TBB Mission: To Entertain, Educate and Inspire. Aim to at least do one well!
This blog has been a labor of love so far. If you like what you see here, please let others know by passing them a link to my blog, thank you!
Did you miss my blog post on “Mileage junkie! Diversify Your Portfolio! 2 great blog posts about the blogging business” a day ago? It has been the one with the highest number of page views!
TBB SPECIAL: BLOG OF THE WEEK OR MONTH OR WHATEVER!
entirely true stories from two hotel concierges in times square.
Some of the stories are, well, you should read some yourself. Bookmark when you need a laugh. You are welcome! Remember how you discovered such gems like this when I put up my shiny new affiliate credit card links ok? Gracias for your support! (mega lol…in advance)
TRAVEL
This is not a photo from the movie Gravity, this is REAL! By Twisted Sifter. Must click. If you are not blown away there is something wrong with you, may I suggest a good therapist? 🙂
The Towns Around Fukushima Power Plant Look Like A Post-Apocalyptic Nightmare. Incredible pictures. I was always fascinated by abandoned desolate #&*@ places!
MILES/POINTS
Travel is Free dives into Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program: Best Use of Asia Miles. This is NOT light reading!
This weekend was extremely slow. So many bloggers were busy at the frequent flyer miles/points addicts seminars in Chicago. You can follow the action on twitter with hashtag #ChicagoSeminars
BLOGGING BUSINESS
A repeat of the two blog posts featured here over the weekend.
Professional Blogging Reality Check. By Saverocity. Another must read. After reading it I feel like running out of gas after I complete one year of blogging. Maybe get into personal finance blogging and enhance my real life brand rather than fighting an up hill battle in a hobby going revenue based soon. I will miss you guys 🙂 Actually, I intend to find out more next week at the financial blogger conference and make some decisions about where TBB goes from here. Unless you can guarantee me $3k to $5k per month to keep my links buhahahahahahahahahahahaha
The Rich Get Richer: Smaller Blogs Can’t Compete on Credit Card Affiliate Links. By Travel Summary. Must read in my opinion. Wow. This industry could use some transparency!
ON MY MIND
I have been having fun on Twitter dropping hints about the deal I discovered. I am shocked (well, not really anymore) how many emails/tweets/DMs/texts I have gotten about this asking me to reveal it or keep dropping hints. I am sorry everyone, I can not get back to you all, I need to hire a secretary to keep up! So, if you did not get a reply from me, please do not hold it against me. I read it but just got a super busy week ahead of me with the conference starting on Thursday! And I have a doubleheader soccer game on Monday night with the top team first followed with the third team right afters (we are in second place going into the doubleheader). I would like to speak to the scheduler for setting us up like this!
ODDZ & ENDZ
These crazy inventions are the latest sign that entrepreneurship in China is alive and well. By Quartz. These are just super bad!
Oceans of Life Photography competition 2013.
Photograph: Craig Nash. A Salvin/BirdLife South Africa Oceans of Life photo competition 2013
The Unofficial Goldman Sachs Guide to Being a Man. I am still rolling on the floor laughing…Here are some, more if you click the link!
- Time is too short to do your own laundry.
- People are tired of you being the funny, drunk guy.
- Never stay out after midnight three nights in a row … unless something really good comes up on the third night.
- Ignore the boos. They usually come from the cheap seats.
- Hookers aren’t cool, and remember, the free ones are a lot more expensive.
Note: This section is intended for long time readers and miles/points addicts who follow the blogs in this space. Readers not familiar with this crazy hobby could skip this section! Do not take anything personal. TBB reviews blogs and tries to entertain above all. Call me Siskel. Furthermore, a link appearing in this section is TBB approved! The rest are just TBB crap; don’t take them too seriously, it’s mostly entertainment! You feel hurt the entertainment is on you? Well, excuse moi, perhaps you should try to earn the link if you are so sensitive with what appears in your blog, no one is stopping you!
