We’ve just rolled out some major changes here at OMAAT, and I’m very excited about them. So that I don’t bury the lede, let me just say that I think these changes are universally positive, and I hope that people enjoy them half as much as we’ve enjoyed putting this together. Nothing is changing for the worse, and (hopefully) a lot is changing for the better.
I’ll get into more details below, but there are many aspects to this, with one common theme — community. We’re talking about everything from a new system whereby the most engaged users get fewer (or no) ads, the ability for members to submit their own stories that will appear on the front page of OMAAT, a new community forum, elite status with a gamification element (including prizes), and more.
In this post:
Why we’re making changes to One Mile at a Time
I’ve written in the past about the state of miles & points blogging. The internet has changed massively over time, particularly in recent years, given the increased use of AI, the ways search engines have evolved, the increasing shift to short form video, etc.
I think just about anyone who makes a living publishing things online will tell you that the landscape has shifted drastically. That’s why we’ve also increasingly seen many sites update how they monetize things, with things like subscriptions and paywalls being increasingly common.
There’s no denying that using the internet has just become increasingly less pleasant in terms of ads, constantly being asked to sign up for things, etc. Nobody wants it to be that way, but it has kind of become a necessary evil.
That being said, we’re trying to take a different approach, with a different philosophy — can we make OMAAT more interesting, fun, and compelling than ever before? That’s the genuine intent with these changes, because I tend to think what sets OMAAT apart from the more “corporate” sites is that there’s a bit more of a sense of community here, since we have an actual readership, and don’t exist solely to get search engine traffic. I’d also like to think there’s a bit more “personality” here, and things can get spirited. So let me explain what’s going on…
What we’re changing at One Mile at a Time
If you scroll down the front page of OMAAT, you should notice some changes, which have all gone live within the past 24 hours. Before I talk about what’s changing, let me state what isn’t changing — well, basically everything you’re currently used to, including the content on the front page.
The below initiatives are all about building community, along with the new OMAAT video series, which will be launching in the coming weeks. Let’s go over the changes, in no particular order. I should mention that you can find the pages for most of these changes in the new “Community” navigation at the top of the site.
OMAAT Community Rewards
Registered users at OMAAT have been able to earn “elite status” through their posting activity for a long time, though there weren’t really any perks associated with that. It was just intended to be a cute play on the concept of how we’re generally elite status obsessed.
There are now updates to this, with the new OMAAT Community Rewards concept:
- There are three elite tiers — Gold, Platinum, and Diamond — and the higher your elite status, the fewer ads you’ll see, with Diamond members getting virtually no ads
- You can earn elite status through community engagement, with activities earning anywhere from 20 to 2,500 points each
- There’s now a “leaderboard,” with weekly and monthly stats, showing those who have earned the most points through being helpful, getting the most likes, having the hottest takes (I wonder who is gonna win that one!), and being the most prolific; if you check your own profile page, you can also see your year to date points and lifetime points
- With these updates, elite status is earned on an annual basis, but it’s intentionally supposed to not be too hard to earn; status is earned based on the calendar year, is valid through the end of February of the following year, and existing elites get a head start toward status for the following year
- Not only will there be direct prizes for certain activities (outlined on this page), but we’re also planning some really fun rewards for those who are the most engaged long term
If you haven’t yet registered for a free OMAAT account, please consider doing so, since you might as well be rewarded for the activity you engage in anyway.
OMAAT Community Stories
Those in the OMAAT community have a lot of their own stories to share, and I get a countless number of messages from people asking if we accept guest posts, if I can cover their travel story, etc. While I do this as much as I can, the ones that make it onto the site aren’t even the tip of the iceberg, because there are only so many hours in the day.
So I figured it would be fun to democratize this a bit, which is why we’re introducing the concept of OMAAT Community Stories:
- This gives registered members the ability to share their own stories in the form of blog posts, and they’ll appear on the front page of the blog, in a similar grid to the stories I write
- The intent here is to be flexible about what people want to cover — you can share a travel experience (whether positive or negative) and even ask for feedback, you can write an op-ed about your choice of airline or hotel topics, you can share a great redemption deal, etc.
- We’re giving people a lot of latitude here to express themselves how they’d like, though we ask that the posts be at least 500 words (because otherwise the content is probably better for the forums, which I’ll talk about below); you can also include up to five pictures, and then we’ll figure out where to insert them in the post
- There will be a manual review process for these (for obvious reasons, to make sure spam doesn’t publish), though the goal is to have content published within 24 hours; posts don’t have to be perfect, but we ask that at least some effort goes into them, so write them as if they’re going to be widely read (because hopefully they will be!)
- Members can then engage on these posts in the same way they’d engage on the posts that I publish
- For submitting a story and having it approved, you’ll receive 2,500 bonus points toward OMAAT status, which already gets you Gold status and unlocks reduced ads; so by contributing to the community, you’ll have a better experience immediately
- For the month of August, the most read Community Stories post will get a $500 travel gift card (your choice of airline or hotel), and we’ll continue to have prizes going forward; there’s a big incentive to submit a story early, since it leaves more time for people to read it
You can submit your OMAAT Community Stories posts here, and then when you scroll down on the page, you should start to see them once they’re live. I’d love for people to sound off, so don’t be shy, and go for it!
Let me say that while I don’t want to make this section just about grievances with airlines, hotels, etc., that is a perfectly acceptable use of this, in terms of sharing stories. I say that because those are the most common types of reader emails I receive, so this is a great way to get some eyeballs to whatever went wrong with your travel situation. And I’ll of course also gladly chime in on whatever stories people post.
OMAAT Community Help
On the home page of the site you’ll now see a link to the OMAAT Community Help section. The idea is that if you have a question about a topic that’s related to miles, points, travel, etc., that’s the place to ask. I will be engaging there as much as I can, and my hope is that others will help out as well.
After submitting stories, answering questions in the Community Help section is the next thing that earns the most points toward status, with no limits (so it gets you to a reduced or no ad experience as quickly as possible).
OMAAT Daily Discussion
On the home page of the site you’ll also now see a link to the OMAAT Daily Discussion thread. Every single day a thread will go live where those in the community can chime in with… well, whatever they’d like, basically.
Whether you want to point out a story that should be covered, have general feedback, want to talk about how your day is going, found a great award availability option, are annoyed by the quality of lounge cheese, etc., that’s the place to do it.
OMAAT “Yowzers!” button
This is minor compared to the other updates, but I’d like to talk about one other thing we added. When people comment, we’ve long had the “Helpful” button, so that members can show appreciation or approval for the comments of others.
The intent was to keep it positive, which is why we avoided something like a “dislike” button. However, we decided to make this all a bit more fun, so we’ve introduced a second button that can be clicked, which is “Yowzers!” Consider this to be a way to express surprise or shock, so that can be used to recognize hot takes, wild conclusions, etc.
For the month of August, there’s even a prize of a $100 airline or hotel gift card for the hottest take in a comment, decided based on getting the most exclamation points.
There’s one more point I’d like to emphasize — we’re really stepping up moderation of comments effective immediately. It’s important to me that this is a friendly community where people can disagree without getting personal, and where we don’t have people slinging unnecessary insults at groups or people.
We have published commenting rules and guidelines, and we now have a system in place whereby we’re upping enforcement. If you see a comment you take an issue with, please click the “Report” button next to a post. If a post does get removed for violating community guidelines, we also reserve the right to remove status points from an account. After all, showing basic courtesy toward others shouldn’t be complicated.
Again, I’m all for people disagreeing (with me or with others), but I just ask that we remain respectful. The people who have pointed out the issues with moderation on this site are correct, and I appreciate their desire for a friendlier community. That starts now. Please just be patient in terms of timing, since we’re not online 24/7, but we will check reports multiple times per day, and are making this a priority.
Bottom line
We’ve just rolled out the most substantial changes to OMAAT in years. The core of things will remain completely unchanged, but the idea is to add lots of fun community elements, with a gamification element.
