TBB Mission: To Entertain, Educate and Inspire. Aim to at least do one well!
If you like what you see here, please let others know by passing them a link to my blog, thank you!
TRAVEL
World’s largest cave, Son Doong in Vietnam, now open for tourists! It is “9km in length, 200m in width and 150m in height…with caverns capable of fitting entire city streets and skyscrapers. It is home to a river, jungles, and entire cave ecosystems”. By Bored Panda. Must click!
The Most Family-Friendly International Carriers. Excellent and comprehensive post by Jason Steele at The Points Guy, families will find this very helpful. See Blog Buzz section for more.
Wandering Earl’s Favorite Travel Destinations in Eastern Europe. Some interesting places here.
The Selfish Years are in the zone…”The DONT’s of Traveling“. Yeah, if a monk asks you for money give him the bird or you can politely decline and leave, your choice.
Islands in the Sky. By the Adventure Blog. Amazing timelapse video. Heavenly.
Cruising Tips from an Insider. By Saverocity. Good stuff about cruising!
MILES/POINTS
Register for National Car Rental’s popular One Two Free promotion! Just register, you never know! And if you do not have a National Car Rental account and want to open one & plan to rent a car from them before January 31, 2004 it would be great if I can refer you, email me!
Register for Hyatt’s “Discover New Possibilities” promo. I do have 3 nights in a Hyatt next month. Hmm, if I had 5 nights I can earn 5,000 Hyatt points. Unless something else comes up, I do not plan to mattress run it for just 5k points.
While we are at it, register for Amtrak’s double points promotion for trips through October 31.
Online Travel Review lists all the Top Unadvertised Credit Card offers. Why are you bloggers not pounding on these instead? Oh, wait…So, all you bloggers pushing the inferior US Air offers to your readers, Per Mile Nerd “you suck!”
Travel is Free (is not) takes apart the ANA award rules. Maybe Drew M. does not do Seminar presentations but here is a guy who knows his stuff!
The Miles Professor picks her cousin to illustrate how to go about burning your AA miles to Asia. Very neatly laid out, easy to follow.
Mile Adventures on going to Palau and Micronesia to dive with sharks, stingrays too. Some creative routing and perhaps a unique way to burn your Delta Skypesos!
Qatar Airlines to join oneworld alliance on October 30, 2013.
ON MY MIND
USA is in the World Cup by beating Mexico in Columbus, Ohio. I almost bought tickets to go but hesitated at the last minute. I was thinking of the blog…
This two day Buzz post is a little better for me. I still need to find a way to lay off going through so much crap material. Not having to come up with the Buzz post until the day after tomorrow is a bit comforting. But it does add to the length of the post as you can see. I just need to find my groove. At one year anniversary it will be decision time on what to do…. #developing
Please do NOT send me your blog posts and tell me “This is TBB worthy”. It moves up to the waste bin line (this bin is always full for some reason!). You can suggest an article for me to read and I will do my best to get to it. If it makes in TBB, it does. If not, don’t worry about it. It happens…a lot! Try harder? 🙂
ODDZ & ENDZ
Some people are just way too much into being aviation geeks. This guy built a Boeing 737 cockpit at his home, wtf!
North Korea. Dennis Rodman. Can the theater of the absurd get any more weird or what? In other news, more parades in North Korea. Look at this, I peed my pants!
Giant Staircase made from potted plants. The famous 142-step staircase of Santa Maria del Monte in Caltagirone, Sicily, Italy. This is why I love Twisted Sifter, so unique!
Birds. Lots and lots of birds!
BLOG BUZZ
Look it here. Chase stops selling gift cards without a fee in a few weeks. Think, think, think…how many cards we can assault our readers with blogging about this? How about a dozen? Really The Points Guy?
One Mile at a Time and Mommy Points were having lots of fun at the SPG sponsored event at the US Open. Which brings to mind reader Steve‘s comment:
It’s a continuous cycle
the bloggers shill Amex and SPG’s products, Amex and SPG give them points to “give away” which in turn will lure tons of new readers to the bloggers sites who the bloggers will then….. you guessed it…. pimp Amex and SPG’s products to
Amex is doing what they can to get more people to the sites that incessantly shill for their products. And give enough affiliate $$$ and free trips for it (along with all the new readers coming because of said points), and the bloggers will be more than happy to partake in that cycle
It’s not a coincidence that Ric Garrido never seems to be invited back to his comped junkets while OMAT, MP and others get a revolving door of SPG offers
The Mastercard Easy Savings program available for the Chase Ink and Bold cards was written on this post by DansDeals. Then View from the Wing saw it (did HT to Dan) and then One Mile at a Time saw it (did HT to Gary). More will likely follow because they do not want to lose the perfect opportunity to push the same cards! Yep! Update: Point Miles & Martinis caught on and just could not help himself…So a blog post is made about this and, can you guess how many card links were added? Sit down please…TEN 10 Chase Ink links (yep the same ones repeatedly!). So, in hurrying up to post the card links PMM forgot to add the Mastercard Easy Savings registration link until a reader alerted him! And THIS dear readers is a fine example of what this hobby has become! How can bloggers be proud of posting such stuff? And then you wonder why so many get angry?
