Lets take a wild ride and learn about Best Rate Guarantees and best cities for free, express my thoughts about a tournament, learn about the Club Carlson changes, travel to Abkhazia, shake our heads on absurdities, watch a crazy Ukranian do urban free climbing, Mexican drug lords and more from Ordos, China’s Ghost city.
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Update: This was posted just a few minutes before all hell broke loose on the latest insult thrown to us by Delta. I will have something to say at some point. For now, here is the official announcement and, as always, Delta Sucks! For more on what I really think about it all, you should be following me on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2
“The Tragic State of Best Rate Guarantees and the Possible Future“. By Travel is Free. Well, this is like the state of the union of BRGs. I always thought these were not worth the time and hassle involved. IHG is sure getting ridiculously more difficult it appears.
Drew is on fire! This “Best Cities in the World for Free” is a great resource. It went into my Evernote files, gracias. Gives great advice for 5 of the cities (Vienna, Venice, Hong Kong, Sydney, Budapest). I did not care for both Vienna and Venice but you know I am weird. Great for my October trip to Hong Kong. The Intercontinental Hong Kong is one of Drew’s favorite hotels in the world so I think I will book it for three nights and the Grand Hyatt for two nights then. I just can’t get myself to pay 85k to 95k Hilton Honors points for the Conrad…just can’t do it! Bloggers make a choice whether to pump their readers with credit cards and referral links and how much. Personally, I HATE being sold to left and right with every blog post in so many blogs in this space. PLEASE help the bloggers who make a choice to educate and add value to your life. Say NO to rewarding pumping! There, I feel better, shall we continue?
Saverocity is holding “The Manufactured Spending Tournament” that will be judged by the Frequent Miler. Wow, credibility counts in judging? 🙂 Here is the FAQ on it. Why didn’t you use any judges from my “Blogs I Ignore” list huh? Ok, getting more serious. This sounds like fun but I do have mixed feelings about it. Is the publicity worth it for the sake of us all manufacturing representatives 🙂 ? Isn’t it better for the hobby to keep these weird tricks to ourselves? I am speaking from the hobbyist perspective and not from the blogger participant perspective. And no, I won’t participate because I will lose. Maybe if it was after April 15 lol. Ok, I thought more about it during the day and especially at the gym while beating myself up while sore from last night’s soccer game. I am not sure the publicity is good for the state of the hobby. Just like I did not think having Nightline TV crews filming us at the Chicago Seminars many years ago was a good idea. I am sure it will be great for the bloggers involved cross linking and providing content. But the interests of the bloggers versus the legions of hobbyists are not parallel; I would venture to say they are contrary to each other! You know I speak my mind, so I would probably not cover this anymore. You do what you deem best, it’s a free country!
Analysis of Club Carlson award category increases at 114 hotels on March 15, 2014. By Loyalty Traveler. Best analysis of the award category changes with two fantastic tables.
Getting to Abkhazia from Sochi, Russia. By Rapid Travel Chai. I don’t know about you but I prefer to read blog posts about fascinating places instead of getting hit upside the head constantly by bloggers pumping their affiliate and referral links NON STOP EVERY FREAKING DAY. Take a stand! He followed up with more from Sukhumi, Abkhazia.
TopCashBack now offers 5% cash back on Hyatt. TBB does have a referral link in the link provided near the top next to the Amazon link. If you go for it now you should get your money by Christmas with this company 🙂
I see FrugalTravelGuy blog now is paying a $25 Amazon gift card for your “success story” and wants 500 to 700 words when I do not remember a story there being more than 200 to 300 words! And you only get it if it is published! I have no words to describe…
Free Stopovers every time? How? This is how: “An Insane Free Stopover Scheme: Niacin Flush“. By Will Run For Miles. I am shaking my head to what lengths some people will go. #ludicrous
Urban free climbing: The new extreme sport you shouldn’t try. By Matador Network. This Ukranian kid “Mustang Wanted” is making a name for himself in this. I may be a little crazy but definitely nowhere near this level!
Incredible pictures from a “Mexican Drug Lord home after being raided“.
Urban Exploration in Kangbashi: Getting Under the Skin of China’s Ghost City“. By The Bohemian Blog. More From Ordos, China!
42 Successful People Share the Best Advice They Ever Received. I do not agree with some but mostly good stuff here.
And I leave you with this…this is so stupid…I find it hilarious. If you are offended please leave and go start your own Big Crumbs referral link Amway chain!
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George
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First?
sorry kids, i took it home today!
First?
I’m back on top!
Photo finish?
Slow and steady may win the race but it doesn’t get first today
The drug raid pictures are from 2007, not from Guzman last week.