Engaging in the community can earn OMAAT elite status, and the higher your status, the fewer ads you get, with Diamond members getting virtually no ads. On top of that, members can upload their own stories, ask questions in the Q&A section, and participate in the daily discussion.
I’ve been running this site for 18+ years, and it’s my hobby and passion above all else. So I think it’s time to lean more into what I think is best about this site, which is the community of readers, who have lots of great things to say. My hope is that these changes can amplify that.
Rather than going the direction of trying to put stuff behind a paywall or make countless other negative changes, I’m excited about this approach, as it’s all about showing appreciation for readers, and giving them more of a voice.
So if you’re not yet an OMAAT member, consider registering for free, so you can start earning points and elite status. Then consider submitting a story, asking or answering a question in the Q&A section, or participating in the daily discussions.
Please let me know what questions y’all have, and of course any feedback is welcome, whether positive or negative. Thanks for being part of the OMAAT community! I’m also very excited to see the first Community Stories submissions!
Long time reader first time poster. Sounds like a fun enhancement! Excited to join in.
PLease feed community posts under a different channel in boardingarea, i do not want to click on community articles
will there be any point rollover schemes, Lucky? :P
No rolling over points, but Diamond and Platinum status holders will start the year with a boost. More details to come on this one!
1990, sugar… this ain’t your diary, your group text, and your stand-up debut all rolled into one.
Baby, you’ve posted more cookie material in seven minutes than Delta has press releases explaining why the Wi-Fi is “almost ready.” We done went from Cookie Monster to Cookie Crisp to Wendy’s like your browser tabs got possessed by ADHD.
Go drink some sweet tea, collect your thoughts, and come back with one comment instead of a...
1990, sugar… this ain’t your diary, your group text, and your stand-up debut all rolled into one.
Baby, you’ve posted more cookie material in seven minutes than Delta has press releases explaining why the Wi-Fi is “almost ready.” We done went from Cookie Monster to Cookie Crisp to Wendy’s like your browser tabs got possessed by ADHD.
Go drink some sweet tea, collect your thoughts, and come back with one comment instead of a tetralogy. Ben’s server is over there wondering if it needs to charge you rent.
Bless your heart… you’re one post away from reviewing the napkins.
Oh, you actually 'registered.' (The authorities will be very pleased to see this...That's what Xi said.)
1990, sugar, you must’ve missed my coming-out post. I proudly announced my registration and my realness to the world. It was a beautiful moment. Doves were released. Dolly Parton nodded in approval. The internet survived.
As for the authorities… the only thing they’ve got on file is that I’m guilty of looking fabulous before noon.
And thanks to Yoloswag420, I’ve been unshackled from MaxPower. Turns out the only thing greener than that freedom… is whatever...
1990, sugar, you must’ve missed my coming-out post. I proudly announced my registration and my realness to the world. It was a beautiful moment. Doves were released. Dolly Parton nodded in approval. The internet survived.
As for the authorities… the only thing they’ve got on file is that I’m guilty of looking fabulous before noon.
And thanks to Yoloswag420, I’ve been unshackled from MaxPower. Turns out the only thing greener than that freedom… is whatever he’s passing around. Honey, I haven’t been this liberated since someone told me calories don’t count at church potlucks.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go enjoy my newfound freedom
It would be helpful if you made it easier to log in. Also, I get logged out every time i close my browser, despite ticking the “Remember Me“ box. Can this be addressed?
+1, a major reason I comment less than I want to when I'm on the go
Seeing this feedback pretty consistently. I'll take a look and see how quickly we can roll this adjustment out. Thanks!
I rarely login to post and peruse because it's a pain and logs me out every day. Can you cookie it or something so it keeps me logged in?
Mmm. Cookies. *Homer Simpson gargling*
Sorry, Cookie Monster, too! (How could I forget Sesame Street… 1… 2… 3… cooookies! 3 cookies! That was The Count, by the way)
Hey, speaking of cookies… is Cookie Crisp still a cereal? Seemed like a fantastic way to give kids type-2 diabetes. Or as some once called it.. dia-betus.
Uh oh... just realized this isn't a Wendy's... my bad.
Please put a login link on the homepage, possibly upper right instead of hidden in the three bar menu, and show a logged in indication once logged in.
Thanks
Please consider eliminating the Read More feature on comments. I think I understand the efficiency factor, but for your blind readers, it plays hell on screen readers; the cursor gets knocked out of that comment and thrown back to the top of the page. I'll totally understand if it's too large of a request for what could be a very small blind audience. Still, I hope you'll consider it. Thanks for continuing to invest your time and energy into these web pages!
Joe - would text on the Read More description be helpful? That would prevent multiple Read More links on the comments page without additional context.
What does it mean when I look at my profile and see 16,255,040 points so far this year? Is that a lot? Just curious.
(Heh heh heh snicker chortle)
You’re crushing it
Thankfully you waited until "Mercury retrograde" had ended before starting something new.
You can easily read about it on the net.
It happens a few times each year, not the best time to start something new, or contracts, or surgery, etc. It lasts about 21-28 days.
We learned. Interestingly we had a Chinese Fung Shui reading one year and the dates he advised to be careful about things, actually conincided with Mercury retrograde. He did not know what MR was.
“Thankfully you waited for Mercury retrograde to end.”
Baby, the planet didn’t reverse. Your self-control did.
And the Fung Shui guy whose “bad dates” magically lined up with it… even though he’d never heard of Mercury retrograde?
That’s not cosmic alignment. That’s two different flavors of vague bullshit high-fiving.
Anita, why’d you retire Aero, or did he/she/it get banned?
Baby, folks kept trying to figure out who Aero really was like he was the Zodiac Killer with a SkyMiles account. Some mysteries are better left unsolved.
Not gonna lie, your use of ‘Baby,’ reminded me of whenever former DNC chair Donna Brazile is a guest panelist on Real Time with Bill Maher… and to be clear, I like when she is, very much so. I’m saying ‘thank you’ for your hospitality and charm on here, madam.
Dear Ben,
Very interesting new community and space.
Is a very nice evolution and natural way, congratulations!!!
Do you want this to be like a "reddit" with dedication to travel and miles ??
I love this Ben.
Well done, and thank you so much for giving us a path to removing some of the most egregious ads!
I think it's great you're taking steps to improve the blog and involve the community more but the one thing still lacking after all these years, and the one thing that would increase engagement and community tremendously, is notifications. If I post a message or reply to one, I'd like to know when there's engagement with those posts. Most people post a message or a reply and never come back to look to see if...
I think it's great you're taking steps to improve the blog and involve the community more but the one thing still lacking after all these years, and the one thing that would increase engagement and community tremendously, is notifications. If I post a message or reply to one, I'd like to know when there's engagement with those posts. Most people post a message or a reply and never come back to look to see if anyone has responded. I know when you last updated the site, notifications were one of the most frequently asked-for features, but you opted not to include it then or now. I'm very curious as to why you haven't implemented notifications.
Great feedback, Todd. We have this functionality in the forum, and it should be carried over to the blog very soon. We took a lot of community feedback into designing the forum, and will continue to make improvements at a pretty quick pace. Be on the lookout for an announcement for the feature.
Looking forward to posting more - travel is a bit down as I have moved to more of a remote work role, but hoping to ramp back up pretty quickly and get back into more posting. I’m liking the recent Hilton and Marriott posts
Ben, might as well just buy the Delta GC now, cause I think we know who is going to win that award. If you have a convenience store that has tanks it will usually code as gas, so you might even be able to pick one up and buy it with the CFF.
I'd be very careful with the gamification concept though. It's one of the things that sounds great, but you might end up...
Ben, might as well just buy the Delta GC now, cause I think we know who is going to win that award. If you have a convenience store that has tanks it will usually code as gas, so you might even be able to pick one up and buy it with the CFF.
I'd be very careful with the gamification concept though. It's one of the things that sounds great, but you might end up needing to devalue it as some people will game it to get the prizes. I mean, we are all here, so we are familiar with churning. Might need to add some 5/24 or once in a lifetime verbiage for prizes.