To add to that, Fishing 4 Deals had discovered a similar savings program for Visa cards some time ago. I apologize for not featuring it back then! I remember reading about it and somehow did not register with me! View from the Wing wrote about it after FFD alerted him to it in the comments! Note to F4D: please fix that thing that hangs on one side of the screen, it is freaking me out!
First2Board appears to be on to affiliate links. Which is not surprising. I wish they would post an announcement about the change of policy (did I miss it?) and explain the reasons (yes, it is about the money). At least give it some mention as they made “we have no affiliate links” mantra when they opened shop. Congrats on the successful gathering at Charleston and all the best in Seattle next year.
Right at this point I realized something (it is Tuesday evening as I type this sentence)…I can’t be making comments on each post folks! So, I will add my colorful commentary starting below only when I find it is warranted. I need to let lots go, I just can’t keep up with these guys! You can let go in the comments section lol.
I would love it if a blogger, present at Mr. Pickles‘ presentation at the Charleston seminars, blogged about all the secrets he revealed during the session lol.
Welcome back Scott of Hack My Trip from his honeymoon! It’s all downhill from here, just kidding.
We have a new writer at Frugal Travel Guy (the blog). His name is Bill and is an expert, you guessed, on getting miles from credit cards. He starts out fine with some non affiliate credit card offers (gasp!) and I bet my sarcasm that the Chase and Amex cha ching links are coming. Not like it ever veered away from cha ching efforts, those shareholders are asking for it! I guess we will soon see Bill point any deals he finds at Milepoint (I know you are laughing).
Delta Points. Winglets.
First?
Congrats to USA on their win tonight. Now I can go to bed. Good night George.
Huge win. This Mexico team has major problems. If they play a playoff against New Zealand they may not get through and stay home, unthinkable!
That game against Panama in the ruined fortress Azteca looms large.
Yes it sure does! I always liked the Mexican team, they have always had a spark and when they were on they were not easy to beat. Always did not have that “extra” to break through in the WC. Still, this must be like a nightmarish WC qualifying for them, who would have thought they will be fighting for the playoff spot! No more room to breathe for them. Judging from their performance last night, there is something very very wrong with this team, no “life” no spark, no creativity…they can’t even score. Maybe they should leave that English Premier prima dona back in Europe!
Are you badmouthing my Chicharito?!?!
Excuse me, was he playing last night? 🙂
Nice big post today!
Thanks. Covers two days. I am going to try that for now. Doing the Buzz daily was just kicking my butt so bad. This way I can take a little breather in between. I still plan to post something tomorrow but it will be short, whatever comes to mind.
Good Morning… Too much CC flogging anger at TBB today… 😉
I had more but I deleted some because I did not want more lawsuit threats lol.
I still can’t get over that PMM post…speechless
Thanks for the shout out George!
That 737 mock cockpit is insane. Reminds me of when I played flight simulators on my computer and bought a complete set of cockpit controls: control yolk, rudder pedals, engine throttle, everything. Man what a waste of money that was! 😉
As a kid I was fascinated by drums. So I got a whole bunch of cans and other stuff & a bunch of wood sticks, locked myself in my room and proceeded to drive my mother insane. Stuff like this stick with you for the rest of your life lol.
Winglets!
🙂
Yeah, I met Jeff (the Wanderer) at FTU in DC this year. Sat at a table at lunch. He was recruiting new bloggers to F2B saying that they were looking for bloggers that would not do the affiliate link thing. That was in April. Sounded somewhat noble as a concept. So I began reading their blogs. I saw a disclaimer and affiliate link on one of their blogs last night. It didn’t take long, did it? Maybe that was the secret in Charleston?
Speaking of blogs, so many new “experts” out there. If I see another person young enough to be my kid and who began collecting miles & points since 2010 or later, say last week, I am going to scream.
Got me binders and binders full of experts lately 🙂
And they keep coming…
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/external-miles-points-resources/1501687-room-another-frequent-flyer-blog.html
Scream. Now! 🙂
Is that some kind of joke about OnlineTravelReview? The guy got religion because he got kicked out of the affiliate program!? Give me a break! Journalistic standards are declining around here 🙂 (source: http://www.onlinetravelreview.com/2013/08/09/chase-reconsideration-line-phone-numbers-yes-banks-do-influence-some-travel-blogs-including-this-one-but-not-anymore/)
I agree. I still need to encourage posts like this so other bloggers can at least try to not focus on so much about: cc links——>think of an angle—–>publish posts w/ them 🙂
Yeah but that is exactly what this post was. Mmm, I can no longer push Amex links, so let me make myself look credible by putting out others, and then the traffic will get driven to my shitty US Airways and other barclaycrap links.
Full moon out or George succeeding at his mission? VFTW puts out a dedicated post on American Express Platinum links with no affiliate offers whatsoever (and no Chase links either). Did Amex cut him too?
