We bring you an exciting way to book Skyteam awards on Korean Air, warn you about a HomeAway fail, weep over dead blogs, we delight you with THE beer cheat sheet, learn about some obscure Google products, visit the highest bridge in the world in China, look at inspiring images of 2016, talk about points valuation methods and more for you!<——strategic placement of exclamation mark, I learned it from MMS.
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There will be both a Saturday and Sunday post here this weekend. The Saturday post will be a “3 Links I Love” type and then the Sunday New Years post will be with some thoughts I have to get out my head along with some changes around here…
Well, this is exciting! Korean Air now selling SkyTeam Awards ONLINE! No more archaic faxes and other ridiculous things asked by phone agents, hooray! Oh wait, what if you wanted to book an award online for more than yourself? Anyone, anyone? Maybe I can fly to South Korea next year, it’s good I have not transferred my Chase Ultimate Rewards points out yet…Here is another with more details on how to book them.
I have not used HomeAway yet. Well, after this experience, I think I may keep it this way…
China just opened Beipanjiang Bridge, the highest bridge in the world, 1,800 feet above the ground, WOW!
17 Google products you never heard of. I am always looking for ways to improve, well, everything. I may try this Google Keep app, need something simple and fast.
Your personal finance fix of the day: How Diversification Became a Four-Letter Word. Hey, we don’t bet the ranch on any asset class, let alone on any stock. If I did and did it right (lol), I would be on one of my yachts and would have The Points Guy work for me…or something like that.
The most beautiful and inspiring images of 2016. I enjoy these, hope you do too!
Everything you wanted to know about beer. In one chart. I finally learned the difference between Ales and Lagers, yippeeee! Educating TBB style! You can order ALL of them with the credit cards you get with my links lol.
BLOG BUZZ
I really liked this blog post at Miles Per Day: In memoriam of blogs that passed away in 2016. If they had gotten more support they would probably still be around. Doing my best not to join them!
Why I mostly ignore point valuations. And you should too. Some really good insight here. I always said “you earned them, burn them your way to make YOU happy!” Unless it is for a toaster, come on!
And I leave you with this….
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
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happy new year!
I think they are all giving up now, you just can’t be beat!
Happy New Year to all!
Especially to the reader who got the Spark card with my links, thanks!
BOA Alaska card just now with your link. I’m trying to take a friend with me through hong kong and on to South Africa or New Zealand before the giant influx of spg/virgin miles kills Alaska’s award charts…
Gold for the day?
I’ll cede gold for the day. I swear the next card I get I’ll use a TBB link!
Go with NZ. I spent a month there a few years ago. Unlike most things it lived up to the hype.
Second that emotion
Sounds like a song….I think it was Marvin Gaye?
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, 1967.
You might know the record label, something called “Motown”?
i read that Home Away blog post. The blogger said the property ‘looked nice’ but he did not mention any reviews he read or other due dilligence. Same for the comment to that post whose author arrived at his rental to find it was entirely different than described.
Seems to me the whole ‘sharing’ economy’ depends on user reviews, which means using them.
Speaking of the sharing economy, whatever happened to Drew and Carrie’s ‘Rent Stuff You Have Around Anyway’ idea?
He’s got “David, the smartest guy he’s ever met who graduated from MBA Kellogg and used to be a senior guy at Booz Allen, who was introduced by” *a used car salesman*
They must be racking in the dough by now with David.
Re: Sharing Economy reviews. Oh yeah, I think that is what is so important about them. Then again…I wonder sometimes with all them hacking going on…how many are legit or fake.
Last I heard was Drew’s venture got funding, probably explains how TIF has not seen much action lately. I wish them the best. The blog space sure misses his content, I sure do.
“Dude, he turned around Dell!”
Sam, Here is what I posted on the “Michael W” blog:
————–
On my recent trip, I booked an AirBnB that was not at all what was described by the owner. Apparently, if you want to complain to AirBnB, you have to do it within 24 hours. I figured it would be very difficult for AirBnB to find us another house with 5 bedrooms on a moment’s notice, so we were stuck.
I’m trying to work it out with AirBnB now, but they are very slow to respond. And, frankly, they are not motivated (financially-speaking) to force the owner to revise their listing.
I think your experience (and mine) underline some huge downsides to renting from private parties—downsides that don’t get talked about enough. When you rent from a hotel and you are unhappy, they usually have a way to move you to another room or they have an agreement with another hotel to take—this is not the case with a private party.
———-
As a matter of fact, the user reviews on the rental I had are almost all positive, which just strains my imagination! It makes me really question if AirBnB is manipulating the reviews (I.e., removing bad ones).
I think that there is something fishy (like hiding reviews) about AirBnB that is being hidden…they have an IPO coming up, after all!
One more thing about user reviews: can you honestly believe what you read on TripAdvisor? Half of those glowing reviews are from paid shills—there are businesses built around promoting (false) reviews!
Yes, you need to use the user reviews. No, you can’t trust them.
(I suggest that you need to contact one or two people that have used a place and take it from there….)
I tend to look in the overall numbers, how many are in the top 2 rated categories vs how many in the really bad slot? Then, I tend to read a few here and there in detail…it is usually after I made up my mind to pick a specific property.
I clearly mispoke, even when repeating your statement regarding the misrepresentation. I am sorry, and much more sorry for your bad vacation experience.
I’m surprised to read that Air BnB reviews seem tainted as I thought that they only let actual renters post comments, like Bookings.com does. Maybe property owners are running fake stays with their friends, thus eating the Air BnB fees to build fake good reviews.
I know a couple of restaurants that I am sure are causing false positive reviews to go up on Trip Advisor. The good reviews appear with regularity, while other reviews are mediocre or worse.
I agree with the suggestion that for an Air BnB or Home Away stay, I would want to speak to a prior renter. But I guess that could be anybody too.
I gotta get to bed so I can be up early for that rare TBB Saturday post.
Happy almost new year, George! Here’s a tale of cold-blooded resort revenge:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProRevenge/comments/5l20bx/noisy_resort_neighbor_gets_his_secret_spilled/
Thanks Buzz.
btw it was Smokey Robinson.
Love this discussion about vacation rentals and would like to hear more about bed and breakfasts too.
A friend went on a homestay with a family in S. Korea and they treated him like their own son. They went out playing ping pong one night and so forth, so it gave him a glimpse of typical family life. Then he tried some others and they were basically just average B&Bs who put their listing on the homestay site. This parallels my experience with the awesome B&Bs I stayed in in Mexico, vs. the very so-so experiences I had with B&Bs in Europe.
Anyone else have experience with this, or do you have any other methods to get a more “authentic” experience when visiting a foreign country?
Thanks!
🙂
AirBnB hosts cancel stays all the time, too. Browse some listings and you’ll see.
Nature of the beast. They confirm your reservation, then rent the same property via other platforms for more money. Don’t know if you have any recourse, but AirBnB lets you see when the owner cancels stays, so you can avoid doing business with people who play this game.