Making Your Voice Heard

Today, Marriott devalued a brand new program that was already pretty weak. United hammered us recently. Hilton sucks more than ever before. And Delta is an absolute joke.

You’re tired of it, right?

Even Southwest points are worth less than they were a year ago.

So, what’s the point?

Well, it’s pretty simple. You guys have power and aren’t using it. I’m tired of seeing mute sheep everywhere I look. Whining and being passive is for children. Grow up. Be loyal to hotels like Starwood and Hyatt, rather than Hilton and Marriott. Don’t give any of your hard-earned cash to Delta. And try complaining about devaluations instead of going with the flow. If you don’t speak up (with your mouth and your wallet), part of the blame needs to fall on you.

This goes for everything. I’m talking about an all-purpose way of life. If you don’t like something, STOP SUPPORTING IT. That should be common sense, but there’s way too many complainers who don’t actually do anything. Are you tired of ruthless, bow-tie wearing dorks who kill every deal? Then STOP READING THEIR BLOG. Sick of Kim Kardashian? Hmm…maybe you should QUIT WATCHING HER SHOW. An employee was rude to you? Oh, I don’t know…LEAVE A NEGATIVE REVIEW. Or maybe TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.

My point is simple. If you don’t like something, take some action. Stop being part of the problem.

Action_jackson_790886

milenerdMaking Your Voice Heard

Nice Ritz Offer

Some of you are always on the lookout for Ritz Carlton promos. You know what? I can’t blame you. Ritz continues to be incredible…truly one of the best hotel chains around. If you do have stays coming up, take a look and see if you’re targeted for the promo here. With 5 stays before November, you’ll pick up a bonus 50,000 Marriott/Ritz Carlton points. This can be doubled for 100,000 points if you have 10 stays coming up. Definitely not a great one for most of you, but a few should really benefit.

ritz-carlton

milenerdNice Ritz Offer

Big American Offer Still Going

I got some emails about the 100,000-mile offer dying. One of them was borderline hysterical. Is it dead? Is it? Huh? The answer is “not for now.” But, as with every other deal, death is only a matter of time. There aren’t many huge offers in this game, guys. You have to hit certain things hard if you want the big benefits. Getting one of these cards is fine, but you might be able to do (much) better. Keep updated with the always-snarky Flyertalk conversation here. The Wiki first post will have any working links for you. Good job to all you heavy hitters on this one.

american-airlines-credit-card

 

milenerdBig American Offer Still Going

Meeting

I’ve had a bunch of jobs in my life. Most of them were…how do I say it…

…shitty.

But, to be fair, I’ve had some incredible experiences along the way too. Looking at it, I realize that my favorite jobs all seemed to involve teaching in some way. Teaching kids…teaching adults…teaching tennis. It always came back to teaching. Man, I love those memories. I think it’s probably the reason for this blog. I’ve lost more money than I’ve made here, so it’s really about you guys. This cycle of learning…teaching…giving and taking. It just feels right to me.

Over the last few months, my interactions with MileNerd readers has reached an all-time high. Throughout every day, I’m having multiple conversations over all media with you guys. I used to think this would get old, but it really hasn’t. Actually, it’s invigorating me. So, I want to take baby steps into the next evolution of the blog. As some of you know, I grew up in West Virginia. I’ll be visiting my family soon and would like to offer to sit down with my readers in the Morgantown area. Depending how it goes, I’ll continue this to Los Angeles and a few other travel stops. I’ve been asked to do this kind of thing before, but chose not to. What can I say, times have changed. Let’s see how it goes…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

milenerdMeeting

3 For Thursday

  • The 50,000-point Southwest cards are back (already). The personal card is here and the business version is at the bottom of the page. That didn’t take long.
  • 500 easy points for signing up for Virgin America’s frequent flyer program here. Up to 7,500 more points if you actually get on a plane.
  • Bonuses for buying American miles or transferring Lifemiles. I won’t be doing either. I’d rather hustle ’em!

413559461_c4abd881da

milenerd3 For Thursday