This part I'm joking, but you could make it so that people can comment in groups. First allowed to post are Diamond, then the other tiers, plain members, and lastly, guests in zone/group 6. Diamonds can use emoji and formatting, guests limited in characters, etc.
Huge downvote on your idea to segregate the commenters based on ra...status. As patriot Randy Marsh says: "I'm sorry, I thought this was a free country! ...I thought this was America!"
+ on moderation
Please also include moderating inane off topic comments. The burger post, for example, all the comments about not eating beef or preferring chicken.
Oh Luke. To do that, Ben would need to hire a full-time censorship team, and probably some lawyers, to constantly debate and evaluate the objective and subjective relevance of each and every comment... not my site, but I'd say, 'not happenin,' dawg.' Egregious violations, sure. Random off-topic comments? Psh. Who defines 'inane,' anyway. One commenters trash is another's treasure. Just ignore what you don't like, or engage and actually join in the sense of Community.
Oh Luke. To do that, Ben would need to hire a full-time censorship team, and probably some lawyers, to constantly debate and evaluate the objective and subjective relevance of each and every comment... not my site, but I'd say, 'not happenin,' dawg.' Egregious violations, sure. Random off-topic comments? Psh. Who defines 'inane,' anyway. One commenters trash is another's treasure. Just ignore what you don't like, or engage and actually join in the sense of Community.
Well, you have to admit that the comments about cilantro and feta being the food of Satan were good and 100% true.
You can keep your cilantro free guacamole to yourself, satan ;)
You finally got this longtime reader to register for an account...so I guess the changes worked for someone.
Is there an OMAAT customer support email? I get an error when trying to set up an account. Historically I've posted as CP@YOW, and it's too bad characters like @ are not allowed in usernames, but when I try other variations using the allowable characters, I get an error (perhaps because my email is already on file?)
@CP@YOW You can send me an email, and we'll get this sorted. [email protected]
Jeremy, I imagine you're handling a lot right now with all these changes, but I did actually send you (well, technically I addressed it to Ben, because I didn't know he had a 'team') an email, to the address, yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. There's definitely an issue going around with some pre-existing usernames.
We replied, but the email you sent from bounced. If you want to send from another email address, Howie or I will see what we can do.
Is there a way to use this community to take collective action against negative trends in the industry? Maybe organised boycotts of properties with ridiculous resort fees or hotels trying sneaky ways to deny status benefits?
I think you could take the status stuff even further:
* Allow users to change or cancel their comments for a fee of $0.75 -- waived for Platinum and above.
* Diamond members with same-day interstate travel can sit in your living room for three hours before they leave (air travel) or your garage (bus and train travel)
* Elite members get their comments boosted to the front of the comments section.
*...
I think you could take the status stuff even further:
* Allow users to change or cancel their comments for a fee of $0.75 -- waived for Platinum and above.
* Diamond members with same-day interstate travel can sit in your living room for three hours before they leave (air travel) or your garage (bus and train travel)
* Elite members get their comments boosted to the front of the comments section.
* Only members get to post, a limited number of posts, of limited length, with the number and length increasing as you gain status.
* Anyone who earns a million points gets an acknowledgement in a post.
* All your posts could feature credit card sign-up pitches.
Any plans for an OMAAT credit card?
Glad to see it’s not one of those changes based on customer feedback where the price of everything increases.
This all sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm a bit worried that people will try to game the system with sockpuppet accounts once prizes are involved.
Sounds amazing, thanks!
The 2nd order effects here will be obnoxious. When can we expect to see a Block function rolled out?
Ben, will you be allowing a rollover of excess points into the next qualifying year? ;)
As a non-native English speaker, I found the word “Yowzers” rather confusing, to say the least. I am unsure whether it carries a positive or negative connotation, and even a Google search seems to yield little clarity beyond references to a music album.
Think of it like: "Wow! Your response shocked me!" Whether that's a good or bad shock is up to you. :)
Sure, but "Yowzers" is American slang. Get that Ben's readership may be majority American, but he's got a global readership. That button may not connect with that contingent. Why not just have a "Wow" button? That's universally understood.
Already I am seeing silly comments, more than before, probably to get points. I hope this issue will settle down.
^case in point (silly comments)
Not to mention, if the goal is merely to “end” the “silly comments,” me thinks Ben would not have gone with a “Yowzers!!” button… perhaps, the real goal is… more engagement. Like, all of you should be commenting 50-100x a day like me. LOL. Get going! Support the site!!
I'm sure many will appreciate these, I just hope they won't impact the blog itself too much. I understand why Ben needs to go this way to keep OMAAT profitable but another community-based social media site is the last thing I need in my life. I just want to read the articles :(
@ Samo -- I appreciate you reading and I hear you. The intent is that nothing about that experience will change. This is all additive, and it should be easy enough to ignore all the other stuff, since it'll be on other parts of the site.
Ben - What may seem additive to the site, might be negative to some readers. Admittedly, I'm going to give it a chance. But I'm here to read articles, not game my way into fewer ads, or elite status which I 1) hate with a passion (and I RARELY use that word), and 2) is already a uniquely American problem with the culture. Jockeying for status by comments, stories, etc. does not necessarily a community...
Ben - What may seem additive to the site, might be negative to some readers. Admittedly, I'm going to give it a chance. But I'm here to read articles, not game my way into fewer ads, or elite status which I 1) hate with a passion (and I RARELY use that word), and 2) is already a uniquely American problem with the culture. Jockeying for status by comments, stories, etc. does not necessarily a community make.
That said, I understand why. You've made this into a business and it is both your life and livelihood. I'm becoming less of a fan because of the constant need to monetize just about anything and everything in the US.
This is nice and all, but the most important improvement needed would be a new tool for comments (or a complete rework of the current one).
- Seeing replies & answering to the three top answers
- Fix Login Bugs: remember I was logged in (probably breaks if using multiple devices) + login support within the comments without reload
- Double post issues (even as there is a double post detection sometimes...
This is nice and all, but the most important improvement needed would be a new tool for comments (or a complete rework of the current one).
- Seeing replies & answering to the three top answers
- Fix Login Bugs: remember I was logged in (probably breaks if using multiple devices) + login support within the comments without reload
- Double post issues (even as there is a double post detection sometimes these happen, generally speaking the comments should be reworked so that no double posts are made in the first page)
I'm sorry if I'm sounding negative, but these changes would make community actual fun for me.
I would also vote for a simple mechanism for basic formatting in comments -- bold, italic, and lists.
Well this is certainly fun!!
But then again with TD’s other registered accounts he may lose the top spot for the leadership board. Looking at you guest user NickW with the generic photo from any store bought photo frame and Julie. LOL!!!
you certainly win any awards for anything.
Just because you can't accept that 2 people can have similar thoughts doesn't mean that there are 2 people.
Not LOL. Pathetic, actually
Stanley C, 100%. Just my opinion, but there's no way NickW or Julie aren't Tim, or just an ironic troll. They usually only appear whenever Tim needs back-up on a point (Then, Tim comes in with a "Nick is absolutely right!" or a "Thanks, Julie!"). Note how those characters never are on a random post about, I donno, BILT or Marriott. (Because Tim doesn't really care about BILT or Marriott, since they have nothing to...
Stanley C, 100%. Just my opinion, but there's no way NickW or Julie aren't Tim, or just an ironic troll. They usually only appear whenever Tim needs back-up on a point (Then, Tim comes in with a "Nick is absolutely right!" or a "Thanks, Julie!"). Note how those characters never are on a random post about, I donno, BILT or Marriott. (Because Tim doesn't really care about BILT or Marriott, since they have nothing to do with Delta; though, technically BILT and Marriott have some affiliations with United, so Tim, Nick, Julie, you all may wanna get on that!)
you simply can't stand that two people can have the same opinion that is different than yours.
and there are people that see the fraud from unregistered accounts. it is beyond ironic you acting like there is fraud w/ other people when you won't be accountable to anyone by registering.