Another Friday, another interview at Million Mile Secrets. “I’m a relative newbie to the miles and points game. I started collecting in September of 201…”. They keep coming…and coming…Shaking my head. Added one more to Feedly. I need help.
OMG, the Chase Ink card pumping at Points, Miles and Martinis is reaching amazing heights lately, wow! Pump it with patios (at Sears), Shutterfly, Kohls and Ebates. Yes folks, all these were separate blog posts. Next up? Plastics!
Did you know that Boarding Area has a history of hosting the top blogs in the USA about travel? What, you didn’t? Delta Points said so. I am still smh.
Million Mile Secrets and its content has fallen off a cliff. 11 part series on a single trip and answers to questions like this: “How do I transfer Ultimate Rewards points to United?“. My friend D, please make the two hires soon!
The Points Guy, out of so many questions out there, picks this one first: What’s The 1 Points-Earning Credit Card I Should Start With?
And I leave you with this…
Found here
First.
One of the lines from my HS song was “First among equals, we; and first we shall always be!”
I always thought that line was ridiculous.
What can I say? Congrats 🙂
‘People are tired of you being the funny, drunk guy.’ -lol! Many of those in the community…. 🙁
Come on, be nice now!
“My friend D, please make the two hires soon!”
Um… what exactly do you think those 2 hires are going to be doing?
You think he’s going to pay 2 salaries to have them pump the Fidelity card?
At least it might help get rid of the insipid writing. Text: “The hotel offered volleyball” followed by a photo of said hotel’s volleyball facilities with the caption in the photo reading “Volleyball facilities at hotel”. At least it is not just an Emily photo-fest.
PS: Hellooo Emily.
Ummmm, write about the Fairmont cards when they get affiliate links lol
The repetition in the photo caption drives me totally nuts…so u necessary!
George you need to finish your Banff/Lake Louise Fairmont trip report. When those Fairmont links come out, you’ll be ready to sell to the highest bidder, so they’re first out of the gates.
But seriously, are you listening Jason Steele and Drew Macomber? Might be worth the gamble.
Good point, I ‘ll try to add it to my to do list 🙂
I love your round-up blog!
I’m also grateful Daraius asked to interview me for his friday series and that you added me to feedly!
Daraius was by far the best resource when I started in September of 2012. There was lots of lingo on flyertalk and other blogs that I just didn’t understand. I think sometimes the pros take this for granted and talk over the heads of newbies (maybe that’s intentional).
To be honest most of my traffic comes from thrifty mommy bloggers and personal finance bloggers who are just getting started with miles and points and want the basics of how to get up and running. They want to cut through the advanced stuff that takes hundreds of hours to learn. It’s my goal to serve that niche.
I don’t have much to offer a seasoned pro and don’t pretend that I do! I want to provide readers with a logical progression that they can follow without scouring forums. I received a few dozen emails saying “wow, I actually understand your posts.” I appreciate that because I was in their shoes a little over a year ago.
Keep up the good work with your roundups! I love how you interject your personality into your writing. Have a great week!
“They want to cut through the advanced stuff that takes hundreds of hours to learn. It’s my goal to serve that niche.”
Except for a handful of blogs, ALL OF THEM serve that niche. I don’t think there is a single more oversaturated niche in the travell blogosphere than catering to the newbie
Maybe your intentions are more noble, but for most that’s because the newbie is the easiest person to sucker in with the used-car-salesman CC pimping charade.
Heck just this weekend TPG, the biggest blogger of them all, had a post “what is the 1 card people should use for spending”.
Nothing against your blog. TBB’s and our point was more about MMS than you – right now your blog has very little content, a month old and your interview answers didn’t provide anything dozens of bloggers before you said. So I fail to see why he interviewed you other than he needed a filler post. Maybe one day you’ll have a worthwhile blog (not meant derogatorily – few blogs are worthwhile at first) , and all the best to you in that regard, but right now I don’t see any value-add in your blog
TPG isn’t even the second biggest miles and points blogger.
