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!
TRAVEL
Eye & Pen’s latest travel photographs. Woooooow!
PCH to Monterey. By Lenticular Travel. Ok, I knew Monterey is nice but this posts makes me want to visit it…tomorrow! Love the bird pictures!
Travel Twitter Handles to Follow. Fantastic Twitter resource list! By Johnny Jet
Another list. The Top 100 Travel Blogs.
MILES/POINTS
Per Randy Petersen’s editorial on Inside Flyer (September 2013), Award Wallet paid only $5,000 to American Airlines to get them back on their system! This number is shockingly low!
You know You’re a Miles/Points Blogger. By Points Summary. Hilarious list, made me smile a lot and I am certain you will too! I picked a few gems:
12. You want your readers to click on your affiliate links [hey, not all! At least not yet lol]
14. Very few comments on a blog post leads to depression [no problemo aqui senor, high five!]
22. You go to FTU and Chicago Seminars just to have a presence and promote your blog [Yeah, really. I am starting to wonder if I belong now 😉 ]
36. You complain about the WiFi just to avoid the resort fee [ok, now we are talking…maybe I do belong!]
37. You love it when an award ticket gets mis-coded as a revenue flight, thus earning you miles [ I know some bloggers who probalby have an instant orgasm when this happens!]
40. You lift off mileage runs on Flyertalk and re-blog them [Lol, and deals too!]
41. You know the angries on TBB [ Mega lol here, I was on the floor beside myself. Hey, can I get a backlink? Help me get them affiliate links Bro? Where will I find such entertainment if TBB folds???]
44. You constantly monitor your Alexa score [ I do, I do mostly because following the Google Analytics stuff is just not user friendly! Maybe I do belong in this group afterall. TBB is about to go under 200,000 in the world ranking. Anyone wants to buy a banner ad…please? 🙂 ]
Major devaluation on the Hyatt Stay Certificates per Loyalty Lobby. And Loyalty Traveler has gone through all of the hotels in a series of posts and pretty much confirming that this is no longer a deal!
Travel With Grant has a helpful post on “How to Sell your First Ebay Item” . I must admit I have never ever sold anything on Ebay. I think I bought a few things on it. It’s like a whole different planet over there. This may help someone get started. I have a record LP collection in the basement it is probably worth some major bucks now. I should check on it to make sure their condition is still okay.
I had some weird things happen to me but my hotel (in Barrow, Alaska of all places!) burning to the ground the night before I arrive is not it! It happened to Heels First Travel who blogged about it “On Top of the World and no Place to Stay“. I am waiting for such a sign from God what to do with TBB 🙂
ON MY MIND
It is frustrating to make a comment and not see it posted. And then you come back to it hours later and see other comments posted after yours. Not sure if First2Board platform eats comments, goes to Spam folders, or some bloggers just censor. Anyways, we are all busy. Maybe it was something I said. Oh well…Not going to worry about it. I like my comments section: Wide open and free for people to express themselves!
ODDZ & ENDZ
60 Awe-Inspiring Black and White Photographs. By Seriously for Real? Awe-inspiring is most likely an understatement!
Ansel Adams’ Interment Camp Photos. Chilling photos of the Manzanar War Relocation camp. About 110,000 Japanese Americans were forced to live in internment camps, something not particularly proud for the history of this country.
BLOG BUZZ
Deals We Like popped out Parts 7 and 8 in the SPG series. Three more to go!
Milevalue just goes on selling cards. And this used to be one of my favorite blogs. Oh wait, FTG (the blog) used to be too. I don’t bother anymore, I just shake my head.
The Points Guy decides to answer reader’s question: “Is It Worth Getting the Starwood Amex When I Already Have the Amex Platinum Card?” Really, what a coincidence? And dishing out the Bluebird affiliate link too. And third post of the day answering “What credit card should you use with Uber?” Ouch man, take it easy, have mercy on us. This is like a gigantic credit card carpet bombing going on! And, as always, not a word in the body of the post about, you know, some of these links compensate very well.
