I know, I’m kicked back at the Disney Swan right now kicking off my 40th birthday celebration, but still, my thoughts are with the blog. Yes, I’m serious. I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of the blog. Well, maybe I forgot about the blog during Mission: Space at Epcot yesterday (and yes, I did the high octane version). And well…..while riding Space Mountain 3 times today…I can’t say I was thinking about the blog. But nonetheless, it has been on my mind lately. Where to go? What to do? I want to make the blog more meaningful for my readers, and give you something you didn’t have before visiting.
There are a lot of travel/industry bloggers out there now. Many are quite connected to various sources of information and frankly, are at the top of my reading list. I’m thinking Gary Leff, Brett Snyder and a handful of others here. I’m not them. Truth is, I’m still figuring out what I am. But I do know this. My preferred airline program is American AAdvantage, my preferred hotel program is Starwood Preferred Guest, and the line I cruise with is Royal Caribbean International. And I could probably add to this that the card in my wallet is American Express. That forms the core of the blog. I haven’t begun to scratch the surface of the things I know about traveling on American here. I soon will. As far as I’m concerned, AAdvantage is about the best mileage scheme among all the airlines, and I know a bit about how to use AAdvantage to your…well…advantage that I haven’t even begun to get into. And after having worked for American Airlines for over 10 years, I know a thing or two about flying on American as well. I think I’ll share more this year, along with the things I’ve learned about my backup airline, Delta.
I don’t know if my core programs/travel companies (American, Starwood, Royal Caribbean) are enough to blog about full time. Given that, I’m going to focus on giving you more information you can use, one of those being my experience flying Delta and attempting to use Sky Miles, the most difficult frequent travel currency to spend, but still spendable if you try. To the extent possible, I’m going to blog more this year. I’ve got a lot to say, and most of it is worth hearing. I want to share more of my industry experience with you, and how you can utilize that to make your travel experience better. I’ll probably screw up from time to time, who doesn’t? But I think it’s time to step things up a notch with this space. And I think 2010 is the year to do it. Stay tuned. I’ve got a lot to say.
That’s the thing — I get those “special offers” for frequent cruisers, but at my level (3 RC trips) there aren’t really a lot of benefits, as far as I can tell. Some loyalty program analysis would be interesting, because I might very well be missing the boat here.
Oh yeah, and how do I get more vacation to actually go on trips more often? 😉
I’d be interested in hearing more about why you choose Royal Caribbean, what other lines you have tried, etc.
(no, not saying there’s anything wrong with them… I have been on Princess once, RC three times, and a smaller expedition-style ship — Lindblad — once, and I have nothing bad to say about RC).
Looking forward to it. I want to try some other lines just for grins, but RCL’s loyalty program has me totally suckered in. Sounds like a mileage program I know. 🙂