Look at me! Look at me! That’s what travel blogging has become. I’m flying all around the world, here’s me at the Conrad Maldives, I’m on an Emirates A380, or I’m eating lobster on Singapore Airlines. How shameless!
To combat these selfish acts and to inspire blog readership, I’m going to give back to the community by offering my Award Booking Service for free to whomever can identify the location of the picture below.
Here’s the legalese:
Service must be used within one month from when winner is announced.
You have to call the airline yourself once the route has been found. (Wi-Fi calling in Mongolia is unreliable.)
I will need a full break down of your points. I hope you have British Avios.
There are no guarantees that the magical flight will be available so no booking is guaranteed.
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Review is part of the Trip Report: The $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World which covers 5 Continents, 13 Countries, and 17 Cities.
Find the nerdy planning here. Find the picture preview here.
Island breezes, world-class hospitality with no care in the world, that’s my idea of heaven.
At the Conrad Maldives, heaven, like good service, will have to wait.
Last Christmas as part of my $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World, I stayed at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in a breathtaking bungalow that overlooked paradise. Looking out to the sea, everything was spectacular, but focusing my attention on the resort’s geniality, everything was average.
I hate to gripe about a beautiful place like Maldives so I’m going to keep the negatives to a minimum:
It started with the $500 seaplane that was delayed, then delayed, and delayed again with both the hotel and the seaplane company blaming one another for the problem. Then came the unannounced cancellation of happy hour for Hilton Gold and Diamond members where for one hour a day, literally everyone on the island would make a mad rush to the bar for complimentary drinks. The resulting anger displayed from hotel guests was a telltale sign of three things: 1) The prices in Maldives are ridiculous. 2) Everyone is a raging alcoholic. (The Maldives is one of 3 countries that does not allow the purchase of alcohol by visitors even at the Duty Free.) 3) Points travelers may be in a little over their heads even staying on points. Finally, and most notably, upon checking out, the hotel mixed up my bags with that of a Chinese traveler and but for dumb luck my passport was headed with him to China. (An interlude for obvious Travel Advice, keep your passport glued to you even while scuba diving.)
The hotel’s response for all of this was one of indifference and that’s putting it nicely.
But enough about them interfering with my blue heaven, let’s talk about the celestial Maldives archipelago:
View from the Wing, Gary?The infinity pool that we never used.The bridge to the bungalowMy Blue HeavenNot Happy Hour Delicious BeerUpgrading for $650 a night was well worth it.You need the jacuzzi, trust me.Inside the bungalowView from the bathEvery second is a photo oppYou may recognize this as the cover of my book!Maldives at sunsetBYOBThe Breakfast Spread was Vegas-esqueWaiting for room service? Keep waitingHappy Hour, Happy LifeThe alcoholics breakfast. 5 parts bubbly, 1 part breakfastDrink up people!Entrance to the underwater restaurantSo high that I can touch the water? #kanyeInstagram profile picUnderwater emptyCan’t get enoughthe $30 hamburgerNot so delicious, overpiced lobster but when in Maldives…Salute Your ShortsThat was an expensive lunchHonestly the breakfast is incredible. Don’t go to Conrad unless you are at least Hilton Gold so breakfast is freeHas anyone seen my bungalow?In case of emergency, use stairsStairs to my officeHello lovelyPop champagneHanging around waiting for 5-Star service that isn’t comingAll aboard the seaplane, the departure
So this wasn’t Flint, Michigan
While nobody guessed Langkawi, Malaysia, the correct choice, I did send off some free books to those that made an effort. If you didn’t win the liberation from your cubicle by picking this beautiful island getaway, you can still win in life by picking up a copy of my book Everyone’s Advice Is Wrongfrom Amazon. (Click here to purchase.)
If you’re still in denial that you hate your job then you can set this photo as your work wallpaper and pretend that you are still there.
Obviously, you didn’t Make Tuesday Humpday.
The Westin Langkawi
Do you hate your job? Do you hate your cubicle? Do you wonder how you can ever break free?
Well wonder no more. Today only, if you guess where the following picture was taken with some level of accuracy, I will send you a free copy of my book Everyone’s Advice Is Wrongso long as you make a good faith effort to write a review, good or bad, when you complete it on Amazon.
Yesterday’s contest featured some interesting guessing techniques and today’s also has no rules.