Delta Points continued with his Fireside Chat interviews. Well, the first one was with Randy Petersen who had some interesting things to say. This one was with Fly Gracefully who is actually a real travel blogger and has a great Ethics policy. So, instead of learning something new, we have to suffer through some fantastically boring questions. And do those happen next to a fireplace or just spend a few minutes to cut and paste by email? Or Skype? Of course, no disclosures. Zzzzzzz.
I thought people didn’t like the first thing but it seems to be continuing. Of course nobody can compete with me. 🙂
First.
Get a frigging life dude.
Thanks Paul for your direct feedback 🙂
@Jeff: You are always numero Uno with me. I owe you a few emails, getting there…
Loved the top 76 blogger sentences. Certainly guilty of a few…
I am guilty of more than a few…like, a lot! Who am I kidding, probably most! Still have avoided posting a hotel toilet pic though 🙂
Zzzz is truly the current tone on most of the blogs. Hope thy come back refreshed from whatever aspirational trip(s) they all did this summer. OTOH soon its the end of the quarter and depending on how the current CC numbers are we will probably see an avalanche of links soon.
I really think that oliver2002 is the angriest of the angries 😉
If you would depend on ‘travel’ blog content as reading material to fill your daily commute, you would be angry too… :p
On the other hand, I’d rather read Oliver or Harvson if they really had blogs. And cannot wait for this crap that TBB is shoving down the internet pipes to end…..Someone please start a review blog and take this space over ….please …
My blog would have sporadic-but-bombastic entries like Mr Pickles though. And I wouldn’t post these super photoshopped-to-death pictures each day either. Plus the last time I put my creative writing to paper was in the early 90s (high school)… Nowadays that skill is reserved for commodity pricing newsletters and monthly reports. 😉
Sounds like Agenda Guy forgot to take his Meds again. Or maybe his parents raised the cost of rent he has to pay them. He’s angry.
I own the name TabloidBloggerBuzz if you’d like to start one, I’ll transfer the name to you.
I’d love to see a review of George’s blog tit (oops) for tat
You are always so generous, especially with your charitable donations!
It would be a riot if someone did that. The ultimate recognition that TBB has become a cutting edge brand lol.
Thank you for your devotion to my blog and for always commenting; it does show me how much you really care.
Thanks for the offer. I will consider it.
This blog has run it course. I actually have no qualms with TBB other than the fact that he has stooped so low in life. Being practical I can understand why he decided to do it. No beef. However this circuit needs to be honest and brutal that helps the newbies and cuts down on the bullshit that this hobby has all become (so yes there will be no soup for FTG either, but I know you know it).
The bigger objective is to make sure newbies are not considering this to be the blog that educates them(George does disclose it is “one” of the objectives). I have a lot of adjectives coming to my mind about TBB, but I respect a family man, so I will not go there. He needs to do himself a favor and get out of dodge to make way for somebody who will make sure they are not falling for the trap. He DID serve a great purpose in the beginning and let no one forget that.
Whats worse is I am a Photoshop expert and a little creative when it comes to humiliating someone with graphic images.
@AgendaGal, I know who you are, and I also suspect you know who I am. Something you didn’t know is I am a graduate of a Top 10 Finance MBA school in the US (it honestly means jack shit to me personally because real life matters most not fancy school degrees, but I know you will not like it) and I make decent income (lets not go into figures :)). I love my mom, and ideally would love to stay in her basement throughout the year, but such is real life that it is not a luxury someone can afford.
I only kid those that I love
I adore everyone 🙂
AgendaGuy:
I respect your views and your right to express them. I frankly do not “get” you. I believe TBB has done more to educate newbies about what the state of blogosphere has become than any other blog. Point one out to me please so I can try to compare and understand where you are coming from. If someone can take over what I do all they have to do is buy me out lol.
Thank you for respecting a family man. But if it makes you feel better please express yourself freely here. My therapist always says we need to “let it all out”.
