What is the most useful frequent flyer blog?
Mar 13, 2013, 9:16 pm
#1876
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Gold-MM, AA Gold-MM, F9-Silver, Hyatt Something, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,393
And a boon for the big monetized blogs. I love the ability to read the content without the ads. (Of course, it doesn't help much when the ad masquerades as content.....)
Mar 13, 2013, 9:41 pm
#1877
Used to be 'Travelergcp'
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: New Orleans
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,826
That sucks. I depend on RSS to cover a lot of ground quickly and with Google removing all the ads and bloated html code.
Mar 13, 2013, 9:48 pm
#1879
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Gold-MM, AA Gold-MM, F9-Silver, Hyatt Something, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,393
Mar 13, 2013, 10:09 pm
#1880
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Programs: Airline Free Agent, Fairmont Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,041
This video pretty much shows what we faithful Google Reader users feel right now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&c...Q08&nomobile=1
Hey, it is satire, don't shoot the messenger! You always get that one person who feels insulted by the main character/sob.
"It's the s***iest idea since Google Wave" lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&c...Q08&nomobile=1
Hey, it is satire, don't shoot the messenger! You always get that one person who feels insulted by the main character/sob.
"It's the s***iest idea since Google Wave" lol
Mar 13, 2013, 10:54 pm
#1881
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 754
If you can have your mom convince my in-laws to think the way she does, I will compensate her handsomely.
). She thought it was a ploy on my part to give her a handout. She's still having a hard time believing that I travel for free.
Mar 13, 2013, 11:15 pm
#1882
formerly known as felinaar
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: UA Plat, AA Gold, AS MVPG, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 612
With Chip + PIN, the bank assumes that if the transaction goes through, then you must have authorized it. Who else would know the PIN? I've heard it is very difficult to dispute transactions.
With signature based transactions in the U.S. the responsibility lies with the merchant to prove that it was an authorized transaction. When you dispute a charge, the bank can go to the merchant and tell them to prove you were there. I've never had any problem disputing a charge in the past.
Now, maybe a PIN makes it hard to get a bad charge to go through in the first place, but if god forbid someone should figure it out, then you're screwed as far as I see it.
Mar 13, 2013, 11:25 pm
#1883
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: AA EXP(.96MM), AMEX Platinum, United Premier Silver, Delta Gold, SPG Platinum 50, Hilton Gold VIP
Posts: 1,744
it's possible that someone could be under duress and give out their PIN number, but I agree that it will be hard to dispute..
Mar 13, 2013, 11:32 pm
#1884
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 167
I dont really use Google Reader so Im not going to miss much but there sure seems to be a lot of people disappointed its going away.
Mar 13, 2013, 11:59 pm
#1885
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 212
As a relative newcomer, I have found this thread very useful as I figure out just who I can trust!
Along those lines, I travel to Israel often and when it was announced on F2B that there would be extensive trip reports about Jamison's and Angelina's trip there in the blog entitled Points Summary, I was eager to read them. When I go, it is usually for a few weeks at least, and most of the time I rent an apartment or small flat in Jerusalem. But on overnight visits to other cities, I occasionally book hotel rooms, typically in small, independent places that are sometimes disappointing. With my newly growing balance of hotel points, this series promised to be a window into some properties I could now consider.
Moreover, as a relative newbie, I find myself reading many blogs about places I have never been. It is hard to evaluate them, given my limited knowledge of the locales. Reading some blogs about places I am very familiar with would enable me to better evaluate the advice being offered.
I have been very disappointed with the series which was titled "Everything You Need to Know About Israel"
http://first2board.com/pointssummary...-about-israel/
To say the least, this is a huge exaggeration!
The first post tells us virtually nothing about the destination - it is basically a rehash of ElAl's infamous fare mistake and how the tickets were booked. The suggestion in subsequent posts that visitors rent a car strikes me as very debatable advice. I've probably been there at least a dozen times, and only once did I find that renting a car was indeed the best strategy. The bus system is cheap, quick and covers the entire country. Bus travel really gives the tourist a taste of the "real" Israel and it is very easy to use the buses (and trains) even without speaking Hebrew. But it was today's post about Jamison's visit to Masada that finally moved me to post about this series.
