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TRAVEL
The Most Dangerous Road in the World. Found at A Luxury Travel Blog. Well, this is anything BUT luxurious! I found myself having to sit down on my chair and holding on…Wow! Just click it, speechless!
Found this stunning picture in Twitter here!
aero’space has an epic takedown of our favorite CEO (joking) Jeff Smisek of United asking him to just…leave! I share the feelings but I am not holding my breath here…
Incredible picture of the Summit at Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. Found at the Daily Escape feature at the Travel Channel. Click to see it
MILES/POINTS
Miles Abound started a series ” A Guide to Manufactured Spend“. Looking forward to the rest of the series. I like how the real risks are laid out!
Speaking of real risks with these techniques, Frequent Miler wrote about his troubles getting his money back on “MyVanilla grabs my money and won’t let go“.
Hack My Trip wrote about “Comparing Online Travel Agency Rewards Programs“. Good information to know.
Loyalty Lobby has a new public Platinum status link for Le Club Accor hotels. You can use to match to Club Carlson and Best Western. Read carefully all the warnings before you attempt (if you had it earlier!)
Register your AMEX cards for AMEX Small Business Saturday promotion on November 30, 2013. You get $10 credit. Your AMEX cards you are an authorized user of do count #hint. Well, not as good as $25 off as in previous years but every dollar counts 🙂
View from the Wing spotted Whole Foods gift cards in Staples! Now I can get 5x points at Whole Foods with my Ink Plus card, sweet! And don’t forget to use Plink while doing this for some extra bang!
ON MY MIND
Looks like I am aiming to publish the TBB Buzz posts on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. In between I may publish something else when I get around to it so please keep checking every hour, it helps me charge the advertisers very high rates, cough.
Speaking of rates and stuff, I added a Support TBB page. Latest addition my all time favorite shopping portal site, Top Cash Back, choking! Any ideas on what to post here? A grand total of none has clicked on them so far 🙂
ODDZ & ENDZ
Typhoon Haiyan Devastated the Philippines. Incredible pictures from The Atlantic.
The Philippines a week after the super typhoon. Very disturbing images, you have been warned. Follow up post from The Atlantic again.
BLOG BUZZ
Ok, it is not going away. I will post here stuff I find that is buzz worthy. I will usually ignore blog posts from the “Blogs I Ignore” (coming on December 1st) list unless something totally shocks me that makes it in the sections above! For the reasons behind this change of direction of the Blog Buzz, please read “TBB Blog Buzz Section to Evolve“.
The buzz online yesterday was the mistake fare discovered at a Norwegian airline website by TheFlightDeal from a Norwegian website. Many booked VERY cheap tickets overseas and got ticketed. Obviously someone messed up here. I can not help but feel sorry for the person responsible for the oversight. I hope the particular person does not lose his/her job. The speed these things spread continues to accelerate and amazes me. Did I get in on this? No. I do not have much free time during the winters. Taking the family for a week to Maui is still a major triumph in my book! Tax returns also have a big role to play here too 😉 I am not sure making fun of the Norwegians and/or United (ok, maybe not United!) is warranted. Just be grateful you got ticketed and hope on Monday the Norwegians do not cancel them all. Anyone really knowledgeable about the economics of these fares? Who loses here? United? Wideroe? Both? None?
And I leave you with this about the meaning of life 😉 Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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wandering aramean had a link to an article saying wideroe blamed amadeus and admitted they made a fortune in commissions over the weekend. of course a suit or chargebacks could change that quick.
I would love to know the economics behind these things, thanks. Or wideroe may be blowing smoke while they prepare to go under…
time will tell
Now you can get 5x points to shop at Whole Foods. Great. Because that’s an affordable store for doing mass shopping at.
I go there… a lot! It is right next to Panera! I usually buy bread, humus, bananas and milk. And whatever is on a real sale. Sometimes the daily specials for lunch are good too. I also like the salads. I hear you about being overpriced, it is! Oh, I also clean up the samples lol.
I am the same way on the Norwegian thing. I saw the initial tweets but didn’t jump in. I don’t judge but something felt wrong about it. Although if I knew United would get the shaft I might have been more inclined to participate.