How many times will I say bloggers should not take thing personally. I LOVE it when others make fun of TBB (like you). But, excuse me, if you are a business selling stuff and the industry grows so big, blogs like mine will pop up. I am shocked nobody thought of this before! If they find it humiliating maybe they should think about what they are selling and try to improve it. TBB will be the first to recocgnize and give an attaboy!
Top 10 Finance MBA graduate also means jackshit to me too, for the record. Real life matters, I agree with that. My son wants to go to a “good” school. I went to a “not as good” school but I turned out all right…I think.
I love my mom too.
Give it to me straight so I and my readers can understand your point…and your agenda 🙂
Gracias.
I am starting to see the SPG final onslaught already….ugh…till the next promo, I am sure it is coming soon!
@AngryBear: Give Oliver a break, it takes a special human species to keep your cool reading “travel” blogs during daily commutes. It takes an alien (moi) to keep it cool and try to make it entertaining after reading so much crap every day!
@AgendaGuy: I am noticing a pattern with you. Whenevery you see I post nothing negative towards MMS you get really angry! Just my observation. Having haters is a universal badge of honor across the blog universe! If I tried to please everyone that would make me a politician=professional liar. So, any suggestions for me how to improve? Other than to fold that is lol.
@AgendaGal: I take it there would never be any date between you two Agendas 🙂 Thanks.
I have noticed a pattern in your blog for the last few months too. But then your wife and kids also read the comments (I think?), so I will not go to the details….Just wish your crap ends soon. That is all.
Happy Labor Day.
Thank you. Keep trying to identify this blog’s patterns and providing constructive feedback, we all sure appreciate it.
Happy Labor Day to you too!
Got ribs ready to attack on my grill!
@TBB – I was COMPLIMENTING oliver2002!!!
Forgot to add the smiley…I was joking 🙂
BTW I was in Fuessen on saturday and it really looks like that. No Hyatt property nearby there and AA doesn’t fly to MUC, so you will probably never read about it in a blog :p
I took some decent pictures at neuschwanstein castle on my blog. 😉
I was floored by that pic in Fussen! And that one in neuschwasteing too but had to pick one from Germany to feature. Them Germans have it all anyway lol.
Bah, Neuschwanstein is as if someone built an Akropolis again near Athens in the late 19th century. Its all fake. I dragged my inlaws and family to Linderhof after we had our Kodak moment at Neuschwanstein. That place is jaw dropping. Also fake Versailles but in the middle of the alps.
We were in a Seattle hotel many years ago that evacuated us due to a fire. It was a bit scary but not much since we could smell no smoke and thought it must just be a firedrill, that is, until we got outside and were told there actually was a fire in the laundry in the basement off the parking garage. It was daytime and we were up and dressed. But I still follow my dad’s advice to keep a flashlight near the bed and make sure you know where the exits are whenever I stay in a hotel.
In 2008 I was staying in a resort near Lake Geneva with our baby et al and some teenagers decided to activate the fire alarm at 1am. Imagine holding a screaming infant and trying to scope if the alarm is real or not :rolleyes:
First thing I try to do in the room is take a look at the exits and then count my steps towards them. There was a fantastic and comprehensive article on this very subject some time ago on FlyerTalk.
I hope at least the resort gave you some points or their equivalent! That is awful!
First of all, it was a non affiliated place, no points to be had. Second of all, no hotel employee even showed up. The alrm stopped after I yelled at the kids and they pushed the lever of the alram back into the normal position… nothing by management later. :p
MileValue is still expecting an AA-US merger… so he can claim that the inferior US Airways MasterCard offer will disappear soon if you don’t act now. And he gets their trial date wrong.
The Delta Skymiles 45k offer will disappear soon because there is no information on how long it will last! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
It’s a top 10 post with, you guessed it, more than 10 credit card links. Ka-ching!!
Don’t bother anymore, I just take a look at the headline, shake my head and move on…
1) TBB didn’t make the top 100! You need to work harder!
