If you are enjoying my blog, please let others know about it, thank you!
Did you miss my Sunday post about Staircases Around the World?
TRAVEL
What the Night Sky Would Look Like if Cities Went Dark. By Twisted Sifter. Totally awesome digital photography by Thierry Cohen.
Awesome photo from the Pamplona Bull Run
So you want to be a Scuba Diver? By Saverocity. If you are interested in the topic this is a must read.
MILES/POINTS
View from the Wing reminds us all that Delta pretty much went revenue based years ago when they went to the horrific (for us) three tiered award system. Check out some of the pics showing award calendar searches and weep.
Get 500 Southwest points for giving them your spamonly email address.
ON MY MIND
A major task is off my ridiculously long to do list. It was related to the blog. No, not this one. No, not the other one. It’s for my tiny family blog (for family mostly…for real!!) that has been neglected ever since TBB came into life! I tried to outsource it to Mrs. TBB and son and they completely fell down on the job as it has not been updated since January! So I updated it all up to the end of June. The only thing missing now is that Norway trip. Speaking of the Norway trip, I uploaded 203 pictures to the Trip Report page (not live), yes! I now need to find time to write it:-)
Prayers to all involved with Asiana Flight #214. And my deepest condolences to the victims!
ODDZ & ENDZ
Have you seen a vertical landing by a rocket? Well, how about this?
Beautiful Bamboo Forests. By memolition. Photo by Nomad Within.
This is hilarious! “The World According to Investors”. So many are classics really! My favorite is District 9 for South Africa (loved that movie!). What is your favorite?
BLOG BUZZ
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!
I am starting to think this blogging business and how to get paid for it is all about “product placement”. And products are credit card affiliate links. Check out recent posts by Mommy Points on how to save money for Disney World tickets and the Alaskan Air flight review. Good posts and the affiliate links so smoothly inserted that…you have a hard time bringing them up:-) At least some bloggers try to add some value instead of others who are mailing crap in along with serving affiliate links!
And you all thought the Million Mile Secrets (MMS) Hawaii trip report was over, NOT! It ends with a bang with a giveaway of such fantastic swag as ‘luggage tags, perfume, etc…even a handcrafted candle”. Seriously? 🙂
Okay, I am a little upset now. The last MMS interviewee Traveling With Grant is a young kid, newbie to the hobby, with lots of enthusiasm. I even featured/linked the interview here on my blog. And I commented at MMS with something like “Let’s see how fast it will be before YOU add affiliate links” and “I hope you have something to offer”. Well, it did not take long! Just TWO days after the interview the dude comes up with a brilliant post “do NOT pay $349 for a whole year of United checked bag fees”and bang, take the affiliate link (to creditcards.com…yeah, you are on your own to find the specific UA card app link). THIS is what is wrong with our hobby. Newbies smelling $$ and starting their own blogs! Perhaps some people should just concentrate on their real job (if you don’t have one, GET one and learn some marketable skills to help you for years!) and spare us all the helpful advice how to travel for “free”! The last thing this space needs is yet another blog pushing affiliate links without really adding anything useful or new to make the world a better place:-) So I excuse all the tough crap MMS interview readers gave him:-) And I need to get my act together here before I kill myself laboring for love:-)
Here is a new blog with an interesting angle: Law and Travel. Travelblawg. Welcome Mark to the crazy world of blogging!
Yep, nice try;-)
Okay I was close. 🙂
You are getting better, keep it up!
3s a charm?
Ok, but you are always charming:-)
ONE!
TWO? 🙂
Should have assigned the family blog to S. She would have got the job done!
She is not there yet. Off to a dance camp for two weeks, house is so quiet without her!
The staircase post from yesterday left out the (traditional, four-day) Inca Trail, which has many thousands of steps over 26 miles. Do it with your kids when they’re in their late teens; it’s not too difficult but not too easy.
I roll my eyes at comments that reinforce gender stereotypes like Daraius’s note about Emily picking the gifts, but it’s well-established that it’s my problem and I clearly roll out of bed on the wrong side every morning. I also roll my eyes at amenity kit giveaways. Newsflash: once you’ve lifted toiletries from hotels and put them in a plastic ziploc bag, there’s not much more to it. They probably cost the airline $5.