Yep, same here! I share your feelings about United too 😉
Yep, WF just got a ton of cash flow due to someones mistake. That said no one really knew at the time of the frenzy. This could have been the same situation like that little bank which offered miles for a checking account.
So, United lost big on this one it appears…Could Wideroe be bluffing? They were not in the strongest financial position from what I hear? Could this be generated on purpose to save the company? I have no idea but would love to know what really happens, from a dollars and sense view, when these things happen…
Told you the whole reason tpg even posted it all when he was so late was for media coverage. Forbes says that “news spread quickly through the web…with sites like thepointsguy alerting thousands of readers” PLEASE – he was so stinking late, why does he get coverage at all?
Why does McDonalds sell gazillions of hamburgers? 🙂 TPG was so late in the game some bozo who went for it should ask for damages 🙂
The guy responsible for the airline website (wideroe.no) has been found as a Flyertalker himself, named farmer on FT, or Odd Langvatn in real life.
Odd and the others at WF were well aware of the issue.
Yes, I saw that! Odd indeed. I am starting to think maybe, just maybe, wideroe made out in this deal. The question is was UA the loser? I am starting to think so…Maybe blowback for the latest devaluation 🙂
I am not an expert of fuel surcharge allocation, but I thought the ticketing airline kept it? In which case Wideroe is neutral on this.
It depends on the bilateral between WF and UA. If it says the plating carrier keeps the YQ, then WF is in the clear. If UA had a wrong setting in Amadeus, then WF is in the clear too, they just ticketed what Amadeus priced.
I think UA lost big in this deal…the revenge of FTers!
Not really. If the bilateral agreement between UA and WF says: collect the YQ and keep it (it says that in most agreements, BTW) then WF and UA didn’t loose anything. WF got cash flow, UA the base fare and taxes etc. Amadeus would price it for WF so WF is in the clear.
So…Amadeus loses? That does not make any sense…
I could use someone do an MMS pic and arrows post explaining this 🙂
Affiliate links – sign up for Amazon Associates – ‘cos they are not on cashback sites, at least in the UK – and ebay Partner Programme (ditto).
Readers aren’t therefore leaving money on the table versus a cashback site when they use these links.
I thought there was one US portal site that gave cash back on Amazon…but maybe I am wrong. Anyone?
If not, I should do this. It requires yet another Amazon login I think which kind of sucks…At least I can earn some money from my own purchases…Oh wait, hope that is not a forbidden transaction!
Last time I checked you get Hawaiian Airlines miles for Amazon purchases.
Limited to specific purchase categories.
I thought HA got out of it…or took out certain categories to make it virtually….useless…it appears. Thanks.
Same Amazon log-in, as least for the UK programme
Woah. That road. I’ve been on some pretty intense roads in Costa Rica, but nothing like that.
I was tempted by the Norwegian mistake fares… especially east coast to India for under $300, but didn’t end up pulling the trigger on anything. Just couldn’t make dates work through March considering the things I already have planned and such.
Bolivia is on my agenda for 2016, I def need to avoid that road!
I had nightmares about that road last night!
On the bottle of milk I bought at CVS today, it had a picture of the Chase Sapphire Preferred on it
I guess the authorities have given up hope on finding the missing Hyatt Visa?
translation in English, please
Hey Odd, if you are laughing all the way to the bank in the expense of Jeffie, we salute you 😉
So is the 50k+5k CSP offer considered a “new” card product so we can go for it again?
It’s considered a non-existent product, if you only read the blogs
Today’s edition of Ingy’s “Do as I say, not as I do” comes via his blog post…. about how people shouldn’t whine
I don’t think anything short of MMS chastising people for using giant red arrows could be more ironic than that
In Norway, we say “that’s odd”
Speaking of FTG, the site, the staff burned the midnight oil last night for today’s post…………….magazine.com 60 mile aa shopping…………… WOW!!! an entire staff came up with that! Buzz, you are working too hard on TBB. You Americans are funny, here in Norway we believe in hard work and fish for breakfast.
The HT on the 60 mile shopping “deal” went to FT!!!