"you simply can't stand that two people can have the same opinion that is different than yours." Tim, say that one again (real slow). Think about it. (Kinda funny, right?) *nudge nudge*
As for the registration, apparently, someone already registered '1990,' and they are not me. So, either I create a new one, like Peter had to do, or I just remain as a Guest. I don't need/want gift cards. Hope you, Willy, and whoever else is in the running does!
Hi Jeremy and Howie.
Thanks for taking care of Ben behind the scenes so he can enjoy what he's doing best.
Looking forward to your interactions with the community. No pressure if you want to post some interesting articles too.
I hope some of the regulars haven't caused you too much headaches. Especially the premium ones.
exciting stuff, great to see this kind of innovation!
FWIW, just poking around, I clicked the "how points work" link in my membership page and got the following error:
Whoops!
It looks like that page can’t be found. Check out the links below, or try the search box at the top of the page.
Thanks @digital_notmad. This has been updated!
Thanks for a very thoughtful update. So many sites are just using more ads and clickbait as a way to mitigate declining website traffic. This is very novel and creative and must have involved a ton of work! This is why this is the best travel blog and why I've been reading daily for 10 plus years. Now time to actually use my registered profile!
Another very long-time reader and am interested to see how these changes develop. I've followed a number of the other major travel sites (Gary's and Matthews's among others) and have consistently found Ben's to be among the most balanced and well-written. I've also appreciated that the credit card pushing seems less in your face than elsewhere and I know I used one of his links many years ago as a thank you to support the site.
I love this website and read it religiously every day. This is true for only two other websites. I do not know why you do not have some monthly membership levels as I would gladly pay to support this site. I pay a voluntary monthly donation to AP.com and Guardian.com and if this site allowed me to make a monthly donation, I would be pleased and excited to do so.
This site has really gone down hill. The quality of the posts are a lot lower. Lucky is definitely fishing for clicks and stories now. I get it, he’s getting older and slowing down.
And its just been a breeding ground for leftist propaganda.
^(Someone’s asking to get ‘Reported’)
Why are you still here?
You're even a Diamond.
Stockholm syndrome?
I was all the way with you until that last sentence...
Mild criticism of Dear Leader?! Must be left-wing propaganda! Dear Leader makes the sun rise, and He invented electricity. To suggest anything else is heresy!
Also now that you have a published award chart, I'm already dreading the inevitable devaluation... You better announce it well in advance! ;)
Im just happy that for the first time, in many years of reading OMAAT daily, I’ve been able to SUCCESSFULLY create an account. Now this is what I’m talking about
Ben, these are all great updates but please please please update (fix) the search function. I've been searching your reviews as "XYZ business class OMAAT" as a Google search for years now because the search function on the site doesn't work and doesn't order chronologically. Searching like that on Google doesn't always work though. This would be a HUGE update. Appreciate all the hard work and updates, though!
Can we bet on polymarket and kalshi who will be top on the OMAAT leaderboard ?
It's not a bet. It's a prediction market.
Just like all those hypocrites calling the stock market as investment market when it's actually a rigged casino.
Just because JP Morgan isn't called MGM doesn't mean NYSE isn't a variation of roulette. They should call investing part of the gaming industry.
Preach, Eskimo!! I'll get the tents ready for Zuccotti Park 2.0 (only half-kidding).
*Spin these credit card offer stories and their supposed benefits to another site. Anyone outside the USA doesn't care about those as they generally don't have relevance.
*Get to the point quicker on your articles. You tend to babble on and on just to keep readers hanging on.
*When it comes to the Bottom Line section of an article, just do it in bullet point form of highlights. You have already gone on at length in the main part of the article.
Yowzers!
You're on to something.
If it's really a good opportunity. Why don't you go start a blog that
*Spin these credit card offer stories and their supposed benefits to another site.
*Get to the point quicker on your articles.
*When it comes to the Bottom Line section of an article, just do it in bullet point form of highlights.
You can name it One crosscourt at a time.
All the best (not).
Eskimo, I may need to create at least one account on here, just so that I can both "Helpful" and "Yowzers!" your comments. Dripping with sass. Mmm.
Agree with the comments below that argue for a limit on the number of comments per post. I would set it at 2 or 3. That would force people to organize their thoughts and make all their points in a couple of coherent and thoughtful posts.
The unlimited number just allows people to post stupid and snarky comments with only a few seconds of off-the cuff thought. It really shows in the (lack of) quality...
Agree with the comments below that argue for a limit on the number of comments per post. I would set it at 2 or 3. That would force people to organize their thoughts and make all their points in a couple of coherent and thoughtful posts.
The unlimited number just allows people to post stupid and snarky comments with only a few seconds of off-the cuff thought. It really shows in the (lack of) quality of these comments, and drags the whole site down a couple of notches.
Problem: You’d just encourage folks to create and use multiple aliases to get around limits.
If you don’t like what people say, just ignore it. Or just engage with them. Debate. Banter. Share. That’s an actual Community, not a points/status system with new prizes.
Well….OK. I have been a reader here for?….wow pushing 15 years? I appreciate the blog and have commented once or twice over the years. Cant promise I will have a great deal to contrbute, but hopefully just signing up is supportive.
"Yowzers" is so millennial coded hahah
"Coded" is so Gen Z-coded.
(Uh-oh, I properly used a hyphen above, that's so Gen Z-coded)
Yuck. Absolutely none of this is needed, interesting, or useful. Will be spending much less time reading this page now.
Fellas, you just lost bob.
Ya know, maybe it’s for the best to not have status here; think of how airlines and hotels force habits that are often not productive. Like, mileage or mattress runs, etc. Except within the context, Members will aim for their 5 comments, earn their max 250 points, daily.
Then, there’s the concern that wanting to appease Ben (and now Jeremy) will lead to content self-moderation. Uh oh, better...
Fellas, you just lost bob.
Ya know, maybe it’s for the best to not have status here; think of how airlines and hotels force habits that are often not productive. Like, mileage or mattress runs, etc. Except within the context, Members will aim for their 5 comments, earn their max 250 points, daily.
Then, there’s the concern that wanting to appease Ben (and now Jeremy) will lead to content self-moderation. Uh oh, better not question a sketchy thing partner-of-the-site BILT just did… could lose your status!
Nancy might’ve been onto something…just say no.
I see several others welcoming greater scrutiny of offensive posts. I guess I will add my voice to that. But my only complaints with OMAAT were the times when my perfectly inoffensive posts were auto-rejected because of one word I'd used inoffensively. If that process will henceforth be performed by a different, much more intelligent agent, or better still a literate human, I'm all in.
I welcome the changes.
I like the changes. Great work! I couldn't register under the name under which I've posted previously, but it was only a handful of times so I'm happy to start over.
At the risk of getting a bunch of Yowzers!, would you reconsider the tier names? I know this is a "me" issue, but as someone who works in the commodities industry seeing "platinum" ranked above "gold" is like nails on a chalk board for...
I like the changes. Great work! I couldn't register under the name under which I've posted previously, but it was only a handful of times so I'm happy to start over.
At the risk of getting a bunch of Yowzers!, would you reconsider the tier names? I know this is a "me" issue, but as someone who works in the commodities industry seeing "platinum" ranked above "gold" is like nails on a chalk board for me. Gold has been more expensive/valuable than platinum for about a decade now. At today's values, gold is over 2.3x as valuable as platinum. Let's restore gold (and/or relegate platinum) to its rightful status!
"Welcome to (OMAAT), the (online travel blog community) where (the statuses) are made-up and the points don't matter!” Ben, you are Drew Carey, it seems. "The points are like the word 'international' in International House of Pancakes."
It'd be pretty funny if you pulled an American and started devaluing the community loyalty system LMAO
That would be a good April Fools joke lol
Difficult with changes, but as a private person who enjoys this blog I will try to change. Anyway thank you Ben & Company
Hi Maryland. Good to see you, always.
