January 17, 2013 – Delta Skypesos to blow even more, Amex to cut HHonors?

Star MegaDO II Boeing Floor

TBB reviews blogs and writes about them. This is not a science, it is an imperfect art at best. I am just a regular guy who developed this blog obsession lately. I certainly hope I am adding some value and, most importantly, some laughs! I like to type what comes into my head, it is always my own personal opinion. NO BLOG IS OFF THE RECORD FOR TBB! Actually at some point I would like all of you to enter my infamous “Not So Best Of” category. Sometimes it will be harsh or unjustified. Sometimes I may throw you in there as a joke. Hey, don’t worry about it. Look at my Alexa ranking, come on!  Take it as constructive criticism please. Or take it as a joke really. This site is a joke, I mean just look at it! I am a joke:-) You are not that important; I certainly am not!

Nobody clicked on my ebates referral link. I did not even get a nasty insult about it. What a disgrace! I need to regroup and reconsider my original strategic plan to monetize this blog: Piss off so many bloggers they pay me a share of their Bent Offer income to go away…Yes, this will work for sure.
Ok, I am laughing now!!!

Back to regular programming now:

DELTA ONE STEP CLOSER TO GOING REV BASED. THE END IS ALMOST HERE…

Looks like Delta has made another step towards going all revenue based with Skymiles Skypesos. We will see more written about this in the coming days. Still a lot to decipher and to come out. I am sensing Delta is “feeling” us all out, gauge our reaction to see how fast they bring it all out on us! Best write up was at the Gate. I first saw it at the Points Guy. Gary Leff followed up. Later Frequently Flying added his two cents. There will be many more…in the coming days. This FlyerTalk thread is growing very rapidly today! I am certain the redeem part of this debacle is coming too…even without that, most members redeem at obscene levels anyway!

This is why I am leaving Delta for ever, not blowing smoke this time! Wife and daughter wanted to fly to Singapore to see family. So…I logged into the United site and after 15 minutes tops we had the whole deal taken care off. At the lowest level of miles required of course! I did not bother torturing myself on the Delta website, I just do not have the time! I am sick of being taunted to redeem at levels so obscene they should be declared a felony! Yes, there are workarounds. But I do NOT have the time for these darn workarounds. I earned the darn miles I want to get on the website and feel like I am treated like a valued Elite, no.., feel like I am treated as a normal human being and not a super idiot who should feel grateful redeeming 65k to fly to Las Vegas in coach!!! Sayonara!!!The end.

BEST OF MILES/POINTS

The noose is tightening as Frequent Miler confirms no more 6 points drugstores with Amex Hilton cards, boo! Then Gary Leff followed up his contacts at Amex and wrote “Points Earning for Hilton HHonors American Express Hasn’t Changed“. I would give the edge to Gary for experience/contacts but…something just doesn’t add up here. Here was my comment at Gary’s site:

Thanks Gary for following up. We all just need to wait a little longer to confirm this. My gut feeling is…well, where is smoke there is fire! I think they are working things out and the cost cuts have not been finalized yet!
I hope the 6x drugstores gets spared in the end, I love it!
But, from the big layoff news release, I remember this:
“A $342 million expense ($212 million after-tax) reflecting enhancements to the process that estimates future redemptions of Membership Rewards points by U.S. cardmembers.”
Someway, somehow they need to cut…in a lot of areas…
We’ll know in a few weeks for sure.
I received my no fee HH Amex monthly statement today, there was nothing about any change mentioned!

The Gate on “United Launches Satellite-Based Wi-Fi Service on Its Flights“. I still like to catch up on all my reading on the plane!

Million Mile Secrets on “6 Tips For Using An Award Booking Service“. Excellent post!

RomsDeals wrote “How to Get $600 American Airline Gift Cards from AMEX Platinum“. Excellent info! I was very surprised to learn that Amex will let you refund the annual fee to the Starwood amex card!  Oops, never mind. A paper check was processed!

Mommy Points did a great job on “Choosing a Hotel Loyalty Program – Part 1“. Very good explanations to a newbie who really does not sound like a newbie to me! A few things I would like to add if you are not a frequent guest: Take advantage of easy elite status through credit cards (Sorry all you who actually sleep in hotels!) if you can and do look into Priceline/Hotwire free agency every time. I wish more bloggers will put in as much work into an actual post like you did here MP! Some just prefer to just…mail it in these days:-)

Gary Leff on “Requalifying for Intercontinental Royal Ambassador Status the Easy Way“. If a reader can refer me I will not refuse it [hint].

Loyalty Traveler on how to get “Fast Track to HHonors Gold after four stays“.

BEST OF TRAVEL

USA TODAY on “TripAdvisor reveals award-winning hotels for 2013“. Sometimes I wish Four Seasons had a frequent guest program. No, not sometimes, always!

Help the Deal Mommy plan her weekend in Paris! I had the same exact feelings about the Park Hyatt Vendome…is it really THAT amazing? Sure it did not look like it!

NOT SO BEST OF

I have been accused of going soft…so, here comes the Points Guy on “Ryanair Is the Worst Airline in the World“. Thanks for confirming what we all knew. I never fly an airline that takes cash, lol. I just find it unbelievable with all the traffic TPG gets, he still could not help himself serving a Chase cc link or two. And no disclosure of the financial relationship involved in the body of the post!

Well, here we go again. Delta Points tells us about the Delta changes coming up. He manages to withhold himself from serving us even one credit card link when I fully expected it! Then, reading the comments (which are always handpicked/censored)…he slips in the credit card link there…What can I say anymore? He completely misses the fact that once this is established, it won’t be long the other part of the equation (the most important one), the burn side, goes rev based. Then your First Class ticket to HKG will be 1 trillion skypesos…oops, sorry no First Class is allowed, my bad.
I had this post almost added to the best of along with everyone else. Slipping in a cc link in the comments is…well, you know. Please get some info from your CORP contact for us if you can asap please, we are all going insane over here, thanks!

I am sick and tired of seeing bloggers push the crappy inferior US Airways credit card, even after I have posted about it so many times! Frequent Flyer University pushes it here. Not even a mention of the “Chairman” targeted (please laugh!) superior non affiliate offer that has no annual fee AND you get 10k miles even before your anniversary/annual fee kicks in! So, you either appeal to the lower IQ of your readers by not being totally truthful, or you don’t care about giving them the best advice, or if you don’t know about the better offer you should rename your site Frequent Flier Kindergarten! Come on Parag! And please let’s have a disclosure somewhere on the post! Or be up front “Look guys Chase has shut me down, I spend a lot of time blogging, I would really appreciate it if you click on my affiliate link”. Please spare us the crap like “the real gem here is the 5,000 Mile Rebate” and “Overall, you can’t beat this US Airways Card because for spending $1, you can get 40,000 Miles.” It’s not a $1, it’s $90! Warning: Bloggers PLEASE, I go through many blogs and my mental state is fragile. Seeing this pushed still is…ludicrous!! Anyone who pushes it this way is pretty much automatic entry, enough!

ODDZ & ENDZ

How about doing a Taliban sponsored link, huh?  From the Onion, please do not accuse me of supporting terrorism. Some reader comes up with the most bizarre accusations! This is a joke, I repeat, this is a joke. Onion is a joke…and love it!

Interview with a Capitalist in North Korea From Quartz. Fascinating. I need to get my Greek passport and visit here before it collapses. But who will do the blog? 🙂