2) $5000 to AA from awardwallet is quite a bit, seeing as how their revenue stream comes from cheap bastards giving 50 cents or a dollar a month for their services. Probably had to take $4000 out of their own pocket, as the current rate of donations is so low.
3) My favorite comment in a while…”If you would depend on ‘travel’ blog content as reading material to fill your daily commute, you would be angry too… :p”
The 100 list were pure travel blogs. Their number dwarfs the miles/points blogs. I only follow some of the travel blogs. It is humanely impossible to follow most of them! And many of them are pure crap with some of them just going from comped trip to another!
I give AW $1 per month. So worth it 🙂
>>>>>>>>>”If you would depend on ‘travel’ blog content as reading material to fill your daily commute, you would be angry too… :p” Yeah, he certainly shares my pain/anger/needtoscream feelings, hahahaaha!
While I only pay $5 every six months for AwardWallet, I also apply for some cards through them (when it’s the best offer, mostly Amex). They also have ads on the site.
Tried one time to get a card on AW’s site but the offer was definitely inferior. There was not much there…
Definitely looks like they’ve been dropped for a few. I swear they had Citi/Chase in the past. Not enough pimping I guess. Just got the SPG last time.
MileValue yesterday:
“After a brief disappearance, the 50k mile sign up bonus has returned to the Citi American Airlines card. Its return coincides with the once-a-year bonus of 30k Starpoints being offered on the SPG personal and business cards”
Uh, wrong. It returned months ago and didn’t coincide with the SPG offer in the least bit
Just because you didn’t cover it until now when you can use it as an excuse to pimp the SPG Card (you think he would write a post with AA as a standalone card?) doesn’t mean it recently returned
What difference does it make how he pimps for money? He is still a pimp. When one professes so much “love” for this hobby, why is there need to be paid? Oh I know, to pay for all those hosting costs of $5 a month…roll eyes.
Steve is always right on.
Who is Paul and what is his agenda?
TBB
a division of Hypopimp Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:PIMP)
George, something special for you 🙂
I took it two days ago, a crazy bird in Monterey:
Seems the link didn’t post:
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4048/w2l7.jpg
Awesome pic again, thanks! You could photo shop it you know and add text “Get your SPG card for 30k NOW” lol
“Anyone wants to buy a banner ad…please? ”
Doggone it TBB! Since your son has disappeared back into gaming, maybe ask your wife to help you put up a “Donate” button! You make me feel sad and a bit panicky by continually referring to folding like a cheap suit — I don’t WANT you to go away!! So, let’s get you earning some money without you having to prostitute yourself with affiliate links! (Prostitute yourself for direct money on the bureau — leave out the CC pimps!!)
Son is starting school tomorrow, now he has a legitimate excuse.
Wife is too busy to help nor I want her to.
I am not going away. At least I have no plans to do so.
I like to make jokes. Folding like a cheap suit IS…kind of funny!
I do not feel comfortable with a Donate button, feels like I am begging. This is what Chris Elliott was doing and he sounded so ridiculously desperate.
I will look into monetizing one day. Until then enjoy the purity of my blog. There are not that many idiots around in the blogosphere who pour so much into their blog for the love of it all.
Thanks always for the kind words!
Alberta and then Barrow…are you following my travel itinerary to a T this year?? Stalkerazzi… 😉
I stayed at the King Eider Inn and liked it a lot. Ate at the grocery store deli, too.
This reminds me the song “Following the leader, following the leader” when son was a toddler!
A guy at the Ann Arbor Fair DO flies regularly into Barrow and out on some insane multi connection itineraries. I had never heard of Barrow until he talked about it at the DO.
