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One Mile at a Time [OMaaT] discussions [merged]

One Mile at a Time [OMaaT] discussions [merged]

Old Aug 4, 2015, 5:21 pm
  #871  
 
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Originally Posted by 84fiero
.... As you noted there isn't any "magic" that would draw the reader in if they weren't already interested in the subject...no painting a mental picture with words.

OMAAT trip report pics are usually pretty good as far as showing rooms, cabins, and details within. I guess that is his crutch for a lack of really creative, engaging writing. Sometimes photographs are better or more useful, but not always.

As for the thinly-veiled CC-pimping articles, they're pretty formulaic and predictable, just as they are with other such blogs.
...
What magic can there possibly be? Many of the hotels, lounges and even airplane cabins are all starting to look the same.

The novelty is gone. It was cool maybe 5-6 years ago when he was the first one in some brand new cabin, but now everyone and their grandma has been there, at least in our circles.

It does dazzle the new readers, who probably rush to sign up for a credit card or two not realizing how much work it really is to get anywhere. Solid business model!
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 6:51 pm
  #872  
 
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Good writing most certainly is, as I said, "part" of Ben's success as is the you-are-there storytelling. You know, stream of consciousness. The thing a few others have done, including Proust -- for 3,000 pages.

The other part of his success? Good question. I'd have to defer here since, for the life of me, I can't figure out why TPG and MMS (for example) are successful and they're both so poorly written as to be border-line unreadable. I can't figure it out, in other words.

As as for Littewinglet's earlier comment, he did not "nail it." His comment is, in fact, absurd: Ben is a (very, very minor) celebrity precisely because his blog caught on. It's not the other way around. His blog was successful before anyone had heard of him and while he was still an early twenty-something just out of school . . . and still in school. His blog isn't successful "because" he's a minor celebrity. Saying so gets it exactly backwards.

Full disclosure: I skip most of the credit card posts; I can't stand the whole gay camp thing; and I have zero interest in music for 13-year-old girls.
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 8:15 pm
  #873  
 
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Originally Posted by FallenPlat
Good writing most certainly is, as I said, "part" of Ben's success as is the you-are-there storytelling. You know, stream of consciousness. The thing a few others have done, including Proust -- for 3,000 pages.

The other part of his success? Good question. I'd have to defer here since, for the life of me, I can't figure out why TPG and MMS (for example) are successful and they're both so poorly written as to be border-line unreadable. I can't figure it out, in other words.

As as for Littewinglet's earlier comment, he did not "nail it." His comment is, in fact, absurd: Ben is a (very, very minor) celebrity precisely because his blog caught on. It's not the other way around. His blog was successful before anyone had heard of him and while he was still an early twenty-something just out of school . . . and still in school. His blog isn't successful "because" he's a minor celebrity. Saying so gets it exactly backwards.

Full disclosure: I skip most of the credit card posts; I can't stand the whole gay camp thing; and I have zero interest in music for 13-year-old girls.
S.E.O. It seems like TPG is starting to see his traffic crash from his useless cc pimping. The google slap is hitting him quite card. MMS is starting to see it too. I see them "retiring" within the near future.
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 9:46 pm
  #874  
 
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Originally Posted by FallenPlat
...

As as for Littewinglet's earlier comment, he did not "nail it." His comment is, in fact, absurd: Ben is a (very, very minor) celebrity precisely because his blog caught on. It's not the other way around. His blog was successful before anyone had heard of him and while he was still an early twenty-something just out of school . . . and still in school. His blog isn't successful "because" he's a minor celebrity. Saying so gets it exactly backwards.
....
He's not so much a minor celebrity, as a very niche celebrity. He appeals to those people who refuse to travel unless they can get there in 1st class, the trip is about getting there and little thought is given to the destination. In fact, destinations don't matter at all, which is why they're always major airline hubs. Outside of Bali and Germany, where has Ben traveled and blogged about that's of any interest to real adventure travelers?

Also, he got popular at the same time as TPG, MMS and a few others. Nothing special. It was just a novelty for most readers to see so much travel done on miles but now that everyone's doing it it's no longer that cool. I certainly almost never read his blog, and wouldn't even waste breath discussing it except I'm very much against shameless credit card shilling, which is what he's really all about.

He creates a fake idea of how much "free" travel can get done to induce clueless newbies to sign up for cards, then makes a half-hearted effort to claim it's not really as easy as they think, but yet continues to shill cards at every step without every fully disclosing how he manages to afford so many paid flights and hotel stays, which in turn allows him to live the fantasy.

