It was kind of a slow day. At the least, I was very slow as I can hardly move around with my leg injury. Very slow progress. It allowed me the opportunity to be all over my Google Reader feed yesterday!
Still looking for questions, comment below or email me at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
AWARD BOOKING HELP
Any award booking service wanting to be featured positively here? Hey, I am desperate for ANY type of return from this labor of love blog:-) Here it is, piece of cake:
Number of seats: Two
Depart from any of NYC airports either December 25 late pm or December 26 (pref) early am
Arrive back to NYC late December 30 or December 31 early am
Fly C or F internationally in a very nice product
or to a Caribbean country (coach is okay)
Somewhere warm, sunny, w/ beache(s)
Major chain NICE hotels available (in order of preference: Hilton, Club Carlson, Hyatt, Starwood, Priority Club)
No South America
For Hawaii: Only Maui or Kawai
Mexico: Last resort
Any ideas for flights we can do at this stage? I have enough miles in all three alliances. DL Platinum.
Any help appreciated!
READER QUESTION: Will the World End Tomorrow?
Hmm, our crystal ball stopped functioning many years ago. We would just like to take this opportunity, in case the world does end, to wish everyone a nice after life. Certainly we ‘ll be seeing some of you in hell. As Eddie Murhphy used to say “I am going to hell….and I am taking the Hell Express there!”
BEST OF
Kind of big news yesterday. The Wandering Aramean wrote about Delta buying 49% in Virgin Atlantic and a joint venture among the two airlines . It will take more than a year to see any effects of this move…so do NOT worry about it! I am very afraid V’s fuel surcharges will magically start to appear on Delta’s awards…and that will be reason #897 to despise this airline! Or maybe it is time to open a Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer account afterall? Nahh, we do not plan to have many Skypesos left in the next year or so anyway.
I am not sure why I have this one here, I just did not want to relegate yet another of Ben’s posts in my glorious “Not So Best Of” category for third day in a row! Yes I do have feelings.-) Anyway, we have a post informing us he spends over $1,000 in credit card annual fees and ALL such aff app links are so neatly served. $1k is nothing for big time bloggers and it IS tax deductible (which remains one reason we got into this blogging thing…then again, with absolutely no revenues yet and in the horizon, just deducting expenses may be a reason IRS will make an example of us, yikes!). Another reason I am highlighting this post is to point out that one of the biggest misconceptions about this hobby is that you can travel for free! There is NOTHING free about it! The hobby has a (low to substantial) cost of TIME AND MONEY!
An absolutely mind blowing trip report from MilesAbound to the Park Hyatt Maldives. Wow, just wow!
Dansdeals broke the story of how the BA website got better showing all partners without workarounds! All the other bloggers followed shortly…if my Google Reader time feeds are correct!
And if you wanted yet another sign that this hobby has indeed reached a critical mass, how about this request to be part of a travel show? Thanks to MilesQuest for bringing this to our attention. I believe there have been a few other efforts for TV/web shows in the works but I am not sure if anything has materialized. If you know please leave a comment or email me! TBB is feeling some vibes of monetizing this operation at last…Be a judge or a consultant to these types of shows? Ha, how about that! I am going to let the show producers know that they are free to call me…maybe! If you decide to give this a shot and you first heard it in my blog please remember me, thank you!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Be Happier: 10 Things to Start Doing Right Now
Comment left in my blog: “Will MMS’s trip to Bora Bora ever end?” [ I think we are nearing the end, hang in there!] lol
Why does everyone think the world is going to end tomorrow?? Its 12/21/12 not 12/12/12! Almost 10 more days to get 5x on my ink card!
Ha ha ha its very funny for thinking about the worlds ends.
vietnam tours
@Sandeep: You are right…good thinking;-)
@Jason: Not going to be funny if a meteor annihilates us all:-)
I really hope the world doesn’t end today. I’m traveling, plus I’m trying to catch up on all your blog posts! 🙂
Google time feeds don’t lie 😀
I really have to consider breaking my trip reports down from 1 single post to 57 posts, I mean that’s like weeks of being able to put your blog into auto-pilot mode without having to come up with other content.
I know you’re an active DDF member, why not post your award query in the award thread there: http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=7986
Give the kid a break. At least Million mile secrets doesn’t hide better offers which don’t pay a commision from his readers like you do or tell them to apply from his links and then get matched by Chase like you.
I don’t care for the endless picture of wifey and him, but he beats you hollow when it comes to integrity and affiliate links. Just sayin’…
Hi there anon!
I’ve got nothing against bloggers dragging out a TR into 37 posts, I just find it funny. Nothing personal against anyone. And MMS and I are both just kids having fun 😀
There is a disclosure on my site that I do earn commission from my posts. Personally I find the disclosures in every other blog post to be annoying to read. I mean, is there really anyone out there who doesn’t realize that at this point? I may be way off base here, maybe people really do feel comforted by seeing it?
As far as better offers, I’m not sure what you’re referring to, but as you say I’ve often pointed out that you can match to better offers.
Why do I do that?
-I’ve never been able to replicate the United 55K+$50 on my account but I’ve applied for that offer numerous times with my link myself and gotten matched to it via SM without any issues.