Just saying, most other 'active' blogs in this space (travel, cards, etc.) with regular commenters (VFTW, LALF, FM, DoC, Cranky, etc.), don't have any such 'registration'... for now, Ben isn't requiring it, at least. So, Guests are still 'welcome' and all (regardless of registration) are bound by whatever rules he wants to set (since it's his site).
By the way, @Ben, @Jeremy, whoever is 'behind the scenes,'...
Hi Maryland. Good to see you, always.
Just saying, most other 'active' blogs in this space (travel, cards, etc.) with regular commenters (VFTW, LALF, FM, DoC, Cranky, etc.), don't have any such 'registration'... for now, Ben isn't requiring it, at least. So, Guests are still 'welcome' and all (regardless of registration) are bound by whatever rules he wants to set (since it's his site).
By the way, @Ben, @Jeremy, whoever is 'behind the scenes,' I can't even register '1990' if I wanted to (and I haven't) since an imposter seems to have already taken it... what's your process for claiming usernames (or is it too generic, like Peter, who seems to have had to take 'Peter_').
@1990
Stick with who you are.
Ignore the status.
Your value or trash you bring is in your content, not title or membership.
And if you're aiming for the reward. I'm sure you'll make more money elsewhere with the amount of time you spent here to earn rewards.
Imposter can't mimic the things you bring in.
And if you see a registered Eskimo, that's definitely not me.
the first part of your comment is valid.
The bottom paragraph highlights that there are people that want to play on social media with anonymity and with no accountability. Some people love to be able to take faceless pot shots while hiding in the bushes.
Ben realizes there and is willing to incentivize the people that can be responsibly social which is not likely you or 1990.
Thanks Eskimo. Yes, I've seen you be impersonated on here as well. But, most can tell when it's the O.G. verses a faker. (Oof, there are indeed some haters on here, who won't argue on-topic, but instead really do seek to censor their 'opponents' instead. I've long said, 'the answer to speech you don't like is more speech,' and I still mean it.)
hey @1990 -- please send an email to [email protected] with an email we can reply to -- tried to reply to your email yesterday but it bounced.
Yikes, sorry Howie! Just saw that. I'll try again.
The changes are great, but the site got a lot glitchier. Logging in led me to a blank page and this comment isn't posting.
All the "better moderation" will do is lead to mass mashing of the Report button on people who go against the hivemind here and lead to unjustified bans.
ORD, "You have said the actual truth"
Longtime reader, just registered based on the changes. Have always enjoyed reading what you write Ben, I appreciate you!
Thank You and looking forward to the new OMAAT.
@ Beleza -- Thank you for reading, and welcome to commenting! :-)
I tried to register and it just said “We encountered an error”
Sure sounds like "Major (Positive) OMAAT Changes Are Live"! *pokes bear*
@rrapynot If you're still having issues, send a note to [email protected], and I'll get you set up. We had some account creation failures yesterday related to the site speed issues.
I am not scouring a lot of other blogs, but this seems innovative for the blogs I do read. One discord group I am in has a fee, but it is largely doled out in a profit sharing fashion of rewarding those with the most valuable posts etc. Interesting, see where it goes, and make adjustments along the way as needed.
Who says an old dog can't learn new tricks?
I like this development. I am a long time reader and I truly enjoy participating in discussions and viewing others remarks as well.
Great opportunity for deeper engagement.
Great Idea !
Very cool, look forward to seeing how this develops.
Page speed should have returned to normal - or better. Thanks to all who reported, and for all the other suggestions in today's thread. We've got some more fun products in development for this year, but continuing to improve the community features will be a top priority for me. Keep the feedback coming!(!)
Yup, it’s fast again here on IPhone and Windows laptop. Cheers Jeremy.
good to hear that you are the "behind the scenes guy" that makes it all works. Hopefully you or Ben provide more introduction.
Yeah, who's Jeremy?! Like, Ben's the only one listed on the 'Team' page. Guess he's been hiring!
It's very hard to see this as a positive. I've been reading OMAAT for more than 10 years now, and enjoy Ben's articles. The comments = not so much, and some readers post all the time and their comments are entirely predictable. I really have no interest in joining "the community" if it means commenting; I've flown a lot in the last 15 years and have had some great and some horrible experiences, but I...
It's very hard to see this as a positive. I've been reading OMAAT for more than 10 years now, and enjoy Ben's articles. The comments = not so much, and some readers post all the time and their comments are entirely predictable. I really have no interest in joining "the community" if it means commenting; I've flown a lot in the last 15 years and have had some great and some horrible experiences, but I am not the kind of person who wishes to share much of that publicly. I always looked at OMAAT as a fair and balanced place (most of the time) with unbiased commentary. Is this going to change now?
Sounds like the changes are additive. Just keep reading Ben's posts and ignore the user content sections and it sounds like the only thing you should notice are fewer nasty comments.
@ RPaul -- I really appreciate you reading, and respect your concerns. Let me emphasize that absolutely nothing about the content is changing, and if you don't want to register and engage in commenting (which is totally fair) you should have the same experience as always. As mentioned by LarryInNYC, the changes are additive, so are only supposed to make things better, for those who choose to engage in that way.
Great to hear, sounds like a lot of positive changes. Looking forward to the next gen of OMAAT.
I'm liking all these changes, Ben. You must've been working really hard on all this, so thank you.
I see 'Jeremy OMAAT' has responded below; will we have an introduction to any new members of the team? Or maybe they've been working in the background for ages and we've just never known about them. Either way, it would be nice and add more to the community feel to know who the people are who...
I'm liking all these changes, Ben. You must've been working really hard on all this, so thank you.
I see 'Jeremy OMAAT' has responded below; will we have an introduction to any new members of the team? Or maybe they've been working in the background for ages and we've just never known about them. Either way, it would be nice and add more to the community feel to know who the people are who are replying with an official OMAAT response.
Also, what happens in the month when your own posts get the highest yowzers-count? I presume there will be a $100 TAAG Angola credit winging its way to you?!
Agreed! Would really love to get an intro to the rest of the team :)
Excited for these new ways to engage. I hope you have a team to help with the backend lift so we don’t lose the quantity and quality of your posts
@ Jimmy K -- Thanks for the kind words and trust, I appreciate it! And yes, thank you for the interest in Jeremy as well, as that was his first time commenting here. I'm hoping to make a broader post about him soon, as this was his first time going "public" here. Below I'll just copy & paste the answer I gave to someone else, for the time being, which at least gives a bit...
@ Jimmy K -- Thanks for the kind words and trust, I appreciate it! And yes, thank you for the interest in Jeremy as well, as that was his first time commenting here. I'm hoping to make a broader post about him soon, as this was his first time going "public" here. Below I'll just copy & paste the answer I gave to someone else, for the time being, which at least gives a bit of context. :-)
Regarding if my posts win any awards, then we'll go to the second highest score. And if I were to take a gift card, I'd have to go with Air Côte d'Ivoire, since it's a first class I still have to check out, heh.
"Around the time that Tiffany left OMAAT to be Head of Flying Blue, Jeremy joined the team, focusing on growth, partnerships, etc. Basically, he's tasked with steering the business, in the same way Tiffany was.
I'm grateful to work with smart people who can handle all the stuff on the back end, so that I can focus on writing, interacting with the community, etc. That's what I enjoy the most, and why I don't burn out.
Jeremy and Howie put a ton of work into this redesign, and Jeremy also came up with most of the ideas here, so I'm very grateful for what they've done. Even though he's not a huge points geek, he sure seems to understand how to build a good "loyalty program!"
Up until now, Jeremy has sort of been in the OMAAT "closet," since he has been working in the background to do a deep dive into the current situation, slowly tweak things, test out some stuff, etc. This is the first huge initiative we're rolling out, so it seems like a great time to formally introduce him.
While Jeremy has an interesting media background, what I appreciate most is that he sees the value in the OMAAT community, so as we try to grow things, that always needs to be the core focus. And I hope this rollout demonstrates that.
Feel free to tag him on any tech or other suggestions. So you can expect him to start responding to comments related to the site as well, because when it comes to technical suggestions, I'd otherwise really just be the middleman."