MA: I know. I am waiting:-) I still need to encourage the legions of newish bloggers & get their attention on how to make it on TBB 🙂
AB: Full moon 🙂 I am not sure banks let Boarding Area bloggers go if they have some minimal volume. No idea really but this appears to be the main draw of BA. Randy wins…again
Should we do a TBB office pool on how long it takes for TPG to cover the Mastercard/Visa Savings programs, of course sans any form of a H/T (what a coincidence! He figured it out himself weeks after Dan discovered it!) but more than made up for with the inevitable link to every single MC and Visa card that provides him an affiliate link
I’ve got my money on 9/14
9/13
Thank goodness you figured this out. Save lots of time, ignore trolls, do other things. Start the practice by not replying to this comment.
Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his urn. Since his death all they can can up with at Apple is tweaking the existing products with new colors and sizes. The days of Apple introducing game changing technologies are over. Although I hear they might start making Ipads in fruity colors soon. Dump AAPL stock and let it ride with Elon Musk. TSLA.
Yeah really. Apple is sure getting boring…I like that Musk dude, he has balls. Hope they are small so he can be a good dad lol!
BOSTON.COM
09/11/2013 | 8:18 AM
Do better dads have smaller gonads? Wacky study suggests, yes
By Deborah Kotz / Globe Staff
There are days when I feel sorry for men, and today is one of them. A headline grabbing study indicates that men with smaller testicles are more likely to be better fathers, presumably because they produce less testosterone which makes them more nurturing. (Time magazine says to “choose dads with smaller ‘nads.”)
I actually saw this and thought about making a comment. And then I moved on 🙂
If I was blogging, I’d steal from everyone, and HT to TBB; who sometimes links to travel blogger postings. And to top it off, once a week, I’d re-hash everything with plenty of links.
My wife just pinched me and woke me up.
Mine just slaps me ever since I started blogging 🙂
Another day, another blogger posting a top 10 list because “While there are several excellent long standing credit card offers, the specifics of the best offers are constantly changing”
And of course, as is par for the course, OMAT writes up a post that:
A) has more than 10 cards
B) doesn’t have a single offer that is any different than the normal offer for the card, making his reasoning for making this post sound really nice, but is actually a whole load of crap used to push credit cards (pulling a MommyPoints if you will)
I have it marked for review. You know how I feel about this 🙂
This crap WORKS. If not, they would not be doing it. To make lots of money bloggers must pump. Or they could make less and focus on content and preserving credibility. Or, in most cases, keep the day job or go back to it lol.
So now after all the hoopla about how we simply could not not get SPG cards because they were just so fantabulous and SPG points were so great, Gary now has two posts on the problems with SPG. If I wasn’t having such a fantabulous time myself here in Istanbul, I think it would make me nauseous. But we really are having a ball. I love raki and Iznik mosaics!
I would stick with the raki;-)
For the Name that (pathetic) blogger Contest: Who said ” I’ve never been to Costa Rica, but this resort may be the catalyst to change that!”.
(Because, of course, a new hotel is THE reason to visit any new place on this planet!….)
“I’ve never been”
Usually when you see those words, Deals We Like is a safe bet
Keep guessing. This blogger is one of the insular ones that is always talking about the flight, the hotel, and the lounges. (Probably still too many to guess from, eh?)
Yes, I would like to play, Alex Trebek. I’ll take “blog post nobody gives a crap about” for 100 please. It’s the Daily Double! Alex who is “The Points Guy?”
You guys are just too funny…so funny you are perceived for being angry 🙂
Just wanted to get in and say thanks for the mention before going to sleep! Also, you may like comment from boyfriend on hotel status: “In North Korea, do they have uranium status?”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>“In North Korea, do they have uranium status?”
Mega lol, thanks!
Hey Buzz,
Thanks for acknowledging that I alerted you to Fishing4Deal’s series on the the Visa SavingsEdge and theMasterCard Easy Savings programs back in August, as well as the thought that the mainstream blogs had not written about these “no brainer” cash-back rebate programs.
In addition to reviewing the big name blogs, TBB can do a service to the community by scanning lesser known, independent blogs for unique or interesting content — especially when it provides a new perspective on things or breaks a big story.
Is there room for more bloggers in this space? I thinks so, as long as they provide original, objective content that goes beyond what is already available. I started http://www.Fishing4Deals.com because I wanted to write a blog for real people. The other blogs I was reading were all about flying first class to the Maldives and staying in business hotels. I was using points and miles to enable family visits in the U.S. while booking hotel bargains on Priceline. Further, I was not finding good information on the downside of various points programs, and saw an opportunity to fill this vacuum.
BTW, the third part of my series on stealth credit card deals will detail the Check Inn program — which offers small businesses savings of up to 20 percent on hotel bookings.
What? You don’t like the worm? It actually serves a function. If you click on it, it sends you back to the top of the page. Anyway, I am using the “Something Fishy” packaged theme which is what got me started with the Fishing idea in the first place. If you hover your cursor over the worm, you get a special message!
Thanks for the link- we just got back from another Norwegian cruise, and will be posting updates about that one soon!