-I have successfully been able to double dip on offers by getting an SM match, so that’s been advantageous, so they seem to have caught onto us there of late.
-I didn’t post about the AA 50K/$10K offer though I chuckled at some of the other posts on that one explaining why going that route is a good idea.
-I refused to give into heavy pressure from Chase to write about the Disney card and also chuckled at some of the posts made on that card in the past. The commissions on that card are unreal, but I only post card offers that I would do myself and Disney doesn’t make the cut.
-I refused to write about merchandise as a good redemption option.
So I have some morals. At least on occasion. Well, as long as I don’t have any big bills to pay that month. Cheers 😀
>>>>>>>>I mean, is there really anyone out there who doesn’t realize that at this point?
Actually yes, I met some of them at FTU!
>>>>>>>>>I may be way off base here, maybe people really do feel comforted by seeing it?
I think it is a matter of fairness and full disclosure. I come from the financial services industry, to give you a hint of where I am coming from. It is a long subject. Bottom line, disclosures nicely tucked away in just one area of a website may be compliant but, lets not kid ourselves, nobody reads them! One of these days I am going to write about the top practices on how to choose whose links to click on…Don’t hold your breath, it may take a LONG time, I just don’t move fast!
I totally understand where you’re coming from, buy from my perspective it’s not worth annoying the 99.5% of daily readers with a persistent disclosure for the 0.5% that doesn’t.
My disclosure is in the sidebar of every page of the site. Obviously bloggers will never please everyone though, I mean just look in the closed FT thread for people screaming at bloggers for not posting better offers and folks screaming at bloggers for daring to post unpublished better offers!
Frankly I’m shocked that someone would be advanced enough to know about and attend FTU and have never seen one of those disclosures before.
Probably the all time worst blogger out there has written about the disney card:
http://milesmomma.com/disney-premier-visa-card-100-credit/
Wow. And I thought I had another one to roast tonight, thanks!
@MJ: Actually we have another 9 days, phew;-)
@Dan: I think 35 posts for one trip report will be just perfect, lol. Thanks for the award thread suggestion, I should post it there when I get a chance!
How come no comments on the endless shilling of the Citi AA offers with higher spending by your pal the points guy.
He claims the links on FT are “unverified” even though thousands of people have been approved.
Gary and MMS come clean with the better offers.
TPG is getting wose than his pal (and your former pal lol) rick.
@ Anonymous: Pal? I have no pals, they all hate me equally lol. Well, technically, they are indeed “unverified” without a landing page.
This is an area full of worms as we are all finding out…simply because of the amount of money involved.
Don’t worry, I am on it, his turn is coming soon…everyone’s turn is coming soon. The strategic plan to monetize my blog remains to get all cc pimping bloggers to offer me hush money to shut up…based on the hate mail (from bloggers) and love mail (from readers) my plan is right on target!
LOL!
Dans Deals is the best site!
Sure there is a ton of spam all over the site, and all the filler posts (some of which repeat every week) are annoying, but once you cut through all the fluff, he has many gem posts. I still remember him setting the blogosphere afrenzy with the Elal $300 fare
MMS on the other hand, if you cut through all the fluff…. you get to “Our 2nd honeymoon part 4,206: The Pepsi at the bar was a little flat”
Positive and negative feedback is always appreciated…but perhaps the former more than the latter.
Thanks!
Yeah, DD has good stuff, no doubt about it. I just hope he declines that credit repair ad;-)
Can I use the 4,206 and pepsi flat comment? I hope so. I am, thanks!
I turn down tons of paid placement ads. Penny auctions. E-cigs. MLMs. I can go on forever. I’m talking a lot of money turned down just because they’re not products I believe in.
But if a company has found a way to get abusive collectors that violate the law to pay for people’s credit to be repaired is that really a bad thing to advertise? I mean it’s payday loans or something 😀
I’ve heard positive feedback from people that took advantage of the offer, so it can’t be that bad, can it?
While I agree with Dan that it’s not bad in it of itself to have a credit repair ad (I have no idea as to the quality of the service), I think there should also be a very big warning on your thread: “IF YOU ARE THE TYPE OF PERSON THAT EVEN CONSIDERS THE NEED TO CLICK THAT LINK, 95% OF MY POSTS ARE NOT FOR YOU”
That being said, thank you for keeping your trip reports to 1 or 2 posts, and for only giving information in it that is actually useful to your targeted demographic (even if it’s not relevant to all of us)
I’m pretty sure if MMS took his TR content and pictures from TripAdvisor, I wouldn’t realize (assuming he can photoshop Emily into the pics)
Dan and Anon (can u just pick a name, any name, it would be easier!):
I have never seen yet a credit repair business that is worth its money. Anon’s point is right on: “IF YOU ARE THE TYPE OF PERSON THAT EVEN CONSIDERS THE NEED TO CLICK THAT LINK, 95% OF MY POSTS ARE NOT FOR YOU”
I cringe every time I see that ad!
At the end of the day, it is your own blog and you can do whatever you want. I review blogs and I am not even getting paid man lol!
Right but that particular company doesn’t charge anything to the consumer and people have reported success. Hard to believe that’s not worth $0?
I definitely agree that people who are not responsible should not be playing this game. When I did a seminar that was the very first thing I stressed.