Hi All My name's Tim, I'm a bit obsessed with points and you may have seen me pop up on the forum from time to time! I started a new blog a couple of weeks ago about my points exploits - a couple of which I've mentioned on here (like using Google Translate to write hotel reviews in German for Miles & More points!!) Anyway, I'd love it if you'd pop by to take a look and maybe even follow by Twitter/Facebook or email if you find it interesting/useful. Today's post is about how I used my wedding spend to generate enough points to pay for the honeymoon! You can find it at: https://rewardpoints.home.blog (PS I did get permission before posting!)
Thank you for all the visits - according to my stats, 50 people have visited from insideflyer. This has helped me hit an amazing 1,000 views this week (in just week 3!). For next week I've been invited to do a guest blog/feature for a ski website, I'll try to link it into this thread once (if?!) it runs!
Just in case anyone is interested, here's the guest feature I did for 'Nidski' https://www.nidski.com/article/5_tips_for_travel_hacking_your_trips_to_the_alps
Good blog Tim. I especially liked your honeymoon post, having just returned from the Conrad Algarve. My flights were Ryanair specials, Conrad booked with Honors points, upgraded with Honors status and car hire via Sixt with discount for Plantinum status (acquired via Honors status, via Best Western status).
Thanks Steve, really appreciated - sounds like you really made the best of that one! It's a fantastic hotel. I'm still finding my feet with the blog, but getting a decent 150-200 views a day at the moment. I think I need to focus on the more personal articles like that one, rather than trying to do the impossible job of replicating Inside Flyer/Head for Points! For example I'm working on an Amex Shop Small article for this weekend which I'm hoping will feature a few of my local Shop Small businesses.
The process of starting to write about points/miles is an interesting one - finding your writing style, your niche, how much you want to share about yourself, etc. On the one hand, clarity is absolutely paramount, but it still needs to be enjoyable to read, so personality/tone can be very important too. Editing your own work can be difficult (it's so easy to miss your own typos!), but it makes a huge difference to the reader experience, so a friend/family member who can give things a glance before you hit 'post' is invaluable. My main advice though is simply to always make sure you're enjoying what you're writing about - and the actual writing itself. It's a massive cliche, but it really is fundamental. Afterall, there are plenty of other enjoyable things to spend time doing and (good) blogging is more time consuming than I suspect most people assume it is. Anyway - keep up the good work so far!
Thanks Joe - all very good points! I think the personal light-hearted posts like the honeymoon one or the one about earning points through Google Translate hotel reviews ( https://rewardpoints.home.blog/2018/10/25/free-points-google-translate/ ) are the most fun. I must admit, I throw a few of what I would call 'traffic generating' topics in there too though - there's no point doing it if no one reads it! The Curve post has had the most interest - I'm really looking forward to running the Amex Shop Small one tomorrow though, as it was great to actually talk to the businesses who are benefitting from it.
As I am now starting doing this, your blog has been very informative! Especially the part about your honeymoon
I found the AMEX platinum article really informative, I've recently got mine so I'm hoping I'll be part of the first category of travellers soon
Thank you I've now had visits from over 160 people via the Inside Flyer forum, so thanks also to Joe for letting me share it here!
