TRAVEL
The Guide to Sleeping in Airports. Excellent updated guide! Just in case you know. HT to Johnny Jet.
Bizarre story…Passenger punches flight attendant and there is applause?? WTF! Point me to the Plane found it. It concerns Hong Kong Airlines and the airline stated that they average three weekly disruptive passenger reports. Nice! There is a photo showing flight attendants training, they all look so happy!
Spirit to start selling cans of wine. Seriously? Story at Jaunted. Story says that Spirit has 70 different fees…70!!! Unbelievable.
A Luxury Travel Blog has the 10 of the Most Popular Travel Videos of All Time. Wow, some are awesome!
MILES/POINTS
Well, the big news was the Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM M Life partnership! The official news release. The 9 page FAQ. And the best writeup, in my opinion, was written up by Million Mile Secrets here. I will get grief about this. Hey, cut me some slack. TBB is primarily about content. And this was the best summary. Who wrote it is a whole different subject and I think we are past that controversy…I hope. I have no status with Hyatt. But the way I see this is that this could be a major mattress running destination to get Diamond status cheap and fast? I see no big values in redemptions, especially when Vegas hotels can be so cheap (stayed last month in the Luxor for $43 on Priceline rate or maybe it was Hotewire and then stayed at the excellent Red Rock off the strip for about $120 per night in the weekend). Regardless, it is still nice to have the additional options at a place where there were no opportunities to earn/burn recently.
“Are Travel Conferences Worth Your Time and Money?” By Hack My Trip. Excellent original content. And I was thinking about this very topic! I thought about going to #TBEX because I could drive to Toronto but just did not have the time. Looks like a much different crowd than the quirky miles/points crowd. Maybe I would not fit in there. Who knows? And so much corporate “score free trips” feel to it…Very interesting thoughts on all the conferences!
Rocky on DoubleWidesFly at Upgrd has the latest Delta changes in more detail. Sky Team, a true partnership…NOT! I do not see the logic here…Just Delta management continuing to hammer its Skymile members! You know most don’t have a clue what’s going on! The others must see the light and say “Enough is Enough”. No dinero to Delta!
Been hitting the local convenience store regularly and our two Bluebirds are being funded at a nice pace. Need to expand a 4some arrangement…hold it, a 4some into GoogleWallet in addition to Amazon Payments I mean. I know you read me, come on, set up your wife with the gmail address! And about to make estimated tax payments with myvanilla debit card…you know, the way the debit cars were intended to be used and not like an ATM;-)
BLOG BUZZ
Big buzz around the Rocketmiles promotion. Apparently most did not get the memo that View from the Wing had arranged with the company to forgo his miles and let the reader earn double the miles! Shame to the bloggers who did not point that out to their readers either out of ignorance or perhaps capitalistic greediness. I guess we know who follows “Do No Harm” practices we here at TBB think are precious! A few days ago in the comments when I pointed that, you know, some bloggers need to eat too… A reader jumped in and said “Well, get a JOB then” and not harm your readers because you need to eat. I jumped in and said I agreed:-) And it was nice to see Ariana at Frugal Travel Guy allow readers to enter their own referral link. TBB was actually shocked to see that! Then again, only three comments made it.
I fully disclose that TBB is not making any money and sure hopes so to have a nice tax deduction at least lol. I ain’t got time for dat….looking into monetization! I want to create a blog that people come to read to get educated, inspired and entertained. And, naturally, do at least one of the three right because TBB always aims high:-) And keep my eyebrow hair too! The rest will fall into place or I will just fall down at some point…Time always tells! Oh, I did not open a Rocketmiles account and have not pushed my own referral link! One day I may create a separate page if anyone wants to click on my referral links. Maybe in early 2014 I can get to that!
Delta Points like the latest devastating changes at Delta. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I hope Grrrrr is not copyrighted! Notice how many more r’s are in mine, so there:-)
ON MY MIND
I managed to take a nap today, it felt super awesome! Played a great soccer game and won 6-3, too bad it was a scrimmage and did not count in the standings. I had free fobo tickets to see The Internship but could not find the time to do it…too many blogs to go through. I love cherries.
ODDZ & ENDZ
20 Baby Animals That Will Make You Say “Awww” Extreme cuteness alert!!! You have been warned! From Bored Panda
What? You want more of these? Ok, here are 30 more super cute baby animals!
Seth Rogen and James Franco kill Kim Jong Un in an upcoming film. It’s a comedy. Yes!
