Bierjunge

That's the price you have to pay when you want to live on an airplane.

Well, their is a saying: He who pays the piper, calls the tune.
That's the downside of Ford's freeloading on Ben's lifestyle...

JetAway

Should never undertake something like this without basic broadcast training-voice, appearance, presentation, etc. It would make a huge difference.

kokonutz

No no no! Just use dining points and shopping portals. Boom! 8 million frequent flyer miles in your account!

cruisr

Yeah, and you will have no problem redeeming 1m miles a year.

AAExPlat

On a positive note...by the time they are in their mid to late 20s, they may have found a non-pop singer to wait on them

Not sure what to even say. He sounds like such a pompous guy with a complete lack of perspective in many ways. I actually feel sad watching this in the same way I feel sad for the Kardashians and other reality TV personalities...

Adam1222

No I am not. These rules most certainly exist; you can find them multiple places online. I can't speak as to enforcement beyond the anecdotes that I've read.



I never said that everyone who works for Etihad is poor. The point wasn't even the UAE's economy runs on the backs of foreign workers working under labor conditions that would be illegal in the countries most Flyertalkers live in. The point was that the guy is bragging about ordering lots of food and drink with no intention of consuming. Jesus.

gpapadop

Amazing I can eat my way to traveling for freeeee!

Astrophsx

He's reviewing a product. Part of that is to see how customizable the service is.

cruisr

A complete waste. How man of his readers will actually book this based on his review. My guess is zero. He could have just asked how customized it could be and reported that. No need for the waste. Sad.

B747-437B

I just confirmed with multiple sources at Etihad (including one in a supervisory role who enforces the code of conduct) that neither of the rules exist in the way you have outlined them.

a) There is a requirement that any guests who remain in a company provided accommodation unit beyond 1am must be registered with building security and may not be of the opposite gender. This is in accordance with Abu Dhabi Municipality requirements, not Etihad's internal regulations.

b) There are no restrictions on possession of alcohol in company provided accommodation units by those appropriately licensed to consume, except that anyone may request to be placed in a unit with a housemate who does not consume alcohol if they prefer that.

84fiero

It's all very odd. It's basically like you indicated, a guy bragging about all his miles. Then he throws out superficial examples of how he supposedly earns them (without really elaborating on the fact he's lately been paying cash for a lot of trips - or the real ins and outs of some of the mileage earning methods he does mention). Add in some snippets of "luxury lifestyle".

He really should have had some coaching before trying to be featured in a video like this...not a very engaging visual or audio presence that I'd want to sit and watch. Neither am I , but I know enough to stay off camera. While he's not totally off in left field like the Residence videos, it's just...awkward like a fellow blogger was doing a "video interview" with their cell phone.

I guess it's meant to entice viewers and drive traffic to his sites. I'm just having a hard time imagining the typical traveler really being motivated to do so from these videos segments. I think most people might think "Wow that's cool! But I couldn't even figure out how to redeem these miles I do have for a flight to Orlando last year."

And Ford...it makes him appear as either a freeloader or a clueless guy being strung along by Lucky. He may be neither of those but it's the impression I got. I suppose it was meant to provide an up-close personal perspective on the daily life of Ben but seems to have missed the mark.

Astrophsx

Perhaps a few would try it out. At the end of the day it is entertainment for his readers. He paid ~$7k out of pocket and what exactly was wasted? A glass of champagne and a handful of macaroons? Adam1222's is criticizing him for making employees "jump through hoops".. that some how he is taking advantage of these "poor" workers.

At the end of the day it is just being overly critical IMO.

kokonutz

Time for the regular reminder that there is not a lot of reality in 'reality television.' @:-)

iadisgreat

But to request excessive things and then not even attempt to consume them? Come now.

ctownflyer

+1.
$7K for the flight plus 2 nights in an Emirates palace suite is money well spent for his brand. And it's less than a quarter of what TPG spent.
Plus it's a business expense, so maybe it's $4K out of pocket.

He clearly had enough champagne, don't see what the big deal about not finishing his 12th glass of the night is. Seems like haters gonna hate at this point.