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| Doug Parker, biggest bad airline CEO in da world! |
I am trying to find a groove to be able to keep up this baby and keeping myself sane. So I start yet another section I will call it “In my mind”…which is exactly that…what’s on my mind presently. No time for any links for this section, sorry!
As you may have noticed this is a mini version of the original full versions of the TBB posts…I just don’t have the time to do this as I used to. I hope you still find it worthy of a visit!
ON MY MIND
I had predicted the US Air and AA merger a long time ago (yes I like to rub it in) and Gary Leff at One View from the Wing had said not likely (or no way, can’t remember). I can’t recall the exact blog post that was documented. I hereby declare victory:-)
Doug Parker is looking at himself in the mirror as we speak. His life long dream is now a reality, he runs the biggest airline in the world! He probably told his momma when he was a kid “Momma, when I grow big like daddy I will run the biggest airline in the world!)”. To all of you champagne and caviar lovers, he is coming to get you. Chris Elliott is throwing a party I hear to celebrate the huge victory against them Flyertalker types! Long term, we are screwed as the screws will turn even tighter slowly. In the short term we may be thrown some nice sized bones to chew on to keep/draw us in the tent. This is the final huge merger, the old days of super money loser airlines are gone. That only leaves ugly duckling Alaska Air that may get bought next but likely won’t happen for a while (if it does, it will likely be Delta snapping it up). Mileage runs in a few years may be reserved to true psycopaths:-)
Milesmomma is starting a new feature in her blog titled Milesbuzz from the blogosphere. Really?
I was going to get me some cards today now that the refi is behind me…but run out of time…again!
Got wife and daugther one way tickets from KUL to SIN on…Air Asia in their trip to see my inlaws. Really cheap prices about $39 each (yes after several fees!). Darn Amex triggered a fraud alert and had to start the purchase online all over!
MVP POST OF THE DAY
Million Mile Secrets is killing it now…”What I do and don’t do to earn money on the blog“. Wow. Isn’t it amazing if you do the right thing it just happens to make lots of good business sense too? Plus you have a smile while you look at yourself in the morning. Here is the comment I left at his site:
This miles/points addict salutes you Sir.
Like I said earlier, I wish your transparency and disclosure policies were copied by all other bloggers in this space. But they won’t as most will try to squeeze/maximize every freaking dollar they can.
I apologize for the crap I gave you in my blog for harmless things such as pics and arrows and too many pics with cards:-) Post away, you have earned it. Just keep it up, you know I am always watching.
I am saddened to hear about your mother in law being taken advantage of a charlatan bent oh maximizing his/her income…every time I hear of this it makes me sick to my stomach (I am sick quite a lot, lol).
I must admit I like the India pics:-)
MILES/POINTS
Miles to the Wild shows how to enter the AA number to an Avios award via…Finnair!
TRAVEL
50 perfect shots. MUST SEE PICS!!!! FrancescoMugnai Blog
20 Portraits of Winter. From Matador Network
ODDZ & ENDZ
Weirdest headline I have seen lately: “Extremely Peculiar” Sea Animal Has Disposable Penis“. A disposable what???? WTF!
A letter from Kim Jong-Un of North Korea. “Nuclear weapons don’t kill people. People kill people who don’t have nuclear weapons.” Hilarous piece from Horowitz Report
George, your shift to weekly posts didn’t even last a week. Face it, you’re addicted to the audience you created. That’s fine, but do us all the favor of not complaining about it – and just love the ride!
Yes I am addicted! Ok, I will try to stop the complaining, message received!
I’m pretty sure the rumor you heard about the Chase BA Visa going up only applied to TPG
Because man he’s been pushing the card really hard this year
I’m willing to bet we’ve seen more links for the BA Visa in his posts over the past 1.5 months than all of BoardingArea put together
Sure looks like it! Maybe he has cut a separate deal with Chase on that one? We ‘ll never know.
George, if you took a day off, we wouldn’t be sad. We would learn to cope and grieve. Hope you’re productive and enjoying the new experience; don’t worry about us.
I’ve decided that it’s time to go scuba diving off Japan to watch the ripping-tearing-detatching nudibranch trysts that seem to be going on. And you thought your sex life was wild….
