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What’s My Name? TPOL

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What’s My Name? TPOL

What’s my name? To resurrect the voice of our generation, it’s not DMX but TPOL, ThePointsOfLife. Here is a quick intro for those that do not know who I am or what I do. TPOL truly is not like the other blogs on the Internets.

If you’re looking for a review of every square inch of an Emirates flight then the place to be is One Mile at a Time.

If you’re traveling with family or kids or anyone requiring extra assistance look no further (for the former) to Points With a Crew or Mommy Points.

If you’re looking for a job in manufacturing (spending) apply with Miles to Memories or Travel with Grant.

And if you are looking for week old regurgitated content then there’s a man with a billion miles that can’t keep a secret.

Apart from the final site, Boarding Area has got you covered for all things points with each blogger having his/her own unique angle.

So what makes TPOL different? My name. ThePointsOfLife means doing much more than churning cards and hoarding points. It’s using points as a conduit for boldly exploring the world by visiting places throughout the globe both obscure and aspirational. This is done in first-class to scum-class, via bus boat & train, staying in dodgy hostel to upscale hotel.

TPOL writes Trip Reports, Flight Reviews, Hotel Reviews, and Lounge Reviews from the four corners of the globe with my own unique spin. I also have Travel Guides that instruct you what to do if you only have one night in Bangkok but want to see and do it all. Finally, please consult the Travel Advice section so you don’t end locked up abroad.

But if you click now, you’ll gain access to the following categories that no other blog provides:

  • a-live: The section where I provide real-time posts when I’m running around the world.
  • the prof: Angry but insightful rants about travel or whatever is on my mind.
  • the point: Anything having to do with getting points, booking with points or points in general.
  • the press: Caffeinated cultural commentary of major cities throughout the world gained from enjoying a cup of espresso while jotting down my impressions of local life.
  • the pho: Pho is my favorite food so this category is all pho reviews.
  • the libation: Reviews of eating, drinking, and celebration.
  • the sport: Travel and sport go hand in hand so why not have a category focusing on this intersection?
  • the pulse: Travel teaches you more about law, business, and politics than all the degrees combined. Sometimes it is nice to know what’s really going on outside our borders besides which resort provides the best chance at a suite upgrade.
  • the rsvp: This is the stream of all the latest Trip Reports, Flight Reviews, Hotel Reviews, Lounge Reviews and Travel Guides.
  • the advice: Travel Advice of what to do or not to do when traveling.
  • the list: Everyone likes top ten lists (not top 30 lists) so I put together the best of…in a variety of categories.

And finally some irrelevant/interesting facts about me:

Thanks for reading this week and hopefully next.

For even more TPOL, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @thepointsoflife.

ThePointsOfLife in a pic: Cerveza, Piiña Colada and Popcorn in Seychelles
ThePointsOfLife in a pic: Cerveza, Piña Colada, and Popcorn in Seychelles

 

 

AutoPilot Sunday: News You Should Peruse

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AutoPilot Sunday: News You Should Peruse

Today is the calm before the storm. Tomorrow I will be posting my Trip Reports from before Mongolia to present to lure in readers from BoardingArea. Get ready for the best adventure of my life. Now substitute bumpy for best and that’s more accurate.

Lazy Sunday means it’s time to plagiarise others by giving you the best of what I’ve learned this week:

1. Deals We Like: Free $ with Amex & Sams.

2. The Points Guy: Compares Uber, Lyft etc. 

3. Frequent Miler: 60k Ink offer with 5k referral bonus. 

That’s about it. Not saying that there weren’t entertaining posts but the concept of AutoPilot is to share with you info that I didn’t know.

 

Congrats to Mayweather

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Congrats to Mayweather

5 minute left till the clock strikes midnight and I fail to live up to my daily blogging practice. Mayweather kept his undefeated streak alive as predicted by TPOL even though it was undocumented. I hope he enjoys his 200 million dollar payday.

The Spurs continued my streak of bad sports predictions but that foul was nonsense down the stretch.