Caught Sportscenter for a few minutes today. I am not into college football but wtf is wrong with that kid at Texas A&M, he seems kind of angry 🙂
Posting only to say I am on a bus in the Negev Desert and it has free and very fast wifi. Yay, Egged (that’s the bus company). There was free wifi in the bus station too. I am reminded how Jamison made to my mind a nasty comment about bus travel in Israel. One more bit of evidence that for the most part he did not know what he was talking about when he posted about Israel. This ride has been great: amazing views including the Dead Sea and Jordan on its other side and the sun setting in the desert, online ticket ordering that worked perfectly even when we had to make a change, assigned seats and ours are great, and a drop off at the gates to the kibbutz where we are going. Far easier and lots cheaper than either driving or flying. Got to see Bedouin encampments, Masada, and desert caves as well as the Dead Sea Works where they extract chemicals like magnesium. Our stop is coming up so bye for now”
Sounds wonderful!
Yeah, that Jamison does not know what he is talking about! [shamelessly trying to trigger #76 to bring extra traffic—-Lol]
Must. Avoid. Writing. Spg. Final. Day. Post. 🙂
You know you can’t resist;-)
Hey, I made it through! I feel so good. 🙂
Hey! Is that your subtle way of saying WE should take it as a sign of God that we shouldn’t blog anymore?! 😉
Or maybe avoid such remote places like Barrow? 🙂
I am still waiting for a sign…
I have 2 stories about hotel fires/exits from my flying days. First one while staying at the former Pittsburgh Hilton on a layover. The supervisor who was traveling with the crew that day, gave us a big know it all speech how important is was to ck out hotel exits. So while the rest us dragged our weary worn out butts to our rooms. He went to the end of the hall and walked out the emergency exit. We were on the 25th floor, the door closed behind him and he got locked outside on the fire escape. He had to walk down 25 floors with his luggage. We all thought it was funny except him.
The other story was one morning on layover in 1980, watching from my hotel room at the Marina Hotel Las Vegas (current location of the MGM hotel) and looking at the then MGM Hotel (current location of Ballys) while that historic fire was taking place. They were removing people from the roof with helicopters. I think around a 100 people died in that fire. Later that day we went to work the LAS-JFK nonstop and a couple of dozen survivors came on all chard up and traumatized. They had nothing with them, just the shirts on their back, no luggage, a couple were in pajamas and one without any shoes. We put as many as we could into F/C. Never forget that day.
So your advise to ck your exits in hotels is good advise, also count the rows to the airplanes over wing exits in case you have to evacuate a smoke filled airplane cabin.
Advice is spelled with a C not an S, duh.
Wow, wild stories indeed. Thank you!
Raise your hand if you’ve seen TPG cover a question about the SPG Amex vs. Amex Platinum card like he did today
…..’yesterday’ just raised it’s hand
Lol, good one!
The SPG onslaught has been wimpy compared to the absurd Chase Ink onslaught which was just over the top. I have so much respect for Seth for calling everyone out in his piece “Was the Chase 60K biz card offer really that big?” So finding this blog was so great after wasting so much time reading a lot of this crap. This thought came to me today regarding all of the endless credit card pimping. Did anyone else grow up on the East Coast and travel by highway to Florida as a kid? There were these great (although I now realize totally offensive) billboards for “South of the Border” in Dillon, SC. http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/They just kept coming at you over and over as you drove on I-95. But at least they were entertaining! One thing I remember too is that after you passed the place there was another billboard with something like “Back up, amigo, you missed it!” You can bet that hours or the day after the offer is supposed to be already dead, there will be some telling us it is still live and not to miss it!!! I should check out the Top 100 Travel blogs again. I used to mostly read those and the miles and points space has crowded them out in my daily read. Time to realign those travel reads…
I am afraid, very afraid, of an extension due to the Labor Day holiday…oh oh
I am probably the only one who actually would like an extension so I can apply on my return along with the cards planned for my next churn. But for all your sakes I am willing to sacrifice the mealy 5000 extra points and see it die.
Sorry about the bad link in the last post. Should have used HTML codes…It is http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/
“Last call for the 30K SPG Amex card”
(unless they extend the promotion by 2 days, in which case I’ll make 8 more alarming posts about it in that timespan)
I have a feeling, very bad feeling, this one may get extended…Oh Lord, help me!