All welcome here, except spammers!!
Delta points went ahead and “helped” a commentor out by inserting his affiliate link in the comment. Cheap…
Check the post today at Cranky Flier about the new Delta policy. This is what should appear on Delta Points. Instead we get to help Bob and affiliate links…
+1
Things I learned today: there aren’t any more pre-security Star Alliance lounges at JFK, which is going to complicate things on our TAM flight. Thanks to Rocky at doublewidesfly for that. And now the internet’s full of inaccurate information about it. Great.
George, you’re going to make Rene mad again by not linking.
Look, there are bloggers who won’t change because they have no incentive to do so, and don’t want to listen. We know who they are; don’t lose your eyebrows getting upset with them. It’s who they are. And then there are people, mostly smaller fish, who are amenable to changing and always doing right by their customers.
And hopefully the smaller fish make increasingly more, and the SEO giants adapt or fade. Why would you trust a mechanic or buy a mortgage from a seller you couldn’t trust to give you the best deal and treat you honestly? Nothing wrong with us pointing out that Blog A and Blog B can’t be trusted to be honest and the most helpful.
It’s just the marketplace of ideas. Capitalism, baby.
Great you learned something!
Is Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr copyrighted? Mine has more r’s!
Yeah, am with you…I want to trust a blogger to give me the best deal at all times and to treat me honestly. If not providing the best deal and informed about it, he/she should update the post pronto! And I think these businesses will last longer when the others will ________(insert foul language) their customers!
“Who wrote it is a whole different subject and I think we are past that controversy…I hope”
Are we? Did we ever get an answer? Or have we just taken it as certifiable fact that he lied to readers and is now a blatant comment censorer?
Also, someone mentioned in your comments yesterday that FTG.com deleted Gary’s comment that contained his better referral link. Has there been confirmation on that?
No, as far as I know, there has not been an answer.
Also, no confirmation about Gary’s deleted comment.
Has anyone DENIED that Gary’s better link was deleted from the comments?
Do you think you’re going to find a SMOKING GUN, an email from FTG to Internet Brands headquarters that says,
“Quick! Would somebody PLEASE zap that better link from the comments? I won’t be able to travel in my retirement without all those referral points from ROCKETMILES!!!! Oh, wait, I sold my blog to you for well over a MILLION DOLLARS. So I guess I COULD afford to travel without the miles. But I’m frugal, remember???”
No. The link was there. Then it wasn’t. The comment didn’t go back through TIME to unexist. Therefore it had to have been deleted. Nobody disputes that. What kind of confirmation are you LOOKING FOR???
“No. The link was there. Then it wasn’t. The comment didn’t go back through TIME to unexist. Therefore it had to have been deleted. Nobody disputes that. What kind of confirmation are you LOOKING FOR???”
I was just looking for further confirmation that Gary actually made such a comment
All I’m going on so far is 1 anonymous person saying Gary posted a link and then he didn’t
But we know that both Gary and multiple people associated with FTG.com read/stalk these boards. I suspect if the report was wrong, Ariana would’ve came on immediately and resoundingly denied it
Not unlike MMS dodging the authorgate questions
Gary has not made a comment publicly…
we need to move on.
If this indeed happened, I hope Ariana did not do it. If she did not do it, how does she feel about this? And this is why I like to own my own business…I can do whatever I want:-)
George, why don’t you just sign up for google Adsense. Surely you get enough traffic to at least make enough money to offset your web hosting fees.
From what I know this Adsense makes pennies. I am not sure I want to hurt my readers’ eye sockets by irrelevant ads. I will look into it…someday. Now I need to apply the cream to my eyebrows:-)
Don’t you need to at least be INTENDING to TRY to make money on this site to have a tax writeoff for your startup losses?
Yes…I had one person click on my ebates referral link and one person on my CapitalOne/Ing savings bank account referral…hey I am trying:-)
There are times MileValue likes to remind everyone that he has some of the worst practices in the business
Post today – “Earn these miles if you want the best hassle free awards to Japan”
Easy answer, right? 60/90/120K US Airways miles to North Asia of course?
“I would definitely focus on United miles if I were Deborah. The reasons are manifold”
Wait….. what?
He then goes on to list 5 manifold reasons, all of which also apply to US Airways miles, but for a cost of between 5-30K less.
Really, there was 1 “manifold” reason he would focus on United, and any reader of your blog will know the answer to that. Sure enough, at the end of the post….