We are told at the start that "Masada...is Israel’s top paid tourist attraction." But Jamison does not say why! We are informed that there is free parking, but not a word about why one might choose to visit. The photos are nice, but nothing that different from what is available elsewhere on the web. The casual reader is left with the impression that one visits Masada to enjoy the sweeping desert and Dead Sea views from the top. It struck me as ironic that while many of us find the constant CC links annoying - and to be fair, there were none here - if Jamison did not want to write a few sentences about Masada, a link to Wikipedia would have been a nice help to the reader. Here's the first paragraph from Wikipedia, in case you are not familiar with Masada:
"Masada (Hebrew מצדה, pronounced ... Metzada ... is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau (akin to a mesa) on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE. The Siege of Masada by troops of the Roman Empire towards the end of the First Jewish–Roman War ended in the mass suicide of the 960 Jewish rebels and their families holed up there. Masada is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Arad."
It is an extraordinary place, both for the history and the fact that palaces and fortifications were built in this extremely remote and difficult location. It is well worth a visit, and a great way to see it is after a sunrise walk up the path that snakes up to the top. Jamison's "...you can also buy a one-way cable car ride down if you want to hike up the mountain on the Snake Path (there are no snakes)" comment does not in any way do justice to the possibilities.
Finally, I read in Wikipedia that "Masada is Israel's most popular paid tourist attraction." Jamison's words are close enough to these to make me wonder if Wikipedia was indeed the source of this tidbit of info. I've read about and visited many, many of the sights of Israel, but I've never before seen the fact that a place was a leading "paid tourist attraction" used as a way to encourage others to see it!
This clearly was a quick trip offering little opportunity for Jamison and Angelina to see the country in any depth. I hope that other readers of Jamison's breezy advice do not mistake her for an expert. This was my first taste of Points Summary. I found little there to encourage me to go back.
Along those lines, I travel to Israel often and when it was announced on F2B that there would be extensive trip reports about Jamison's and Angelina's trip there in the blog entitled Points Summary, I was eager to read them. When I go, it is usually for a few weeks at least, and most of the time I rent an apartment or small flat in Jerusalem. But on overnight visits to other cities, I occasionally book hotel rooms, typically in small, independent places that are sometimes disappointing. With my newly growing balance of hotel points, this series promised to be a window into some properties I could now consider.
Moreover, as a relative newbie, I find myself reading many blogs about places I have never been. It is hard to evaluate them, given my limited knowledge of the locales. Reading some blogs about places I am very familiar with would enable me to better evaluate the advice being offered.
I have been very disappointed with the series which was titled "Everything You Need to Know About Israel"
http://first2board.com/pointssummary...-about-israel/
To say the least, this is a huge exaggeration!
The first post tells us virtually nothing about the destination - it is basically a rehash of ElAl's infamous fare mistake and how the tickets were booked. The suggestion in subsequent posts that visitors rent a car strikes me as very debatable advice. I've probably been there at least a dozen times, and only once did I find that renting a car was indeed the best strategy. The bus system is cheap, quick and covers the entire country. Bus travel really gives the tourist a taste of the "real" Israel and it is very easy to use the buses (and trains) even without speaking Hebrew. But it was today's post about Jamison's visit to Masada that finally moved me to post about this series.
We are told at the start that "Masada...is Israel’s top paid tourist attraction." But Jamison does not say why! We are informed that there is free parking, but not a word about why one might choose to visit. The photos are nice, but nothing that different from what is available elsewhere on the web. The casual reader is left with the impression that one visits Masada to enjoy the sweeping desert and Dead Sea views from the top. It struck me as ironic that while many of us find the constant CC links annoying - and to be fair, there were none here - if Jamison did not want to write a few sentences about Masada, a link to Wikipedia would have been a nice help to the reader. Here's the first paragraph from Wikipedia, in case you are not familiar with Masada:
"Masada (Hebrew מצדה, pronounced ... Metzada ... is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau (akin to a mesa) on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE. The Siege of Masada by troops of the Roman Empire towards the end of the First Jewish–Roman War ended in the mass suicide of the 960 Jewish rebels and their families holed up there. Masada is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Arad."
