kokonutz

*IS* he still a miles a points blogger?

I use his stuff to compare premium cabins and that's about it. And less and less since I buy/fly business class, not the F cabins he is typically in, and his most recent review of BA business was absurdly in conflict with my personal experience, calling in question his relative perspective on business class in general in my mind.

I'd call him a premium (mostly F) international cabin and chain hotel reviewer/blogger.

YMMV!

Craig6z

Spot on. Like you, I've become carrier agnostic, when it comes to self-paid international business. Give me a reasonable fare, and my wife and I will fly your airline. My last four international business flights have been on BA 380's and for the price paid I had little to complain about (OK, so the beef was overcooked ). My next international business class trip is on AA; thank you BA codeshare discounting. This is from a person who is approaching lifetime UA Platinum (2MM BIS).

Ben talks a lot about aspirational trips that readers may want to make in First Class. I'm sure that there is a limited population that is striving for this, but the typical road warrior is just happy to get an occasional free international business ticket for his/her family, or buy a ticket for not much over coach.

rufusmi

Was just watching Smithsonian channel today when I saw the ad below (sorry for poor quality):

https://youtu.be/E2rBsZgPDcA

Not sure how I feel about all this media attention. On one hand, I'm happy for Ben, but on the other, it means more people will be getting into this, causing more people competing for award seats, etc. Not that I want to see this "community" become closed door, but hopefully you get the gist of what I'm trying to say.

I will be definitely be recording that episode! Definitely interesting times.

Adam1222

1) No one ever said Ben should develop new interests or be a destination blog. But Ben *does* write about the destinations he goes to, and how he selects them. According to his most recent post, he considers the human rights situation of these countries, but has decided to go anyway because he sees himself as a "gay ambassador." If Ben really thinks this way, its not outrageous to expect some of this discussed in his many blog posts about how/why he selected to go to a certain country.

In addition, Ben sells his lifestyle to the masses, and I believe he is a responsibility to flag certain things for them. With the power of a large audience comes great responsibility.

Finally, with the addition of other contributors, OMAAT has started writing about destinations. See, e.g., http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...ploring-dubai/ and http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...ing-abu-dhabi/. So obviously there's some interest there from some monetary source.

2) Again, twisting my words. My saying that I don't read 75% of the blog was hyperbole in response to the hyperbolic suggestion that I criticize "every single word" of the blog. As I clarified, I have read *hundreds* of Ben's blog posts, but at this point, typically skim through those on the subject of luxury hotels in the Middle East. Even you would admit that that would, at the least, give me legitimate standing to say "There are two many posts on luxury hotels in the Middle East."
No one has identified any flaw in my criticism that is tied to the fact that I have not read *every single post* with the same level of attention that you suggest is necessary to be "legitimate." Are you honestly saying it is"absurd" for anyone who has not read *every single post* to make any criticism of public personality Ben or his blog?
Finally, "extrapolation" does work extremely well in criticism. A restaurant critic doesn't eat every dish on the menu or get served by every waiter. We don't call it "extrapolation" -- we call it critical thinking

I'm not an idiot; please don't treat me like one.

3) I think it is quite possible to write about luxury travel with humility and perspective, recognizing that you live an absurd life that is unsustainable and is not realistically possible for most people. You can recognize your privilege, and say things like, "I realize that many of the workers at the Park Hyatt Dubai have left their families in Southeast Asia and send the majority of their tiny salaries back home to feed and clothe their children." You don't need to include a write up about the details of the room service guy who makes $1.50 an hour mixing up your egg order at 2am.

kokonutz

Airline agnosticism rocks!

And the beauty of BA Business Class is Sleeper Class service that offers a meal on the ground, then a nightcap, decent TV and bed in the sky. It's a brilliant concept when used appropriately. But you'll never learn that on OMAAT because it's a feature that appeals to business travelers and others who need to maximize sleep, not people who travel because they enjoy one-to-two star restaurants and hotels in the sky. @:-)

But next time I am comparing Emirates F to Etihad F, I do know where to look.

nsx

ROTFL. Yeah, my wife would worry more than enough for both of us. Adam1222, speaking for myself I have have found your posts here exemplary in their calm rationality and good humor.

Anegada is practically all white sand beach and no people if that's your thing. Of course you won't get first class anything there.

oliver2002

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Kids,

Lets stick to discussing the topic of the thread and not comment on members posting in this thread.

4 posts with OT personal commentary and response thereto deleted.

Regards Oliver2002
Mod EM&PR forum

FallenPlat

As I've said before, I'm afraid I often give contributions from those other than Ben & Tiffany a miss. My loss, I'm sure. Plus, if I'm being honest, I'll also have to admit that I mostly don't care what Ben thinks about destinations or culture. He likes Dubai; I like Paris. Enough said.

I still disagree fundamentally about your criticism of the blog. If I were to review a fancy restaurant, for example, I might comment about the service. (Remember now that I live in Texas.) I absolutely won't comment about hard it is to be living in the US illegally while working a low-paying job. That would be a perfectly legitimate approach, obviously, but it's not the one I'd choose and it's not what Ben has chosen.

