One Mile at a Time [OMaaT] discussions [merged]
Jan 10, 2016, 6:05 am
#1532
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Programs: Airline Free Agent, Fairmont Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,041
Thinking out loud here...on a snowy Sunday morning...while drinking my hazelnut coffee at Panera....
When you look at posters' "Join Date" dates, can we make an assumption, in general, that posters who have joined recently tend to be more supportive of this OMAAT enterprise, compared to old timers? Maybe old timers are just tired of the same old crap? Or at least less tolerant of such crap and "homeless" lifestyle?
Go Ford, the company I mean ^
Discuss.
When you look at posters' "Join Date" dates, can we make an assumption, in general, that posters who have joined recently tend to be more supportive of this OMAAT enterprise, compared to old timers? Maybe old timers are just tired of the same old crap? Or at least less tolerant of such crap and "homeless" lifestyle?
Go Ford, the company I mean ^
Discuss.
Jan 10, 2016, 6:15 am
#1533
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Thinking out loud here...on a snowy Sunday morning...while drinking my hazelnut coffee at Panera....
When you look at posters' "Join Date" dates, can we make an assumption, in general, that posters who have joined recently tend to be more supportive of this OMAAT enterprise, compared to old timers? Maybe old timers are just tired of the same old crap? Or at least less tolerant of such crap and "homeless" lifestyle?
Go Ford, the company I mean ^
Discuss.
When you look at posters' "Join Date" dates, can we make an assumption, in general, that posters who have joined recently tend to be more supportive of this OMAAT enterprise, compared to old timers? Maybe old timers are just tired of the same old crap? Or at least less tolerant of such crap and "homeless" lifestyle?
Go Ford, the company I mean ^
Discuss.
Last edited by GUWonder; Jan 10, 2016 at 6:24 am
Jan 10, 2016, 6:42 am
#1534
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Programs: Airline Free Agent, Fairmont Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,041
Maybe some of the old timers prefer their current lifestyle much more instead and never wished such a thing with the price that has to be paid? The kid looks ten years older, no gracias! One of them bloggers will rest on the laurels of being one of two blogs recommended by Mile Nerd #priceless ^
Waiting breathlessly for the next "Ten best credit cards to use in an aboard shower"
Waiting breathlessly for the next "Ten best credit cards to use in an aboard shower"
Jan 10, 2016, 7:10 am
#1535
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Maybe some of the old timers prefer their current lifestyle much more instead and never wished such a thing with the price that has to be paid? The kid looks ten years older, no gracias! One of them bloggers will rest on the laurels of being one of two blogs recommended by Mile Nerd #priceless ^
Waiting breathlessly for the next "Ten best credit cards to use in an aboard shower"
Waiting breathlessly for the next "Ten best credit cards to use in an aboard shower"
That said, if there's a legal market for it and someone can make it work for them and their audience, then it would make sense for someone to serve the market. OMAAT even gets our attention.
Jan 10, 2016, 7:22 am
#1536
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 4,510
I assume Lucky is burning double miles to haul Ford along on these trips (they are now in NZ). At some point the merry-go-round is going to stop. Revenue-based RDM earning is going to slow earning to a trickle unless more $$ are spent on high fares; the credit card companies are cutting back on their mega-bonuses; and apparently there was some sort of apocalypse for the manufactured spend crowd the other day. I do enjoy OMaaT and other blogs but I doubt most of them will still be there in 2-3 years.
Jan 10, 2016, 9:36 am
#1537
Original Member, Ambassador: External Miles and Points Resources
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Digital Nomad Wandering the Earth - Currently in LIMA, PERU
Posts: 58,623
I assume Lucky is burning double miles to haul Ford along on these trips (they are now in NZ). At some point the merry-go-round is going to stop. Revenue-based RDM earning is going to slow earning to a trickle unless more $$ are spent on high fares; the credit card companies are cutting back on their mega-bonuses; and apparently there was some sort of apocalypse for the manufactured spend crowd the other day. I do enjoy OMaaT and other blogs but I doubt most of them will still be there in 2-3 years.