Thanks so much for the reply, Ben; I really appreciate that you took the time to answer.
I must've missed the discussion about Jeremy and Howie before, but it seems the dream team is already working well, so I look forward to seeing more of the fruits of their and your collective labours. Thanks again.
There’s a Howie now, too? Woah. Must be a walk-in closet. Fancy!
Appreciate the thoughts you put into this! As a diamond member, I'm obviously delighted :). I also appreciate the stricter moderation.
If I could suggest another feature, although it may be difficult to implement: the ability to block specific people if we can't be bothered to read their inevitable diatribes or relentless, no value posting.
Either way, looking forward to see how the community evolves and thanks for those improvements already!
How about... the ability to edit or delete a comment (from ourselves), say, if we post a duplicate, by accident, even if there's just a five-minutes count-down. (I presume you'd be blocking me for daring to speak up about anything you disagree with, even if its 'respectful' and 'relevant'...) I hope you appreciate the irony...
Ugh will this have Tim posting even more?
It is indeed quite ironic that this double posted and for sure edit/delete would be really great!
Yes, plaese!
Sorry, please.
Larry, you really sold it with that typo! Was that on-purpose to prove how helpful an edit feature would be? *wink*
Appreciate the thoughts you put into this! As a diamond member, I'm obviously delighted :). I also appreciate the stricter moderation.
If I could suggest another feature, although it may be difficult to implement: the ability to block specific people if we can't be bothered to read their inevitable diatribes or relentless, no value posting.
Either way, looking forward to see how the community evolves and thanks for those improvements already!
Seconded. Being able to block and mute would 10x the UX here.
Im a lowly sad “guest” after posting regularly for 10 years plus. Do I need to do like 28x posts a day to increase my status? Hahaha
I used to love the community forum back in the day. Was a great place to get some tricky answers. Back in maybe 2018 there was one guy who had 80% of the answers who was brilliant.
@ Mick -- Ah, the issue is you've been posting as a guest rather than as a member. If you register for an account then your activity will all count toward status. Hopefully the forum gets back to where it was before, and even better!
Ben, sounds like a lot of work ahead for you, if you actually intend to micromanage your comments. Huge fan of the "!! Yowzers!" button, even though I probably won't get to use it. I'd recommend an "Oof!" Button (for 'bad' takes). I fully expect to be wrongly "Reported" regularly, as it will inevitably be weaponized by those who merely disagree on topics, (not because they committed actually violations of T&S). I really don't mind...
Ben, sounds like a lot of work ahead for you, if you actually intend to micromanage your comments. Huge fan of the "!! Yowzers!" button, even though I probably won't get to use it. I'd recommend an "Oof!" Button (for 'bad' takes). I fully expect to be wrongly "Reported" regularly, as it will inevitably be weaponized by those who merely disagree on topics, (not because they committed actually violations of T&S). I really don't mind the ads; you are running a business, not a charity. That said, some of us don't want to set up more accounts anywhere; would rather just read your reviews, comment, engage with others (RESPECTFULLY), etc. All said, you are indeed the host/boss, here at least. You do you. And thank you for what you do do. (Bah!)
just register. It isn't that difficult and you certainly don't receive anything.
If all you want to do is read, then don't bother commenting. If you want to comment, then register which shows respect to OMAAT and to fellow participants.
!! Yowzers! Tim, I don’t want to take your prizes, sir. You’ve been at this way longer than I, and you deserve them, honestly. (Wait, is this just an elaborate honeypot? Not again… *destroys burner phone* … *throws hard drive in microwave* Mr. Robot-style. Great show, btw).
you clearly love anonymously showing up at every punch bowl and leaving your calling card as you walk away.
The rest of us operate differenly.
JUST
REGISTER.
Tim, I can’t even if I wanted to. ‘1990’ is ironically already taken. How can that even be?! Bah…
Besides, I can’t be bought-off with a mere $100 gift card. (Oh no, I’d better only say polite things about Boeing, a strong American company who’s executives certainly didn’t do anything wrong with MCAS, because I wouldn’t wanna jeopardize my beloved OMAAT status…)
Agreed. Since registering I’ve never once been spammed by Ben.
Cirrus, less worried about spam, but good to hear!
Love this update Ben! Looking forward to the future of OMAAT
And here I was just clicking on this article thinking it would be anohter devaluation, what a plesant surprise. Thank you, Ben!
you scared me a bit initially. When someone writes about airlines and says "these changes are universally positive" I expected something along the lines of
- Read your wAAy: for only $9.99 you will be able to pick the exact story you want to read. For other visitors a pre-chosen article will be conveniently loaded at the time of login
- based on readers feedback and to reduce the risk of Carpal tunnel...
you scared me a bit initially. When someone writes about airlines and says "these changes are universally positive" I expected something along the lines of
- Read your wAAy: for only $9.99 you will be able to pick the exact story you want to read. For other visitors a pre-chosen article will be conveniently loaded at the time of login
- based on readers feedback and to reduce the risk of Carpal tunnel syndrome, we will be pre-clicking on all video ads on the main page for you!
Glad you went against industry trends :-)
@ polarbear -- Hahaha, I understand the skepticism!
Which status level gets me early boarding and a free checked bag?
@ Anthony -- Hah, I'm more than happy to recommend a credit card. ;-)
I see what you did there, @ben!
Awarding status based on number of posts is like segment running for status in the olden days. It does not take into account the quality of the post. That is subjective, maybe the moderators or an AI agent can award points but in the end, its your website so whatever.
Yeah, this is the only thing that concerns me (we can all imagine who will top the chart for eternity). Other than that, I like these changes.
@ u600213 -- I hear you, and we tried to balance what was realistic to manage with what encourages "good" contributions. For example, this is why getting a comment "hearted" also earns you points, since it shows you're (hopefully) posting quality stuff.
u600213, if you read Ben's terms, he's set a "Limit" of 5 comments per day (so the most someone can earn that way is 5x), so quantity is somewhat limited. Technically, just like with cards, frequent flyer programs, etc., you could, technically, mathematically 'game' new his system. But, for what? An illusory promise of maybe a gift card. Ok. Whoever does whatever a 'reader story' (2500, then 1000 monthly) is basically 'wins.' The only unlimited...
u600213, if you read Ben's terms, he's set a "Limit" of 5 comments per day (so the most someone can earn that way is 5x), so quantity is somewhat limited. Technically, just like with cards, frequent flyer programs, etc., you could, technically, mathematically 'game' new his system. But, for what? An illusory promise of maybe a gift card. Ok. Whoever does whatever a 'reader story' (2500, then 1000 monthly) is basically 'wins.' The only unlimited thing is Answering a Community Question (what even are those?) Does no one here read the fine print anymore?
I like most of the changes but not sure I'm a fan of the engagement leaderboard. You have people like 1990 who feel the need to post on almost every article and every comment. This type of incessant posting with little substance will only get worse as people "compete" for the top spots on the leaderboard.
Came to say the same thing. Since 1990 started making up 30-50% of the comments section on each post, I rarely even click to load the comments anymore.
305, there are plenty of regulars—both guests and registered Diamond members—who comment on nearly every post. Making up wild percentages to attack other readers by name seems like a strange way to engage with a blog post, but you do you.
If you'd like to share which specific hot-take of mine actually upset you (you know, focus on the substance, not the username), I'd be happy to discuss it! (That might even be... 'Helpful'...)
(Also, only 30-50%? We can do better than that! C’mon! Let’s get those numbers up! Engagement! Stir the pot!)
It would be natural to have a cap on the number of points that lower effort actions could generate. But that doesn't seem to be in line with what they're looking for.
And to be clear, there does appear to be a cap on those points for prizes, but not the leaderboard.
The greatest irony here is a combination of 1) I don't even want to register; and 2) C-Tripper Guest isn't registered either. He's wasting double-digit Helpfuls! My word!