I’m blushing at your mention of my blog post – or is it the niacin?
thanks
Screw Klichko. That kid should run for president! And they should send that pile of money to Ukraine 🙂
I’m kinda shocked that bloggers with affiliate links, especially Chase links, are hosting a manufactured spend contest.
@Jay @ Chris G @Shaun: This is incredible, all of you posted at 10.36 pm! I think this is the closest EVER. I declare you all winners 🙂
@ Spencer F: Okay, if that makes you feel better 😉
@yuneeq: Thanks for the heads up. They are still incredible pictures. I wonder if the dude had his own Big Crumbs link lol.
@ Kathy: I have heard some wild stories but the niacin is up there. If you think about it…it does make sense! If I was the GA and FAs I would not want THAT guy on my plane!
@ Dima: I am watching the Greek news once a day and they cover the Ukraine events much more. I watch it for the mayhem and the nice looking ladies.
@ TJ: I think you are messing with us…right? I bet my Amazon link revenue that you won’t be seeing a Chase “contractor” participating in such tournament in the foreseeable future. And you can take that to the bank! (pun intended)
FrequentMiler has attached his name to this thing. He’s judging right? He’s a Chase “contractor”. Saverocity also has direct links to Barclays (maybe Amex/Citi?).
So if judging is “participating” I’ll take my $7.38 in Amazon money, thanks!
I am fairly confident they will do it right. I just don’t think we (the hobbyists) need the additional exposure and due to the subject matter I think the whole thing is kind of silly.
I’ll take today’s Humping Elf over yesterday’s Monkey Gif. That monkey hypnotized me into a trance…….Every time I see MMS mention the mother in law rule, I cringe. It was cute the first 40 or fifty times, but by now can’t the reader assume the blogger will post with his loyal followers best interest in mind. Speaking of cringing, your pal NoobTraveler (didn’t you guys room together in STL) tries to fit in as many “hip” words as he can in his post. Isn’t he an adult? Maybe he should change his blog name to Vanilla Ice Traveler. What is the target audience he is trying to appeal to, High School students? Sick Deals? Whatsupwitdat? My 3 sons are around his age and if they tried to use that slang I would goof on them relentlessly. Maybe he is trying to appeal to Bieber Believers…..I loved that Loser Gets Bieber Olympic Billboard…….Who is this Well Hung Traveler guy? Surely he stole his idea from my Horney Traveler brainstorm……Buzz, you are a movie buff, enlighten me. Was Phillip Seymour Hoffman a great actor in your eyes? I’m sorry this guy was no Pacino, Nicholson, Deniro or Asston Kutcher. Besides, how messed/selfish do you have to be to kill yourself when you have 2 young children. It pretty much assures you will screw up the rest of their lives……Speaking of Asston Kutcher, his performance in the movie “Jobs”, made me think, maybe Steve Jobs was just MEH…..Buzz, Sherlock Ramsey might be onto something here. After the monkey let me read TBB yesterday, I noticed there is a possibility that Ingy and Anonymous might be the same person. Just a hunch……..I was thinking the other day that Buzz is my brother from another mother. Maybe we are related. Did any of your ancestors paddle over to Bari, Italy for a fling? Ciao.
Yeah, that monkey was indeed a bit much! Noob is a nice guy, just don’t care about his blog and no we did not room together! Noobitup wtf! Hoffman was a great actor and he could have been great if he lived on. The guy had the guts to play some characters that stretched his talents…too sad. I am sure he OD’ed, not intentional. Asston Kutcher, you crack me up! About ancestors, I am not sure, I remember my grandpa talking what a gigolo he was in his youth ,especially with the tourists 😉
Splurge for the W Hong Kong.
It’s the best W in the world, if only the rest were like it.
Great rooms, awesome upgrades, rooftop infinity pool and hot tub on the 72nd floor.
It’s right over the airport express train station, so no transfers needed. The bellhop will even take your bags from your room and bring them downstairs where they’ll be checked to your final destination without lugging them for more than 2 feet.
agreed…. i did the conrad a month ago with a pre-devalued AXON award. nice hotel, but the rooms feel really dated, and not even close to worth inflated points now.
Hmm, and just when I had made up my mind…Thanks for the feedback. I am not fan of W hotels and I am sure I will pay an arm and a leg and I really like spending my Starwood points on decent lower category hotels…But I will take a look at it for sure now. Gracias.
Yeah, Conrad is out definitely
I’m definitely not a fan of W hotels. The ones in the US have left a bad taste in my mouth several times.
But the one in HKG is way above the rest of the chain and frankly is a must stay in when in HKG. Especially if you can stay there on a SPG Plat account as they’re very generous with upgrades.
While you’re there don’t miss the house of dancing water show in Macau. And if you’re making a suit start that right away to leave time for a couple of free alterations.
