see how Mommy Points comparison was relevant. I am not here to compete with her. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. And I don’t want to. I think Summer does a fantastic job! Did I say anything, that led you to believe otherwise? In fact I link to her blog quite often, because its a great source of information. I am sorry you do not approve of the way, I do things. Lastly, I am not angry. But I am a little disappointed, that you decided to “put me in my place” in such a manner. What was just a silly banter turned into bullying. I think a private email would be more appropriate, don’t you think? But hey, I hope it brings you more traffic. Thanks for increasing mine today. Back to my “Miles for cats” blog. Good day, sir!
Haha.. the chuckles continue. Nice response sweetheart.
Sorry about the sweetheart, it was dumb of me. Haven’t had much sleep lately, blogging and all!
I am giving you constructive advice. Sometimes is tough,I am sorry! I am doing it to help you. Don’t take it personally!
So, how are you different from Mommy then? Need to zero in that niche! We are all average, except Gary Leff lol.
My point was to show my readers where this “hobby” stands. I find it incredible you pulled out the links SO FAST.
You know your stuff more than many other “expert” bloggers. You just need to start hitting some amazing content to earn it. It’s a long road.
Hey I am still trying to figure it out. And I did say your post it was funny:-)
Final advice: You got to let some things go. Thick skin is an absolute requirement to last as a blogger. I can provide you a (non affiliate) link where I get mine:-)
Cheers
I went to her blog today (courtesy of the link in your blog posts, TBB) and I could not see any difference between her and MommyPoints. Even the picture with her child looks like MP!
I am the target audience for her: trying to get my family around, probably in coach, to see the world for cheap. But I mostly saw credit cards stuff. Well, I don’t visit MP either anymore.
Hey, JackDaniels, have you heard this joke: What’s the difference between Jack Daniels and George Custer? (Punchline on reddit)
She has a lot to learn about blogging…
Haw! I like it and will have to add it to my repertoire now.
Cheers
“If you do not like it bite me”. BEST line I’ve seen in a blog in forever. Thanks for another great read 🙂
I type what I think. Sometimes I regret it. But never straying from the mission to entertain:-)
Thanks!
Dear bloggers:
We know how cash & points work
We know how nights & flights work
We know how 5th nights free work
We know how the 5K bonus to airlines work
We know how SPG moments work
And if any of us don’t know? We can go to spg.com where it’s spelled out pretty clearly.
Please find better filler content to place around the SPG links. At least pretend you’re not mailing it in.
Sincerely,
Society
Steve, nice try. The targeted audience (which isn’t you outcasts from society) don’t know all that stuff. That’s why they read the blogs because it is easier and friendlier than FT.
Thousands and thousands of them a day. The numbers of readers of blogs are huge. George and his angries are reportedly 300 per day. That number means nothing. Not even a blip on the radar.
What I can’t figure out is why you guys complain about blogs and demean others work? You are all so smart, so advanced, blogs are not for you. Why do you even read them?
Because you are angry is my guess.
If they don’t know that all that stuff a few links at SPG website will be just fine. But nooooooooo, we are going to throw at these “newbies” the spg amex card repeatedly until they cry uncle. Heck, we will encourage them to have both parents get them too so they can all fly for free (sorry $112.40, love the precision of the challenge!). Geesh!
Let me tell you something Rick. The numbers of comments in your, sorry, FTG (the blog) mean nothing. You know why? Because I can’t find any! Neither my 300 angries can find them! (do you even realize how ridiculous this sounds? Well, you obviously don’t. Yawn)
New demeaning title thrown at me: “Outcast from society”. If you knew what music I listen to you would certainly know that this is one title thrown at me that is true, lol.
Yawn
Yawn
Yawn
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
George is it true? You lost your Adsense account in record time? Well I do remember a loving commenter of yours telling you he was going to clck bomb your account. and today I had just mentioned to IB that you expressed an interest in them acquiring. Guess others object to your content as well.