Bam! Sapphire Preferred Bam! Ink Bold Bam! Comparison to other Chase cards
Do no harm….
It’s in the queue…
MileValue’s Chase Sapphire and Ink links now take you to nonexistent pages. No more Just Another Points Traveler! And his Best Chase cards page is gone too. Innnnttteeeresting…
Right around the Bacon conference, it appeared that the affiliate companies would allow non affiliate bloggers to offer affiliate links trackable to other bloggers. I got excited about that! Why? I could bypass the whole monumental task of learning/associating/qualifying/quotamaking/sellingyoursould of getting into bed with them and then just have links to Frequent Miler’s site! I was going to call him up the very next day. And then the banks got a hold of these “plans” and put a FAST ending on them. So sad…
Not sure what’s up with Milevalue’s links…
Deborah here. Please enlighten me on the relative advantages of a USAIR vs. a United strategy to get to Japan. I really appreciate it!
@Fishing4Deals
Access to the exact same inventory that United has, but it will cost you somewhere between 5-30K fewer miles to book it depending on what class you fly in
What Just Shameful (funny handle) said!
In defense of MileValie (yikes!) isn’t it a lot easier to earn the necessary miles with United than with US Air? Especially if you are starting from scratch as the question posits?
I don’t know what the hate-on for MV is all about. The guy routinely has some of the best info on efficient flying techniques. Sure, since he started flogging CCs, it’s been a bummer, but at least he doesn’t hold himself out to be clean as the driven snow as that charlatan Bowtie – or fob off other people’s work as his own – and then when caught red-handed, refuse to admit or apologize to his readers what he’s done.
Many issues with MV that have been stated here before. Yeah, he still posts some good stuff but getting less and less while cc pushing (inferior offers/no disclosures) and censoring is becoming the norm. All that while promised he will never post inferior offers. For starters…
Besides, after posting late on the Virgin Atlantic to Europe deal I wonder if he reads my blog:-)
I would prefer united combined with AA. You are much more flexible with one way awards. I dont like this aspect of USairway’s award polic. The need for two way awards often creates a problem with getting there or back . Most of my award trips involve one world in one direction and star alliance (united points) in the other. But if you are very flexible, there are better options.
Reply to all:
It is all about getting paid:-)
Update to all:
I learned today that adding links to comments get the actual comment as “Pending” and I need to approve it (or not) to get posted! I think this is good as so many spam emails have links embedded!
Therefore, I will reiterate the policy. TBB does not censor unless it is spam. Adding links on purpose (especially to sites I personally do not think much of) I consider it spam. So poof it goes! If these comments went through i have no doubt that I will have many more bloggers pushing their own links in here all the time, even direct affiliate links…and we just can’t have that!
To the commenter who took the time to speak his mind, I am sorry I had to not approve it! I would do so, heck it would post instantly WITHOUT the links!
There is no love affair with MMS. I do not like Milevalue’s policies either but I do feature his posts once in a while I find worthy for my readers to learn from. I DID find the MMS Hyatt/MGM partnership write up the BEST from everyone who wrote it! Seriously! No love affair, I get enough love by so many people lately:-)
I told him he should clear up the authorgate incident and if true, he should apologize.
TBB sticks with content quality first and foremost. I even featured FTG (twice I think) and DP content (Once) in 6 months of blogging! How about THAT!
I would love to respond publicly to your comment but no spammy links…otherwise TBB will turn into a spam orgy:-)
You do make great points by the way.
George, you are a tease. Why even talk about a post you didn’t approve? Why not redact the links and let the world see what a fellow human posted? 🙁
I thought about doing that but,somehow, it felt like even worse censoring, like editing links to add own affiliate links or something!
I just made a quick executive decision this morning after downing lots of coffee and trying to catch up with everything going on in my life.
Maybe I should have done it the way you said. Dunking the whole thing seemed better. Maybe I was wrong, it would not be the first time for that!
Tough life being a blog owner…all for the love of it all:-)
I posted a retort to all the “angries” comments on that Deal Mommy post you highlighted the other day. I was even pleased with the reply by the Deal Mommy, who at least conceded that not all criticism is “angry”.
However, she definitely gave you a lump. I think she called your blog, or maybe your comments section at least, “piles of excrement”. #stirringthepot #blogfightsaregangster
Yeah…TBB is first among the blogs listed…
Not too happy to be included in that list…but I could care less. What’s at stake really?