The nice thing for Ben and Fore is that the cheap business class fares often start in the subcontinent or Europe. And so the homeless lifestyle is terrific for positioning around those fares.
Jan 10, 2016, 11:18 am
#1538
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Admirals Club, Global Entry
Posts: 1,141
That last item hits the nail on the head. As has been noted here many times, Ben's businesses now create a decent cash flow, and buying fares ex places like Colombo, Cairo and Stockholm can make those dollars stretch practically to infinity -- or pretty far, anyway. In the past couple of weeks, for example, he blogged about an ex-Colombo fare as part of the NZ trip. None of that is my cup of tea, or anywhere even close, obviously. I mean, really, who wants to go "to" (i.e., through) Colombo?
Had I but world enough and time . . . .
But as for me, my "join date" is a little misleading. I read here for quite some time before joining. Also (and as many of you already know) I've read virtually all Ben's blog posts since inception. It's been a little downhill for me since that great La Compagnie review, I'll concede, but let's keep this in perspective: has anyone tried, really tried hard, to read, say, TPG, lately? I'd rather read Ben's Dubai posts . . . which is saying a lot.
(As a very small "cultural" footnote, for anyone who cares, I once worked with a Tamil financial officer who on several occasions explained to me in historical, logical, political, and practical detail why blowing up school buses was ok. Sri Lanka is no doubt fascinating from many perspectives, in other words. So my sarcastic comment above was meant tongue in cheek. Mostly. Oh, and the reference in the next paragraph is from the first line of To His Coy Mistress.)
Had I but world enough and time . . . .
But as for me, my "join date" is a little misleading. I read here for quite some time before joining. Also (and as many of you already know) I've read virtually all Ben's blog posts since inception. It's been a little downhill for me since that great La Compagnie review, I'll concede, but let's keep this in perspective: has anyone tried, really tried hard, to read, say, TPG, lately? I'd rather read Ben's Dubai posts . . . which is saying a lot.
(As a very small "cultural" footnote, for anyone who cares, I once worked with a Tamil financial officer who on several occasions explained to me in historical, logical, political, and practical detail why blowing up school buses was ok. Sri Lanka is no doubt fascinating from many perspectives, in other words. So my sarcastic comment above was meant tongue in cheek. Mostly. Oh, and the reference in the next paragraph is from the first line of To His Coy Mistress.)
Jan 10, 2016, 4:15 pm
#1539
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,425
That last item hits the nail on the head. As has been noted here many times, Ben's businesses now create a decent cash flow, and buying fares ex places like Colombo, Cairo and Stockholm can make those dollars stretch practically to infinity -- or pretty far, anyway. In the past couple of weeks, for example, he blogged about an ex-Colombo fare as part of the NZ trip. None of that is my cup of tea, or anywhere even close, obviously. I mean, really, who wants to go "to" (i.e., through) Colombo?
Had I but world enough and time . . . .
But as for me, my "join date" is a little misleading. I read here for quite some time before joining. Also (and as many of you already know) I've read virtually all Ben's blog posts since inception. It's been a little downhill for me since that great La Compagnie review, I'll concede, but let's keep this in perspective: has anyone tried, really tried hard, to read, say, TPG, lately? I'd rather read Ben's Dubai posts . . . which is saying a lot.
(As a very small "cultural" footnote, for anyone who cares, I once worked with a Tamil financial officer who on several occasions explained to me in historical, logical, political, and practical detail why blowing up school buses was ok. Sri Lanka is no doubt fascinating from many perspectives, in other words. So my sarcastic comment above was meant tongue in cheek. Mostly. Oh, and the reference in the next paragraph is from the first line of To His Coy Mistress.)
Had I but world enough and time . . . .
But as for me, my "join date" is a little misleading. I read here for quite some time before joining. Also (and as many of you already know) I've read virtually all Ben's blog posts since inception. It's been a little downhill for me since that great La Compagnie review, I'll concede, but let's keep this in perspective: has anyone tried, really tried hard, to read, say, TPG, lately? I'd rather read Ben's Dubai posts . . . which is saying a lot.
