Thanks to this new administration and the events of this weekend, the internet has had a mine full of golden comedy, like this beauty:

https://twitter.com/bigjimmurray/status/823004207322107904

While I won’t hide the fact that I believe that making statements contrary to photographic evidence represents a real danger to this country, I’ll end my political commentary there.

Instead I’d like to take a look at the developing trend I’ve seen in the community lately, which I’ll name Travel Hacking Alternative Facts (I’m sure there are better names, but, zeitgeist). In my mind, these alternative facts are not outright falsehoods (unlike Spicer’s statement). Instead, they often are opinions or group think that gets restated so many times that they begun to be treated as if they are factual. They are those concepts and ideas which are repeated so many times that the caveats and exceptions, while still included, are mostly ignored and forgotten. When ideas that are really opinions are repeated enough times, they can often morph into alternative facts.

Below I’ve listed a few facts accompanied by related alternative facts. Matt recently retweeted someone who said that the way to fight alternative facts isn’t to question the truth, but to question the logic behind it. Socrates mumbo jumbo or something like that. Like much useful advice on the internet, it wasn’t accompanied by an example so I’m not sure I quite got it, seeing as my Greek philosophy…never existed. But what I’ve done in this post is present where I think the logic of the alternative fact breaks down. Not perfect by any means, so don’t flame me too hard.

As in many of my recent posts, I’m only writing this in the attempt to get myself to think about things from a different perspective. Hopefully it spurs some of you to question some of the conventional wisdom that has creeped into alternative fact status for yourself. 

Fact: You can use 115,000 Starpoints to fly in roundtrip business class to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific

Alternative Fact: Starpoints are worth 2 cents per point

Logic break down

I’ve recently written about how point valuations don’t mean much to me so I won’t rehash it much here. Just wanted to get warmed up with something easy. Of course converting 115,000 80,000 Starpoints into a roundtrip business class Cathay Pacific ticket represents an excellent deal. I have that exact ticket on the books; my flight retails for $7000. Six cents per point!

But not really, since I wouldn’t spend $7000. The price of that flight in economy is $1000, so about 1 cent per point (less, really). For Starpoints to actually be 2 cents per point I’d need to consistently redeem them in a way where I save 2 cents per Starpoint used. That kind of logic can break down pretty easily.

Fact: More and more bloggers are writing about reselling

Alternative fact: Bloggers are going to kill reselling!

Logic break down

Bloggers will not kill reselling. First of all, reselling existed long before it became more vogue in the miles and points world. Heck, reselling has existed at least as long as capitalism has existed! Opportunities will always be there for those willing to put in the work.

And if you take a look at how much work it takes, simple logic leads to the conclusion that not enough people are cut out for this sort of thing to actually kill it. My eyeballs bled reading Matt’s latest post on cleaning up his books. Like, my goodness is that complicated. And Trevor’s out here mailing out 500 pound boxes!

have been taking it a bit easier the past few weeks. But today was another 500lb shipment! #reselling #amazonfba

— Trevor (@tmount) January 24, 2017

Logic dictates that reselling will be just fine.

Fact: 25 stays before the end of February 2017 will get you Hyatt Globalist status through February 2019

Alternative Fact: This is an amazing deal worth pursuing (paraphrased)

Logic break down

As readers of this blog know, I am susceptible to FOMO and definitely feel that with this promotion. I have no doubt that many travelers in this space will glean a ton of benefit from having Globalist status for two years. You get a ton of perks: more complimentary upgrades, the old confirmed suite upgrades, lounge access, and a bunch of other stuff that I don’t want to read about because I’d just get jealous.

But those of us not making this mad dash need not feel left out. People with Globalist status, logically, will be looking to Hyatt first for their hotel stays. Looking at Hyatt first will influence their choice of destination due to Hyatt’s relatively small footprint. Staying in Hyatts will also preclude people from staying in apartments or alternative housing that might better suit their needs. The psychology of going all in for two months might affect Globalists’ desire to use their benefits. This might cause them to spend more money at Hyatt than they normally would. 

Fact: Delta no longer displays an award chart for public consumption

Alternative Fact: Delta Skymiles are so worthless they should continue to be named Skypesos

Logic break down

Alright, I’ve been beating this drum for a long time. Others are starting to notice and this alternative fact is quickly becoming outdated. But the major mistake in logic here, made mostly in the past, was equating customer unfriendly policies with customer unfriendly award space. Sure, sometimes the two go hand in hand, but that’s not always the case. It depends on a ton of factors and ignoring one of the largest airlines in the country can really limit your travel hacking opportunities. But since group think declared Skymiles useless, lots of beginners just ignored them while those who searched out Delta award space for themselves laughed all the way to the bank. 