Times up!

Fight of the century? Hardly
Fight of the century? Hardly

 

Make an Entrance with SPG Keyless

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Make an Entrance with SPG Keyless

‘Make an Entrance with SPG Keyless’ was the title of an email I received today. Hilton and now SPG allow you to check in, get your room number, and unlock your door with your mobile phone.

I think this is a terrible idea for a few reasons: First, security seems to be an issue. What if I lose my phone? What about opportunistic crooks who are aware of this feature who lurk around a hotel lobby? Call me paranoid now but don’t come crying when it happens. What about hackers?

My phone is an extension of my hand so the chances of the first instance happening are quite low. The reason I would not use this program is because I would be costing myself room upgrades, free drink tickets, and extra amenities that come from making a personal connection with whomever is working at the front desk. Even if I had a guaranteed suite upgrade, there’s still a possibility I can get an upgrade on that upgrade by being my genuine likeable self.

I guess if you have a scrooge personality, are looking to get to your room in a hurry because you are on business, or are otherwise an introverted weirdo, this program may be beneficial to you.

Then again, what happens if your phone dies? Looks like you will have to interact with a live human after all.

Is there a correlation between hotel love affairs and those that use this app?
Is there a correlation between infidelity and those who use this app?

 

TPOL’s Trip Report Pledge

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TPOL’s Trip Report Pledge

Every blogger laments the effort of writing Trip Reports. Every reader wants the Trip Report done today because they are taking that trip tomorrow.

Next week I’m the featured blogger on BoardingArea so I’m going through my entire Trip Report directory and catching up on dozens of flights, hotels, and lounges that I have visited. They’re all going to be detailed, full of pictures, and insight but not repetitive. Having said that, this is taking way too much time. As a result, I’m writing today to pledge that from now I will begin my Trip Reports no later than a week after returning from my trip and continue writing it uninterrupted until it is complete.

By making this pledge public, I put pressure on myself to live up to my guarantee. Let’s see how it goes.

They'll be a lot of these pics next week.
They’ll be a lot of these pics next week.

Customer Complaints: How Hotels Get It Wrong

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Customer Complaints: How Hotels Get It Wrong

I’ve written about my tendency to complain when things don’t go perfectly. My friends think I go out of my way to the point that I’m being trivial and cheap. Each individual has his own threshold for when he should or should not voice dissatisfaction when something doesn’t go as it should.

For example, last week in Scottsdale I was annoyed that it wasn’t sunny for the pool on Sunday. Instead it was rainy and cold. The weather is clearly the hotel’s responsibility and I shouldn’t have to pay for the room if I can’t enjoy the amenities like the rooftop pool in late April. I voiced my complaints to the general manager about the weather and he said he could do nothing about it. Immediately I was on the phone with corporate trying to get a refund on my stay.

Granted sometimes things do not go according to plan. Sometimes the shower runs cold, the air conditioner doesn’t work, or the bill comes out higher than it should. Great hotels immediately recognize these problems and do their very best to rectify them. This could be something as simple as an apology, a couple of drink tickets, or changing rooms if the situation is that bad. Bad hotels ignore the guest’s issue, say they will follow-up, or overtly blame the guest for the problem.

Contentious front-desk staff take a small situation like hotel weather and turn it into a big deal with their apathetic responses and unfriendly demeanor. It’s after these encounters I feel that I have no choice but to regress into my eight year old tattletale self and invoke the famous words, “I would like to speak with your manager.” From there I move on to corporate and become a thorn in the side of everyone out of principle.

Why do hotels choose to fight with guests or ignore guests’ complaints is beyond me. It only results in bad publicity, irate TripAdvisor reviews, and more complaints from bloggers like me.

A little bit of humanity goes a long way.

It better be sunny in Scottsdale!
It better be sunny in Scottsdale!

 

 

To Reply Or Not Reply?

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To Reply Or Not Reply?

