AAExPlat

Ding Ding Ding!

Adam1222

Oof, and now this, which is so so sad. Ben doesn't explore the world in his 20s because he's making money now so he can when he's older.

Of course this is written by another [redacted]. I don't think there are many people in their 50s and 60s who would say, "I'm so glad I passed up on the opportunities to enjoy life and see the places I was traveling in my 20s so I could maybe do so in 45 years."

If the suggestion is that Ben can't go to a restaurant off the premises of the Hyatt because he won't make as much money, that's illogical.

Oh, and it's an insult to those of us who manage to have careers, make money, and see the world when we travel -- in our 20s, 30s, and later in life.

bthotugigem05

I think it takes a very determined effort to be insulted by that article. I think the point Matthew was trying to make was that Ben would rather eat at a hotel restaurant because he can write a blog post about it and help enhance his SEO for that hotel.

Adam1222

True. if anything, we should be honored!
You think it's a coincidence that a blog responding to critics of Ben not eating at restaurants outside of a hotel comes the day after we're talking about that here??

Of course it's entirely misleading in that it fails to point out the connection between posting and income. It's not that he's posting just to share tips with the world. It's to sell.

mikex163

Yes, I'm sure Ben's world revolves around this thread...
He runs a supposedly multi-million dollar business (at least is what some people on this thread claim, I have no idea), and decides what to post based on stuff folks say about him in a thread in a sub-sub-forum of FT. Yeah right.

mikex163

Are you really comparing a guy that hacked into UA's systems to steal something and then sell it, to Ben, who did something (unethical and probably borderline illegal, that's for sure, but not "illegal enough" to be sued by UA) plenty of other folks were doing at the same time? You are really comparing the two cases? Really?

skunker

I believe the quote was from MatthewLAX who was on the trip with Lucky and was the person I referred to in my original comment about Matt and Lucky eating Italian at the hotel. Matt does follow this thread and does post here. Try to keep up.

Could I at least get a H/T next time?

kokonutz

There are dozens of examples of bloggers responding to posts in this forum on their blogs within days and sometimes hours.

This forum is required reading for miles, points, transportation and credit card bloggers (and their staff). @:-)^

kokonutz

Then don't say something like "Matthew and I both felt like eating Italian, and as it turns out, the hotel has an Italian restaurant which is well regarded..." because it sounds really naive and silly.

Say "We also checked out the Italian restaurant in the hotel so I could provide this review:..."

IOW, don't lie.

Adam1222

Yep! I am!
Except I don't think one was only "borderline" illegal. And I don't draw any conclusions from the fact that UA was not sued, as I don't know the facts of UA's settlement with Ben. Do you? If so, please share them! I do know, though, that the fact a lawsuit wasn't filed says little to nothing about how "illegal" the underlying conduct was.

I think it's not a far stretch to share a story about someone getting into legal trouble for manipulating a vulnerability in United's travel voucher system in a forum about a blogger who faced legal recourse for manipulating a vulnerability in United's travel voucher system.

Did I say they were the exact same thing? No. For one thing, the guy in the story I shared probably won't have a million dollar career premised on his amazing skills at flying cheaply. But as Ben's return to the friendly skies was discussed this week, I believe it was relevant to share.

AAExecPlatFlier

Borderline illegal? Is that you Ben?? Lol

AAExecPlatFlier

And charge to our room so we could get more points :-)

cruisr

Very disappointing that some people claim what Benny did was "borderline" illegal. There's no borderline. It's either legal or illegal and he committed fraud against UAL and THAT is illegal.

davie355

The case never made it to the courts, so how can we be sure?

RTW1

The use of a bit of common sense and applying some of the values that are normal in society normally are a good starting point .