#lovedthem
George and I have aired our views on commenters…and are still friendly. I think his analysis is usually spot on; but is cheapened by a few unruly rude commenters. He views it as a free for all.
I view it as a part of da internet and as entertainment. And, aside the rude names, maybe their arguments are valid and try to learn from them. I have no right to stop them, there is a certain kind of positive value in an environment where all is aired out and holding back is NOT encouraged.
I took another nap today, wow!
The sleeping at airports was helpful, until I read about MDW in Chicago. Report to follow, after my overnight nap on Saturday.
What? You spent the night at Midway???
Hmmm, all the Chase cards are missing from MileValue’s page.
Could Jamie Dimon and co. be sweeping out the garbage?
See my comment above.
George,
My MDW sleepover is this coming Saturday night. I have an idea for an #MDWsleepoverParty.
My daughter use to go to sleepover parties when she was younger. This party should have a theme. #HonestBloggers
Feel free to use those #Hashtags in the future. 😀
Have fun!
Looks like Drew Macomber is at it again on MMS blog
More filler posts/thesis papers to spend lots of time going over things that can be said in 3 sentences (although much tougher to do when you have to insert 18 CIB links)
“The Secret to earning 20% off Southwest Flights”
What exactly are these “secrets” he/Drew reveals to his readers?
– getting Rapid Rewards points for the flights
– Buying gift cards at Office Supply Stores/UR Mall for the product you are purchasing (in this case, Southwest GC’s)
– using Ebates
Those are the huge “secrets” that he bestowed upon his readers. Show your love by clicking on one of the 20 links in his post
….. or you can just click on FM’s links, since he has already covered these “secrets” dozens of times
What’s next? MMS breaking the “secret” that you can get double points on dining with your CSP?
The anonymous MMS basher is back with a briefcase full of nonsense instead of evidence. Show us hard evidence instead of innuendo. Candygram for Mongo.
“Candygram for Mongo”. Love it!
You need to read blogs from the reader perspective. MMS targets mostly newbies who needs detailed instructions (pics and arrows). Do you doubt this is done quite well in his blog? If you were to introduce a total newbie to this hobby where would you send him/her? Flyertalk? They may be scarred for life lol.
From a veteran perspective…I can’t find much to disagree with you.
I hope a lot was learned by authorgate. Probably number one lesson? “Don’t get caught” LOL
TBB is not in bed with anyone. I call it as I see it. And yes I have some biases, I am human:-)
Go Spurs!
Exactly why I unsubscribed to Delta Points. That and the annoying emails I get every day where I can’t figure out what’s content and what’s an ad. I swear half of the email is an ad. I only subscribed because of the Petflow deal a while back, but have not found one useful post ever since.
Also why I have stopped reading MileValue every day and only go on there once a week if that. I feel as if he’s out of tricks and now it’s all ‘help a newbie apply for these Chase cards to get a free oneway or reduced miles but oh bytheway, you have to start your trip from Hawaii 6 months before your real trip.”
Thank you for taking the time to comment. You know how I feel:-)
miles/points crowd “quirky”??? You’re too kind. Now if you want to see a crowd at a show, try the Nat’l Auto Dealers Assn. – Every 60+ year old auto dealer has either a similarly aged platinum blonde dripping in diamonds or 28-35 year old trophy wife on his arm…
Actually….I know EXACTLY what you are talking about! In my first job out of college I worked for a CPA firm specializing in auto dealers. I went to a conference…it appears things have not changed much these days. I also learned the big money in auto dealerships are in the….service department:-)
Thanks for the nice words, George. I always invite readers to provide their links, and this post was no exception. I did not delete Gary’s link – have nothing but respect and appreciation for my fellow bloggers.
You are right, those animals are cute…
Interestingly, no denial that the link was deleted. Just that Ariana didn’t do it. Now, it was supposedly Rick’s link being promoted in the post. So was it Rick, not wanting readers to know there was a better deal?
Well, it appears someone deleted it and it was not Ariana. And I bet that they will not come here and post the confirmation and the reason behind it. Because…
Ariana: I had no doubt that you did not delete it. I have nothing but respect and appreciation for fellow bloggers. Then again I have nothing, absolutely nothing, about certain blogs and their practices;-)
Notice my differentiation between blogs and bloggers:-)
Not that anyone is still reading, but just for the record, I posted a Trip Report on sleeping at MDW on the above link.