Here’s where I personally see the logic break down. Delta wants to maximize profits, that’s pretty much indisputable. They don’t want people to maximize their award redemptions so they are going to severely limit the number of seats they offer at the lowest levels, especially in premium cabins. Therefore, they will send out their planes with empty Delta One cabins. That’s the point where the logic falls apart from me, it’s impossible for them to get people to pay cash for ALL the seats and they can at least make some “profit” by offering a couple of seats per flight. Same argument for economy seats. There are a legion of jobs dedicated to maximizing revenue from fare/Skymiles redemptions: if they are good at there jobs there will be spaces open, but just enough to maximize their profits. 

Fact: You can earn many miles and points quickly through sign up bonuses

Alternative Fact: Sign up bonuses are the best way to build up your miles and point balances

Logic break down

Yes, sign up bonuses can boost your balances very quickly. But this advice only applies to a certain subset of the population: people with good credit who are fiscally responsible. If you don’t fit into these categories, this advice could lead you into some dangerously murky territory. And despite boilerplate warnings, since many blogs have an economic stake in people signing up for credit cards, you see credit card bonuses talked about very often. Thus the alternative fact is born and suddenly “credit card sign up bonuses are the best” starts looking like irrevocable fact.

Where this breaks down logically just needs one simple example. Freequent Flyer, one of the most avid travelers in this space, famously does not chase sign up bonuses. I swear he has written that in a post somewhere but perhaps he needs to upgrade his search features on his blog (you’re welcome for the ten free clicks I just gave you though!). He has absolutely no problem taking plenty of trips, has Globalist status like any good travel hacker, and signs up for maybe one or two credit cards a year. Living proof that the best way to build up YOUR miles and points balances might not be through credit card sign up bonuses.

Fact: A lot of the big blogs have made a ton of money off of credit card commissions

Alternative Fact: The big blogs don’t care about their readers

Logic break down

Again, as long as capitalism has existed, many businesses have been concerned with turning a profit. Miles and points blogs aren’t the first and they certainly won’t be the last. Wanting to make a dollar off your customer and caring for your customer isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive. I’m sure there are some large miles and points blogs that genuinely want to help out their readers and some who are just in it for the money. But buyers generally are pretty savvy and can see through “fakes” pretty quickly.

Logically, it’s in big blogs’ best interest to genuinely care about their readers. By helping readers out, they make readers feel a small measure of debt towards them and they are “thanked” with credit card clicks. You may disagree with what they’re selling (metaphorically AND literally), but just because they are selling doesn’t mean they don’t care. Personally, I believe that most bloggers think they’re giving out good advice. Giving out bad advice that you think is good doesn’t mean you don’t care, it just means you are bad at giving advice.

Before George gets mad, I’m not saying big blogs necessarily care about their readers either. It’s just illogical to come to the conclusion that they don’t care just because they make money.

Final Thoughts

Alternative facts, in any context, represent a potential danger to my decision making. My Socratic logic may not be amazing, but I found it a useful exercise to break down the logic behind some of these oft-repeated “facts”. What I’m calling alternative facts here are not necessarily outright falsehoods, but in some senses because they can be true depending on your circumstances they could be more dangerous. So, as always, think for yourself, forge your own path, and happy travels.

Got any alternative facts for me? Have at it in the comments!

Back in June, I wrote about passing on the Jetblue/Virgin America mileage run deal. Basically I said it wasn’t worth the time or extra effort.

Oops.

I’ll blame @robertdwyer for corrupting me and convincing me that the deal was indeed worth it. In the end, I earned 75,000 Jetblue points and 50,000 Virgin America points for 20,000 SPG points, 25,000 TYP points, and $150. Time will tell whether it was worth it, but what’s done is done and I can’t go back!

In other news, I took the first mileage run of my entire life this morning! We found a $114 fare from Boston Logan to Nantucket, MA. The outbound departed at 6:35 AM and the return departed at 8:00 AM.

Since this might be my last mileage run ever, I thought I’d share some thoughts on what many people often fuss about.

The whole concept of mileage running is kind of weird

Robert and I were joined by Nelumbo from the Saverocity forums, a much more experienced mileage runner. I found the whole thing a little bit surreal.

I woke up at about 5 AM, was out the door at 5:15 and at the gate by about 5:45. It’s pretty surreal to go through security without a bag since I didn’t need one for such a short mileage run. I also decided to use a mobile boarding pass for the first time, which was neat (I sound old).

Still, I found it weird to board an airplane for the sole purpose of boarding the airplane. I guess this experience proved to me that it really is about the destination for me, I don’t really enjoy flying for the sake of flying.

Mileage running is better with friends

I joke that I was peer pressured into this, but the reality is, I probably wouldn’t done this if I was going to fly alone. It’s tough to justify getting on an airplane completely by myself, both to my wife and also to myself.