Now what’s the business plan?
affiliate links? we know that ain’t gonna ever happen with your content?
continue criticizing others for free? Siskel and Ebert got paid for their expert opinion. but then again they spent years developing a following. You became an expert in one day, hence your pay grade scale.
Fold like a cheap suit at the one year mark? Citing less than credible explanation.
still wish making book was legal here.,
I got it George. It makes such great sense. You are the master of comment generation (although 50% are yours)
CHARGE to COMMENT
You blew the Adsense deal. Get a Donate Button up NOW.
Oh wait, readers would have to identify themselves to donate and your gang is anonymous.
I’m tryin’ buddy I’m tryin’
A grant from the ACLU? Nope they may side with the bloggers right of freedom of the press. Still tryin’
I would donate to the Ingy is a Douchebag fund.
I do not get why you are so hung up on anonymous and last names just because your decided to put your name on the internet. You asked for the attention when you put your full name out there. I am sure you thought long and hard before doing it too. Now that it is out there it is easy to call others out especially since you are retired.
Get a life Dick (short for Richard obv).
Another fine TBB reader speaks. It should make you so proud George.
If I charge to comment,would you promise to continue commenting on my blog? We can charge a premium this way and I am open to a fair deal. I am sure whatever deal you propose would be very good for your pocket. Call me…maybe:-)
I saw how many clicks were coming in and I was shocked it took so long! I wonder who has been clicking so much, hmmm.
I think you should inform IB to come and check out TBB, especially the comments section. We can have a TBB vs FTG special forum man, we can rake it in. Milepoint (come on, you are laughing…if not, u must be bitter) PAY PER VIEW!
What’s my business plan? I have no clue. But I am enjoying every day by reading the comments and reviewing blogs and letting it rip. See you tonight (#8 US Air card crappy offer right on top, misleading language, so typical, corporate profits vs helping people save $89 and get more freaking miles…). Better stop, let me save it for tomorrow’s blog post then. Hang on!
We all saw you going bananas about the AdNonSense ads. We can all not wait to see what lows you will reach if TBB ever gets affiliate links. Heck, I am going to push this baby forward in my 1,345 items to do list just to get your reaction. Fills the mission to entertain TBB readers perfectly! I need to find something else to keep son occupied.
“I became an expert in one day” – Really Rick? How many years do you know me? For more information please check my “About me Page” 🙂 I do not see myself an expert but compared to some crap that has infested this hobby what can I say? I let others decide expertise cough.
>>>>>>>>>Fold like a cheap suit at the one year mark?
You sound angry. I get my suits at Tom James, thank you very much. I may be frugal but not cheap when it comes to my looks lol.
>>>>>>>>>Citing less than credible explanation.
Lololololololololloolloolloloolol. Did you say credible? Always you amaze me.
>>>>>>>>>>still wish making book was legal here.,
I think you are talking about gambling here? I can’t wait for your next blog post about Poker, so informative and helpful to your readers!
Even with the fact that almost half of the comments are mine, it is blatantly true that, excluding them, my little tiny blog gets more comments in a day than the FTG (the blog) gets in a month. And that makes me smile…a lot. Some things money can’t buy (insert MC affiliate link), they are priceless. Thanks!
The Adsense was nonsense from the start and a ploy to get my son busy. It was a very educational experience and I have leaned many things about this area. I even learned how to read traffic logs!
>>>>>>>My gang is anonymous
Gosh, so angry
>>>>>>I’m tryin’ buddy I’m tryin’
Yes yes, keep trying. TBB focus on the mission:-)
>>>>>>>A grant from the ACLU? Nope they may side with the bloggers right of freedom of the press
ACLU, wtf!!! I never saw that coming, I must admit. Siding with the what???
Love, just love the #8 credit card at FTG
There are other companies that offer CPM, CPA, CPC models other than adsense that could be used in this space easily and do not care about click bombs and have decent customer service to mitigate the problems. I can get you the banners no problem.
