Mile-a-holic

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I think there's a difference between a trip report (for example the one cited on Frequent Miler's blog) which shows pictures of the actual trip vs. ones that are all focused on the blogger which is what I believe the post was about.

For a blogger, the report should be written from the standpoint of the customer - and from my brief foray some bloggers do a much better job of that in their trip reports. Still not my cup of tea, but as you said, I simply don't read them unless a Google search brings it up when I'm researching something or I follow a link here.

snugglening

I couldn't agree more. The thing that slightly bothers me is how can many of these bloggers be so points rich? Im not a hater that their blog is successful since they took the initiative and time and put it out there and promoted it. I would be concerned if a CC company was giving them large stashes of points to push their products/brand. It boggles my mind that someone doesnt need a job and just travels on points/miles. Umm I do know i have to spend money to get my points/miles.
Anyone read travelsort? I ran across something that was very similar to Freq Milers OD post.

ma91pmh

I'd argue free market economics dictate. Regardless of the style, you just need to look at the number of comments, and the number of views of the reports posted here on FT, to see that all kinds of TR's are enjoyed by all kinds of people.

ma91pmh

I have over 3 million miles/points across programs and they have all come from my own earning. There is no doubt these guys add in referral credits in the mix, I have for the first time started that recently (so recent that none of it has actually paid yet) but the fact is no matter how commercial they may seem on the surface most of these guys know all the tricks very well.

ThePointsCollector

+1 for ya. There's something about "Part 14 of my trip to Paris on 2K budget" that makes me want to close the damn page. And I don't know if its just me but I would feel very uncomfortable snapping pictures of my slippers and extra fine toothpicks in F or in the lounge. Yes I did take few pictures of my kids sleeping and took one picture of Sakura lounge bar for my buddies, but some of those "Trip report" shots would make me feel and look like Cambodian refuge in McDonalds.

tjbrooks

What bothers me is the "$2000 Honeymoon". It's $2000 for air and hotel, they're spending hundreds more per day, easily.
Or just as bad, $328 for First to Hawaii, completely ignoring $50 in taxes and $200-$400 in positioning flights.
Doing this is either delusional or intentionally misleading.

amolkold

I see nothing wrong with Trip Reports, but like I said, some bloggers do them very well. Yes, they might be very detailed, but who knows who might benefit from them? Lucky tends to group his posts very well, so if I'm not really interested in the meal, I can just scroll and down and check out the rest of the review.

Then there are the bloggers who just use it to push their referrals (did you know you only need 140K Alaska miles to fly Cathay First roundtrip? That's only 4 SPG card signups, apply through my link!).

I was actually very surprised with the viewership of TRs in the FT TR forum. I posted my first two there in the past 6 months and they've gotten >45,000 views together.

Mile-a-holic

I agree...but then why is it "unfair" for folks to call out a style that they don't like

I give kudos to Frequent Miler for his style, and for maintaining his son's privacy in the picture with the puppy.

thatsajoke

I'd like to mention "Online Travel Review" again ... it has provided more useful ORIGINAL information to me than other current, popular FF blogs. :-:

mnscout

I'm glad to hear that. I don't know why I got this idea you were carrying a balance. Sorry about that.

mnscout

You're misinformed, and this is simply not true. As long as the blogger states he does profit from the affiliates, that's all that's required. Boggling down every post with a separate disclosure is ridiculous and quite frankly useless. MMS, for example, does attempt that, but it doesn't prevent some folks from hating his guts anyway.

lwildernorva

I think that's overstating the case. Since points/miles are generally most efficiently used for hotels/flights (you could waste points/miles on "experiences"), I think it's generally understood that you're going to spend dollars once you've arrived at your destination on things other than your hotel room. And, for many who consider "aspirational" travel, those additional costs can be quite significant, but I don't consider a points/miles blogger as I would a more general travel guide, like Fodor's, etc. Geez, for those complaining about the length and number of trip reports, it would only get worse if bloggers started including all of that information. After all, if you travel to Manhattan, you could blow a lot of money on a meal at Per Se or could you spend very little at a McDonald's.

With the Icelandair points deal, the bloggers I've read have made it quite clear that the qualifying flights are nonstop to Hawaii from cities that Alaska serves. Award bookings are subject to variable fees and costs. As a result, I've never thought that it would only cost me $328 to go from ORF to HNL.

On the other hand, I've never thought it was generally possible to go from ORF to HNL for less than $800, with the West Coast to HNL leg in First. The cheapest fare in Y is rarely less than $850--so off the bat, I've saved $50 for a flight plus gotten a higher class of travel for the leg likeliest to be the longest on my trip. Further comparison with this thread in the MR forum, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...97-rt-all.html, indicates that getting a RT in Y from SJC to KOA for about $300 is considered a great deal so $378 for a guaranteed seat in First is worth telling to a blogger's audience, especially when a paid upgrade on AS, if available (and only made available 24 hours before a flight), would cost $300 RT in addition to the amount already charged for the seat in Y.

Now, whether AS's First service is all that big a deal, that's a different story. From what I can tell, the seats are pretty standard domestic First--21 inches wide, 36 inches of seat pitch. There also seem to be reports of increasing lack of award availability--probably a direct product of the publicity this deal has received.

But I don't consider the information provided to be delusional or misleading. Just not a great value to everybody. And, several of the bloggers have acknowledged that as well.

FAllWay

I don't know if this belongs in this forum but I was hearing about how Rick (FTG) was throwing Milevalue under the bus on Frequentmiler's blog yesterday.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/freque...iles/#comments

[...edit...]

Milevalue has so much more content to his blog yet Rick throws him under the bus. Wow.

I haven't learn 1 thing from Rick's blog except seeing things reposted that are found everywhere else plus all his ads.

I read Milevalue's blog 1 day and learned so much.
milevalue.com

MM56

Can you point me towards some form of documentation that says this is not true, and that I am misinformed?

If this was in fact the FTC rule, why on earth would any for profit blog post "advertisement" or "sponsored" on every post that is being paid for by a sponsor? Why wouldn't they just put a disclaimer somewhere on their site and leave it be, drawing attention away from the fact that they are advertising. Today, Gizmodo posted this, a sponsored post and clearly labeled it so. http://tinyurl.com/crf44nk

CodeAdam10

No, it doesn't belong here because there are more than one active threads in this forum for these blogger 'issues'.

Yes it looks like a low-blow move by FTG to criticize MV's award booking service without any personal experience.

[...edit...]