TBB Mission: To Entertain, Educate and Inspire. Aim to at least do one well!
This blog has been a labor of love so far. If you like what you see here, please let others know by passing them a link to my blog, thank you!
MVP POST
New Zealand. I saved this baby in my Evernote. I want to hike the Milford track, anyone done it? I want to go there next, maybe I will aim for it after I do Maui. Oh crap, I still have not finalized that trip!
TRAVEL
12 Unusually Placed Sports Venues. Another awesome post by THE WORLD GEOGRAPHY.
The Most Beautiful Places in the World. Ok, these are nice but I am sure there are more…
This is a stunning piece of work about the area in the South China Sea that is the in the center of dispute between the Philippines and China. Keep strolling down. A Game of Shark and Minnow. Wow! The combination of photography and HD video is incredible!
MILES/POINTS
DansDeals goes to the source to report that the end of the Amazon Payments has been greatly exaggerated. You can all breathe now. Come on, this is unbelievable that this is still alive. Long live Bezos lol.
Chris Elliott goes off again on an anti loyalty program rant. He chose to rant against the “free” claims. You know, I do it and we all do it. Nothing is for free. OMG, I agree with Chris Elliott!!!
Milenomics likes Autoslash to slash car rental costs. And so do I. And I like how the new design looks too!
Plink will be restocking with Amazon and Wal Mart gift cards (Thanks reader T.) You can all relax now.
ON MY MIND
Is it just me? Three whole days and the TBB Buzz post is still not long. Am I becoming too eclectic or is it because I am just being allergic to so much content that is obviously not that important for me to feature here to add value to you? 🙂
Got a lot going this week! I intend to stay eclectic and only post here stuff I find worthy of featuring or speaking my mind.
Oh, in case you did not notice, if you do not get the Southwest cards by this latest deadline you are an idiot there will be another deadline most likely so you can just relax!
ODDZ & ENDZ
A photographer captures his girlfriend’s every stage of her battle with cancer. Stunning, beautiful, tragic, sad. Very powerful. And you bitch that your upgrade did not clear or you were not served a pre departure drink, shame on you!
How to become a Man by Kareem Abdul Jabar in Esquire. WOW, give this to a young man and force him to read it. Gave it to my son and got my message across that he should take the time to read this.
BLOG BUZZ
Note: This section is intended for long time readers and miles/points addicts who follow the blogs in this space. TBB reviews blogs and tries to entertain above all. Don’t take this section too seriously or personally, it’s mostly entertainment!
Emily’s trip to the Dominican Republic at Million Mile Secrets is over, let’s celebrate! 11 parts??? Please don’t ever accuse me for filler material all right lol.
Delta Points hates this time of the year so much…and loves the opportunity to flush its readers with yet more cards. Oh, don’t reply to spam email too! Still shaking my head…
Milevalue continues its mega selling mode of the few cards he has access to. Can you imagine what will happen here if the blog got access to Chase cards? OMG, you may never see the crappy US Air and the decent Arrival cards anymore lol.
I was going to bite the bullet and feature The Points Guy‘s post about the Online Travel Agency OTA loyalty programs. Well, I won’t. Why? Because the next post had to do with the super crappy Points.com program or so the headline says…only to turn into another patented cc fest midway through. Seriously? This is insulting my intelligence. I was expected to read a post about points.com and a short cautionary “points.com absolutely blows, stay away!” and the site managed to turn yet another post to plug every card on the planet…again! Have mercy!
I leave you with this video because we all can use a laugh. And thank you for your support, that nice affiliate company gal is not getting back to me! Nobody likes me but you all and that’s all that matters 🙂
Moral of the story is you can’t trust the system!
LOL
First?
Second! BTW I like durian and never been to the Ann Arbor eating places you mentioned.
I happen to like Durian as well. We have never purchased it here in the States but we always have it when traveling to SEA. I agree, some varieties have a bit more ‘flavor and aroma’ than others.
George, is there a picture or video you forgot to include in today’s post? There is nothing to go with your patented ‘I leave you with this …..’
One final comment. Perhaps. Instead of publishing a blogs I avoid/hate list, you can just not mention them at all from here on out unless they post something totally inaccurate or so absurd, it warrants a good laugh. I mean, if you are not going to get us shirts, what’s the point ?