OR…
How about this. I’ll get a domain devoted to Ingy’s public information he is so proud is out there. Then you can use one of my banners and I will pay you based on some CPM model to cover the adsense revenue that you would have earned.
I did not want to get involved however with Ingy’s continuing flow of comments bashing George and his commenters then now I feel compelled to get involved because this joker just thinks he’s too cool for school.
Ingy, I know you are there.. Any bright ideas now? Or how about you just converse normally like the other bloggers taking criticism instead of using your condescending tone. Capiche?
JackDaniels: Thanks for the help. It’s ok, no big deal. Learning experience. No time to learn about this cpm, cpa cpc stuff. Time to start cranking next post. Need to warn readers about that card, #8 on the list;-)
“Steve, nice try. The targeted audience (which isn’t you outcasts from society) don’t know all that stuff. That’s why they read the blogs because it is easier and friendlier than FT.”
Way to have the point fly completely over your head
They don’t need blogs. They don’t need FT
Everything they’ve said can easily be found on SPG.com
Which is the point – it’s just regurgitated filler stuff used as an excuse to include the SPG link
But aside from your post being a complete non-sequitur, you were completely on the mark!
Many people who read the blogs don’t want to go to FT….. guess it’s a good thing you don’t need to go to FT to find out how to redeem Starwood points, huh?
Early in my blogging career I was told I served no other purpose than “information broker” and when you think of it, that is all we do. Make things easier for others to understand and personalize the message. I miss that part from the current crop of bloggers. That is what builds brand loyalty.
Dude, I think you just hit the nail on the head. I knew you would become one us!
Rick, why isn’t the “targeted audience” being hammered with churnable 50K AA offer? You think bloggers would be stepping over each other to “help”.
Hikertom, you’ve been around long enough to know the answer to that question. I listed for years in ricks top travel deals commish or not. And it did make the top twenty of FTG top credit cards. What more do you want. I don’t help with other bloggers lists
You didn’t answer the question. Why don’t we see the same flurry of posts as we have with SPG? Obviously the reason the carpetbloggers are promoting SPG hard is they get paid. They don’t get paid for that AA link so it only only gets mention in the top 10 lists where they would be called on it if they didn’t list it. Even there it isn’t given the justice it should. For example, lucky’s latest top 10 list. Yeah he has it in the top 3, but he doesn’t mention churnability which makes it a no brainer.
FTG Card #8. I am not going to link to it here, I feel dirty about it. How can you let readers spend $89, I thought you wanted them to travel for free?
Excuse me, you have nothing to do with the lists anymore.
Profits first, readers second.
I have a new motto buddy:
Readers first
No profits (so far) lolol
Puuulease, no more talk about credibility!
I hate to stick up for the icky corporate blog but the post does mention the better offer.
Hah this cracked me up. Nice one Steve.
I am on my way to setup a blog. Please do not tase me bros!!!
TBB is watching. Always. Really. Until he takes a nap. Zzzzzzz
Really simple blog George. I troll FT all day, it will just have all the important tricks from FT all in one place plus some affiliate signup links on the sidebar. Is that good?
haha
My original idea was to troll FT and blogs all day & feature what readers should know. Well, that was totally unrealistic! Now this is unrealistic too but barely manageable. So I go on
Greetings from Vancouver, eh? Not going sightseeing- just sitting in my beautiful hyatt suite reading TBB comments! Better than any hop on hop off around! Love you all and kumbaya!
First entertain…at least do this one well:-) Yes, thanks! Enjoy Vancouver!
Enjoy Vancouver! Shoot me an email if you have more questions.
George, sorry to hear that the angries click bombed your Adsense account =/ ….
Disgusting indeed! I was so close to making my first $100k from my Filipino women dating ad.
It is a bummer. But I am stubborn!