Flying with a companion gave me a chance to catch up and talk shop. So I kind of viewed my three hours this morning as a mini miles and points meetup that happened to be on an airplane. I thought that made things much more enjoyable.

As an aside, it is super refreshing to fly without bags or kids (or is that the same thing?).

I was tempted to stay in Nantucket

Simply put, Nantucket is now on my list of things to do next summer, especially if the airfare remains that low. From what little we could tell in the air, Nantucket is a picturesque New England town. I’ve done Martha’s Vineyard multiple time; I think it’s time to check Nantucket off the list.

Also, if you’re a Boston resident, flying to Nantucket via Jetblue or Cape Air is worth looking into depending on your needs. It’s a twenty minute flight!

I’m probably not doing this again

This was a unique experience, but one I’m not likely to repeat. This Jetblue promotion was really a special case: the 75,000 points should cover our next 1.5 trips to Disney World or so. The 50,000 Virgin America points should be able to cover a nice weekend away for my wife and myself. So that’s worth the points and $150 for me, and I was back in my home within four hours.

Much respect to everyone who mileage runs on the regular, but it’s just not for me, especially for status. If another “promotion so good someone might get fired” comes along, I’d consider, but the 20 minute Boston-Nantucket flight really was the perfect storm!

Update 2: I am weak.

Update: This deal is getting more and more tempting, especially since Jetblue is strong in Boston and we fly a lot of coach. Here’s a nice analysis of the value you can get. Also @robertdwyer is really doing a great job of peer pressure on Twitter! Will I remain strong?!?!? I want to chase so bad! Ahhhhh.

There is a really good deal going on right now. As always in the blogosphere I have no idea who reported it first, but I first saw it on Angelina Travels so she gets the hat tip. Just keep an eye out for affiliate links though.

Anyway, that’s not really what this post is about. If you’re not familiar with the deal, basically Jetblue is trying to steal customers away from Virgin America. Depending on how many miles you have with Virgin America right now, Jetblue will give you a certain number of miles in its own program – provided you fly a flight roundtrip with them by the end of the summer.

Figuring out how to leverage this deal is pretty easy:

I'm in a city with 0 Virgin America & 2 JetBlue destinations w/ poor connection opportunities. So of course I transferred 40K Starpoints.

— Amol (@PointsToPointB) June 24, 2016

You can turn 40K Starpoints into 50K Virgin America points, as long as you fly the roundtrip and have 50,001 Virgin America points they will give you 75,000 Jetblue points. Or 100K TYP can get you the same deal. If you find a cheap roundtrip flight (let’s say $150 but I’m sure you can do better), you are getting 75,000 Jetblue points and 50,001 Virgin America points for the cost of the miles you transferred plus the roundtrip flight.

That is a pretty great deal. INCREDIBLE, even. But is it worth chasing?

For me, the answer is no way. For starters, I’m going to have trouble finding the time to do what essentially amounts to a mileage run. We’re also completely booked for summer travel so I’m not going to be able to go anywhere with my family either.

Secondly, even though I get a ton of points and value from the match – I only get the value if I use them. Having lots of points in different programs is great, it can offer flexibility. But it also can be a source of stress if you are trying to figure out how to get rid of those points constantly or if you are hamstrung because of your need to burn them.

I fly five or six times a year. Maybe ten in a good year. Even then, I’d probably be hard pressed to get rid of those points! I know because it’s happened to me time and time again. Chasing these deals takes energy in two places: on the front end while earning (I’d need to make the mileage run) and on the back end while redeeming (I’d need to figure out a way to use them).

At my current life stage, that’s just not a good option for me.

Another example. You know what else sounded like a great deal? The 8X Ebay Bucks deal I jumped on to buy $450 worth of Staples gift cards. BTW, that IS a great deal: if you have the time to work it and track everything. But I still need to get rid of the Ebay Bucks before I lose them forever and I only was able to get rid of the Staples gift cards because someone hooked me up with a buyer. Otherwise it just would have created a lot more stress, for what…$40 and whatever I earned from the portal?

Here’s the bottom line: in the past, every time a great deal came around, I chased it. But even then when I didn’t have any kids, chasing every single deal meant that my time, energy, and game was stretched. It’s like pushing too hard in a lane in Dota (video game analogy), pressing too high on the soccer field leaving space behind for your opponent to exploit (sports analogy), or trying so hard to make the perfect birthday party for your kid that you end up creating more stress than fun (parenting analogy).

Now that I don’t chase every deal, I definitely don’t get as much value as I could out of my points. I’m not going to turn 40,000 Starpoints into 125,000 points anytime soon (like > $1000 worth of travel).