Barclays’ reconsideration line made me sweat bullets this morning over the Arrival. Then again, they’re not dummies and their questions are exactly the ones a credit card company should be asking. I was approved, then I had to take a walk. Question: can bloggers see who uses their affiliate link to successfully apply? I used one from my favorite A2 blogmaestro.
George is right, your comments rock and there is always something to learn.
Do it when the kids are in their teens…. You left out how old the parents should be. We’re having kids later and later in life, I don’t see Hugh Hefner hiking the Inka trail.
26 miles, that’s a whole marathon right there! Thanks for the idea. So many places to visit…so many blogs to review:-)
Daughter will be 11 in a month so I have a few years for this trip!
I am thinking about the Arrival card too in the next app attack. Having read what you said I am not as enthusiastic about it. These Barclays bankers can be finicky like the US Bank ones lol.
One day I will get on the bandwagon and you will have a much harder time to decide between all those amazing bloggers in Ann Arbor 🙂
LMAO @ “Inka”
How long before it becomes Chase trail and an affiliate link inserted.
An interesting question on tracking CC apps. The answer is “no.” I can track comments by IP address, which means even if you change your screen name I can still figure out who you are based on previous comments. But credit card applications are tracked by anonymous IDs, not an IP address — at least on my end, because I’m sure the bank tracks IP addresses.
The easiest ways to track who applies are the time you applied (if you tell me, since I do have access to time stamps), or based on unique URL identifiers. For example, I can differentiate between generic affiliate links and those in Amol’s posts. This helps me make sure he gets a cut of any income.
Good to know, thanks.
I did the 4 day hike back in 2009, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Like Harvson said, not too hard, not too easy. The experience and the views are totally worth it though.
I also recommend researching the company you end up trekking with. Some of the cheapest ones seemed to treat their porters pretty shoddily. I saw guys hiking with a bunch of equipment in flipflops. Not right.
What about my suite upgrade and lounge access? Pancakes for breakfast? Just kidding…
Good to know, thanks. Not in short term plans. Maybe one day. Thanks!
Quickly:
Thanks, Scott. Good to know.
“Inka” is actually an accepted spelling for the trail and former empire. Not for the soda.
My 65-year-old father had a great time on the hike.
f_f: I’m flattered.
uno
dos
Buzz, how come your circle and arrow friend zipped up about the OD deal which re-started today? I like the smiley next to the “Seriously?” trip report comment. Let’s keep all sides happy 🙂 Robert Hanson is proud of you today.
Maybe he is preparing a mega post with pics at OD and all? 🙂
Maybe some of the bloggers are being responsible and not sending their readers on wild goose chases (a pun!) yet? The blow-by-blow is Frequent Miler’s gig. We don’t know what is going to happen with VRs yet. The $500 gift cards are in stock in some stores, may be purchasable in some stores with credit card, but very hit or miss so far. Lots of conspiracy theories, I like to wait for evidence.
Kewl.
One word defines the situation: #developing
TBB
George/blog/person/ is all me:-)
Man, is it me or did these bloggers just magically figure out what a great deal the 50k Southwest cards are? Even though they’ve been at 50k for weeks….
Oh wait, nevermind. They just got affiliate links for the cards.
This has gotta be one of the finest examples of how that affiliate money drives the content.
Actually I lead the Blog Buzz with this:-) So… the 50k offers were there all along all this time?…I thought they had expired (and as know by now, momentarily).
I think we had long established that affiliate money absolutely drives the content. If they don’t push, they do not get enough sign ups and they get cut off. So…every SINGLE day most bloggers think “product placement”…It’s all the rage these days!
I think MMS shared updated public offers last month. And a few of us updated our offers. But the updated affiliate links are more recent.
Yeah, my understanding is that the public links have been around since about a month ago (not sure why they get pulled and put back up again, I guess it keeps people talking). I think I saw a few blogs mention it in passing, but nothing like the onslaught we’re seeing now. I think it’s pretty easy to establish a causal relationship in this instance.
Updating a post from a few days ago that was an update to an update to an update to an update to an update…..
Lucky discovered the Club Carlson card again
If his goal is for people not to be able to differentiate between him and TPG, he’s succeeding
Are you two last posters here reading my mind or what!