We give you ideas on how to do Machu Picchu, visit a Santorini church, get the scoop on Basic Economy Fares, dissect the 100k Amex Business Platinum pumping mayhem, learn about hotel distribution wars, look at travel photography and Soviet signs, catch up on blogging news and lots more for YOU!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order!
You can support TBB by applying for CREDIT CARDS, shopping with our AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK & clicking our REFERRAL LINKS. Thank you!
You like my blog? Let your mother know about it too. Or your mother in law if you prefer.
Are you confused with all the “Basic Economy” fares from the Final three remaining US legacy airlines? Me too! So this short article will clear up your confusion. TBB review: They all suck. Another step in the slow demolishing of “loyalty” and “frequent” flyer programs.
Deeper analysis of the online booking wars: Distribution Wars Have Moved Beyond Black and White.
Both parties (hotel chains and online booking agencies) know they need each other; the issue is under what economic terms and to what degree.
There will be a reckoning in 2017. Hotel chains will get a better understanding of whether the loyalty program rates that they are exclusively offering on their websites are coming at too steep a cost in terms of their impact on bottom lines. And the online travel agencies will decide if they’ll have to up their game of hardball and live with protracted direct campaigns from the chains.
And if there are threats to the hospitality industry and the online travel agencies, for that matter, they may go by two names — Airbnb and Google.
AirAsiaX is coming to the US! It will be interesting when (if?) this actually happens.
Looking to get to Machu Picchu? Better read this post and prepare to waaaaaaait.
The Dutch spoof Donald Trump. LOVE the humor!!!
Be careful out there, beware of financial product salesmen looking out for themselves first #incentives. Four Ways to Protect Yourself from Bad Retirement Advice in the Trump Era. After fighting for years to get a form of fiduciary protection in the financial services industry and finally got one that was still poked full of holes, we are expecting any day the shoe to drop have it killed/delayed. I am trying not to get angry but…After eight years of trying to get the financial advising industry to put clients’ interests first before shoving down clients’ throats any “suitable” product that they can dream up to separate gullible consumers from their money…it is a phucking travesty. Read it and cry!
Breaking News: Yomadic finally wrote a new blog post! Ukraine in Winter – The Peakness of Bleakness. Always a must click.
15 Retro-Futuristic Soviet Town Welcome Signs. Must click…one day I’ll slip in here an affiliate link just to watch your reaction lol #priceless. Note there are three pages!
Most beautiful church is in Santorini island. In a cave and accessible only by boat. You are welcome.
BLOG BUZZ
This is for advanced level readers and veteran blog readers.
This property looks like a great redemption (while it lasts) for just 40,000 Marriott points (or 13.333 SPG points). Al Wadi Desert. Wow.
Doctor of Credit lays out two credit card application strategies. And more acronyms too! CFS=ChaseFocusedStrategy and NCFS=NonChaseFocusedStrategy. Interesting approaches.
This is just getting hard to keep up lately! Miles to Memories is now adding a writer too, Danny The Deal Guru blogger. So many deals, so many blogs out there…I am thinking about adding a writer myself to keep track of the job hopping in this space #notreally.
The blog God Save The Points is REALLY getting on MY nerves lately with the way its HEADLINES are WRITTEN! Can you guess why? 🙂
Lets dissect how you sell credit cards as it was the last day to pump the 100k Business Platinum 100k offer. Next up is View From The Wing. My comments in brackets for emphasis!
To other bloggers, you MUST create urgency morons! And you START in the headline!
Act Now: Last Chance for Business Platinum 100,00 Point Signup Bonus [Why have only one urgent term, have two! Act Now AND Last Chance baby! And never ever type 100k, ALWAYS type the zeroes!!!]
[Do NOT let up! Start off in the body of the article with] “This is the final day… “[Brilliance…I was ready to click myself…oh wait, I have had the card so no signup bonus for me, I expect to be warned about a little detail like that right?]
[The usual benefits are listed in glorious language (copy and paste from last week’s post most likely) with very slick pictures to enhance the appeal of the offer, omg look at that complimentary spa room in the Miami Centurion lounge!]
“That’s $3,000 in value…” [Phucking A, I need to get my mother in law to click on your link then, wow, always type the zeroes #consistency!!!!]
“And the offers disappears in a matter of hours, so if you want in you should Apply.” [Always finish strong. At least there was no exclamation mark lol]
Did you notice something? There was no warning you do not get the bonus if you had the card in the past. That will certainly stop you from applying right? And conversions/sales go DOWN this way so how is the blogger going to make money huh? Remember, bloggers get paid PER approval! If you had the card, you can get approved (and the blogger gets paid) but you are NOT getting the 100k signup bonus. You LOSE sucker! “Minor” details conveniently missed. CALL THAT SHIT OUT!!!!