Agreed, on both a macro and micro level. Too many posts as it is. Thank God I have learned to ween myself off of Ben’s most habitual comment abusers. Also, Ben, I think you’re encouraging treadmilling - just like the hotels/airlines/ credit cards.
I absolutely agree with C-Tripper. OMAAT must be tripping if anyone here is led to believe that the top three for the leadership board wouldn’t most likely be TD, 1990, and DCS if he comes back from his selective self-ban of Ben’s blog. That is not being democratic or fair at all which goes against what Ben intends to do with this update.
Stanley C, if Ben were intending mere fairness, which may have both a subjective and objective component, this update is not that. No, this is an engagement-based change, designed to get the rest of you who do not comment more than once on occasion to start doing a 5x daily minimum. Instead of 'silencing' Tim or myself, the goal here is to bring more traffic to the site with a leaderboard and an illusory promise...
Stanley C, if Ben were intending mere fairness, which may have both a subjective and objective component, this update is not that. No, this is an engagement-based change, designed to get the rest of you who do not comment more than once on occasion to start doing a 5x daily minimum. Instead of 'silencing' Tim or myself, the goal here is to bring more traffic to the site with a leaderboard and an illusory promise of prizes. (Follow the underlying financial incentive, Diamond member...)
Oh man... These changes might have turned me from a lurker to a poster. No ads? Sign me up!
Appreciate the efforts Ben knowing this is how you make your living. Updates like this is one of the reasons I always tried to add in "omaat" at the end of every points and miles google related search I do even when not directly on your blog at any given moment. Make sure to give you some extra traffic.
@ Sinter -- That's so kind, thank you very much! :-)
Not just more traffic, but usually the best answer to a travel-related question!
When the first major OMAAT changes came through a few years ago, I used the username Endre to poke fun at the real Endre, the one who was always bragging about his self-funded trips. Wonder what ever happened to him. Anyhow, I know times are changing, but these new OMAAT engagement-farming tactics just aren’t for me. I also know this isn’t an airport and I don’t need to announce my departure, but hey, here I...
When the first major OMAAT changes came through a few years ago, I used the username Endre to poke fun at the real Endre, the one who was always bragging about his self-funded trips. Wonder what ever happened to him. Anyhow, I know times are changing, but these new OMAAT engagement-farming tactics just aren’t for me. I also know this isn’t an airport and I don’t need to announce my departure, but hey, here I am anyway. Wishing you all the best, but boy, I’m sure glad I never ran into some of you OMAAT users in real life. Endre signing off.
Goodbye, and many happy endings and landings.
Nice flounce!
In general, I'm very happy about the changes. Especially the better moderation and the 'help each other' section. I think it was about time some things happened. Would be nice if I would also stay logged in for longer than one day or so ;)
The thing I'm not a big fan of, is the guest posts. I'm all for people posting that have great stories, but unfortunately not everyone of us is a great...
In general, I'm very happy about the changes. Especially the better moderation and the 'help each other' section. I think it was about time some things happened. Would be nice if I would also stay logged in for longer than one day or so ;)
The thing I'm not a big fan of, is the guest posts. I'm all for people posting that have great stories, but unfortunately not everyone of us is a great writer. So I'd rather see a group of guest writers that have proven one way or the other that they can write well (and still it might not be my style) before they are posted on the home page. But at the same time, I might be proven wrong.
@ jorgje -- Thanks for the feedback! Regarding guest posts, I hear you. Just to clarify, these posts will appear in a separate "grid" underneath the area with posts written by me, so it's easy enough to ignore, if you're not interested. Regarding additional writers, it's definitely part of the long term plan (not to replace me, but to add more coverage of things). However, first we're trying to get through the rollout of this. :-)
Can you also improve moderation and proactively remove the openly racist comments that show up on some posts?
Love these changes.
For the Community Stories, will you have tools to check for AI generated stuff as part of the review process? Not sure how feasible that is, but would hate for someone to win a prize for a fake story.
@ mangoMan -- We do have some automatic filters in place, and on top of that, we don't plan to publish stuff that's clearly AI slop. So I'm with you. :-)
Thank you Ben for these improvements, I keep my fingers crossed for useful interactions. Are you envisioning the Community board to function similar to FlyerTalk ?
Will the current status shown in the comment section be eventually "downgraded" to the new criteria ?
I noticed that loading pages seems to be really slow today. The Community banner did not show up on my iPad (just in the pulldown menu). It is on the website.
I...
Thank you Ben for these improvements, I keep my fingers crossed for useful interactions. Are you envisioning the Community board to function similar to FlyerTalk ?
Will the current status shown in the comment section be eventually "downgraded" to the new criteria ?
I noticed that loading pages seems to be really slow today. The Community banner did not show up on my iPad (just in the pulldown menu). It is on the website.
I am looking forward to notifications to posts as well !
@ InternationalTraveler -- Thank you! Yes, I don't want to say it'll be exactly like FlyerTalk (since it's not broken down by forum in the same way), but the idea is that OMAAT has a big community, and this is hopefully a place where people feel comfortable having some banter, sharing ideas, etc.
The status currently shown is valid through the end of February 2027, and then status will be re-upped based on activity. Existing...
@ InternationalTraveler -- Thank you! Yes, I don't want to say it'll be exactly like FlyerTalk (since it's not broken down by forum in the same way), but the idea is that OMAAT has a big community, and this is hopefully a place where people feel comfortable having some banter, sharing ideas, etc.
The status currently shown is valid through the end of February 2027, and then status will be re-upped based on activity. Existing Diamond members will also get a substantial head start toward status, so as long as people stay engaged, it's unlikely status will drop.
Sorry about the speed issues, it's something we're looking into right now...
Appreciate you reading!
Yowzers
Good updates! Thanks!
How about a reward (valued between $10-$20) if we sign up for a credit card via your link (if there's a away to track)? You may be getting 10,000+ points so some kind of reward like a drink voucher, unique discount code, 1000 airline miles/2000 hotel points would be nice!
@ Trey -- We're definitely looking for more ways to incentivize things like that, so stay tuned. That specifically might be tricky, because there are a surprising number of restrictions associated with that, and also it can be hard to track. But I appreciate the feedback, and we're thinking about initiatives along those lines. :-)
have you considered a modest membership fee option? - like an annual subscription to help support the livelihoods of everyone involved in OMAAT ?
I guess it takes another Ben to continue the etymological usage of the exclamation of yowzers. Good luck with the changes! I guess I'll log in more.
Will there be a way to subscribe to an article's comments, and/or get notifications about replies to own comments?
It's a pity that there's no way to know whether I got a response somewhere, except for periodically checking them all.
I also noticed that posting comments currently takes forever (half a minute at least). I hope that's not a permanent issue with all the updates.
Great feedback. Getting notified for comments on specific posts will be released (very) soon!
Thanks for mentioning the speed issue. We're looking into that as well.
Ben,
All good changes.
The link on publishing rules took me back to a Jan 2025 set of rules.
- I hope we can enforce them. Less politics, more travel, more points (miles).
Look forward to seeing the changes in action.
Ill need to work out the buttons.
Thanks-
Steve
@ Steve K -- Thank you! The plan is to publish that again in the coming days. The good news is that the rules haven't changed, it's just that enforcement is actually happening now with a good system in place, so that this doesn't slip through the cracks, as it did in the past.
Computer viewers and commenters are wasting their lives , scoring self-clicked yowsers . Mount a mirror on the top of the computer and praise the image of the dumb one .
I really like these changes, especially the tier status!
Keep up the good work!
Great additions... Thanks for keeping the site fun and interesting!
Congrats! All seem like good enhancements without distracting from the core experience and best of luck.
This is going to be fun!
Nice revamp Ben. Are there any added points / status for using Ford services?
@ Marco -- Hah, fun idea, but hadn't thought of that! All for creativity, so if anyone has ideas in general about ways to make this more fun, feel free to sound off! :-)
Love these updates, Ben! I hope the changes keep the community engaged and growing, and help you to never feel burned out on your passion.