Hah Ingy is a sharp guy. Everyone seems to have missed the quote at the bottom
What a fantastic seller across the board. So he now wants to work for the man as well as come off as a robin hood for the common newbie. Only I think no one is buying.
The final picture I think is from a Red Bull Flugtag event (note the Red Bull logo at the middle right)
Yes Red Bull competition…they are nuts 🙂
The first reply to Ingys “Stop whining” post was lovely and on the point.
Ill post it here incase it gets deleted:
By jack
I’m so disappointed with this piece you wrote. There is nothing to be “grateful” for or be happy for what we “had” when you’re someone just getting started. Your blatant shilling for the new job of “sweet spot” killer with the corporations is sickening. You’re so transparent. Haven’t you and many of the blogs done enough to cause these major devaluations with all the seminars, TV interviews etc. screaming, “Travel free! Just ask me how?” Success has blinded you guys. The never ending thirst for more cc referrals has destroyed this “hobby”. You and your bow tie buddy are no longer one of “us”, schmuck’s looking to travel high on the cheap because we couldn’t afford it otherwise. You’re the enemy helping kill the golden goose.With the fortune you made selling this site, your dilemma of where to park your spare $100,000, and your new career traveling the world as a professional gambler, maybe you should be paying for your biz class ticket by now and just fade away.
Wow, thanks for alerting TBB readers about this. I share jack’s thoughts about what the over commercialization has done to our dear “hobby”.
I’m a 1% and even I stopped shopping at Whole Paycheck – literally cheaper to eat in restaurants. And no bumping into unwashed Birkenstock vegans…just have to have the constitution to eat food from indentured illegals from Rajasthan…or Jalisco 🙂
is 1% the amount of brain usage?
Location is very convenient to me. Never spent more than $20 here per visit here. We do the vast majority of our grocery shopping elsewhere! I think I have eaten enough samples to compensate what I am spending at WF -) And now I get to do it earning 5x too, after buying WF gift card at Staples while Plinking it!
Every time I am in there I think Kurt Cobain will bump into me right around the next aisle lol.
Seriously Whole paycheck is not that expensive. I find the prices to be same item by item when compared to Kroger, Safeway, or Target. They usually have the best meat and fish selection and fruit section is also quite good. You need stopping look at all the Fiji water BS and you will be all good.
Thanks for the Milesabound’s MS article. Regarding to the picture of “Stunning Sunset in China,” it looks like the picture was taken in VietNam due to the hat 🙂 Thanks.
Yeah, on second thought, I think you are right!
Back to the Norwegian fare thing, if it was a mistake in Amadeus why wouldn’t it have impacted other travel booking websites too? Please excuse me if this is too newbie a question….
I am as perplexed by this as you so….read the link below on the blog at Autoslash!
Darn Norwegians, employing Lehman Brother like tactics 🙂
Yup, read it a little while ago. Great coup for autoslash! And here I thought it was just for car rentals. Makes the story even more amazing but easier to understand why it was around for so long – long, that is, for mistake fares.
On another topic, I am glad not to be traveling this holiday weekend, given the weather that is being predicted!
This is what I said early this am:
“Could Wideroe be bluffing? They were not in the strongest financial position from what I hear? Could this be generated on purpose to save the company?”
I knew it 🙂
Autoslash is great by the way.
MUST READ on the Norwegian “mistake fare”!!!!
http://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-tips/posts/norwegians-take-united-for-a-ride
Gaddamn..