(As a very small "cultural" footnote, for anyone who cares, I once worked with a Tamil financial officer who on several occasions explained to me in historical, logical, political, and practical detail why blowing up school buses was ok. Sri Lanka is no doubt fascinating from many perspectives, in other words. So my sarcastic comment above was meant tongue in cheek. Mostly. Oh, and the reference in the next paragraph is from the first line of To His Coy Mistress.)
Jan 10, 2016, 4:30 pm
#1540
Original Member, Ambassador: External Miles and Points Resources
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Digital Nomad Wandering the Earth - Currently in LIMA, PERU
Posts: 58,623
Jan 10, 2016, 5:11 pm
#1541
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,321
Thinking out loud here...on a snowy Sunday morning...while drinking my hazelnut coffee at Panera....
When you look at posters' "Join Date" dates, can we make an assumption, in general, that posters who have joined recently tend to be more supportive of this OMAAT enterprise, compared to old timers? Maybe old timers are just tired of the same old crap? Or at least less tolerant of such crap and "homeless" lifestyle?
Go Ford, the company I mean ^
Discuss.
When you look at posters' "Join Date" dates, can we make an assumption, in general, that posters who have joined recently tend to be more supportive of this OMAAT enterprise, compared to old timers? Maybe old timers are just tired of the same old crap? Or at least less tolerant of such crap and "homeless" lifestyle?
Go Ford, the company I mean ^
Discuss.
This idea that anyone critical of Lucky's blog is jealous really is asenine. Even on the darkest days I've had over the past several years -- and I've had many - I've never for a moment thought I'd trade my life for his.
I don't know of anyone on this thread who has expressed a desire to become a full time points redeemer, Maldives visitor, and/or luxury travel blogger. So take your pudding and...
Last edited by Adam1222; Jan 10, 2016 at 5:18 pm
Jan 11, 2016, 8:37 am
#1542
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,187
Regards Oliver2002
Mode EM&PR forum
Jan 11, 2016, 10:54 am
#1543
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO
Programs: United 1K 2MM / Marriott LTP
Posts: 5,071
Yes, with Ford along Ben's math has to change. Not just because it's double the miles but because getting 2 award seats is exponentially more difficult than getting one. And if you look at his 2016 plans it includes lots of business class rather than first on airlines that often offer decent business class fares rather than mile redemptions, theBA business class trip that Ford compared to coach being a good example. @:-)
The nice thing for Ben and Fore is that the cheap business class fares often start in the subcontinent or Europe. And so the homeless lifestyle is terrific for positioning around those fares.
The nice thing for Ben and Fore is that the cheap business class fares often start in the subcontinent or Europe. And so the homeless lifestyle is terrific for positioning around those fares.
Jan 11, 2016, 11:47 am
#1544
Original Member, Ambassador: External Miles and Points Resources
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Digital Nomad Wandering the Earth - Currently in LIMA, PERU
Posts: 58,623
kokonutz I think one reason why Ben might be including a lot of Business Class products as part of his 2016 plans is to drive additional traffic to his blog. You and I both know whether it's OMAAT or any other blog/website the goal is to drive traffic to the site. He's reviewed many First Class products and some with high frequency (i.e. LH/CX) so current readers might be getting "tired" of seeing those reviews. By reviewing new products, whether they be award winning or not he will gain more traffic as well as keep current viewers happy.
In any case, if (and it's still a big if to my mind) they 'slum' it in business class this year I do think it will increase traffic. Certainly it will increase the utility of the blog to me personally. ^
Jan 11, 2016, 11:55 am
#1545
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,929
And yet, people are vehemently opposed to his blog for some reason. Do you know which blog I hate? Pioneer Woman. That lady has made millions off of sprucing up Betty Crocker mixes and taking photos of the steps. But do I find forums about her and write about how horrible of a life she has, just spending all that time in the kitchen and not really creating anything worthy of five-star restaurants? No. Why not? Because I really don't care all that much. I don't read her blogs or watch her shows. But in the end, I just don't care enough about her or her blog... But yet, how does OMaaT draw so many frequent fliers to hate him? To have that kind of animosity - there's more to just not liking his blog.