Apparently using an Alaska Air companion pass is considered "travel hacking" to a certain blogger:
http://nomascoach.boardingarea.com/t...ompanion-fare/

Wow, I hope the airline doesn't catch on to this scandalous hack!!

Shhhhhhh! Don't kill the deal!

Rene poinst of Delta crap has got to be the worst.
Unoriginal copycat ramblings.
How does something this bad stay online???

I think he just...banned you.
Proudly.
:D

Perhaps similar to how FT has lost a lot of its usefulness with the advent of revenue based FF programs, BA's bloggers will start eating their own with the loss of real deal-based content

Is this guy for real? http://thepointsoflife.boardingarea....-hotel-review/. Yes, there are rich people who really do pay 29 euro for drinks. And no, most who stay in the Park Hyatt Vendome don't search the streets of Paris for the nearest McDonald's so they can bring food back to their rooms: http://thepointsoflife.boardingarea....sine-birthday/.

And you rarely see the rich gushing over eating Olive Garden in Manhattan: http://thepointsoflife.boardingarea....-italian-food/.

I know it's a complete (and I mean, a complete) waste of my time to read this mess, but it's the train wreck I seem to want to watch right now.

You mean:

'and a big bed to do romantic work.'

:-)

While there is no excuse for the Olive Garden post, I do admit that my one Park Hyatt experience involved breakfast at the Starbucks just down the mountain. (We're coffee/tea and croissants for breakfast people and $10 for breakfast for two there seemed to suit us better than what the hotel called continental breakfast for far more than that)

I don't have an issue with that. Most restaurant breakfasts even in modest chain hotels are are ridiculously overpriced ($10 for 2 eggs, bacon, and 2 slices of toast?), and I can understand avoiding that--or eating in hotels in general. But Paris is a city for food, expensive food, maybe although I think there's an advantage to seeking out cool local places in any city that can cost a lot less. If you're going to Paris to save money, there's no reason to stay in the Vendome. Otherwise, you're just some ludicrous little kid trying to look like a big shot.

Oh. . .

There's a line that you may not be familiar with since I think its origin is in American sports, and I'm uncertain how it's traveled over the world. The line is essentially: "Look like you've been there before."

I suspect that TPOL and others like him are pretty apparent to the hotel staff as folks who will make their one appearance because of some sort of credit card scheme and will never be seen again. The McDonald's post indicates that the concierge sent him to a restaurant with prices at 50 euro for starters. I suspect the concierge was having a joke at this joker's expense.

By the way, given the plethora of Italian restaurants in every borough of NYC, I can't imagine writing the drivel he did about the Olive Garden.

They are writing for a particular audience (american looking to see the world on CC points) so .... Remember how drew went to Bora Bora or some other overwater hotel place with their bags stuffed full of groceries? ;)

This opens up a bigger broader question, though, which is 'why bother?'. UNLESS you are on Hyatt credit card free nights - when you might as well Vendome for the heck of it - staying in a luxury hotel but going out for breakfast, evening drinks and every other meal is a little bit pointless.

Unless there are location reasons, even on a points stay you might as well save a few and stay somewhere cheaper. If you're not careful you realise you ended up spending literally one hour awake in the hotel which made the cost, cash or points, a bad deal ....

(For clarity, I am as guilty as anyone else on FT for doing this at times. And I have even less of an excuse than most as I do have the cash - it is often done because I am travelling alone and I'd rather grab a take out from somewhere than sit alone in the hotel restaurant.)

Vendoming is a BArea thing. I just spend a weekend in Paris and made sure to avoid the usual 'murrican chain hotels. To each their own. Normal hotel breakfast in Paris is usually a variation of a crossaint and cafe au lait, served up in the most annoying Parisian way possible. Go to a boulangerie next door or even a chain like 'Paul' and suddenly you realise how many nice things the french can serve up to eat in the mornings. :) Of course some people crave starbucks like stuff in the morning...