Last edited by littlewinglet; Aug 4, 2015 at 9:52 pm
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 8:26 am
  #875  
 
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Originally Posted by YoungSoloTraveler
S.E.O. It seems like TPG is starting to see his traffic crash from his useless cc pimping. The google slap is hitting him quite card. MMS is starting to see it too. I see them "retiring" within the near future.
I hope 99% of the cc pimps retire. I won't miss them.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 8:49 am
  #876  
 
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Originally Posted by YoungSoloTraveler
S.E.O. It seems like TPG is starting to see his traffic crash from his useless cc pimping. The google slap is hitting him quite card. MMS is starting to see it too. I see them "retiring" within the near future.
What data points say that they are having a decline? Out of all the media attention TPG probably gets the most which helps drive traffic to his site. Also, that traffic probably has a higher percentage of newbies who are more likely to sign up for cards.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 9:34 am
  #877  
 
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Honestly, and if you read his blog regularly, Ben's quite straightforward about how he pays for his trips -- both on a trip-by-trip basis and with an annual "year in review" summary. He recently noted, for example, that of his 400,000 BIS annual miles, roughly half are fully paid tickets and half are on miles & points.

His regular readers, such as some of us, also know that the 200,000 paid miles are a little complicated: mistake fares, ex-Cairo and ex-Colombo fares, and low-season promotional fares all enter the mix.

He also regularly mentions his high CC spending throughput, given both that he travels 24/7 and that he runs a small business.

That having been said, there's still no denying that the F and luxury hotel "fantasy" thing plays an important part in the internet marketing thing here. We travel mostly in Y, and so none of that does much for me.

As for "destination" blogging, Ben has said on several occasions that that's simply not what his blog is about for at least a couple of reasons. First, his hotel and airline F reviews really are (so far as I can tell) just about the best out there. That's what he's good at. And second, end-destination blogging has lots of bloggers and other writers that are good at that end of things. The art-history oriented Blue Guides and Rick Steves come to mind.

Now that CC churning (which I've never done) seems to be slowing down, it'll be interesting to see where all this goes. I do know one thing for sure: when markets contract, the weakest competitors bite the dust first . . . . That's assuming that the market is even contracting at all . . . which may not be happening.

Last edited by FallenPlat; Aug 5, 2015 at 2:46 pm Reason: typo fix
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 11:43 am
  #878  
 
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What I find myself wondering is how do they know how many referrals come off their sites? Do they just have to trust the cc companies to tell them?

I wouldn't trust a big bank to hold my used handkerchief.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 3:20 pm
  #879  
 
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Originally Posted by Alpha Golf
What I find myself wondering is how do they know how many referrals come off their sites? Do they just have to trust the cc companies to tell them?

I wouldn't trust a big bank to hold my used handkerchief.
That's pretty much how all affiliate marketing works, whether it's big banks, CJ, Amazon, or anyone else.

Sure, you put through strange orders or outliers every now and then as a way to check, but you can't really check. You have a cousin apply for some terrible card in a link hidden in a never-read post, and you make sure that shows on your report, but that's about as good as it gets.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 6:04 pm
  #880  
 
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Kind of at a loss words with this one today:

Should Frequent Travel Seem Less Glamorous

Theres no denying that frequent travel looks glamorous. Thats probably largely because it is, in many ways. But probably more because we live in a day-and-age where everything can be made to look glamorous thanks to social media. Heck, if you add enough filters or shoot from the right angle, you can make anything from lunch at McDonalds to a root canal look glamorous.
Citing a University of Surrey report, OMAAT concurs with their concluding paragraph which reads:

Cohen states that these negative personal and social costs have been silenced by the glamorisation of hypermobility through advertising, social media and other forms of public discourse. He concludes that in order to pursue the de-glamorisation of frequent travel, we need to better understand the discourses that make it fashionable and aspirational. Only then can we break the intricate bonds between high mobility and social capital, and to ultimately change transport behaviour.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 6:48 pm
  #881  
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Originally Posted by 84fiero
Kind of at a loss words with this one today:

Should Frequent Travel Seem Less Glamorous



Citing a University of Surrey report, OMAAT concurs with their concluding paragraph which reads:
Well a concession that many here have been saying for a while:

Do I love my lifestyle? Yes. But I also know I need more balance. And Im sure Im not the only one who feels that way.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 9:29 pm
  #882  
 
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Originally Posted by 84fiero
Kind of at a loss words with this one today:

Should Frequent Travel Seem Less Glamorous

Well he doesn't mention Krug... so the article has that going for it.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 10:15 pm
  #883  
 
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Originally Posted by Astrophsx
What data points say that they are having a decline? Out of all the media attention TPG probably gets the most which helps drive traffic to his site. Also, that traffic probably has a higher percentage of newbies who are more likely to sign up for cards.
While everyone rails on alexa, i trust the stats, especially when your in the top 25,000, since its hard to game numbers at that point.

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thepointsguy.com

You can see he's getting hammered in SEO.

Search Engine Traffic:

17.50%

-16.00%

That kind of drop is pretty big. Almost 50%.
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Old Aug 6, 2015, 5:25 am
  #884  
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Originally Posted by Astrophsx
Well he doesn't mention Krug... so the article has that going for it.
He may fly frequently, but to say he travels is laughable.
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Old Aug 6, 2015, 6:03 am
  #885  
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God the comment sections on his site are getting SO good.
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