TPG is certainly the biggest. Gary Leff, Lucky and then MMS are the only ones close. Unless you count the whole network of bloggers. Like BA and F2B.
TPG is bigger than MMS. But publicly available data suggests both Gary Leff and Lucky have more unique readers than TPG.
Where are you getting this “data”
compete.com
compete.com shows boardingarea. Your right, boardingarea and TPG are the same size. But compete is hardly accurate.
Be honest! You are looking to get in on the credit card gravy train with some regurgeatation of things you read on other blogs.
Don’t forget to comment everyday on everyone else’s blogs, hoping for a link back to yours. The Grant method.
Nothing makes me want to visit a blog less than when they do that
I remember when the Miles Professor first started blogging, within 3 seconds of any blogger putting up a post she had a pointless comment
Fortunately, she’s since used much better discretion on when to comment
(P.S. you know you’re my homeboy TBB, but everything above applied to you too)
I stopped posting stupid comments for the backlink some time ago 🙂 Only when I have something positive to contribute 😉
Seriously – he was practically begging for his interview with his puckering on every MMS post.
Donnie:
There are SO many blogs doing the same thing, how can YOU stand out from them? And then sustain it. The affiliate environment has changed A LOT lately, just fyi.
Good luck, you are in my Feedly list. I hope I see some positive content I can feature here for my readers to benefit from.
From what I know, TPG is certainly the biggest.
What is the difference between alexa and compete.com? Compete.com does not know TBB even exists lol
Crikey – you dare come here and express gratitude from MMS for pimping your ridiculous/lame/pathetic/absurd blog?
your BLOG BUZZ section is hilarious and spot on. the content on some of the popular blogs has taken a steep nose dive lately.
Thank you very much. It does take a toll to sustain it 🙂
I’m working on a Chase Ultimate Rewards chocolate chip cookie recipe. Ingredients–2 cups of flour, which you can buy with your Chase Sapphire card after going online through the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. 1 cup chocolate chips, which would be a great purchase with your Chase Ink business card…
Don’t forget you’ll need to buy mixing bowls and cookie trays; platters on which to serve said cookies – and they’d be a great snack to take for your family when you fly to Disneyland using your shiny new SW card! Of course if you can’t cook, there’s always food in the lounge, access provided by the following 9 cards….
Negoitate with a local restaurant (hopefully that is a part of Rewads Network) to sell you their used cooking utensils and servingware. Pay with your Chase Sapphire Preferred, on the first friday of the month = 3.21 points per dollar. Or buy a $200 gift card at Staples with Ink Bold/Ink Plus and use that card (linked to Plink) to pay for the supplies.
Which is the better strategy? Which would you do? We could have a blog fight and they could write several posts full of links hashing out the debate. MMS could take photos of Emily baking. Complete with arrows. Shhhhhhhhhhh……….
Add some vanilla
If Vanilla was ice cream I would be super fat by now!!!
I remember being an annoying child running around telling people “I know something you don’t know!” in a smug sing-song voice. I think adults humored me because I was six years old.
Either divulge the hint or clam up about it, Buzz. Going around repeatedly saying that you know a secret but won’t share is unseemly.
Does Daraius ask his Friday interviewees to post comments frequently at his blog before and shortly after their interview? There seems to be a pattern, with MilesProf, WeddingSpend, Grant, and now Donnie.
@Donnie:
The idea that this group is a small, underserved niche is 50% humorous and 50% facepalm-worthy. I hope you gain much personal satisfaction out of your blog.
Happy Thanksgiving, Jeff.
Here’s an article about how domestic airfares during the World Cup are going to be sky-high. Of course, you could always take advantage of JJ’s ample award availability.
/still an a–hole
Thanks harvson3, and a very happy Columbus Day to y’all Americans!
I can take the criticism, thanks for calling me out, I appreciate it and needed to hear it.