@HIkerT: Congrats!
@Oliver2002: I can’t believe you like Durian too, please never bring it up again between us, thank you 🙂
@AnotherMark:I heard someone describe Durian smelling like onion ice-cream, they were way too kind!
There is a video there from youtube. It must be a browser issue. Are you on your phone? When I am on my phone the embedded video does not show up either. Which reminds me I should edit the post to add the link to it, thanks!
For a long time I used to beat up the bloggers for all “bad” posts. It got tiring and exhausting. Now I only pick the most absurd, ones that just make me…say something to let the message out that someone is watching! The point of my lists are to have them then embedded in every post so I can then be relieved of this duty…you just can’t stop these guys blinded by greed…so many now….it’s madness. Besides I am a real positive and optimist kind of guy by nature. This “angry” bent (is not) is really not me. Look at today’s Blog Buzz…Obviously the MMS mention was to generate a laugh, I am sure he is laughing about it too. But the rest is to point out the increasing plague of this hobby: weak super biased content, advice that hurts readers, and unrelenting pumping of the same cards to everyone who breaths, err reads!
I just figured out how to edit the blog footer…I am afraid I will get stuck with many T shirts and lose my a*s:-)
I bought some freeze dried Durian in S’pore last May. Awesome stuff. The taste is there, but no smell at all.
OK about 5 mins later your burp smell like…. but then:
a. do you really burp that often?
b. doesn’t anyone you know get close enough to you when you burp? 🙂
I read Chris Elliot’s rant and I cant believe you agree with it. There has been fine print since the dawn of the written word and the first ‘deal’.
Lets take this to the extreme. Do you think you should be able to check a bag with united without being charged simply because you flash an explorer card and then fly delta because the fare was cheaper?.
Of course, any rational person, expects reward card benefits to be tied to the use of the card and I am sure the fine print in the T&C’s cover everything in minute detail. I agree most take poetic license in the splash adds, but come on.You know there are strings or conditions. If you really don’t, you shouldn’t be playing this game. Chris says:
“After all, you’re paying to fly, you’re shelling out $85 a year for your affinity credit card, and at the very least, you’re giving the company access to your personal data and your spending habits — data it can turn around and sell to one of its “marketing” partners without your consent. Point is, you’re earning those miles.”
Last point first. You are being given those miles as a thank you for flying their airline. You did absolutely nothing to earn them. As for marketing, you give your consent for just about anything you apply for these days, not just reward credit cards. However, in every case, you can opt out by simply removing a check mark from an online box or sending a letter requesting to opt out. Has anyone noticed, that healthcare.gov automatically signs you up for promotions, etc unless you remove the check mark. Today, 2013, stores and data mining companies are talking about installing cameras in retial isles. They will monitor the loiter time of people in particular isles and present targeted adds based on whats available within immediate reach. Intgrusive? Yes, Illegal? No. If the consumer doesn’t like it, you don’t have to shop that store. Samething with rewards cards and ‘other’ retial’ incentive deals. Don’t like the conditions, take your business elswhere.
Chris, like you, can say anything he wants on his blog. That doesnt insure accuracy or rationaliy.
First, don’t take Chris Elliott too seriously. He mus have lost his girlfriend to a mileage runner in Flyertalk or something. This is what he does, he stirs up trouble and his minions adore him. It’s “all marketing”.
The main point I agree with: ” Airlines/hotels market these programs as free this, free that. Free my behind. There is NOTHING free in 2013. That’s all. I provide CE’s ilnks mostly for entertainment, he is an angry dude. With such a strong bias against loyalty programs that make him, well, entertaining enough 🙂
But even for Elliott, that was a terrible column. I mean, I also agree that there’s too much “fine print” in the frequent flyer programs. They’ve become ridiculously complicated and, to some extent, deceptive — like how some airlines load a ridiculously small number of award seats at the lowest redemption level. That’s the stuff Elliott could make a “good business” complaining about. Heck, more people SHOULD complain about it. After all, the airlines make money selling their frequent flyer miles to partners, and customers should have a reasonable chance to actually use those miles.
