itsaboutthejourney

OMAT is wonderful entertainment for those of us who appreciate the naivety of that "world traveler's" adventures with luxury and blissful unawareness that most people don't travel like that. DP is both entertaining and sad when you think there are people who believe what they read there.

100orBust

Extremely well put. OMAT seems to only care about the flight and not the destination. And DP always gives me a good laugh

cruisr

Yeah I think OMAT is very sad on a lot of levels. Yes, I too love a good FC flight but what I really love is being able to use those flights to get somewhere. The somewhere is my goal. To meet people, see things, experience different cultures, to learn things and hopefully become a better person for the efforts.

Sadly, I don't see any of that reflected in OMATs posts and pictures of FC loos and flat beds.

Also, the aspirational flights/hotels are being pumped so the CC links can get pumped. that's why so much of BA is now a fail. It's not about the destinations you are seeking it's about getting the CCs to redeem for the FC seats.

RFDMinnesota

A good laugh, and a lot of cringe... We 're at the 13th part of his first class to Sweden trip report today. Is anyone reading that?

I have doubts

sbm12

It has never been a destination-focused site.

cruisr

Maybe my memory is bad but I do remember much more about destinations then there is now. Or, maybe it was the ones I read that were about destinations are lost now.

Kagehitokiri

i agree with cruisr to the extent that the fact remains that CCs, CC point/miles, CC affiliate links, and manufactured spend are all continuing to grow dramatically.

OMAT did pay (a lot) for an amanresorts bali stay, taking his mom for her birthday/etc. although it was before the latest price increase. but still not an award or cheap etc.

kokonutz

When I do read OMAT (which I don't regularly anymore...I use it like I use FT: when I am planning a trip I'll look at it as a resource) I don't read OMAT for travel info. I read it to compare airplane seats. He's like SeatGuru on steroids to me.

And even then, the problem is that his and my travel needs are so different that his reviews don't apply to me. I want to travel with my wife, not alone. I want to get where I am going, not go out of my way to stop in FRA just so I can hit the FCT.

For these reasons, I find VFTW's reviews far more helpful. Although he seems to never mention it, it appears he always travels with his wife. And he's not obsessed with LH he way OMAT is.

That said, I would never, ever use any points and miles blogger to consider destinations. They go where the points/miles/mistake fares take them. And stay in western hotels on points and eat in hotel lounges and included hotel breakfasts. Basically, they travel like western business executives except using points and miles rather than a corporate-paid Amex. That's way too limited and boring a perspective, imho.

So P&M bloggers ARE a good resource for airplanes and business travel. Just not for 'real' travel.

Astrophsx

Exactly!

If you think about it.. P&M bloggers that do this as their main job need original content. From what I gather they obtain their travel through the direct purchase of miles, manufactured spending, and credit card sign ups. In order to maximize the amount of money they make they need to get the most out of an award ticket. This means sometimes they will add on as many legs as possible or 23 hour layovers so they can review as many flights as possible. Also, I think someone posted in another thread that they may technically only be able to stay at a hotel for one night when reviewing... otherwise it might be considered a vacation and not for business purposes.

Typically the only time you will see Ben writing about things he has done in a location is when he is traveling with family or something interesting happened on a trip. Also, I have to wonder if some of the trip reports aren't about detailing a product as much as they are trying to solicit people for credit card sign ups. They are more infomercials than trip reports. They want to show what is possible with a particular credit card sign up. They spend their miles or points as an investment in order to persuade others to sign up and have a similar trip.

I think for tax write-off purposes I would have to wonder about bloggers who go to the Maldives for a week. I think these are personal trips that may only have parts they can use as a write-off. They use their personal trips to allow them to come up with content so they can post daily (if not multiple times a day). I think the question has been raised why bloggers do not post about Airbnb, and it is as simple as there is no financial benefit for bloggers to cover anything but western hotels. I think of majority of bloggers are not well traveled and most of their experience is based on earning and spending points. That is why some of the best trip reports are posted on Flyertalk or other travel message boards.

gpapadop

Credit cards drive almost all content in this hobby, eeeer, business. It's all about conversions...

Raffles

Agree with Seth here. Frankly, I am not running a travel site. I don't think my readers want a travel site either. If they want to know about things to do in New York / Hamburg etc they can find that stuff elsewhere.

I will do the plane and I will do the hotel, because readers can book the same with their points and miles so its a valid thing to cover.

They do not want to know about Thomas The Tank Engine Land or wherever I happen to be dragging my family during the day. I also don't want to be 'on' all the time taking pictures and thinking about what would make a good article.

The only exception is when it is something unexpected - I might do a piece on the German island of Sylt, for example, when I am there in a couple of weeks because it is close to the UK but unknown to 99 per cent of Brits.

kokonutz

^

FallenPlat

I think you just have to pick and choose what you bother reading. As several have pointed out, nobody would read this stuff for "destination" insights or even (given that many of us travel internationally mostly in coach) always for necessarily useful "how to get there" information. The truly bad grammar and bad writing in most of what's on Boarding Area also drives me crazy. But all that said, I've gotten a laugh or two out of reading some of the more off-beat, non-Krug/Premium Carrier reviews. Gary's periodic analysis posts about the AA-US integration process are also pretty interesting. I guess my point is that Boarding Area, for all its many faults, does have some plusses.

Kagehitokiri

http://resort.a-rosa.de/english/sylt/ ?
i seem to recall some sylt hotels with even more 'dramatic?' designs
i definitely plan to visit in future

Raffles

Yes, that one. We have been to their other coastal resort 3 times so trialling this. Outstanding hotel with kids.