I was reading an article from the LA Times called “Do you have what it takes to join ‘secret’ Society?” and it brought light to the travel blogosphere.
Here are some public venues for scoring travel deals are:
Flyertalk: Mileage Run Forums
Flyertalk: Hotel Deals
Twitter: I wrote two articles on why Twitter is important for finding deals.
Deal Blogs: The Flight Deal, Holiday Pirates
Travel Blogs: start First2Board network, BoardingArea and Upgrd
There is a secret society of deal sharing. There is so much out there that can’t be shared such as flying in First/Business and Economy for less than half the usual cost, Fuel Dumps, 1x and 3x’s that work, manufacturered spend tricks, shopping portal tricks, car rental codes, hotel codes, unethical hacks, etc. Some of the members of a Secret Society talk via:
E-mail Mailing lists such as Google Groups, LISTSERV, Yahoo Groups
LINE
Whatsapp
iMessage Groups
BBM (Blackberry messenger) Groups
Facebook Groups
Private Forums
Flyertalk Private Message
Twitter Direct Message
the list goes on……
So how do you get to join in on one of the aforementioned lists? Well, that’s a secret…
There’s no “secret” society. It’s all out there. All people in the “not-so-secret” society try to do is discuss things that might come to an end if outed publicly.
Of course there’s a secret society. I’ve only been in the game a year and already in several “private” discussion groups where lots of interesting things are discussed that are conveniently “overlooked” by the blogsters. All the blogsters are interested in is pimping affiliate links to noobs and the unsuspecting, telling them what a “Great DEAL!!!!” the latest two-bit CC happens to offer the biggest referral kickback. This sector oozes sleaze more than a used car convention.
Paul, how might one break in?
OK Paul, could you guide a newbie on how you went about getting to “several ‘private’ discussion groups”? I’m a little on the older side and while having traveled extensively, am always looking for ways to travel even more.
How you get in:
1. Show your face at Flyertalk events, Chicago Seminars or similar. People want to know who they are dealing with.
2. Contribute useful content to FT. You won’t be invited into a private group if the existing members think you will take and not give.
3. Don’t get too concerned about it. Even on ‘invite only’ groups it is rare for people to spill all the beans about what they discover.
Thanks for the info !
Step 1: Don’t blog about “secret” deals publicly.
http://www.dailytriphack.com and secretflying.com is also a good one.