One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is because it provides an open forum where I receive comments about whatever nonsense/insight I decide to write about on a given day. The biggest downside about the comments section is how it requires users to submit their email address in order to post a comment. From there commentators receive too many emails well beyond what they post. Unlike Facebook, blogs under WordPress make it more tedious to engage in a conversation then jump out of one. For that reason, I don’t require users to put their email address in order to post. The problem with this is that users post, I reply then I never receive a response back.

Another issue with blogs is when some imbecile posts a comment that is incendiary or so misguided that I have to decide whether or not to respond. Nothing good comes from a social media dispute but lately I’ve decided to engage/fire back at comments that I think are dumb.

Why do I do so? Because I’m hoping to find out if they really believe what they are writing is true or if they truly don’t understand what I am saying is light-hearted. Again, the issue is that these users will reply with fake emails then never return to read my response.

Is it worth responding in the first place? I would say leave a comment but I don’t think many will follow-up beyond that!

 

Citi Prestige: Being Different Is Stupid

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Citi Prestige: Being Different Is Stupid

I’ve already written about how the Citi Prestige credit card which comes with great benefits is the worst card in terms of how the card looks and feels. (Read the response I received from an imbecile who didn’t get the sarcasm.)

Well the stupidity of Citi’s ‘prestige’ card with its annual fee of $450 continued all weekend in Phoenix and today at the airport where the cashier couldn’t figure out how to swipe the card.

Why the confusion? Because Citi in its feeble attempt to be clever put the swiping strip on the front of the card. It blends in with the card so even those looking for it have a hard time finding it.

A few times this weekend merchants said my card didn’t work making me look like I had insufficient funds to process transactions. Other times I had to instruct the merchant how to use the card making me look like a jerk to onlookers.

It makes zero sense why Citi would make this stupid change. It would be like car manufacturers flipping the turn signal indicators so that a down shift would mean I’m turning right and flipping the lever up would mean I’m going left.

The cool factor of a new credit card product is trumped when the actual purpose of the card, swiping, is rendered next to impossible.

My Citi ThankYou card is on its way and from what I read it also has this same ‘feature’.

And that’s what grinds my gears.

No Funday Sunday Phoenix

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No Funday Sunday Phoenix

The fun began on Thursday culminating with the wedding on Saturday. Tomorrow I return back home leaving Sunday as the last day for the fun and entertainment of the desert.

I woke up in the upgraded spa suite at the W Scottsdale ready to take on the pool. I looked out the floor to ceiling windows to find something unfamiliar in Arizona- rain clouds.

The winds were howling, the temperature dropping, and the clientele were running for cover. The bad weather meant there would be no fun in the sun on Sunday.

Annoyed I made the most of my 4PM checkout and went back to sleep. With nothing to do after a late lunch, I headed to the Aloft Phoenix Airport for my last night in Arizona.

Weather is something taken for granted by all travelers when it is in your favor. How many beach getaways have I lucked out and dodged rain showers? How many blizzards have I missed that would’ve otherwise led to missed flight connections?

But when weather does not cooperate as it did not today, I find myself complaining as to why mother nature has to interfere with my vacation. The forecast for the rest of the week in Arizona is 95 degrees and pure sun. Meanwhile I won’t be here to enjoy it.

No Sunday Funday for me thanks to nature.

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Western Conference Playoffs Predictions

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Western Conference Playoffs Predictions

I have to write this post before the 3 month NBA playoffs are over and my predictions come true without documentation.

The Spurs battled back against the Clippers to tie the series and are headed back to Old Man Riverwalk’s stable for games 3 and 4. 80 percent of the teams who win game 3 go onto take the series 95 percent of the time.

The Warriors showed great resolve yesterday leading me to believe they will sweep and advance. I agree with the Chuckster that outside shooting will not result in a championship ring.

Houston and the Beard are showing real promise with a bench that is reminiscent of the old Mavericks.

But with all that I’m going with a team that is consistent and physical to advance to The Finals. That’s right, TPOL’s pick is the Memphis Grizzlies.

Book your flight now for Tennessee and get ready for some good bball and bbq.

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