It is an extraordinary place, both for the history and the fact that palaces and fortifications were built in this extremely remote and difficult location. It is well worth a visit, and a great way to see it is after a sunrise walk up the path that snakes up to the top. Jamison's "...you can also buy a one-way cable car ride down if you want to hike up the mountain on the Snake Path (there are no snakes)" comment does not in any way do justice to the possibilities.
Finally, I read in Wikipedia that "Masada is Israel's most popular paid tourist attraction." Jamison's words are close enough to these to make me wonder if Wikipedia was indeed the source of this tidbit of info. I've read about and visited many, many of the sights of Israel, but I've never before seen the fact that a place was a leading "paid tourist attraction" used as a way to encourage others to see it!
This clearly was a quick trip offering little opportunity for Jamison and Angelina to see the country in any depth. I hope that other readers of Jamison's breezy advice do not mistake her for an expert. This was my first taste of Points Summary. I found little there to encourage me to go back.
Mar 14, 2013, 1:47 am
#1886
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: 1A with Dom Perignon
Programs: Platinum Sky Pimp
Posts: 86
Did you learn anything new from this article (or the rental car one)?
Yes, I know these topics has been covered (and will be covered again), but my personal goal was to introduce some new and helpful information and present it all in one place (I know that others may have covered some of it before in various places). Ink is a great card that I would use if I never wrote a word about it. Certainly when I researched this information, I was glad I did so, if only as an Ink user and car renter myself, let alone a blogger.
Yes, I know these topics has been covered (and will be covered again), but my personal goal was to introduce some new and helpful information and present it all in one place (I know that others may have covered some of it before in various places). Ink is a great card that I would use if I never wrote a word about it. Certainly when I researched this information, I was glad I did so, if only as an Ink user and car renter myself, let alone a blogger.
Can you please do some research and write your next article about maximizing ink bold at Applebees? Because I think article about maximizing Ink Bold card at Starbucks few weeks ago did not say anything about Applebees gift cards available at OD.
Great idea! I can contribute post on how to sharpen edges of my Ritz Card (given it still has referral fee for Brian) and use it as deadly weapon in a gladiator fight.
Last edited by mia; Mar 14, 2013 at 9:42 am Reason: Combine consecutive replies
Mar 14, 2013, 6:48 am
#1887
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 42
As a relative newcomer, I have found this thread very useful as I figure out just who I can trust!
...
This clearly was a quick trip offering little opportunity for Jamison and Angelina to see the country in any depth. I hope that other readers of Jamison's breezy advice do not mistake her for an expert. This was my first taste of Points Summary. I found little there to encourage me to go back.
...
This clearly was a quick trip offering little opportunity for Jamison and Angelina to see the country in any depth. I hope that other readers of Jamison's breezy advice do not mistake her for an expert. This was my first taste of Points Summary. I found little there to encourage me to go back.
Thank you so much for this post. I see you have few posts, and are a newcomer to FT in your own words. This is, in my opinion, the best post in this thread for AT LEAST the past 100 pages.
If the rest of your contributions to this community are anywhere near this level, I expect you will become once of the most well-known and respected members of this board quite quickly.
Welcome to FT, and thanks again.
Mar 14, 2013, 6:53 am
#1888
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: BUF
Programs: SPG Plt, HHonors Gold, UA Gold, PC Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 880
HA - had to love TPG's post today... opening paragraph
"TPG contributor Jason Steele is back with another in-depth look at the Chase Ink family of credit cards and how you can maximize their category spending bonsues and gift cards."
"Another" is definately an understatement...
"TPG contributor Jason Steele is back with another in-depth look at the Chase Ink family of credit cards and how you can maximize their category spending bonsues and gift cards."
"Another" is definately an understatement...
Mar 14, 2013, 7:39 am
#1889
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Plat, Copa Pres. Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, SPG LT Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 769