But that’s okay. If the big headlines pressure you to jump on this deal, just take a step back. If you know what you want to redeem the points for, go for it. If you’re not sure? Discretion can often be the better part of valor.

There has been a lot of hubbub about the mommy blogger rant that’s gone viral in the past few days. I credit Dia for bridging it into the miles and points world (at least out of the blogs I read). Apparently it was in Time magazine or something? I only read that at the doctor’s office and that’s only after I’ve done all the searches in Highlights magazine.

Commence rambling!

I enjoyed the rant. I enjoy TBB’s rants. I think they are important and remind us to keep everything in perspective. More importantly, they are reminders to us that we need to be intelligent consumers. Shady schilling and shameless promotion definitely get me worked up from time to time.

But let’s be honest here: advertisements and promotions have been around since, I don’t know, the birth of capitalism? Why single out sellout mommy and point bloggers?

The Philadelphia 76ers just announced that they are going to be the first NBA team to place advertisements on their jerseys. Outrage has ensued on Twitter. But European sports leagues have had ads on their jerseys forever. It’s only a big deal to us because we haven’t seen it in the NBA before. But it’s not like the NBA and its affiliates haven’t been trying to sell us on products all this time.

Do people get outraged about ads on TV? Billboards? The subway? Those new monitors they put in at gas stations talking about products?

This is the realization I came to when reading the momrant. Everyone is trying to sell something! I’m too old and too busy to get mad about it anymore.

Now, I wish this world were more ideal. That people would get paid to talk about products they love and that those connections would happen organically. If someone (Disney) paid me to go somewhere (Disney) and write about how much I loved it (Disney) I would happily take that money (Disney gift cards are an acceptable form of tender). Would what I write be objective? Probably not! But my writing about Disney is already subjective. It would be whether they let me into their parks for free or not. It would definitely change, but since it’s something I already love, maybe not that much.

I also wish this world were ideal in the sense that, when people no longer believed in products, they would no longer promote them. But that isn’t the world we live in.

Do all these podcasters really use Squarespace? Or buy mattresses? Or order from Blue Apron? I doubt it (though Blue Apron is great in a pinch). But I’ve spent my entire life not getting mad about freaking 1-877-KARS4KIDS commercials, why am I gonna get mad about a 2 minute spot in a podcast?

Podcasts cost money to produce. The Saverocity Observation Deck runs at a loss every year because we don’t have ads. We’re okay with that (for now, at least. We’ve never even brought up the idea of looking for sponsors, for the record).

There is a podcast I really enjoy, and one day they were like: “We really enjoy making this podcast, but it’s becoming a bit of a burden. We’re looking for a sponsor, we’ll charge $20/month, the amount it costs to run this thing, e-mail us.”

The next episode they had two sponsors, and you know what, I don’t begrudge them at all for it. Some people won’t listen to podcasts that have ads, and that’s cool. But it’s possible they are missing out on a lot of good content just because they doesn’t feel like fast forwarding two minutes.

The internet has tricked us into thinking we can get all this information for free, but we can’t. And the information usually isn’t created for free, people are putting a lot of work into things. Every time one of Freequent Flyer’s tweets sends me to Wikipedia (though I should have remembered the Turing test), someone at that company had to put in work to make sure there is nothing egregiously wrong on the page. Gideon himself works off a subscription model, which I think is great – he has cut out the middleman and we pay him directly. He works for us! But everyone putting content on the internet has got to pay the bills somehow.

I guess my point is this. For me, personally, ads are annoying and can be offensive when they are particularly devious, but they have always been. Like since I was 5. Blogs and “new media” have just found a new way to make them annoying.

But just like I learned to go fix a snack or fast forward through commercials on TV, just like I learned to switch the station when 1-877-KARS4KIDS comes on (did you know it’s a 501c3 charity they don’t repeat it a million times in their spots at all no sir), there are ways to get around ads on the internet and in podcasts.

If you don’t like ads, install an ad blocker. But if you don’t mind them and you want to support sites like Saverocity and especially a guy like Matt who made a decision not to try to sell credit cards to you for personal gain; then let the ads stay and take that small annoyance as the “cost” of the great work Matt has done into creating the forum and our network.

(Aside: 80% of the ads I see when surfing around Saverocity are for Disney. Hmm.)

(Aside 2: Just inserted an ad into a post complaining about ads. The new meta.)

If you don’t like “influential promotions”, bloggers writing about stuff that in a way that is trying to sneakily sell you something – don’t read those blogs! Decide for yourself whether the good content outweighs the bad and then move on. Make your own “Blogs to Ignore” list and then enjoy all your new free time! Vote with your dollars and clicks, and don’t worry about the rest.

People have been selling snake oil since Biblical times. Just don’t buy it.