TRAVEL
America the Beautiful. 50 States in 50 Photos. By Twisted Sifter. Amazing pics. I had a real hard time picking just one! What is your favorite?
30 Stunning Photos of everyday life in Cuba.
Extremely beautiful and dangerous volcanic eruptions. By memolition.
For the aviation geeks only, in case this was not seen before, here it’s a 13 minute video about the Lukla airport in Nepal, deemed to be the Most Dangerous Airport in the World (not sure about that).
MILES/POINTS
Gay Equal Rights and Justice in the USA. By Loyalty Traveler. An absolutely beautiful post. And great to find a hotel angle to throw in it too:-) Love is love.
Looks like many of us who have the Barclay’s US Air credit cards received emails offering us a way to get 5k or 10k for each person we refer to the credit card. Many jumped on it to make the offer! But the card the new applicant receives offers only 30k US Air miles and the annual fee is not waived. In the post #1 of this Flyertalk Thread the link still provides 35k US Air miles and the annual fee is waived. Not sure about the 10k miles at anniversary, you can let us know in the comments. I don’t follow that thread as closely as I did before I started blogging:-) I received the 10k referral offer, not sure why some received 10k or 5k. I suggest you go for the offer in the link above!
End of another quarter and I have no idea how close to $1,500 I am with my spend on the Chase Freedom card to take full advantage of 5 pts per dollar. I wish Chase had a Quarterly Meter or something every time we log into our account online. I could go through the statements but I have better things to do, you know, like respond to more comments lol.
BLOG BUZZ
Million Mile Secrets is up to Part 10 in the Lufthansa Series. Nice to be thorough but extending this European program to 10 lengthy parts is quite a feat. Please say it is over, no mas!
Well, this is odd. I like Mile Nerd. Yesterday he went on a rant about trustworthy people. He also told us how he looked into the soul of the RocketMiles executive and told us that he is a good guy and we should expect great things from him. And generously linked to RocketMiles twice with no referral link, cool! Then today we see two nice RocketMiles referral sign up (not disclosed of course) links show up at The Frugal Travel Guy site as part of a contest giveaway. Great move RocketMiles! And, as predicted, the Club Carlson cards magically made it into this week’s Churning “Challenge”. Yeah, more entertainment again at the comments! Get some popcorn! If you want to see how bloggers should respond to criticism, Mommy Points shows all how to do it. Kudos to her!
ON MY MIND
I love popcorn. I always leave this section last and I am so beat by the time I get to it I have…nada left:-)
ODDZ & ENDZ
Bait Bail. Found at Twisted Sifter. Photo by Steve Dunleavy
1st?
Jeff, come on, you are becoming such a slacker!!
that Havana pic looks pretty awesome!
Yes it does. I always wanted to go there. I let my Greek passport expire and getting a new one sometime this year. I could fly there from Toronto. But i am afraid some hater is going to report me to the US State Department. And I am not paying to get into an “approved” group:-)
assume you can use aeorplan points for this. Can you use points to go from US->CA->CU?
I do not believe so but not certain. Anyone? Jeff?
Ya… Havana looks like a pretty cool place to visit. I hope I would be able to in our lifetime.
I’m digging the Chile one, Pulp Fiction one and the fish ball.
I dig them all but I am biased;-)
What Does Marcellus Wallace Look Like????
http://acreativeuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/marcellus-wallace-580×508.jpg
Darn, I was up 3 hours ago with a crying baby and just realised I could have beaten Jeff to it!
Lol, good one. Crying babies can suck up time…a little:-)
As far as the US card, yes, you get 10K at anniversary (unless you were seduced into using the affiliate links DP, Milevalue, FTG, etc. were pimping, in which case you get the clap).
So, nothing has changed then:-) I was on the bloggers about this card and it looks like I will be on them again. What I find totally sucky and reprehensible behavior is to promote inferior offers just because you get paid. Bloggers who do that DO HARM to their readers. No mercy:-)
Problem with MMS’ LH series isn’t the number of posts and you know it. But then again everyone expects you to stay the loyal MMS puppy, so no big deal there. I will keep reminding you whenever you try to pull this off though because it is fun 🙂
His trip reports on the other hand are God’s punishment for the evil things on the internet that travel hackers do.
Problem with his LH series is:
1) He didn’t actually write it, and makes no mention (or even implication) of that
2) It’s a transparent attempt to pimp lots of credit cards
3) It has gone on 9.5 posts too long
4) He’s become a censorer
I put this in the same category as Sara Palin and FTG. Just ignore them.
Anonymous 5.54 am: “loyal MMS puppy” – love the creativity:-)
I get grief even if I make a fun comment against MMS…Just imagine when I feature his site again and link back? Oh boy… 🙂
Anonymous 8.49 am: Valid points imho.
ABC: Oh Sara Palin, hope she stays away:-)
I guess/hope/pry the MMS M&M series will end this weekend 🙂
I have a feeling it is not over:-)
Log onto Chase’s website. On your Freedom card’s space select Blueprint –Track Spending –click on bonus categories (currently Restaurants and Home Improvement but only Lowes). Per-statement totals are given. Use calculator.
Awesome! I am at $1,132 as of today:-) I am going to get some gift cards for my favorite movie theater as I do go there often! Love to learn something new every day. I had never explored this Blueprint feature until you mentioned it, sweet! Thank you.
What’s that carcass on the floor that MileValue keeps on poking with a stick?
Oh, it’s just the Lufthansa MasterCard
Good freaking grief.