This is more of a fun game and many have been playing along. I am getting to teach them how to go about these things and not demand it at MMS or at mrPickles 🙂 And I also want to teach the newbies that it takes some work and being out there with eyes open for opportunities. The game has changed so much in the last few years that these things get killed SUPER fast when they get posted in blogs. I have no doubt this is another one. My behavior also goes to ingrain that it is better to milk deals in a non hoggish way among a VERY select circle and this is where the relationships come through. Everyone wants to make a quick buck these days!!!
The response/reaction/offers have been wildly amazing to me…There are people out there who live for this stuff 🙂 And always the same reactions like in all deals: people hate you for killing deals or even revealing hints and people constantly asking for hints and others (MMS readers?) demanding complete revelations with pics and arrows lol. I find it very entertaining myself. I had one reader S. who said she would do “anything” and a wink and I responded with “Send a pic” LOL
Your blogger friend told me I am handling it the right way 😉
MMS never asked me to post anything either before or after the interview, if my experience is worth anything,
Okay. Just wondering.
Andy, are you going to write a how-to-get-to-the-World-Cup post soon? My advice for those considering it: kiss your wallets goodbye.
harvson3
Then your advice is wrong. I already wrote about it on FTG: http://lazytravelers.net/still-want-to-go-to-the-2014-world-cup (severe warning: a double backlink, how sleazy of me, LOL). If you don’t feel like clicking, though, here’s the gist: good things come to those who wait. No one is as good at hyping or rather over-hyping than Brazilians. Sometimes, they make out like bandits, and other times they lose big time. I’m hell-bent on going to World Cup on my terms, and not theirs. An award flight, a cheap apartment in Rio and a gorgeous ocean-view villa in Buzios. Cheap too.
I think someone once mentioned that hope isn’t a plan.
But best of luck.
If I were to go your route, I would try for seats in Recife or Salvador or BH rather than Rio.
I was in SP for the last World Cup, and watched the flags being pulled from apartment balconies mere minutes after the Netherlands game.
Love the adage about hope, but it’s not a hope, it’s a plan. Even if everything goes wrong (it won’t), there are still love motels :). I will not stay out in the streets, no sir!
In regard to other cities, I would love to visit those places sometime in the future, but I don’t know them, so won’t risk it. Rio I know reasonably well including brokers and some apt. owners who never market to gringos. Many Cariocas are going out of Rio for the Cup because it’s a circus, and they’ll be delighted to rent their apartment for a few days to a trustworthy individual for a reasonable price. As I wrote in the above post, I once landed an apt on the second day of Carnival for almost regular price. The owner had asked $10,000 for 10-day minimum stay just a few days prior. The vacation rental market is so over-saturated in Rio, I’m not worried.
Having said that, I’m super flexible, since I just want to see a couple of good games. If you must travel with your team, then well, yeah, that’s tough. Although in response to the article in Globo you posted, Brazilian long-distance buses are quite comfortable, and they have flat beds too. So, that could be one solution. Not ideal, but still.
What do you mean by this? Sao Paulo? Not sure I understand.
“I was in SP for the last World Cup, and watched the flags being pulled from apartment balconies mere minutes after the Netherlands game.”
I also did not catch the SP World Cup reference.
I feel so bad for Panama today.
Greece will need two play off games before punching tickets to WC. Just a bad game at Bosnia did us in.
My brother lives in SP. If Greece makes it and plays in SP I may go and I am hopeful I don’t get robbed in $$/miles 🙂
Hilarious. And so true.
And no, you ain’t close to being an a-hole. It’s the twats who pimp and the ones who support the pimping who are the real a-holes!
MileValue at the end of today’s pointless post:
“Did I make any mistakes? Correct them in the comments”
About 3 lines below that….
“Comments are closed”
Not surprising actually. He censors corrections, so if he’s asking the comments section to be corrections of him, he reflexively locks it
I had strong urges to vomit on that one…Lost count, I think final tally was 61. Do you think he was targeting all the Chicago Seminars newbies? lol
So I am thinking of whether I should go to the Seattle Sessions…. I am a newbie, having only started seriously collecting points this past November, but having read a lot on FT as well as many of the blogs pretty regularly, my basic knowledge is solid. I am successfully churning cards for the two adults in my household and feel confident booking award travel. I have already seen Boeing in Everett. I haven’t attended the Chicago sessions or FTU.
