techgirl

Agreed. Many of us met Ben for the first time when he was still in high school and traveling with his mother.

I think it's fantastic that he has been able to build a career doing something that he enjoys. I hope that as he inks deals with Bravo and others that he is surrounding himself with sound advisors who will help him manage his brand for the long term. OMAAT seems to be be branching toward "lifestyle" as opposed to staying narrowly within travel. That may be a wise pivot, long-term, and other bloggers away from points and miles have been able to broaden their reach successfully.

Adam1222

Interesting... i don't see anything other than travel in his life, so hard to see how that's "lifestyle." I don't really see any marketable brand. Wunderkind travels the world for a living drinking champagne is a heavily saturated market. Bravo has far more interesting characters who drink alcohol and consume expensive goods already.

Query whether even the biggest fanboys think it's accurate to call what Ben does a "career" - rather than "a way of making money for a few years in a way that is completely unsustainable as a career." Lots of kids survive in their 20s doing things they like and getting by. That's not a career.

JetAway

What Ben has is a business, not a career. And it's a business with a rather short forward shelf life (maybe 5 years). He should be trying to sell it, not sustain it or grow it (see e.g., TPG).

techgirl

The last time I turned on Bravo, I didn't "get" any of the programming. I'm clearly not their target audience. But someone is obviously watching that stuff. There have been a few different reality show producers shopping around to try to produce a show about frequent flyers for several years. Some have gotten so far as to chat with them or even shoot segments/pilots. I had a few conversations with a producer at one point who wanted a subject where they could insert artificial drama (missed flights, cancelled reservations, etc.) just to amp up the interest factor. Another was interested in flyers who'd be willing to switch loyalty alliances to fly with/stay with the brand partners interested in helping produce the show.

I've long said that the only way a show with recurring characters would be remotely interesting was if it got away from points/miles and devolved into something a bit more personal. You'd have to either have another business pivot to promote or want to otherwise get famous to allow that kind of potentially damaging edit.

LeaveYourDailyHell

I don't "get" much of Bravo's programming either, but it's clear Ben doesn't fit into it. Bravo is all about loquacious, image-obsessed people whose areas of expertise take a backseat to their personality and look. Ben's a 26-going-on-40 Kohl's shopper who has the personality of a cappuccino made with airplane water.

iadisgreat

Yikes! But, I can't argue with the premise. Bravo caters to people who want and shows people who have *things* (i.e., cars, houses, lives, etc.). Flying here and there in first class without doing anything at the destination or causing drama isn't going to do much for their viewers.

Astrophsx

Ben doesn't have a show on Bravo. He has his poorly shot 45 second videos posted to their website, which is buried into website as travel blog posts (which seem like they are re-written by a social media intern). That's a far cry from having a TV show on Bravo.

Adam1222

To be clear, I'm not casting any aspersions on Bravo. To the contrary, I watch many shows on it regularly, and even listen to podcasts about them. While Ben's expensive tastes line up with several Bravolebrities (yes, we have a name for them), his interests are far too narrow, as his lack of interest in other people. Bravo specializes in people who manage to be incredibly self-absorbed while concerning themselves with other people's lives way too much at the same time. It's about personality- not just a passion to live a life of luxury. And most often, the most painfully self-unaware are only featured as foils or laughing stocks for the other members of the cast. Again, even Bens biggest fans don't suggest he has a big, engaging personality. A show that takes place in airplanes, lounges, and Hyatts would be mindnumbingly boring, and Ben has never been an adult living any other sort of life.

someone like Brian could be a more likely candidate because he parties it up and could pretend to be running the business of TPG, which has a rotating cast of eager marketing grads pretending to be journalists.

gpapadop

For the record, I have never watched Bravo

Talking about brands...Today we had Ben (or some ghost writer probably) let his readers know how to add the Amex Business Blue Plus credit card to Membership Rewards. Amazing considering it...just happens by following the prompts to add it to your Amex account. And just so readers did not miss it...he (or someone) made sure that the affiliate links was there not once or twice but SIX times! Oh, and because, you know, conversions...had to throw two more card links at it too because some...distracted dude may just go for it in a fit of drunken binge with Krug.

I miss the Diet Coke and pics of the wet towels especially....I could tell apart the LH F from the CX F wet towels...it was....in the texture you guys

Adam1222

Today in unawareness/entitlement - in re threats of imprisonment for people who support Qatar in the UAE, no criticism whatsoever of totalitarianism, just a post with no actual judgment, just " Hopefully it’s okay that I still consider Qatar Airways’ new business class to be slightly better than Emirates’ business class. ��"

Yes, this whole situation is so funny, Ben. All those people who will be arrested or imprisoned are cute, but you like the new lie-flats.

solewalker

His whole rant about how QR isn't handling this whole new development to his exacting standards really got to me.

Seriously, this has an impact on lives of people in the region. But god forbid his royal highness' expectations be compromised.

84fiero

Those simpler days of yore are gone I'm afraid! It used to be a huge deal for him if they didn't have limes to put in the Diet Coke.

cruisr

I agree. I use to enjoy his blog then.

LeaveYourDailyHell

I enjoyed his blog when it imparted knowledge, not his boneheaded opinions. It's amazing to me that a Z-list "celebrity" can be insulated to the point of utter cluelessness. Or maybe he's just a miles-savant.

Raffles

The key for Ben, very simply, is whether the blog would still thrive if he wasn't travelling, because long term it isn't sustainable. I have no doubt that it is, either with travel reviews shared out among a broader team or the blog simply losing that element of it (which is a small percentage of the articles anyway).