I know we’ve been openly wishing for months that Chase would stop doling out affiliate $$$, but if this is what will happen…..
Hopefully the LH card is ending on June 30…or is it?
SMH
Wyndham has a no minimum 30k Barclaycard visa promo out that ends this weekend, but not one blogger has mentioned it… no affiliate cred for that?
It’s a crappy offer. I have no idea if there’s an affiliate commission for it. If there is, and any blogger touched that one, we’d be giving them a heck of a time for pushing it. Because it blows. So let’s not give them a hard time for not pushing a crappy offer please? My eyeballs hurt enough as it is!!! I am not angry.
>>>>>>>>>My eyeballs hurt enough as it is!!! I am not angry.
Lol…love it!
Why crappy? 30k Wyndham = 18k Payback = 18k M&M miles. With no minimum spend. Good for Germans with M&M accounts. I know its a tiny weeny minority, but I’m part of it 😉
How did you get a picture of Eric Snowden fishing in Cuba?
Sooooo funny! Did you catch the news when the Aeroflot pilot was mobbed by reporters when he landed the plane. He said “the plane was full…full of journalists” and he was giggling all the way! Priceless
The RocketMiles links on FTG are actually not referral links. It’s just a good old fashioned contest. Give it a shot – you never know, you might just win. 😉
https://www.rocketmiles.com/promo-terms?code=FRUGALTRAVELGUY&utm_source=FTG&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=FTG-Sweeps
This appears to me like a referral link. But maybe I am wrong. You see, nothing that comes out of FTG (the blog) I trust to find credible. Sorry, nothing personal. I repeat: I find it very sad that a blogger like you I thought of so highly decided to go to work for FTG (the blog). I am just expressing my opinion. Nothing to do with clicks:-)
The promotion does not have an ARV $$ value. This is scary and I have no doubt that the winner will get a nasty surprise when he/she receives the 1099. Besides, a quick look at the T&C reveals:
Sponsor, Administrator and United may be collecting some personal data about participants online, in accordance with their privacy policies. Please review the Sponsor’s privacy policy at https://www.rocketmiles.com/privacy on the Internet. Administrator’s Privacy Policy may be found at http://www.internetbrands.com/privacy/privacy-highlights.html?site=www.frugaltravelguy.com.
Excuse me but I do get enough spam from FTG (the blog) but for editorial purposes I have to endure it:-)
And thank you for taking the time to read and comment here. I do not comment on FTG (the blog) because I am certain I will be censored and you can not do anything about it;-)
No personal offense taken – you’re entitled to your opinion. That’s just the promotional link RocketMiles uses to track legitimate entries. Only those who sign up through this link get entered in the sweepstakes, and FTG does not get any kind of compensation for it.
Thanks. I wonder how much the 50k UA miles will be valued at. Having won miles from them last year I will never make the same mistake again.
>>>>>>>>>>>FTG does not get any kind of compensation for it.
Having followed this blog from day one (hey, I followed VFTW since day one too!)…this would be quite shocking:-)
Why would FTG post a link to RocketMiles without getting compensation? That isn’t Capitalism.
However, posting a link that provides FTG compensation without saying so, and being covered by fine print at the bottom of the front page that says: “I am benefiting financially from most of the things you click on, read, or look at while you are on this site”, now that is Capitalism.
Of course, by “I” that refers to Internet Brands. Because we always refer to companies with the first person. And nothing that violates both the letter and the spirit of the FTC rules. Rules lIke posting that you receive compensation when you recommend something at the same place you talk about it, not hidden in fine print that users aren’t likely to read
I thought that was so non-angrily brilliant, thank you!
Pretty quiet around here today. Where’s the interwebz wrestling match I’ve come to expect? I need to see someone come off the top rope with a mean digital elbow.
Yeah…not sure why. I think they may all be busy booking the Pointbreaks hotels:-)
I miss my friend. I even I threw a link of his in my comments and fully expected to find out how much was made of that:-)
Ok, I am bored too…going to the gym.
We are having mega storms in Ann Arbor today, flash flooding in some parts, it’s crazy!
Buzz ……the Pistons just drafted a player named Kentavious, must be Greek…OPA………..Peace, Love and Ribs………………..C.R.
Kentavius..what a name, never heard of it before! I can assure you he does not look Greek at all!
Major flash floods in Ann Arbor area today. We are fine. Just had Korean (no ribs). Kimchi is kewl
My eye sockets practically burst out last night when I saw a promoted Tweet (in HootSuite) from Deals We Like on the 60k Ink Bold offer!
If that doesn’t tell you these blogs are purely CC referral businesses I don’t know what does. Since the affiliate companies require the blogs to show growth or they get dropped, the nonstop in your face CC posts I am seeing over the past few months is sickening.
Yeah, join the crowd buddy…
I wish they were more up front and quit being so helpful. Hey, I need to make the mortgage payment, I am on the bubble I was told, I don’t want to lose my home so PLEASE CLICK ME.
or something like that:-)
It’s not going away I am afraid.
Another end of the day post.
If readers of the various travel blogs didn’t click on the credit card links, maybe the bloggers wouldn’t link them.
Think about it.
Excellent point. Deep.
I would love to know the ratio of the clickers who realize they are directing $$ to the blogger (yes last year in FTU I met a newbie couple who was shocked to find this out!). And of those who do, then find out the ranges of how much that $$$ they think it is. Hmm, maybe I can get TPG to commission a study about THAT?
Ok, time to finish tomorrow’s post…very slow day
Yes, slower day today for sure, someone must have taken their meds. 😉
I always take my meds:-)