I am trying to warn the new bloggers about how blogging can be a rough sport. They have no idea!
Really terrible. Keep fighting the good fight George.
No big deal, great learning experience!
I would humbly encourage Rick and the other organizers of the Chicago Seminar Do graciously release all the comped hotel rooms to the speakers and share the additional discounts (on additional booking numbers) to all attendees who booked the rooms. Eventually the organizers earns miles and points (for expenditures of the events) and free appearance on TV (which brings more audience to use their credit card affiliate links and make the bloggers thousands of dollars in referral bonuses), as well as more respect.
As for the “business” bloggers, I guess the travel cost/paid sponsorship to CSD could be listed as cost when filing tax return, right?
Waiting…
Your blog and tweets serve a very useful purpose, George. I appreciate that you shine a light on the dark side of affiliate-link blogs. It wasn’t long ago when even the biggest of them hid affiliate disclosure as much as they could. Without you I imagine that some of these blogs would be little more than money-earning links and info lifted from FT…oh wait, the majority of them are. I am appalled that an immature and/or vengeful person would click bomb your adsense acct, but I guess I’m naive. You are the Jiminy Cricket of travel blogging; please continue to fight the good fight on our behalf.
Wow, thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me.
As we all know money does not buy happiness. But praise like this is truly priceless!
Jimmy Cricket of travel blogging sounds so much better than outcast of society 🙂
Sorry for not dropping in recently. I’ve been on a very important work deadline and now post-deadline vacation.
Did I miss anything?
If you have any downtime and want some entertainment, read the comments in the past several days. And bring some popcorn along:-)
“Why not have a “blog” free doo? The blogs are companies, why not let them pay to get access to hundreds of willing credit card applicants.”
I have. wannaflyforless twice, Viajero Joven twice and I even talked a little once. If you want to do it, it’s quite easy. Get a room and post something on FT Community Forum. And this years AAAF DO was blogger free in it’s presenters (as there were no presenters this year!)
“Why can’t it just be admitted that bloggers now attend because it is good for their business?”
Bloggers attend because they are asked and people like to hear them and talk to them. And more than likely that thought occurs. But I think people would see through the bloggers with only dollar signs in their eyes.
“Bikeguy’s event has featured more than one major blogger as its speaker.”
gleff, onemileatatime, Ingy have spoken at the AAAF DO. However, I don’t think credit card links were around when they spoke. I truly believe they came to share their extensive knowledge because it was good for the community. That is it. Nothing more. I guarantee they provided their own transportation and rooms. I would normally collect a little extra at dinner to pay for the presenters dinner, but have even been turned down to do that. I was always pleasantly surprised when anyone agreed to speak at the AAAF DO, as I always thought paying for your own hotel and airfare would put some people off. To my recollection, no one has ever said no to an invitation to speak and pay their own way. I think that says quite a bit about the character of these bloggers and their “losing money” to come speak in Ann Arbor.
I truly believe that all the old time bloggers were doing it for fun and to help others. There was no money. Now, the money has made everyone suspicious (and it appears led quite a few to call each other names). It has also changed the way some bloggers write.
I understand each camps point, and I think we all know bloggers can make money now, but I just don’t think the name calling is becoming of any posters in the comments.
“I think Dave should start charging bloggers to present and not just rely on killing it putting the Webers brunch bill in his credit card.”
I actually don’t care if people use their own credit card at Webers. I just wish they’d give the waitress my loyalty number with their credit card and bill! 😉
Dave, thanks for your distinction between old bloggers and the new crop, (post credit card links). It is the essence of the disagreement here as Tabloid Blogger Buzz readers ( in my opinion) like to lump them all as the same without any historical perspective or old time experience.
but like you said, each side has its point of view.
I’ll stand with the old guard even though I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and cash in before it got too ugly. now, it is way to ugly.
