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Old Nov 29, 2015, 6:01 pm
  #1231  
 
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Originally Posted by Astrophsx
Not sure if you noticed my post earlier where I pointed out that his ex came back as a guest writer to cover the new AS lounge just recently. Within 24 hours his ex's name was removed as the author, replaced with Lucky's name, and then the story was changed to one written by Lucky w/ quotes from his ex.
Interesting. Maybe Lucky's new Ford back fired so the ex is gone.
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Old Nov 29, 2015, 7:01 pm
  #1232  
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Originally Posted by cruisr
The quote from Tiffany is patently ridiculous. The whole point of the blog is to sell credit cards and she now says that their clients DON'T want to use the credit cards that Ben has encouraged them to sign up for and use.
Would you give your CC # to a random stranger on the internet? It is a lot easier to pay them through an authorized channel which is PCI-compliant than to trust that they won't go do something stupid with the data. Most of the booking services behave that way. As a consumer you get one invoice with the total price at the end of the process.

I've had customers to my site balk at having a 3rd party, PCI-compliant service store CC data for the monthly recurring charge.
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Old Nov 29, 2015, 7:13 pm
  #1233  
 
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Originally Posted by sbm12
Would you give your CC # to a random stranger on the internet? It is a lot easier to pay them through an authorized channel which is PCI-compliant than to trust that they won't go do something stupid with the data. Most of the booking services behave that way. As a consumer you get one invoice with the total price at the end of the process.

I've had customers to my site balk at having a 3rd party, PCI-compliant service store CC data for the monthly recurring charge.

I would if it's a company that is a well established and I know who owns it and who works there.

If I didn't trust them with my credit card why would I trust them with my FF info?
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Old Nov 29, 2015, 11:13 pm
  #1234  
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one billion miles = an insane amount of fees

cruisr, think average consumers OR businesses
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 8:15 am
  #1235  
 
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Why not? This is still the USofA and the land of the free and the home of the brave and all that jazz.

If he charges it and people are willing to pay...

Originally Posted by josephstern
I sincerely hope Ben isn't taking $150 to book a domestic, non-saver award for anyone.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 10:01 am
  #1236  
 
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I think he took quite exagerated offenses to perfectly normal BA service. Sure, I've seen it better, but wow "my tray covered wasn't perfect" and "the air hostess wasn't genuflecting enough"?

I think he's not seen bad service on an airline, and was in a bad mood that day...
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 10:10 am
  #1237  
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Well, we know he hasn't flown United F in quite a while. If he had, he'd see this level of service all the time.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 12:23 pm
  #1238  
 
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Originally Posted by Astrophsx
Not sure if you noticed my post earlier where I pointed out that his ex came back as a guest writer to cover the new AS lounge just recently. Within 24 hours his ex's name was removed as the author, replaced with Lucky's name, and then the story was changed to one written by Lucky w/ quotes from his ex.
I did. Very interesting.

The thought of owning a company and having my current and ex working for me does not sound fun at all.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 12:57 pm
  #1239  
 
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Originally Posted by skunker
I did. Very interesting.

The thought of owning a company and having my current and ex working for me does not sound fun at all.
While nepotism isn't illegal (as far as I know at least), the blatantness with which it is being done at OMAAT to write off vacation expenses for two as business expenses makes me wonder how much attention the IRS is paying to these blogs. I guess based on what is being gotten away with, not very much.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 1:49 pm
  #1240  
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Originally Posted by iadisgreat
While nepotism isn't illegal (as far as I know at least), the blatantness with which it is being done at OMAAT to write off vacation expenses for two as business expenses makes me wonder how much attention the IRS is paying to these blogs. I guess based on what is being gotten away with, not very much.
Well, you consider them vacation expenses, but I'm not so sure that's strictly correct, or that everyone would consider that much travel "vacation."

Conversely, if someone loves to cook and does it in their spare time and on vacation, and then gets a job as a cook, is it not a job because they enjoy it?

These guys are lucky because they appear to enjoy their job, or, looking at it the other way, Lucky built his job around things he enjoys.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 1:54 pm
  #1241  
 
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Originally Posted by iadisgreat
While nepotism isn't illegal (as far as I know at least), the blatantness with which it is being done at OMAAT to write off vacation expenses for two as business expenses makes me wonder how much attention the IRS is paying to these blogs. I guess based on what is being gotten away with, not very much.
We don't know what he has gotten away with. And he doesn't either. In practice the IRS has three years to audit a return but can go back more under certain circumstances.

He's been very public (and careless) about the way he has discussed his personal relationship.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 2:24 pm
  #1242  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
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Originally Posted by josephstern
Well, you consider them vacation expenses, but I'm not so sure that's strictly correct, or that everyone would consider that much travel "vacation."

Conversely, if someone loves to cook and does it in their spare time and on vacation, and then gets a job as a cook, is it not a job because they enjoy it?
I cannot recall who made the post, but I loosely recall a BA blogger chimming in on this topic in this section of FT (I think it was in reference to TPG). They stated that if they are giving a review of a hotel that the first night's stay should only be counted towards a business expense. I've brought up how I thought Gary and TPG seem to post trip reports about their vacations in order to get a deduction. TPG looks like he spent about 2 minutes taking iPhone photos and giving such vague reviews of hotels that it made me wonder if he had an intern write them. Gary's multiple Maldives trips staying at the same hotel every time... Ben I think has taken family members, coworkers, and boyfriends on Emirates and had them give reviews...

Originally Posted by JetAway
We don't know what he has gotten away with. And he doesn't either. In practice the IRS has three years to audit a return but can go back more under certain circumstances.

He's been very public (and careless) about the way he has discussed his personal relationship.
If Ben buys miles to then purchase the ticket for his boyfriend... claims it as a business expense since his boyfriend writes a review.. but the boyfriend has never received an income from the blog...

At the end of the day these bloggers network a lot as speaking engagements and BA engagements.. I'm sure they are sharing tax advice or using the same accountants.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 2:48 pm
  #1243  
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I was following OMATT for about 4 months. I found him to be quite informative initially, but all I've been seeing lately are articles about the same thing; OW LAX F lounge, EK F, CX, F, LH F, QR, etc, etc.

For someone who talked about a health scare and says he doesn't drink much, all I see are pics of him with an alcoholic beverage.

Finally, for someone who's 25 years old, HE LOOKS MUCH OLDER THAN THAT.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 3:47 pm
  #1244  
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Originally Posted by gemini573
I was following OMATT for about 4 months. I found him to be quite informative initially, but all I've been seeing lately are articles about the same thing; OW LAX F lounge, EK F, CX, F, LH F, QR, etc, etc.

For someone who talked about a health scare and says he doesn't drink much, all I see are pics of him with an alcoholic beverage.

Finally, for someone who's 25 years old, HE LOOKS MUCH OLDER THAN THAT.
Seems this is common to mileage bloggers.
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Old Dec 1, 2015, 4:05 pm
  #1245  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,738
Originally Posted by josephstern
Seems this is common to mileage bloggers.
All that room service and lack of exercise. I think TPG is the only one who has made a minor attempt at his appearance w/ the hair plugs. You'd think with the numerous speaking engagements and live tv spots (Fox News, Headline News, etc...) they'd put some effort into their appearance. Many of these bloggers look nothing like their profile photos (which are 5-10 years old).

Ben typically uses an older photograph.
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