But when Elliott starts ranting about how Southwest’s “Bags Fly Free” slogan is problematic, well, I just think he’s a loon. And going after the United Chase card is wrong, too: the advertisements clearly state that you get this benefit “when purchasing tickets with their Explorer Card.” I mean, that’s logical, no? Kind of like how you get extra warranty coverage when you buy something with your AMEX card. You wouldn’t think you’d get that coverage just because you HAVE the card, right? After all, the credit card companies want you to actually use their card to make purchases (and generate commissions for themselves).
Wow, I got the chills going through the pictures of the cancer patient story. Amazing how simple photography can tell such a powerful story. Thanks for sharing!
Durian, Durian … Buzz they were a one hit wonder, why does this upset you so much?
I have a contest going with myself where I read the title of articles on TPG (on my Feedly feed) and I try to come up with ways in which he could have inserted his Chase and Amex links. I dont know if its a good thing or bad – but I managed to perfectly predict how he would transition to his Chase and Amex links in the Points.com article. The man has no shame.
Did you see his recent “Top 10 things hotels should have article” didn’t have ANY cc links in it. What on earth is wrong with him?? Surely he could have found a way to pimp at least the SPG APEX or Chase once. He’s losing his touch 😉
New Zealand is worth the trip. Spent three months there in my twenties and have been back twice. One of my sons studied abroad there. He did the whole adventure thing – bungee jumping, even jumping out of planes. Didn’t hike the Milford track. BTW, Plitvice Lakes in Croatia is all that. Another less well known gem on the planet. Like the footer. Is it new? And thanks for getting the second B. TaBB is almost TBB after all:)
Huntington Beach is one of the most beautiful places on earth? It’s nice but not that nice lol
Ha!
If you’re lucky enough to get a room at the Huntington Beach Hyatt facing South, you’ll overlook a lovely oceanfront trailer park and steam plant.
Geez, Gary is starting to treat the Milepoint premium membership the way MileValue treats the 30K US Airways card.
It looks like he’s going out of his way to find opportunities to plug the membership
C’mon Gary, you’re better than that
George; you have no idea how popular your blog really is. You said your spirit animal is a giraffe and see what happens
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/tech/social-media/facebook-giraffe-riddle/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
If you ever want to know which credit card Chase is currently being quota-heavy on, all you need to do is read MMS.
His 4 most recent post titles:
“Reader Question: No, You Can’t Transfer Southwest Points To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass!” (ed note: that’s not actually a question Darius)
“Reader Question: Whoa! Southwest Says the 50,000 Point Bonus Does NOT Count Towards The Southwest Companion Pass”
“Don’t Forget to Cancel Your Southwest Airlines Flight 10 Minutes Before Departure” (ed note: rest assured, it had the banner ad for the card at the end)
“The Best Deal for US Travel (~ $710 to $850 in Flights Or ~ $500 in Gift Cards) Ends Tomorrow!”
Last call for SW CC as mommy points would say. It will never be 50000 points again. Until next time of course.
My bet is that Gary and Lucky do NOT have this card. According to Tony the tiger, this is a GRRRRRREAT card. Much better than a hole in the head.
You’re going to be at least half right, Gary has said several times that he doesn’t have it.
@Oliver: Come on man, lay off the durian please!
@iahphx: He has railed against all these things and now he is scrambling to find ANY thing to rant to keep it up. Ridiculous stuff. My point was and I agree with him on this is simple: There is a whole lot of incredible BS by the part of loyalty programs selling the “free” part of the deal while tightening everything else (devals, lack of low level award seats, fees galore, etc)
@InaCents: You are welcome, very moving indeed.
@Duran Duran: Couldn’t stand them either lol. The durian smell is so unbelievably awful, like a dead dog corpse.
@The Common Man and R: I was going to let go and not say anything. But the points.bomb article was unbelievable. I have noticed when I say something the next posts do not contain any links 🙂 But they are coming. Need to cover payroll. Tough business to be in. Pumping works 🙁
@Smittytabb: Yeah, New Zealand does look awesome. I think doing just 1 or 2 weeks will be like a drop in the bucket…Hmmm, need to reevaluate my life with work and blog and kids I have no time to…burn lately. Oh the horror, the horror!
@Romsdeals: Yeah, really I think the title was a little misleading to put it mildly!
@Steve: Maybe need to raise that 5 in the “Bias” category 😉 Yeah, sorry to see that at MMS. Looks like he has totally run out of ideas lately and is just pumping it.