Last year, Delta Points drove 6+ hrs RT to speak in Ann Arbor. No fee. No comps. Just sharing. Sorry if this makes many TBB readers Angry but don’t think it takes much to get them flogging each other 🙂
Thank you for your business card and your giveaway…wait, was there a giveaway, can’t remember.
It was nice meeting you and Lisa. You left early. Mileage run?
Thanks for your perspective, it helps readers understand a bit more about some history.
Whatever happened to those two kids anyway?
Those were the days. Now you can’t go a blog post without getting carpet bombed by cards and crappy content. It is just a sad sad state of affairs. No wonder some are taking it out on boards there is no censoring 🙂
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I truly believe that all the old time bloggers were doing it for fun and to help others. There was no money. Now, the money has made everyone suspicious (and it appears led quite a few to call each other names). It has also changed the way some bloggers write.
I understand each camps point, and I think we all know bloggers can make money now, but I just don’t think the name calling is becoming of any posters in the comments.
I absolutely agree! Does this mean that TBB can not educate its readers (entertain is automatic) by reviewing these businesses and constructively calling out practices that harm this community? How many times I said not to take anything personal on my site? Ok, it is past 2 pm. Need to finish the post for tomorrow. Should be quite a show. That US Air offer gets me cal my therapist to have her calm me down:-)
Holy crapiola, just passed 500 unique visitors. today. Wonder if I get affiliate links? Ok, wondered about it for a sec.
Back to crying for returning my free Mercedes Benz now. I was going to give a ride to my Filipino lady I found on TBB’s AdSense.
Entertainment. Free. TBB
crap! bikeguy I didn’t realize webber’s had a loyalty program or I would have had our blond bombshell add your number to my bill! My Sapphire card was hot that day!
Didn’t you know the ONLY rule that exists int AAF Do? Dave gets the Weber loyalty programs! Make sure it happens next year all right?
Dave: I say we charge the blog speakers next year to speak or they can take care of the bill at Wwebers (with your loyalty number of course). But maybe they won’t come with me in attendance lol.
My goodness, sure took me a long time to catch up on a few days of comments!! Serves me right, I guess, for going on a trip from points instead of reading about blogs about points. Thanks to those who wished me well a few days back; you know who you are.
Like Will Run For Miles in Canada, I too am hanging out indoors in Jerusalem trying to catch up on email and my fav blogs. It is true that sane people take a siesta of sorts during the heat of the day around here, and we did have a fun morning at the shuk where we bumped into a friend. And MrTWA44 has to write a recommendation for a deserving student. We’ll venture out again soon.
Loved hearing in the comments above about the Ann Arbor DO. Is it open to anyone? Both MrTWA44 and I have graduate degrees from U of M and love A2. Isn’t the DO around the same time as Art Fair? Can someone add me to a list for more info on future DOs or perhaps I should just check FT? I promise not to take any loyalty points which are already spoken for!
After all the blog postings I read about flying up front, I was dreading our coach travel before we boarded. But our flights on AC, TU and A3 were all so good. We had great seats – aisles, bulkheads and exit rows – and while the food was pretty poor, the overall experience was not. Being newish to this hobby, I do feel I made the best choice in deciding to use fewer points by going coach. When my balances are higher, I will reevaluate, but based on walking through the front to get to our seats, only one leg even had any business seats that would have been worth considering.
OK, nap time. Adios. Or better yet, shalom!
Yeah, the comments section the past few days has gone totally bonkers. I think it provides entertainment.For free:-)
This is the FT thread from this year’s DO:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/1421464-ann-arbor-art-fair-do-9-july-20-21-2013-a-14.html
yes it is open but usually limited to a certain number. And slots get filled up fast. And yes it is open. Not sure of any plans for next year, too early.
Once you travel on a flat seat your perspective may change:-)
Enjoy your trip!
hope to read about your trip somewhere. stay away from old falafel!
that last anon was me…a fellow pdxer
one last try