With Community posts, is there a plan to segment them into a separate RSS feed? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to keep fully subscribing to/being notified by your posts via RSS but may wish to treat others' differently depending on the quality and quantity.
@ GoAmtrak -- That's great feedback, we're working on figuring that out right now, so thanks for bringing it up. Totally get how some people might not want them in the standard RSS feed, so let me see what we can do. :-)
"We've just rolled out..." "What we're changing..."
Ben, who is "we"? Is it you and Ford, some unnamed employee(s) of yours, the "royal we"? Or are there multiple Bens in your head running this blog? :)
@ Miguel_R -- Great question about "we." First of all, I've had Howie on the team since 2019, and he handles a lot of our credit card stuff (the amount of work that happens on the back end with compliance, updates, etc., is massive).
Around the time that Tiffany left OMAAT to be Head of Flying Blue, Jeremy joined the team, focusing on growth, partnerships, etc. Basically, he's tasked with steering the business, in the...
@ Miguel_R -- Great question about "we." First of all, I've had Howie on the team since 2019, and he handles a lot of our credit card stuff (the amount of work that happens on the back end with compliance, updates, etc., is massive).
Around the time that Tiffany left OMAAT to be Head of Flying Blue, Jeremy joined the team, focusing on growth, partnerships, etc. Basically, he's tasked with steering the business, in the same way Tiffany was.
I'm grateful to work with smart people who can handle all the stuff on the back end, so that I can focus on writing, interacting with the community, etc. That's what I enjoy the most, and why I don't burn out.
Jeremy and Howie put a ton of work into this redesign, and Jeremy also came up with most of the ideas here, so I'm very grateful for what they've done. Even though he's not a huge points geek, he sure seems to understand how to build a good "loyalty program!"
Up until now, Jeremy has sort of been in the OMAAT "closet," since he has been working in the background to do a deep dive into the current situation, slowly tweak things, test out some stuff, etc. This is the first huge initiative we're rolling out, so it seems like a great time to formally introduce him.
While Jeremy has an interesting media background, what I appreciate most is that he sees the value in the OMAAT community, so as we try to grow things, that always needs to be the core focus. And I hope this rollout demonstrates that.
Feel free to tag him on any tech or other suggestions. So you can expect him to start responding to comments related to the site as well, because when it comes to technical suggestions, I'd otherwise really just be the middleman.
Wait, Tiffany is running Flying Blue, as in the frequent flyer program for AF/KLM?
Since the "Yowsers" button can mean anything the readers want it to mean, it could also mean "I hate you" as well, couldn't it?
Oh no, I suspect I may get some Yowsers on this one. :)
@ TravelinWilly -- It can indeed mean whatever you'd like it to mean. I think the main idea is "surprise" or "that's quite a take," but disagreement is also a fair reason to use the button.
I've gotten so many helpful tips on here. Happy to join in officially!
Love the new updates! This continues to improve the community experience here and why it’s a favorite travel blog for many!
this is cool as hell. being able to potentially profit with real life travel gift cards based on my excessive reading of this blog?!?! earning money for wasting time not doing my day job??? count me in
These are all really cool enhancements. Great work Ben.
Nice upgrade. Does current OMAAT Elite Status remain as is?
Also - You need to go back to FTU and Chicago Seminiars - there is a whole new group of young people (who don't know you) and they have set up community communications channels - like WhatsApp chat. Get updates from them everyday for FTU.
@ Randy -- Current status is valid through the end of February 2027, and then elite members can renew, along with a significant boost at the beginning of the year. So status won't be "lifetime," but for existing members it should be easy to requalify, thanks to that boost. Regarding in-person events, I hear you, and it's something I'm working on. :-)
May I suggest adding daily, weekly and monthly post limits for users? Maybe limit one post per user per story. There are prolific spammers in this community that mistake quantity of posts for quality.
The issue I see is that we often have discussions in the comments.
I was wondering what the Yowzers was for. [I think I already gave at least one Yowzers.]
Can we downvote comments we don't find helpful so others are less likely to see them? There are some truly unhinged people on here
Paging Tim Dunn! Tim Dunn to the white courtesy telephone!
...the WHITE courtesy telephone!
Really appreciate the investment in the blog, I know it’s been in the works for some time, looks great, nice job.
I love enforcement! LOL
Also, I have already used the yowzers button wrong. Thought it was more like "I'm shocked!" instead of the friendly version of "unhelpful"
@ hbilbao -- Sorry, it can he whatever you'd like it to be! Shocked, "wow, that's quite a take," etc., are all fair uses!
Yeah the exclamation marks look more like surprise instead of a negative thing.
@ mt_xing -- Honestly, that's more in line with what we intended, so I just updated it to read this way instead:
"Consider this to be a way to express surprise or shock, so that can be used to recognize hot takes, wild conclusions, etc."
Thanks to both of you for bringing that up!
I love all of these changes! I don't think I'll say that again about a loyalty program lol.
Looks to be very positive, Ben.
I trust it will all work well and make your site even more sought after.
pre-congrats on dominating the yowzers competition buddy
thanks for demonstrating your TDS, and it has nothing to do with the President.
Hopefully Ben will take care of unregisted people that contribute little to the conversation.
Oh, but Harold, now we get rewarded for playing off of him! What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
@ Tim Dunn -- Oh boy, which $100 airline or hotel gift card am I going to be sending you at the end of the month? :p
I have said before and will say again that I would be happy to just make my comments and let people respond if they want.
There is way too much TDS on here. which again has nothing to do with the President.
If you'd like to shower cards on me, I'll accept them but I'm perfectly happy to just contribute w/o fanfare one way or another.
Tim, there's a lot of relevant commentary on politics and policy affecting these industries. I'd argue it's the folks shouting "TDS!" that are actually not adding much to the conversation. Reasonable minds can differ. Respectful disagreement is healthy engagement. Silencing your opponents is not the answer.
You created the best loyalty program! Airlines should take notice!
Tiffany probably had a hand in it. :)
Longtime reader, but I'll make an account now!!
Side note, is it possible to sort search results by date published? Sometimes I try to find an article that I know you wrote recently but I'm not able to find it by searching
@ Ryan -- Thanks for reading, and happy to hear you'll now register! :-) At the moment it isn't, but it's something that's on our list. So thank you for the feedback, and sorry the option doesn't exist right now.
Hey Ben can you tell us what credit cards we can sign up for to receive our annual OMAAT EQP boost? ;)
@ Jonathan -- Hah!
Congrats on an innovative engagement system. You have built a tremendous community that will endure a long time!
"There’s one more point I’d like to emphasize — we’re really stepping up moderation of comments effective immediately"
awesome news
"awesome news"
Agreed. The amount of casual racist and antisemitic garbage here (most recently under the SWISS "Oy" headline) has been over the top.
Thank you, Willy, for calling it out when you see it.
This might be the first instance of "enhancements based on consumer feedback offering you more flexibility" that are actually positive.
@ VladG -- Hah, thank you, that's the goal! We learned from Carsten Spohr. ;-)
Waiting for the low-cost blog Euromaat then... ;)
...well, he's running a blog, not an airline or hotel...
Thanks! Registered and looking forward to seeing the new features in action.
I'd like to pre-congratulate 1990 on your win for most prolific
Hahah I thought the same thing. But his content is interesting so I don’t mind.
You're both very kind (Super, Mick), but I probably will not be registering, or receiving any gifts, as that would be a quick way to 'dox' myself. I really do value anonymity, even if I also enjoy engaging with you all here and elsewhere (and on the various topics that Ben covers). Truly, just here for the love of the game. "Respectfully."
Is 1990...Gary Leff?
Nope, I’m just a random person who cares about consumers and workers, and also enjoys traveling. Gary does come on here as himself sometimes.
I appreciate your contributions, 1990. So many commenters would just blindly shouting into a void and you're there to talk to them.
Testing, sorry.
TD will win hands down!. Just have Ben publish more articles about Delta, UA, AA and any airline on same airport as Delta.
Very creative way to incentivize folks!
I like it ! Great idea !
Love it! Thanks Ben!