Hmm, thanks for the feedback again. I am going to sit on it for a while, no rush in finalizing hotels so early.
I am VERY anti gambling in general so Macau never really appealed to me. But I do have 5 nights so maybe I squeeze it in. I have a good friend from Ann Arbor who is from HKG and may be visiting. His father is a famous movie star and he ‘ll see if he can get us invited to some movie awards show or receptions.
No need to gamble. We went and just watched everyone else gamble.
Pretty much Vegas on roids. The casinos/hotels are much bigger and people bet much more.
But the show I mentioned was affordable and really neat. And it’s always fun to get another stamp in the passport 🙂
So, it appears as if every blogger has written about the Delta devaluation except – deltapoints?! And why was he unable to get this from his “sources” before everyone else wrote about it? Pretty sad… wait for a barrage of amex links when he does get around to writing about it.
it will be interesting to see how it affects his “content”. judging from the headlines, about a third of his posts are mileage runs he lifts off flyertalk, so those will no longer be useful. i suppose he’ll focus on the other main post of his blog – post every weather waiver that goes into affect.
funny how he was just about to launch his “mileage run spinoff webiste”. whoops.
Fantastic analysis as usual, love it bunches. I can’t wait for the DL mileage run new blog!
Just visited his site, for the first time in months. Absolutely LOL when you go to his recommended credit cards list and you see this symbol next to his list of cards that he gets no commiss from:
☠☠☠
Buzz, actually you better censor this entry because he probably has that scare tactic copyrighted.
I would not be surprised if the Delta Mileage Run goes ahead while all logic says to kill it…
No, not every blogger. Not yet…
OK, who is Sherlock Ramsey (post above)? He is deliciously hysterical and insane!!
He is the former president of the TravelBloggerBuzz fan club. He was forced to resign when he received some undisclosed (angry) threats from “Anonymous.”
You guys crack me up. Ramsey is an integral part of the entertainment around here! Sadly, so is anonymous woohoo!
Delta Airlines: making cash-back credit cards look better since February 26, 2014, and perhaps before.
I’m going to bet the United announces a revenue-based change similar in focus on October 1st, 2014. And I’ll bet the under as a back-up.
A friend just got a job offer from that fancy-pants college in Cambridge, so we’re over-the-moon for him and in my happy mood I’m going to stop reading FT for the day.
I need to get my ass in gear to get my wife the cash back cards with my links 🙂
I find it funny that Gary Leff ALWAYS defends the mileage programs and always rails how anti consumer these moves are. I say baloney. This was predicted so long ago…I need to find time to find older posts I did about this coming new reality. I guess photos of flat beds eating caviar and drinking champagne do not sell as good when you spend 2,345,000 miles for it LOL.
Congrats to your friend!
After having enough sad but well worth lolz with bitcoin, it is good to see hysteria over things where no one has lost any money. The hysteria because people have to turn right when they got on the plane.
Of-course he is angry it will mean a loss of income, lot less selfies in the bathroom and less trips to Maldives and Park Hyatts. though with few Park Hyatts opening in Caribbean/Mexico he will soon discover them and treat them like the greatest thing since well Park Hyatt Maldives.
If Delta goes to revenue models on both end I might look at their program again.
DL threw out the 5 award options along with everything else just to test reaction. I am fairly certain the news release: “We heard you dear customers. You let us know loud and clear that having three to five award options is just too complicated and that you value simplicity above all. So, starting on 1/1/15 you can get ANY award seat you want for 0.99 cents per Skymile. If it’s for sale you can book it. Thank you for making us number one yada yada yada.
Is that “Link” from Zelda?
I think yes.
I think it’s Robertson the Delta Skymiles dude 🙂
Just waiting for AA/US to square away their merger and tighten the screws on their FFP, all the UA/DL raged will have nowhere to go… 😉
Considering we are due for a recession sometime in 2015-16 this setup will get even more tricky 😮
Definitely agree on the first statement. Not so sure about the recession, of course time will tell. I think the only salvation for us free loaders is a sharp recession! And that is kind of sad…
Another recession, Oy Vey! Weren’t we just in one 6 weeks ago?
Hey, they are cyclical too! 🙂
Dan is right and wrong above
The W HKG is absolutely a fantastic hotel. That being said, few SPG hotels are worth burning 20K points on a night, especially not in a city where they have as many chain hotels as HKG. If you can get the Plat 35% off award voucher, NOW it becomes a no brainer to stay there!
Also, much better tip on using Hilton points…. ditch the Conrad HKG and go to the Conrad in Macau! It’s just as much a world-class hotel as any other Conrad, but inexplicably only costs 40K HH points a night. Phenominal hotel in a place you should be visiting anyways while in the HKG area. 3 days in Hong Kong and 2 days in Macau are perfect. And the ferry from Macau actually goes directly to HKG airport, so it’s really convenient at the start or end of your stay
I actually do need to figure out where to burn my own 35% voucher before it expires.