In other words, scoring his posts for not being what you'd write -- as others have already said upthread -- isn't very productive. It's not wrong. It's just that I don't see the point, honestly.

I will concede that it's a shame Ben doesn't really comment much on German culture since I would be interested in what he has to say, and he clearly knows a lot about the subject. Anyone who can twist the Süddeutsche Zeitung around his little finger, in idiomatic German no less, has my profound respect . . . .

Adam1222

As was expressed earlier, I never said I score Ben poorly because he doesn't write what I write. You asked a question, and I answered it. Now you're pretending that it wasn't am answer to your question .


You asked:
". How could anyone possibly be a full time reviewer of premium cabins and high-end hotels without necessarily sounding somewhat like the princess and the pea -- like an entitled brat, in other words?"

I gave an example of one way of doing so. I did not say Ben or anyone else had to write that way. I was answering the question you asked.

FallenPlat

That's fine, of course, and I do see your point, but floating around in some of the posts above appears to be some kind of weird not-so-hidden syllogism: people who find fault with travel so so luxurious that even the 1% don't often get to experience it are self-entitled brats; Ben finds such fault; and so, therefore, he's a self-entitled brat.

Saying that his criticisms are all wet, however, is another topic entirely, and I don't necessarily agree (or disagree) there.

Personally, I could just do without Dubai entirely, but that's also another topic.

Adam1222

You're yet again accusing people of something that isn't true in an attempt to set up a strawman and suggest anyone who doesn't view the blog the way you do us somehow morally flawed. Your "hidden syllogism" is just reducing others' comments into an unsupported conclusion so you can attack what people are *not* saying.

No one has said "any criticism of a luxury trip" makes you a spoiled brat. I and others have found the specific complaints -- and praise -- that Ben has made to reflect a particularly narrow world view, a lack of appreciation for other cultures and other people, a sense of entitlement, a lack of intellectual curiosity, and a lack of self awareness. Combined with his history of swindling airlines, and his satisfaction with not even having a home, there are bases by which one could reasonably criticize him.

There are plenty of wealthy people without these qualities, and plenty of poor people with them.

You are free to disagree with mine and others assessments, but, again, please stop putting words in other people's mouths.

84fiero

I agree that since he's now talking about how certain human rights issues are a part of his thought process in traveling, it's certainly fair to discuss and pose questions about the matter in connection with his travels and blog posts.

FallenPlat

Straw man? I started going back, and needed only go to post No. 1513. Some weeks ago there was a whole series of posts here in a similar vein.

I do agree -- as I said recently -- that the criticisms here have gotten much better lately. I believe that I'm on pretty firm ground in saying that that's partly your doing though, again, my perspective differs from yours significantly.

For example, you're dead, flat wrong on "self awareness." As readers of the blog and this forum know as well as I, he's had more than several in-depth inward-looking posts, each of which has been dissected here. Some of the more memorable "oops" posts are also often humorously introspective. The Warsaw cab incident comes to mind as do the many pajama posts. And then, classically, there are those self-consciously giddy reviews of the G-IV and La Compagnie -- the best reviews he's published. The self-awareness, in fact, is one of the blog's charms. That is, ex the guest posts, obviously.

You're also likely wrong on "entitlement." In brief, if you're paying big bucks in dollars or points, I would think you're entitled to big service. Not minimum service, or adequate service, or even pretty good service. Big service. Now I do have to admit that I'm guessing a bit here since I myself haven't flown in an international premium cabin in years.

I'll mostly just pass on the intellectual curiosity issue. If it's points, miles or aviation, you're clearly wrong. Anything else? Hmmm . . . . Ok, fine, you're right.

And he does know German culture backwards, forwards, and every way in between. I wouldn't pretend to be sure about the rest of it.

TMM1982

You've thrown out a bunch of criticisms but with no factual evidence to support your theories.

Narrow World View? Explain

Lack of appreciation for other cultures? Explain

Sense of entitlement? Explain

Lack of intellectual curiosity? Explain

Lack of self awareness? Explain

Satisfaction with not having a home? 1) What's wrong with this? And 2) Why would you criticize someone for it?

Adam1222

You appear to have quoted my post out of context, ignoring that it was part of a conversation about something someone else said. Unfortunately I'm not going to debate with you. I feel comfortable in my feelings. I can see alternative perspectives, but these are all subjective things which can't be "proven" either way. I can find Ben's self-portrayal sad, vapid, and shallow. You can find it thrilling, deep, and sophisticated. Neither of us is going to convince the other. If you want to spend your life defending a blog about the luxury SPG properties of the Middle East, go ahead. My interest in continuing to discuss this topic is capped at the length of my poops. If you want further explication of several of these topics, feel free to scroll back and review the prior posts in this thread.

Going back to the dialogue I was having with FallenPlat, I respect your disagreement. But my point remains that it is much more than criticism because someone has critiques of a luxury hotel.