The focus on comped trips is a bit of a smokescreen in my view. None of us review airline seats with the mindset of someone who paid hard cash for it out of their own pocket, and if we did we would be more critical.
We also all have huge piles of miles to burn. It isn't as if we must get a free seat or room or we won't be travelling - we just burn a few points instead.
There is far more pressure from other quarters. One major hotel group believes that, if you have its affiliate links, it can email you and ask you to remove posts which it does not like. Many of us also take direct advertising and that brings its own implicit pressures.
My way around this is that I only do 'nice things'. Life is too short anyway. If Air Kazakhstan want me to review their new Y seat then I won't be doing it. Neither will be I checking into a one-star hotel anytime soon for a freebie. I only do stuff that I would be happy to spend my own money on in the first place. If I stay in a hotel for free it means a night away from my wife and young kids which - whilst sometimes good for a recharge! - is not ideal.
Last edited by Raffles; Jun 24, 2015 at 2:41 am