@ABC: Yeah, it’s nuts. I think I should pick the most ridiculous SW card headline to make fun of.
@Another Mark: Oh, that explains why I see so many giraffes at Facebook lately!
I have had enough of the multi-part domestic lounge reviews! Ugh! It is a nice lounge and it helps me to learn about it but 3 parts…seriously?! And people flew to DFW just for using the lounge?! Is all this fawning a result of Amex’s pull among the blogger community?
Not so sure about Amex’s pull…I think it’s just another source of throwing up content out there. That is THE challenge I have found in blogging, coming up with relevant and good content. I chose a niche that allows me to find content to do the Buzz posts…the bitch is in reviewing and picking the worthy ones!
I can spot the bloggers working hard at it from miles away. Many are just mailing it in
The Wave is surreal, you must visit this place George! I have a post about all the practical info
and some of my photos too LOL
http://lenticulartravel.com/the-wave-coyote-buttes-arizona/
China rice fields are on my very short bucket list, I swear to god I’ll do it soon…
Most of the other places are average, many great, more spectacular locations are out there…
Ok, I added your post in my Evernote for future reference, thanks. Yeah I agree the title headline was a little too much…
“Yeah, sorry to see that at MMS. Looks like he has totally run out of ideas lately and is just pumping it”
Understatement of the year?
When did he ever have ideas?
Even before he became another TPG, his entire shtick was just taking other people’s work (usually from flyertalk) and writing 50 paragraph thesis papers on them that were 49 paragraphs too long, and toss in some pictures with red arrows
He is to “ideas” what the North Pole is to palm trees
Sorry, in his defense, he also stole Frequent Miler’s work a lot
Lots of humping of Bluebird (with the usual Chase Ink links of course!) with little credit to the person whose ideas he was using to sell his credit cards
All along I have said that MMS’s gift is that he writes in such a language that newbies LOVE him. If you had a REAL noob family member (let’s ignore credit cards for now, I am sure you will warn him/her lol) and wanted him to learn in the most non threatening way where would you send him? Actually I have been thinking about that lately…There are lots and lots of “newbie” guides out there in the blogosphere. Have you seen one that stands out above the rest? And, here is an important consideration, it gets UPDATED frequently?
Check the last post by DWL. I think TBB is having an effect.
I need to go to bed…
The MMS newbie guides are sadly not updated. Thats the sad part about blogs, even your upcoming index of good/bad/uglies will fade, because only the author can update them. Cue in the wikithreads…!
I am not sure any newbie guides (or other guides) are updated. Love the wikithread feature in FT!
“MMS’s gift is that he writes in such a language that newbies LOVE him”
No… he writes in such a way that newbies FIND him – him and TPG are superb and making their content google friendly
“I am sure you will warn him/her lol) and wanted him to learn in the most non threatening way where would you send him?”
I would send them to almost any blog on your like/love lists except for the 2 or 3 advanced blogs before I would send them to MMS
Gary, DansDeals, Loyalty Traveler/Lobby….. wouldn’t even think twice about sending a newbie to these blogs instead of MMS.
Absolutely no argument about these two bloggers making their content google friendly, absolutely masterful. All these links strategy must be working 🙁
I get many emails telling me they discovered this hobby at FTG, TPG and/or MMS. And you know what, they are grateful for the EASY noob friendly content there. And the ones who stuck to it of course moved on because, well, they soon learned better 🙂
Do not underestimate the power of these sites to “welcome” the noobs who discover this hobby for the first time (via Nightline, google searches, etc).
I feel we do need consumer advocates to ensure that we have greater transparency (Could TBB be a Travel Blog Consumer Advocate?), however Chris Elliott takes it too far. It’s because of people like him that we have warnings not to blow dry our hair in the bathtub or plug in an electric chair outside. There has to be some line of demarcation where we just let stupid people bear the consequence of their idiocy.
I agree about CE!
TBB is doing its best to make the world a better place and ensure my dearest hobby does not become a mega crap/ccpimping/pseudoexpert cluster uknowwhat.
This whole place can sure use some more transparency, that’s for sure.
I also need to do something abt TBB monetization. My first foray into it with Google Ads was a disaster. No rush, got higher priorities!