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| This is how I warm up each morning to get me going. Yeah, right! Found it here |
ON MY MIND
In the past few days we had two deals (Avis free rental code & The Phoenician Hotel $30 rate in Phoenix) that got shot down as soon as they appeared in blogs. I am stating the obvious. Of course I did not take advantage of either one. Time is limited and as soon as I saw them I knew that they were not going to be honored. I always enjoy the aftermath of a killed deal: the moaning and sense of “injustice” voiced from some of the affected is always amusing entertainment!
I had lunch yesterday with Frequent Miler and Bikeguy. Talk about some hard core high level discussion on miles/points! Hmm, hey guys, maybe we should record these discussions in a podcast or something? Or, after rereading the paragraph above…maybe not;-)
This is the first Spring Break in many years we are stuck at home, boo!
Mommy Points wrote in the comments that once I broke the 90 day blogging milestone, I can call myself a blogger. I think she is right. I still don’t feel comfortable about it. I always enjoyed being the outsider, doing my own thing. I mean, what’s next…affiliate links?
Yesterday was another record for page views: 2,073. Which I find totally shocking and…humbling! So…when do Chase Bank and Flex Offers come crawling to me? I am laughing, hope you are too!
MILES/POINTS
I burned Priority Club point for three nights in Ann Arbor! No staycation for us. I got my tenants a nice staycation as the house had some issues suddenly. Apparently the cause is somewhere under the ground of the street in front of the house. Of course, the city was closed for Good Friday and the holiday weeekend. Talk about the worst timing ever! So my tentants get a 3 night staycation. Hope they like the breakfast at Holiday Inn Express. Another reason to have a diversified portfolio of miles/points! I am the accidental landlord. My tenants don’t want to leave and I don’t want to force them because I like them.
I can’t wait for April to get started on loading my freezer with more Vanilla ice cream!
TRAVEL
Trip Advisor’s World’s 10 Best Islands. From A Luxury Travel Blog. 2 out of 10 is just pathetic!
I really like the pics from Petra, Jordan that TJ on Miles & Points posted.
10 Stunning Views from Hotel Room Windows
ODDZ & ENDZ
Twitter’s Hilarious Responses To News That Kim Jong-un Wants To Bomb Austin, Texas. Mega lol material here!
I really liked the Petra pics too. And the Wadi Rum ones of TJ’s previous post.
As I evaluate the points/miles bloggers, I have found it very valuable to read reports of places that I have been. TJ’s Petra posts have been wonderful. I was disappointed with Jamison’s Israel series. While I vowed not to read any more of his posts, I have been peeking at some just to see if the Israel ones were perhaps atypical. Sadly, his hotel reports are in no way compelling. His Sheraton Phoenix Airport Tempe review included gems like “I had some eggs, breakfast potatoes, and toast which was delicious” accompanied by a photo of two pieces of toast and another of the eggs and potatoes. Really? I mean, hotels like that are basically for sleeping before an early flight or after a late one. Does the blogosphere in general or point ‘n miles collectors in particular really need a review of a typical airport chain hotel with 37 rather bad photos – yup, I counted – 37 photos of nothing special?
I am liking the new Hack.Travel website. How about you?
I post here only what I find eclectic enough to share, it is all very subjective:-)
I take special interest on places I have on my target list. I may scan a trip report of a place (including hotel) I have visited before. Most trip reports I quickly scan. I find the whole subject of trip reports and the way they are done to be very…boring. No innovation, just the same old commentary and pics. We can use some innovation here folks! I have stayed away from doing trip reports even though I have several in my own personal/family blog. Just no time to tranfer here, maybe one day. Another point is that doing them is very time intensive! Size/quality of pics is very important. Doing a trip report with tiny pics does not make sense. Doing a trip report with NO pics at all is…inexcusable, what’s the point?