You mentioned Kurt Corbain earlier, so here’s my experience with him and Nirvanna mates……TWA used to run an L-1011 nonstop JFK-SEA-PDX with a 34 hour crew layover in PDX. Naturally I tried to work this so I could be at home on my layovers and I also commuted from my Domicile at JFK on it. It was around the time of the Unplugged album that Nirvana was getting really popular nationally that they were on that flight a couple of times a month (MTV awards, Grammys). 3 times I worked that flight and they were on it in my section, 2 others I sat right by him while commuting. They would take up the entire back cabin section which holds 52 seats for themselves, managers, groupies whatever. Side note they had the ugliest groupies. Dave Grohl was always happy and approachable as was Krist Novaselic (bassist). Novalselic went in to the Lav and left his drivers license in there on one flt. A pax found it and gave it to me. Gee wiz, a sticky white powder was on it. I should of kept it but I wanted to BS with him, so I brought it to him. As for Corbain, on each of the 5 flights i was on with him, he always wore the same mustard colored mohair sweater with holes in it. Never ate or talked to anyone because he was so high. Just stared in the distance like a zombie. Except one flight SEA-JFK where I sat directly behind him on a commute flight (normally we grab an empty first class seat but I wanted an up close encounter). He put his seat belt on for takeoff, and just fell face forward. The seat belt kept him in his seat, but his face was between his knees. Nobody in his group even flinched. He stayed there until landing 5 1/2 hours later. I thought for sure he was dead. We landed, the landing woke him and he walked off like a zombie. True story. Come to think of it, flying unconscious is the best way to fly….. Had Bill Gates on that flight 5 times also going/ coming to NY for business (flew commercial and in coach????) (sat in y for a couple of them and traveled w/o a body guard, richest man in the world at the time). He was very very very shy, when I see him speak now on TV it is a different person, Gates could not look you in the eye when you talked to him. Nice guy though, didnt eat or drink anything and threw a blanket ( airline blankets never get cleaned and are disgusting) over his head. Not like when Cher gave Gene Simmons h_ _d / we threw that blanket away with a stick.
You sure had much more exciting and memorable experiences than I ever had on TWA!
Ramsey, I think you should write a book about your F/A experiences!
One would think that a travel blogger would have some semblance of geographic awareness. But then, we’ve been trying to figure out for months what makes DWL qualified to discuss anything travel related
In her latest piece, she sorts out black friday hotel deals by region. Under the header “Hotels in the West”, she has a deal for a hotel…. in Wisconsin
So for those of you looking for a nice stay along the Pacific coast, head on over to the Badger state!
“The latest travel deals for the NOT so Savvy Traveler”
Buzz there was a story or celebrity on almost every flight. Years ago TWA was known as “the Airline of the Stars” before it went downhill. The amount of celebrities, every known comedian, athletes, teams on sports charters, politicians (2 ex-presidents, and just about everyone who ran for it) and even historical icons (Anwar Sadat, Pope J. P. ll ) I got to meet, looking back it was mind boggleing. Since we worked the flights we had a free pass to BS with them. Someday I will tell you my Michael Jackson and W stories.
Here’s another one about 1979, on a flt from JFK-FCO I was working in the back of the bus. Richard Dreyfuss was in F/C. We land and while we are waiting for our room keys at the Calverleri Hilton one of the F/C girls comes up to me and says “we need you to come out with us tonite, Richard Dreyfuss is taking us out” Often I was the only male crew member back then and was dragged along for protection. Which is funny, because I”ll be the first to take off if there is trouble. He took 6 of us to dinner, and a club called JackieO and then to an orgy. Yea an orgy with dozens of naked people. Buzz, I took off alone in a cab for 2 reasons at this point. One, I’m hung like a gnat and two, my wife would kill me.
Lol! Forget the book, write a blog!
Wow, Ramsey, what a wild story! And I have a wonderful time at the Rome Cavalieri myself. Sadly, no orgies were included lol. Was Berlusconi around? 🙂
I can have a weekly segment at TBB:
“Wild stories from TWA F/As”
I just hope we can be legally covered lol.
I think Oliver is right!
Funny, my dad never told me THOSE TWA stories when I was a kid and he worked for them at Idlewild and then JFK! Then again he wasn’t an FA, he just kept the planes flying. But I do remember stories about when the Pope flew on TWA and I was on the Pope’s plane when it was in the hangar. Also stories about the head pilot they sent to board a flight that had been hijacked and was sitting on a runway someplace. I don’t remember any details other than that the pilot was a small guy who was the calmest man my dad said he had ever known. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going to the TWA hangar with my dad. Whenever we traveled, he would park in the employee parking lot and then we’d all take the employee bus to the terminal at JFK. I started flying alone at about age 11, usually in First, and the FAs were always great to me.