What I would hope to gain would be more insider tips – the things that friends share and that rarely make it to the blogs. With a cap of just 50 people, this weekend might be conducive to making some friends and/or meeting some of the folks I have befriended online.
My initial take on F2B was not too positive – didn’t like all the hype at first, or the initial layout, and didn’t find too many bloggers I wanted to follow. The negatives went up with the quick change in tune re: affiliates and the addition of deal links that were not very good deals. Then a few bloggers I do like came on board – I am loving Milenomics and do enjoy Will Run For Miles. I am indebted to The Deal Mommy for introducing me to BookBub, enabling me to steadily grow my kindle library for free. I have no desperate need to meet these folks in person but it could be fun.
With the link to sign up going active this week, I am wondering what to do. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks, Happy Columbus Day to those of you in Shutdown Land, and Happy Thanksgiving to Jeff and any other Canadians who pop in here!
First, we were all newbies once. I hope nobody forgets that!
If you are in Seattle and you are free it could be a fun event to attend. Or wait for another one to come close to you. If you follow all the blogs you would not learn much new. The value in these gathering is in the personal networking that is done in the hallways and after hours. And of course the social aspects! It is generally a fun group, most are introverts who feel “as part of a group” at last lol. Some make very strong and life long friendships. There are many who know each other and just go from one event to the next one. You may feel a bit as a “non-outsider” so I should warn you now. But, for the most part, they are friendly and the bonding that goes on is a human aspect that has made Randy Petersen wildly rich lol.
The F2B events are much smaller so you may like the more intimate part. The other two are much larger and you may feel a bit overwhelmed (with more chances of finding some others you can connect with). Other than that, it is pretty much the same old stuff and the same old speakers.
I pretty much agree with everything else you stated. I think you are no longer a newbie anymore, you “get it”. Good job! Takes a while and, what makes this community of misfits—hahaha- unique is that there is ALWAYS something cooking. To me, it is the hunt of the deal and the emotions of each score I experience knowing others paid up the wazoo for it. It is: Priceless
Hope this helps. If not, ask me again whatever you want. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
Thanks, TBB, much appreciated. I think my main unease is that I have mixed feelings towards F2B, and I certainly don’t want to be seen as a F2B groupie or diehard supporter. Those mixed feelings are behind using a cutesy but anonymous name here.
I am leaning toward signing up. Generally there’s a way to put the ticket in someone else’s name if I decide not to go. Seattle should be fun in August. Maybe I can even convince a friend to join me. OK, thanks. And have a good time at the meeting you are heading to later this week.
If you are traveling to Seattle in August you should know that hotel prices are high to very high. Of course if you do have a stash of hotel points this is not going to matter 🙂
Hi George,
Actually, we’ve secured a group rate of $119 at the Sheraton Bellevue;)
@TBB, I found a job for you: Senior Financial Analyst, Bluebird/International Payment Options Finance Job for American Express
http://jobs.americanexpress.com/mobile/job/New-York-Senior-Financial-Analyst%2C-BluebirdInternational-Payment-Options-Finance-Job-NY/18947800/
You can work on the inside and share your secrets with us all 🙂
Sadly I am overqualified.
But the job I could apply for is at Incomm. Finally get the whole scoop on the economics of Vanilla Reloads, dirt on frauds, “secret” retail locations…On and on. Would be a goldmine of information!…
And then I woke up, it was just a dream lol.
Haha keep dreaming, maybe you will think of something that we can take advantage of.
OTR with the post of the week, hands down
And that’s not just because it takes very little these days to be the post of the week
Will get to it sometime today, thanks for the heads up.
Move it up your feedly list – you wont regret it. Sheer brilliance.
Check it out – milesforfamily pulled her “sexists or weasels” post. Wonder why? 🙂