Here is an excerpt from one of the ten steps that must be completed to take you from your cubicle to the Caymans:
Step 2: Make Tuesday Hump DayTransitioning from the metaphorical chokehold of the cubicle to a life of purpose can be a daunting task. Most of us are just trying to get through the workweek, praying that one day, one of our entrepreneurial seeds will germinate. This passive strategy is not enough. Changes, no matter how small, must be made to our current routine because waiting for a better life to show up while our best years pass us by is not an option.A novel concept of my own creation is to move Hump Day, the day obstructing us from our weekend, from Wednesday to Tuesday. This revolutionary idea really annoyed my coworkers. I would come in to work on Tuesday saying, “Oh, today is Hump Day—the weekend is right around the corner.” They would angrily protest, “Wednesday is Hump Day!” and that I could not arbitrarily change it to Tuesday. Complain as they might, I was happy on Wednesday because I had mentally overcome another workweek.Is this Flint, Michigan?
The month of November came and went but the frost of Mongolia remains.
Here are the top 7 posts from the month of November:
1. The $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World: What 1,000,000 Points Gets YouIt is my bold contention that this is the greatest award redemption of all time. I raise the challenge to any blogger, frequent flyer, or foe to prove otherwise.
2. China’s 72-hour Visa-Free Transit Rule: Flyer BewareYou say you hate applying for a visa. You say you want to go to China. You say, out loud, “Oh I will just utilize the 72-hour visa-free transit option.” To you I say, flyer beware.
3. RTW Dividends From the Geographically Challenged: Istanbul to SeychellesIt’s a shame that US Airways is merging with American Airlines. As part of the merger, AA is mandating a geography class for all US Airways whose services will be retained.
4. Losing My Virginity in Lufthansa Business ClassDo you remember losing your virginity? For me it’s impossible to forget my first long haul flight aboard Lufthansa Business Class bound for Taipei via Frankfurt.
5. Hyatt Diamond Challenge and Mi Amor ArgentinaIt’s great to be gold but diamonds are a churner’s best friend.
5. Pho 2000 Saigon: President Clinton’s Bad Dining AdvicePho 2000 is milking the publicity of President Clinton’s visit by investing their time in marketing not manufacturing. This is evident by the patrons of Pho 2000 of whom none are locals and by the employees who meekly serve bowl after bowl while their faces deliver another message- eat somewhere else.
7. IGLOO-GER: The Helsinki-Ulaanbaatar Trip ReportIf you’re on the IATA website wondering why you can’t locate the airport codes for IGLOO and GER it is because nobody flies to these frozen locales.
Is the sky falling down? Is Y2K upon us again? How can this man dare claim that Singapore Airlines First Class on a 777 be better than Singapore Airlines A380 Suite Class!
Is it the seats?
No Mars.
Is it the Dom Pérignon champagne?
No Mars.
It’s the seats then right? No mars.
Is it the Ferragamo amenities kit with the noise cancelling Bose headphones? No Mars.
How about the Givenchy pajamas? No Mars.
What about the champagne?
No Mars.
Money! It’s gotta be the food! The food, the food, the food!
No Mars, I’m sure it isn’t the food.
So what is it? Why is Singapore Airlines First Class on a 777 better than Suite Class on SQ A380?
Three words: The Beautiful Game.
This past July as part of my Trip to the Far East in Style, I was able to fly Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Tokyo en route to my Suite Class flight to LAX aboard a Boeing 777 in First-Class. It had all the amenities of the A380 including the Book the Cook service where you can choose from a ridiculous list of over-the-top meals prepared by a signature chef to be served to you at 30,000 feet. For the sake of the story, I chose the lobster and was not disappointed.
But, the real treat is the broadcast of the World Cup. While Emirates Airlines First-Class only offered updates via their ICE system and SQ A380 provided price-gouging Wi-Fi, the 777 allowed me to watch France vs. Nigeria and Germany vs. Algeria. LIVE! And for FREE!
Sure, I didn’t have my private suite but drinking, eating, and sharing in the excitement of the World Cup action from Brazil with awesome flight attendants who were equally as excited as me more than made up for it.
It’s gotta be the shoes!
In the words of LaDainian Tomlinson,“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying!”.