I hear you about the trip reports of a Hampton Inn next to an airport in Boise Idaho or something…what is the point? Can some other bloggers comment here? What is the point of trip reports? Is it because they are just an easy way to create content? An easy way to justify business travel expenses? The more you make the higher the probability for additional contact by travel providers (sponsored trips, prizes for giveaways, better treatment when visiting, etc.)? Or it just helps with SEO and general traffic patterns?
I think it is a combination of the reasons you state. Plus, reviewing chain hotels gives writers a convenient excuse to stick in their affiliate credit card links (e.g. MP’s recent post on Westin Dublin which ended with something like “you too can stay here by redeeming Starpoints that you can earn through the SPG Amex”).
Yes, of course it is a convenient excuse to stick them babies in there! I can’t believe I forgot to mention the most obvious reason, thanks.
Of course both the Avis and Phoenician deals died.
Unquestionably the Avis deal died because it was posted so publicly and in so many places. But that’s probably for the best. That one really felt like stealing — rental cars for FREE? Yep, the blogs killed that one. Mr. Pickles, TPG, MMS. But it probably should have been killed.
I don’t think we can say that ‘the blogs killed’ the Phoenician rate, since rates like that don’t usually last more than a few hours anyway.
I think we should be a little bit more careful when throwing around blame at blogs. Too much groupthink, too much red meat for the masses here. There’s a lot to blame blogs for but when we do we should specify WHICH blogs. And we shouldn’t blame them for everything, just the things they’re really responsible for. 🙂
Then complaints will get a lot more sympathy, I think.
You do have valid points. You guys feel free to blame specific ones here all you want, you know how I feel about censoring;-)
cool lets get specific. i totally hate onemileatatime, milevalue, and thepointsguy. lesser blogs that suck include mommypoints, milesmomma, and all the ones like tj, etc. i actually like mms, viewfromthewing, and loyalty lobby. smaller good ones include travelsummary, milenerd, and travelbloggerbuzz. not just saying that last one, you really are good.
Just get the damn links, George. Let people call you a hypocrite for a week, then get back to work. You can still criticize other blogs, but at least you can be rewarded for it!
My first goal is to get an “About Me” page…then move to WordPress, then start adding the section on trip reports, then #makingitupasIgoalong
I do feel like a lowly hypocrite if I neglected content & just went all out to make some dough…
But if I do get posts like yours encouraging me I may just do it lol.
Nice to see the “About Me” page up!
Your son will come around eventually. As I expect you know, teenagers often find their local friends more of a draw than less-local destinations. I grew up travelling a lot because my dad worked for TWA, and when my older sister was 16 she opted out of a trip to Greece in order to go out with her boyfriend on New Years Eve. Meanwhile the rest of the family hopped a flight to Athens and explored the Parthenon. I wonder what ever happened to all the rocks I picked up there as souvenirs….
My family makes fun of my new points n’miles hobby and my husband’s eyes glaze over when I start explaining some fine point I just learned. I am hopeful that he will come around once we’ve taken some fare-less flights or slept for free. He has a ways to go – he finds the series of new cc cards that show up in his wallet quite unsettling not because he worries I am ruining his credit but because he never knows what card to use for what purchase. You’d think a college professor could handle that small bit of complexity.
Anyway, thanks for the mini-bio. Love your blog.
Yes, definitely it is a teenager thing! I played a trick at him & he feel for it…told him I got tickets & asked him to guess where we were all going tomorrow…he got so depressed I felt sorry for him:-)
I can empathize on spouse’s credit card habits. It’s challenging. Sometimes I use stickers or I take all of them but the one or two to use now (to hit minimum spend, or other promo going on) and then switch them again.
Thanks for the comments and kind words!
Yup, I have done exactly that but he still misses his old go-to bright red Cap One Visa when he sees the imposter red Club Carlson nestled in his wallet. Then he scratches his head when that suddenly disappears and a Hilton Citi shows up not quite unannounced, but surprising him nevertheless. Since I started out applying for cards in his name, with his permission of course, he also gets emails from some programs, which he dutifully forwards to me. I smartened up and created another email for some of that, but if an airline program wants the same email under which he registered for their ff program, I sometimes can’t avoid using his real one.
