eponymous_coward

http://boardingarea.com/onemileatati...-introduction/

Note that this is in direct contravention to US program rules (no LH F).

Folks in the US forum are already calling bull**** on this.

Anyone want to spend $149 or play some HUACA and see if US DM can still be used to book LH F? Is this in fact bovine excrement?

sbm12

I have heard from one other acquaintance of a successful LH F booking but also still many unsuccessful attempts. That is to say that apparently it is possible in certain circumstances but those are not at all clear.

kokonutz

Maybe he has an insider in reservations willing to do manual overrides for him?

Back in the days of the UA 1k rooms at airports, those ladies could work miracles if they liked you. Colleen at the DEN 1k room used to regularly open up F seating for upgrades for me.

And the angels at the SEA 1k room were famous system wide for taking care of us by bending the rules when need-be...

hobo13

Rules are for people without creativity......

benzemalyonnais

I don't see why he'd lie, so I guess he knows an agent there. If I recall correctly, this isn't the first time this has happened.

Still kind of stupid to publicize it on the blog, since others can't book it usually.

hobo13

Every heard the phrase 'infinite monkeys at infinite keyboards'? It kind of describes airline call centers.... if you hang up and call back enough, eventually you'll find the one that will do what you want.

lwildernorva

And, in fact, he's mentioned that phenomenon before, most recently in this post: http://boardingarea.com/onemileatati...award-to-asia/.

lwildernorva

Look, I tend to take a more liberal view than many about the credit card links on the premise that the free market takes care of the really content empty blogs. But, one of Ben's posts today, http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...lta-last-year/, essentially laughing at the prospect of someone with a real job who decided to do all (or almost all) of his traveling on Delta in 2014, really makes me long for the day the free market makes "careers" like Ben's useless to anyone.

And then, where does a smug, pampered brat get himself a job in the real world? "Well, I was the first travel blogger to review first class on every airline that operates an A380."

That'll really impress somebody in a hiring interview.

I'm no Delta fan, having made my last flight on them four years ago, but they generally operate well (just not for me), serve a lot of cities in the US and overseas, and are undoubtedly a fine option for someone who probably requires a lot of domestic and overseas options in making his business travel plans. And who probably doesn't have to open some credit cards or look for a spending bonus in order to sit in a premium cabin.

Since he's probably making a lot of money in a real job, Ben. . .

84fiero

I like how in the comments he "clarifies" that "...the 'scary' part isn't specific to Delta but rather to spending $230K+ on a US airline"


Yeah because the passenger couldn't possibly be U.S. based, have domestic travel needs, corporate contracts, Fly America Act, etc, etc. OMAAT has a very myopic view of the world

whlinder

DL has nearly 40 billion in annual revenue. Where does he think it comes from? Credit Card apps?

kokonutz

I stopped reading his blog other than for research on seats.

He and other bloggers are simply divorced from the reality that most frequent flyers fly because they HAVE to, not because they WANT to. And that the point of the points and miles game for those folks is making the most of that situation rather than playing the points and miles game for the sake of the points and miles game or to fly all the a380s in f or fly to The Hague just to review a hotel.

As such, they make crummy daily reading for folks who HAVE to fly.

lwildernorva

Of course. When you live your life in upscale chain hotels, first class cabins that you don't pay for, and shopping malls, what really informs your world view? The average business traveler could give a damn about what type of plane an airline provides for a flight so long as the plane is clean, safe, and hopefully comfortable. And because they're in business, they understand that other businesses operate the same way as the one they're in, with needs to maximize profits while keeping costs under control.

Ben and Gary and the rest see only one thing--give me the latest, the greatest and don't sweat the profits. Because, as Gary is fond of reminding us, profits are made at the margins (otherwise known as giving Gary what he wants for what he wants).

Astrophsx

Correct me if I am wrong here, but in order for Ben to have a job (blogging) he needs to maintain a following... maintain traffic to his page... and maintain credit card sign ups. I just think your first sentence is a little off base in that a majority of his readers do not care about his lifestyle. Do you think that most moms are like MommyPoints taking 18 vacations a year? No, they just want the connection that she is a parent and the impression that she is helping out the average mom. I think the same goes with Ben. Most new to the miles and points world see him as a motivated young guy who is doing things they could not imagine possible. I'm sure even he would enjoy the label as the Kardashian of the points game.

kokonutz

That sums it up nicely. And from that perspective ben's attitude makes as much sense as a kardashian making fun of someone because they got a job instead of just, you know, marrying an nba player or two.

And you can blame neither Ben nor the kardashian. It works for them. The rest of us are the suckers!

Big_Foot

Well, so far he's been avoiding any clear explanation about his miles
earned and used. He was claiming he earns 800K miles/yearly - which
is barely enough for 2 weeks of his flying...
Now it seems he stopped pretending he's on award flights - I just checked
his Etihad review and he mentions a few flights, all paid.

So it's really unclear what this blog is about. I guess he'll keep doing
whatever it is he's doing for as long as the readers are paying.
And remember the outrage about his kickstarter thing?

At least his blog seems to be still his, not like the amazing points guy,
who works for a credit card corporation and pretends to be "one of us".

Or one famous mother-in-law representative who only sells credit cards
and has weekly valuable giveaways...

Almost forgot a "mommy" who became an official Amex spokesman.

It's beyond me there are still "suckers" who believe those guys...