When I uploaded this photo for the contest, it crossed my mind that the answer could possibly be given away in the metadata. I figured I would experiment and see who out there would be savvy enough or motivated enough to exploit this vulnerability. Based on the barrage of responses, I soon realized the answer was just about everyone.
However, the funny part isn’t that a perfectly acceptable loophole was exploited. The funny part is a nonchalant answer like, “If I had to guess I’d say the picture from your Blog Bribery: $10 Amazon Gift Card post is Latitude : 12.189201 Longitude : 109.170084, give or take a few decimal places. Am I close?
I appreciate the cleverness of my readers but I do have to point out to the persons who said, “It was taken at 3PM, August 30th, 2009. You were drinking a Piña Colada after a delicious bowl of Pho in one of your favorite countries Vietnam,” you overlooked one minor detail; the contest ended at 9AM Ulaanbaatar time so your entry, though accurate, came after the bell had tolled.
And for those of you who are actually wondering where Latitude : 12.189201 Longitude : 109.170084 is, it is not the Vinpearl Luxury Nha Trang, Vietnam as suggested by Google Maps but rather the Diamond Bay Resort Nha Trang.
Tomorrow’s contest will be more challenging as I will hire consultants from Sony to protect the answer from entrepreneurial bandits!
How do you improve blog viewership? Is it writing, is it racy photos?
No, it’s straight cash homie.
Thanks to BoardingArea for featuring me this week and thank you all for checking out my blog. Everyday I’m going to have a giveaway to entice readers, both old and new, to keep coming and keep clicking.
Today’s contest is simple: Guess where this picture is taken and win a $10 Amazon Gift Card. Closest to the pin wins*!
Terms and Conditions Apply. Not available in all areas. Contest closes 9AM Ulaanbaatar time December 9th, 2014.
Another warm welcome to all of you reading this thanks to my featured appearance on Boarding Area. Each month I put together a list of the best posts from the month before. Tomorrow, I will put out the list for November but today I will provide highlights of the top posts since ThePointsOfLife was born way back in March 2014.
1. The March 2014 List
Featured Post: ThePointsOfLife Infomercial“The following is a paid advertisement for Enjoy #ThePointsOfLife. It does not represent the views or opinions of your friends and family.”
2. The April 2014 List
Featured Post: 30 Days to Maldives: Step 5If you’ve made it this far, then you’re well on your way to the Maldives.
3. The May 2014 List
Featured Post: 5 Myths About Earning PointsEven though I tell everyone about how easy it is to accumulate points, nobody follows the Points101 guide or comes up with reasons why the points game is not worth their time. Then they fly first class for the first time for next to nothing and are finally believers, posting pics of candy buffets.
4. The June 2014 List
Featured Post: Is Hawaii a Country?While bloggers are asked how many Twitter followers they have, weightlifters their bench, travelers are asked their country count.
5. The July 2014 List
Featured Post: The Prison of PoshThe problem with staying at upscale hotels is that they try to protect you from your own shadow.
6. The August 2014 List
Featured Post: Sheikh Dubai’s Chariot: First Class on Emirates Airlines A380It has been claimed by many in the points game that the greatest redemption is aboard an Emirates Airlines A380 with first class service to anywhere.
7. The September 2014 List
Featured Post: The Knockout: The Winner’s Bracket of Where to Stay in Las VegasTo make it easy for my Vegas virgins and frequent Vegas travelers alike, I am writing a comprehensive hotel review of all the places I have stayed in Vegas.
8. The October 2014 List
Featured Post: I’m in Manufacturing, SpendingThe best feeling in the world comes from churning. i.e., applying for multiple credit cards at once to get the sign up bonus.
My name is Alexander and I’m the featured blogger on BoardingArea this week.
Worry not, I’m not going to list to you all the Ultimate Reward transfer partners for Chase nor am I going to tell you where you can still find the Southwest Airlines 50,000 offer using Orphan Annie Secret Society decoder pin. Hint: Use Google.
Instead, I’m going to throw in a little of everything from Trip Reports to Seychelles, Mauritius, and Maldives to Travel Guides for those heading for the splendor of South Africa to the desert of Doha. My focus is to show how easy it is to fly on great airlines, stay at over-the-top hotels, and how to enjoy yourself when you get there.
Here are some interesting facts about me:
If you’d like to learn more please read my About page and follow along this week.
Till next time, keep churning my friends.
ThePointsOfLife asks, “Where to next?