Found on Milesmomma’s post you mentioned: needs closed quotation mark, semicolon used where a comma belongs, awkward capitalization, “too” used where “to” belongs, and the phrase [sic] “average jo.” That’s enough.
harvson3
Your attention to detail is outstanding:-)
Some bloggers seem more intent on killing all to build readership for the future payday. Whether you profit from selling out mom, or profit from selling out a community, not that much difference.
BTW, looks like Barclays pulled the Chairman’s offer today. I wonder how long until the blogsphere nuts up now that they no longer have to sell their affiliate links as second best?
I saw that. I have to say, I feel really bad about it as I was going to get it again next week with my next churn. I have never pushed the affiliate one on my blog and have always referenced the chairmans offer as one of the best deals out there. So will I mention the affiliate deal now? Yes, not just because I get a commission but because I still like the offer as one of the easiest ways to get miles.
Oh that is horrible as I put off getting the card. Darn blog again got in the way:-)
Man, bloggers sure are suddenly eager to remind us to get the US Airways card….
Hehe, blog commentary coming soon!
LOL, yeah I woke up in BNE to a Google reader full of “get the US card before it goes away”! Thanks for the shout-out George!
Check my comments tomorrow. And you are very welcome!
George, don’t listen to these guys. I just discovered your blog and really enjoying this meta-review of my favorite blog niches – travel and frequent flier community!
Thank you. If you like this mini version of it after a significant development in my career….you would love the posts in the first 3 months when I was going at it in a major way. Now it has become a mini version of those much more substantial posts. I don’t like it but it’s all I can manage now.
Thanks again and I added your blog in my very lengthy list of blogs I follow.
Mother’s First Trip to India Part 910: Where are all the overwater bungalows?
Sad to see you falling for that used car salesman, George. Come on, you really buying those last 2 days worth of sudden moral crap? He is probably the worst thing that happened to miles and points in general.
I like HikerT’s thoughts which are without any compromise. I know when you see something good you like to call it, but in this instance you are now selling out. And I don’t know why it makes me sad as you are smarter than this.
Me selling out, ouch! I clearly see your points, I really do. This blogger is not going anywhere so might as well try to enourage and change his practices for the better. He has taken this quirky hobby to unimaginable scale due to his PR skills. Do I like this? Hell NO! Bringing what we do to the masses (Nightline, New York Times, Fox (!!!), etc.) is really really bad for the viability of “hacks” ( I prefer “tricks”) and just cheapens the whole experience! But it is reality. Commercialized blogs are not going anywhere. I know how it is to meet payroll so maybe I am a little easy on him.
I will be there when the “moral crap” stops:-)
As long as the banks are paying hefty commissions for credit card apps….expect the blogs to sell out and sell their souls for the all mighty buck. I never said that is wrong, I am a huge capitalism devotee! There are good ways (FULL disclosures, promote better offers, HTing, warning of the dangers inherent with credit, no or minimal links in body of posts, etc) and there are used car salesmen tactics. Above all it should be about quality content! When you see a blogger doing more of the good ways it should be encouraged. Time will tell if/when the used car salesmen tactics return or become prominent again. What gets me is that if the staff was used to improve/generate original content instead of marketing/PR he could have THE go to site for the masses (not us). Instead, it appears so much attention goes for marketing and PR activities and content always lags AND never breaks any news in this area!
I ‘ve been around for many years watching all this in the back stage…I don’t like the way it’s all going…
Thanks for the excellent explanation.
Expect more and more bad news coming throughout the year and beyond though. What you consider PR skills is actually a mockery of financial institutions in their face. Tricks that have been working for years are now gradually all going away and he is a key contributor to the demise. A sudden urge of trying to come clean will never make up for all that we have lost and continue to lose because of arrogant denial. And face it, this is all because of the sudden calm of 5X going away as well as fading of purchasing capabilities of cash equivalents due to him and cohorts over publicizing.
You may be extending a hand to encourage and I am not going to spew hatred because ultimately you personally have to network with these guys perhaps, but most can see the charade and his shenanigans.
Blogs are not going away. They are growing much faster than Flyer Talka and Mile Point communities. They compete (and repeat to death) among themselves to differentiate from the next blog. Some bloggers have rightly not broadcasted “tricks” that will lead to a quick demise. But is is VERY hard to resist from doing so. Newbie bloggers will break this stuff out to gain an “edge” from the next newbie blogger. Before you know it everyone will start writing about it. This argument has been going on for years! The speed of “discovering” and “publication” and “demise” of such “tricks” has exploded…It is quite amazing to watch.
Burn, burn, burn