I am working on my 26 year old son, who loves to travel. Since finishing college, he has spent as much time exploring Latin America (on a very low budget!) as he has working in the states, and even those state-side jobs involve travel. But the idea of having more than one or two cc’s in his wallet seems too complicated. But if he gets the job he is up for, which will have him on the road 100% for three months, he will get at least a Hilton cc. My daughter and her husband just bought a house and she also won’t play this game. She is more interested in building up the baby-maybe account and funding their IRAs and is happiest with debit cards that she can track on Mint. But maybe as she gets more expendable cash in the future, she’ll come round.
Some people will never get it…I have come to terms with it:-)
Let’s not forget the power of Slickdeals and Fatwallet…
Absolutely! When these two sites get involved it is a frenzy to…obliviion!
I think you should do affiliate links for a month and then report how much money you made 🙂
Aha, you are onto something. Go undercover then, get all the secrets recorded and reveal them all here after I resign:-)
Would you buy my e-book “Everything you wanted to know about affiliate links and were afraid to ask”
LOL
I think you should hire MMS’ wife to pose with credit cards for your site once you get the links. And hire JS to guest blog for you.
Maybe I should have a contest “Wives of bloggers” posing with cards (Vanillas ok, the cards I mean)? That would be quite a riot. May have to come up with a prize, hmm…
Thank you all for taking the time to comment, I always find it entertaining and a nice break from the 1040 tax “excitement” lately!
Now, now, let’s not be sexist. Surely you meant spouses of bloggers, didn’t you! 😉 .
Yes yes correct, my bad! 😉
Maybe Won’t Run For Miles will pose, but one thing we know is that he Won’t Run.
Every time I read “Won’t Run for Miles” I smile:-)
In all fairness, some write trip reports to share the experience of travel, with the hope that the reader may find something that sparks them to make the same trek. Perhaps there is a tip that will help make their travel go a little easier or a new restaurant discussed that might warrant a try on their next visit. I also find myself getting a little weary of plane and hotel reports….I mean, how many of them might I actually be in a position to visit myself? I would much rather read about places to go and things to see and experience. For example, I always loved your family reports! I often felt as though I was right there with you.
Are the flight and hotel parts of a trip? Yes and can often add a lot….but for me, bring on the activities and sights and sounds.
Susan
Yes I agree, maybe I am too harsh.
Thanks for the kind words about my other blogs. SO promised she will update it…didn’t happen. One day I would love to bring over these reports to this blog… but it is a huge task, don’t have the time.
I can’t tell you how many times I go to a hotel, take tons of photos from every angle, and then determine that there’s nothing more than another room in another hotel to write a blog post about. Unless there’s some reason, some wow, some angle that’s part of a bigger story, I don’t see the point. Not for me, anyway. I think a lot of these reports are “filler” so a blogger can say s/he posts everyday, which serves some purpose, I guess.
The exception might be Gary Leff’s photos of the Burj al Arab in Dubai. WOW – amazing!
Glad to hear you edit yourself and choose not to post those kinds of hotel photos. I think I may have popped into your blog once or twice but am heading there now to take another look. Thanks!
I agree with you. And I have marked GL’s Burj trip report and currently pondering if I should feature it tomorrow. As of now, I am leaning towards yes…but change my mind. I guess I will wait to see if them Chase links pop up before then. If they do, I won’t:-)
Pondering this one myself…and here is what I have come up with re hotel reviews: if I see a compelling reason (value, amenity, surprise) to choose or NOT choose a hotel, I’ll do one. Otherwise, visit tripadvisor.
That’s a great common sense piece of advice, thanks!
Surf France
Very nicely done. I love your Travle and Tours Surf France and Very Good Country.the added embellishments. Thanks for entering one crafty contest and good luck.