But the real way to stay at the W HKG is with some sweet corp rates 😉
If you can get it for 13K a night, or for a reasonable corp rate… by all means. You won’t get any argument from me that it’s a superb hotel
But for those of us who aren’t swimming in SPG points (basically everyone who isn’t a business traveler staying at a property every week), I would find it very hard to justify burning 20K SPG points over 45K IHG points to stay at the IC
Both great hotels, probably about equal in my book. Slight edge to W if you have Platinum status with them. But man, it’s tough parting with that many points
10.4K/night with 5th night free+35% off.
The Marvellous Suite we got there was just incredible, one of my favorite SPG upgrades ever. The rooftop infinity pool and airport express location are icing on the cake.
I have about 110k Starwood points. Lowly Gold, not Platinum. I am definitely doing the IC then for sure, wife has a free night and I can easily spend points for another one or two. For the other two or three you guys are making me rething things. No love for the Hyatt properties because they are too expensive on points.
If you only have 110K SPG points, then don’t splurge on 20K a night
Both the W and IC have some of the coolest infinity pools out there. One is 73 floors up and one overlooks the entire Hong Kong Bay. W is more convenient to the airport, IC is in a slightly more central area
Do 3 nights at the iC for 90K points and your free night, then take the ferry to Macau and use 80K Hilton points for 2 nights at the Conrad there
Thank me later
For what it’s worth, the Conrad Macau is the top ranked hotel out of 82 in Macau on Trip Advisor. Ahead of both the 4 seasons and Venetian (largest casino in the world) right across the street
Again…. just 40K hilton points a night
I also have a mixed feeling when I read about MS Tournament, I agree with your statement about “I am not sure the publicity is good for the state of the hobby.” IMHO, the more we learn about “trick/skill” used in this tournament, some followers may go out of their “comfort MS zone” for getting the points, and it would lead to one thing … Thanks.
I liked the innovation part of it all, something different. But the subject of the tournament is probably left alone to the deep corners of the world, where Marathon Man rules (no wonder they did not invite him lol).
The best contest would be marathon man VS Queen Pat. They both amaze and inspire!
If there was a Miles/Points cable TV show I would certainly tune in for this reality show “Marathon Man vs Queen Pat”.
But, judging from the Delta news it may have to be renamed Dollars/Points instead 🙂
i don’t get the excitement over Macau on here. i spent 3 days there and wished it was more like 3 hours. the historical areas and the fort and such were ok, food was decent. but i had a lot more fun exploring Hong Kong’s outer areas. to each his own i guess, but i don’t find casino touring that interesting.
i never take the airport express unless i’m in a big hurry. i love taking the buses into HK, which is cheaper and from the upper deck has some great views on the way. on the way back if you have time and just a carry-on you can go via boat and the big buddha.
If you didn’t go to the Cotai Central area, you’re missing out
You could easily spend 2 days in the Cotai Strip/City of Dreams area without ever stepping foot in a casino and not be bored. I stepped into the Venetian casino for a bit just to take in the enormity of it, but otherwise didn’t gamble at all
So, hoping for a Pointbreaks for the HKG IC is out of the question? Just kidding…
I will talk to my friend from HKG about Macau, he knows me. I am leaning towards 3 nights at the IC (90k IHG pts and free night) and then two nights in Macau at the Conrad getting there after late checkout in the IC, so having a full day in Macau and then leaving very early next am to the airport (flight to LAX leaves around noon). Not sure how long I need to get to airport from Macau and whether I can have enough time in the Cathay Pacific First lounge :-).
I finalized everything for my Maui trip last night, getting a Full size car rental from Budget at SJC to OAK for one day for $17. I could feed into Autoslash but not going to bother, I mean, save a dollar or two, not worth the hassle of yet another reservation 🙂
The AmexBlue cash back starting to hit my account, woohoo!
Ferry from Macau to HKG is about an hour, and you’ll actually arrive at the airport on the “other” side of customs, so you’ll technically never be re-entering Hong Kong when you go from Macau to the airport
I would ditch the late checkout at the IC. You really don’t need more than 3 days to see everything in HKG that is truly worth seeing. Half the things that are big tourist attractions in Hong Kong are the same type of stuff they offer in NYC – you don’t need to go to the other side of the world to see skyscrapers or beaches (the beaches are nice, but nothing you can’t get in the Carribean). The TRULY authentic Hong Kong/Asia experience (peak tram, ladies/temple markets, buddhist village, authentic food, cheap suits etc.) can easily be done in 3 days
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