vpFREE2 Forums

[vpFREE] NOT XVP - CoachVee Book

#1

In a general sense I am in agreement with A.P.

I downloaded the book, and read about half of it (rather quickly, as
I often do with this type of publication). I was of course, quite
curious.

As a Miles+Points blogger and one who along with my SO travel
globally (> 100K miles per year), I feel that I am in a position to
issue some critique. First off, I have nothing against the authors.
They provide some very interesting trip reports and commentary. There
are also a couple of "pearls of wisdom" in this book, most of which is
relatively common knowledge for those that travel frequently and are
in the travel blogosphere. I might even review it on my blog (or FB
page); since there are some interesting concepts (good and bad) to
discuss.

My take away, is that I've never seen people travel and have so much
angst. Travel is supposed to be fun and enjoyable; and while the
authors profess they "love the game" of getting things, it requires
that things go very wrong. I question anyone, who has so many things
go wrong; and some of the situations are directly caused by the
authors and a bit of DYKWIA mentality. Take, for example, the
situation of "nobody would help me store my bags in the overhead bin,
and I have a bad back." Well, logically, if you have a bad back, you
should not be carrying on any bags that you cannot lift into the
overhead bin. That's just common sense. Check ALL the heavy items,
and carry a very small and light bag on the plane.

As an aside, I also get a chuckle out of all of the economy class
travel. What's up with that? The Miles+Points game is easier than
the casino AP comp game. If you only travel a few times a year, you
should never be sitting in economy class, especially if you have any
flexibility. I find it humorous and shocking that people in these
parts who pick apart casino promotions and video poker returns can't
put in a very minor amount of time to learn to always be flying in
first or business class (and often for free). Yes, people, it's all
about credit card promotions. And, if you have good credit (which the
vast majority of the people here do), you could be "basically" flying
for free and in first class at least 1-2 times per year for very
little (or no) cost.

I guess, my main point, is that life is too short. When you go away,
you want to have positive stress-free experiences. Fighting and
arguing with hotel staff, airlines, escalating to management; that's
not a vacation to me. And, quite frankly, long-term it has to have an
impact on you mentally. Or, as I like to say, imagine if those
efforts were really put to something truly useful (and more
profitable).

Cheers, and happy travels!
-- Michael
@baccarat_guy
TravelZork http://www.travelzork.com/
TravelZork http://www.travelzork.com/ Miles + Points Loyalty Program Geek

View on www.travelzork.com http://www.travelzork.com/
Preview by Yahoo

---In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, <ehpee@...> wrote :

Mentioning a book is acceptable, flogging it is not.
It is admirable that the " posters for profit contingent " , stick
together and support each other.

A.P.

···

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: baccarat_guy@me.com
To: <vpFREE@yahoogroups.com>
Cc:
Date: 16 Nov 2014 04:01:16 -0800
Subject: Re: [vpFREE] NOT XVP - CoachVee Book

#2

Responding to Michael’s (baccarat guy) comments on Coach & Hedy’s book.

I may be wasting my time, since this forum is clearly where threads go to die. I think it’s a pisser that Michael’s post was re-routed here, since while I get the restriction on self-promotion, I didn’t think third-party commentary on a gambling related book was in any way outside the purview of vpFREE.

I enjoyed Michael’s observations … thought I’d add my own …

Bev and I know Coach & Hedy well from our AC play. We have true love for them, and took the opportunity to sail with them out of Venice a couple of years ago – they were delightful company and I hope to repeat the experience sometime.

That’s not to say that we see “eye to eye” with them on most things. They tend to aggressively seek out opportunities in cases where we’re inclined to merely “coax”. They’re much more willing to confront stress (even to the point of creating some on their own), seeing it as a modest price for what can be gained.

These are both viable life approaches; our choices merely being a little more stress-averse. I admire Coach & Hedy’s convictions and perseverance (even if, at times, we might demur an invitation to go along for ride :wink:

···

I imagine there are several audiences that might appreciate Coach & Hedy’s book. There are reasonably some who won’t be interested.

But the key premise, that there’s opportunity in adversity, is valuable. And I well might imagine that there are those who end up regularly missing/shunning such opportunity who might benefit from an immersion in Coach & Hedy’s universe for awhile.

#3

harry.porter wrote:

Responding to Michael's (baccarat guy) comments on Coach &
Hedy's book.

I may be wasting my time, since this forum is clearly where
threads go to die. I think it's a pisser that Michael's
post was re-routed here, since while I get the restriction
on self-promotion, I didn't think third-party commentary on
a gambling related book was in any way outside the purview
of vpFREE.

I agree.

However, it was shunted to FREEvpFREE because the thread
had been closed on vpFREE.

It is my general policy to shut down controversial threads
on vpFREE after the antagonists have had a chance to make
their points and the discussion is getting disruptive.

When this happens, I generally announce that the thread is
closed and moderate everyone for a day or so to enforce the
closure. All subsequent posts to the thread are either sent
to FREEvpFREE or I deal with them privately.

FWIW, personally, I can't recall ever having a problem with
anyone's promotional posts on vpFREE and would probably deal
with it privately if I did. I just use the delete key if
something doesn't interest me

vpFREE Administrator