A thread for extraordinary blog posts with original content
 

We have threads for inane and ridiculous blog posts.

Here's one for really extraordinary original reporting by bloggers.



Mega-kudos to Seth for his award data mining project and reporting.

Really, really fascinating stuff, with visual representations to make points about award availability!

THIS is the kind of stuff that really sets bloggers apart!

http://blog.wandr.me/2014/09/the-sca...ard-inventory/

http://blog.wandr.me/2014/09/330-day...ard-inventory/

Bravo, sir. Bravo!

I also want to give a (smaller but equally grateful) kudo to Seth for taking the time to type out sections of the proceedings of the United MM case from the recording!

http://blog.wandr.me/2014/09/united-...ama-continues/

You're no stenographer, but the effort is certainly appreciated!


Especially compared to other who used that work to take credit for the phrase 'fingers crossed.' :rolleyes: (but that's a subject for another thread...)

I think we should just post Drew's entire blog here.

+1. I was thinking the exact same thing when I read his blog today. This is some of the best and most useful content I have ever seen on BA.

Indeed, this kinda stuff is quite useful and worth following.

Another data mining project by Seth, this time on the relative 'value' of a hotel point:

http://blog.wandr.me/2014/12/real-va...campaign=12798

So, is anyone ever going to get a kudo in this thread other than Seth? ;)

When I or someone else finds really extraordinary original reporting by bloggers, I hope so! ^

Not a P&M blogger per se, but still, incredibly funny and spot on:

http://dougdemuro.kinja.com/for-god-...ine-1688251059

HT, Mr. Pickles on the face book.

Our own techgirl has some great original posts about being an UberX driver, this is the first of many great posts that give you a look behind the scenes: 24 Hours as an UberX Driver

Hey, this is up my territory:

Blogs I Love: http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/blogs-i-love/

Blogs I Like: http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/blogs-i-like/

I have one more list but I ignore it...for the most part :)

Really appreciated this one from WA rebuilding the DL award chart:

http://blog.wandr.me/2015/05/rebuild...s-award-chart/

Hope he finishes that project. As a comment on Seth's site notes, at least one award price is not correct.

Incomplete is different from incorrect. All those prices were published and bookable at the time of the search. And the site clearly states that higher and lower rates may also be available.

And I've added about 75,000 data points in the past 3 days. The available data is growing and I expect that to continue for a long, long time.

If your purpose is to show various award point levels that DL may charge, then it is incomplete. And not of much use. What I want, and I think most users want, is to have a way to know what the lowest level of points DL will charge so they can pursue that level. When the tool shows that, it will be invaluable.

As I posted, I hope the project is moved along further so that this handy tool provides the info I think most people want (and need).

Very unique work being done by Seth, for which should all thank him.

And I believe it does show the lowest possible rates for nearly all of the 12000+ country-pair combinations it now holds data on. There may be some missing data points but it is hard to know given that Delta continues to change the numbers.

There has been plenty of (understandable) kvetching among the blogs about Delta's ongoing award pricing BS. But I don't recall having seen any blog looking at this particular angle that could work against DL:

Dynamic Pricing of Award Tickets - Can It Bite the Airlines As Well As Benefit Them?

The Gate is one of the few really good blogs on BA with consistently good content and great writing quality, IMHO.

Right idea, wrong content, in my view.

It really is very simple. When Delta is offering a fixed 1c per mile for redemptions, any sane person will move across to cashback credit cards. Even earning from flights, it becomes easy to see what the miles are worth and factor that into a price comparison. This is all bad for Delta.

Meanwhile, those J seats fly empty (no-one is paying 800,000 miles for them) and SkyMiles members are livid. Way to go.

When you take away the aspirational awards of J/F, the scheme has no sizzle. There are good reasons why there are no FT-size forums dedicated to grocery or department store loyalty schemes.

Fewer than a dozen examples in almost a year. Sounds about right.

Are the seats really flying empty? Is it all that hard to put a seat on sale - either points or cash - to fill it?

And yet there are communities around coupon clipping and they are every bit as passionate as this one is. :-:

Isn't much of online coupon clipping debate 'gamification' though? Much of it seems to be based around when you can use multiple coupons on the same product, get a coupon accepted for a different product to the one bought etc.

I know how much traction the UK Nectar scheme has online (virtually none, despite being the currency of the 2nd biggest supermarket chain) and that is down to its '0.5p per point' redemption rate.