A few selected examples of all trying to sell their readers the SAME card that has been in my links too but I am too shy to pump because you all likely have it or have had it in the past 🙂
I have not read this blog in months. But I sometimes run into it and shake my head.
And I leave you with this…
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Follow TBB on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2
You can subscribe to TBB below, winners only!
Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Woo! Been a while since I’ve been first to the dance.
Silver!
Bronze.
Super-clear ice in Michigan, kinda cool: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/01/viral-floating-lake-ice-photos-michigan/
Tin
I wonder when the Titan bloggers will send in the Feds to deal with this TBB crazy guy…
What metal comes after tin? or is this forum handing out participation trophies?
How about Southwest drink coupons, they are amazing 😉
Participant ribbons are mailed out at the end of the year, you just have to request them from TBB headquarters and pay for S&H…
Wait, where are these drink coupons you speak of?
George, ad I call you blog, “Blog that makes me smile” I loved the photo of you as “the angry coach” I am smiling while having my morning coffee.
With all the push for the 100k Platitum Card, am I the only person who thinks 15k is a lot to spend in 3 months? Especially, with Amex keeping an eye out for MS with GIft cards.
It is indeed a lot to put onto one card in that amount of time, IMHO. I don’t have business expenses to funnel through a card and my regular expenses and bills aren’t even that much. So I’d have to do some manufactured spending which, while I’ve done in the past, I don’t have the patience for these days.
The way they sell the card requiring $15k while keeping mum on the once per lifetime restriction is just plain WRONG! And people stay quiet, no one has the guts to speak up and say something. And then that dude leads with the Picchu link in his expert roundup….I think I am going to go to lunch now 🙂
Hey, now! I addressed both of those things in my post on it yesterday! Even had a nice little section of why not to get it. 😉
PS I like when you post Yomadic and Bohemian Blog updates. I really enjoy their travels into past Soviet Architecture.
Both blogs are in the TBB Good lists of blogs.
Thanks for sharing my post…wish it was more of an exciting story.
I enjoyed it and appreciated the tips! Definitely going there in the not-too-distant future
Becky, worthy to share here as it was very educational, thank you.
And the Buzzer gets a top-of-the-post Hat Tip from none other than the Doc himself:
http://www.doctorofcredit.com/recap-new-blog-authors-card-processing-fees-taxes-reselling/
As Aretha and Otis sang: “Re-re-re-re Respect (just a little bit)”.
He is the only one who HTs when he can conveniently skip it like everybody else. Now if he would do that a little more than the 100 to 1 linking ratio…
Loved that pic of the soccer coach showing his skills.
Also, your tweet about Emily staring a box. Any ideas out there about what that blog is trying to do with all those weird, personal pics of Emily? Are they trying to build a “connection” with their audience, like in the past when they were the happy couple travelling the “big world for small money” (or whatever)? Is she supposed to be a “lure” to pull readers in? Or is it an ego thing for her to show that she still writes and earns 50% of the blog?
Or maybe they are trying to be quirky with those pics, like the Geico TV ads?
I can’t figure it out.
Is it just me or did Emily start doing her hair and dressing up after the split?
No, it’s not just you that starting doing your hair after D and E split. 😉
Emily, for sure…she is on the market.
I wanted to make a comment about that but I thought people would think that I am angry or something 😉
E: Come to bed D, I want you.
D: One more arrow E…
You guys started it 🙂
I was thinking the same thing.
Heard she’s looking for a guy with a much bigger arrow
In case anyone was looking for the 100K Amex platinum card offer, I know that there are 150K Amex platinum business card offers available.
I am waiting for these bloggers to tell me about them offers then lol
http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/blogs-i-ignore/
So ….. Ben runs my Al Wadi story with a H/T.
Then TPG runs it and H/T Ben!
What is more bizarre, given that the story went up on my site 18 hours ago, is that they may genuinely have taken it from Ben and not me or Buzz!
If I had a dollar every time this happens…
And for every time I see stuff I post here magically find their way in other blogs. Only DoC gives me an HT (like 1 ouf ot 100 I post links to his site) and a few others…
I am surprised TPG posted about this so early, I was expecting it next week!
These Titan blogs will NEVER HT me, they don’t want to drive ANY traffic my way for obvious reasons 😉