I don't think it's right or wrong, the above and the possible award mistake fare issue are separate matters.

In any case, it was nice to see something fresh on the subject.

Not to mention, Delta has started to "experiment" with (international) buy-ups with OLCI and Kiosks. Mostly aligned to the $750 or 75K SkyMiles model. Perhaps, they will even move to a KLM model ex-AMS (and globally) where everything is upgradable in multiple fashions.

But, in any event, I still believe and the data-points seem to point to the fact that the vast majority of folks want to redeem "cheap" domestic award tickets. As long as Delta still offers some of those (perhaps via sales, even if pegged towards 1cent per mile) the 99% of the population will be happy.

Just booked this yesterday, for a week from now.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps0ft9hmvw.png


If Delta, can find away to keep "throwing bones," like above. The general public hardly care, IMHO.


Well, there is a good reason why there are hardly any good forums dedicated to Casino Loyalty Programs. :D

Frequent Miler has some really good credit card rankings and assessments recently. As he notes still a work in progress in some areas but I found it all very useful...

http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...k-in-progress/

http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...airline-cards/

Just hate that this topic has fallen off the front page. I've been in Asia on business so I haven't been able to read as many other blogs as I typically do, just wanted to get this topic back on the front page.

This is the tagline of my blog:

An eclectic journey through the Travel Miles/Points blogosphere

Hope Travel Is Free gets back into it soon...

Enjoyed this post by PFD sticking up for MMS a bit: https://saverocity.com/pfdigest/in-p...-mile-secrets/

Is/was there a FT poll for best travel blogs, by categories (e.g. milepoints, business FFs, trip reports, etc)? I'd enjoy seeing these FT opinions quantified.

I like the photos on The Shutter Whale blog.

Me too! His pictures are excellent. Looking forward to meeting up with him when I move to Singapore next month to shoot together.

We are doing some "fun things" over at TravelZork ; but it's very focused on casinos and gaming. More targeting to a "general" audience with interest in casino "stuff." Not always easy, I (we) have trouble taking a few steps back sometimes.

Trying to also keep it very personal. A few interesting things "in the pipe," for the next week (or so). Including non-gaming, but Vegas focused....

A recent selection....

Is The Video Poker Game Soon To Be Over?

Welcome To The Sage Bar: Home To One Of The Best American Whisky Selections In Vegas

How To Evaluate Slot Promotions The Right Way

Las Vegas | Wynn Cooks Up Something New

Fascinating post:

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....utive-service/

I'd not support going back to the men-only policy, but for sure the no kids policy! ^

Wow, it was a different world back then. I'd pay good money for no-kids-allowed flights!

With cigars!

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....-fix-tsa-mess/

Enjoyed Gary's counterpoint to a pretty impassioned defense of the status quo regarding the TSA.

It is a good post. Some of Gary's posts about the TSA are little screechy, even though I am not much of a TSA fan to say the least. This one was pretty well done.

With all the bloviating among BA blogs and others about the horrible, no good, very bad changes with AAdvantage, I appreciated this straightforward post from Seth, in particular this snippet:

http://blog.wandr.me/2016/06/thought...program-rules/

Not sure if it's cool for me to be posting up to my own blog, but I've been trying to do some informational stuff that I wasn't able to find elsewhere in blogopshere world. Things like a full overview of all of your transfer partner options for the transferable currencies to get to different parts of the world (Asia - http://www.thepointsjetsetter.com/th...-mrs-urs-typs/ ; Europe - http://www.thepointsjetsetter.com/th...-mrs-urs-typs/ ; Australia/New Zealand - http://www.thepointsjetsetter.com/th...or-spg-points/) and putting all of the Star Alliance member mileage upgrade policies and charts in one central resource (http://www.thepointsjetsetter.com/th...ance-upgrades/). Always hated that all of this information was never in a centralized place for easy reference, so decided to take the time to do it myself.

If it's not kosher for me to be pimping my own blog, I'll happily delete the post.

+1. What I love about Seth is he doesn't stick to the party line on BA and calls BS when BS is evident. Gary and Ben's blogs demonstrate they are hypocrites. You will not see that at all in WanderingAramean. This is why his blog is one of only three I trust and read on BA.

Just catching up after a busy week.

Great post.

More precious is Gary getting SUPER defensive in the comments! ^