Going Overboard

I go overboard. This happens for many reasons, but often it’s about trying to prove points to people. We all do this. In my case, it’s not just on MileNerd, but throughout my life…

  • In business, I’m too concerned with not seeming pushy. Honestly, that has hurt people (myself and others). There are certain times when people need to be pushed a little.
  • Socially, I can focus too much on being an entertainer. It’s such a big part of my nature, but needing to always entertain the whole group has cost me with individuals.
  • With money, I’m way too eager to prove it’s not my focus. Money is important, and I should pay more attention to it than I do.

What about here on the blog? Well, I go overboard showing you guys how I’m real…honest…always looking out for your best interests. I’ve been doing this for years now and you guys get it. I’m not like most other bloggers. I have integrity. I actually care about you guys. It’s not even a debate at this point. So, yeah, I need to be more open to making some money here. And I shouldn’t worry so much about complimenting a business. Not all companies are ruthless and scammy. The one I’m thinking of specifically is RocketMiles. I recently posted a promo I thought was amazing. It turned out that it was fine, but not spectacular. So, as I’ve done many times, I made a point about this company. I told you how they are good people, but didn’t really “sell” them for fear of the reasons above. Well, I think this is a case of me going overboard. In my effort to “be honest,” I didn’t really give them enough of a chance. I went too far in the other direction. So, I’d like to share a conversation I had with Jay from RocketMiles over the last week. He opened my mind a little bit, and I thought it would only be fair to post it here:
Jay:
Morning Paul,
Writing to ask if you might want to join us in some April Fools Day fun… Ice Hotel (earn 10,000 miles), Palace of Versailles (15,000), Pink “Dream House” (5,000), Tokyo Batvan (15,000).  Link through it to a more simple “next purchase” bonus. Thoughts?

MileNerd
Hey Jay, you know I think you guys are awesome. And I appreciate that you value my opinions. So here’s what I tend to think. To be really honest, I think your promos have been pretty clever, but the actual deals don’t ever seem to do much for me. I can only speak for myself, but I still haven’t seen anything that would motivate me to make a booking with RocketMiles. Yet. I’m definitely looking to do it, but I can’t say that it’s in the forefront of my thoughts when I think of somewhere to earn miles, find deals, etc. Wow, that sounds harsher in writing than it would if I said it out loud. But I like to be honest with you guys. Let me know how this one works and I’ll take a look as always. Nice to hear from you!

Jay
First, our April Fools campaign is going to be more “fun” than “valuable”, but I’ll let John fill you in on the details once the email is ready to send. Second, we always appreciate the open and honest dialogue.  Our goal is to completely shake people from the doldrums of complicated, minuscule offers, so will take this as a personal challenge to win your first booking.  Let me suggest two things:  (1) Where do you book hotels today? and (2) Can you let me know if you have travel coming up, ideally to a big city, so that we can do a head-to-head comparison?

MileNerd
Thanks Jay. Yeah, I got that it was a fun promo, so I guess my point is more of an overall observation. My next hotel booking is in New Orleans. Renaissance Pere Marquette for a night ($60 as a Priceline bid) and the Roosevelt for 2 nights (Hilton points). If I’m paying for a stay, I usually use codes or bid on Priceline. The price difference is usually pretty significant from RocketMiles every time I’ve checked. Considering I don’t value any airline mile at more than 1.5 cent/mile, the math just hasn’t worked for me yet. But I’m definitely open to making that first booking if I can find the right deal.



Jay
Allright, here were the search results for New Orleans for those dates (attached).

Pere Marquette
$60 on Priceline bid, otherwise ~$139 on regular OTA

Rocket, let’s take the Place d’Arms French Quarter
$149, refundable
5000 miles

Benefits of a Rocket booking:

  • Roughly at parity on price:  $149 – 5000 * $0.015 = $74
  • In event that your plans change, it’s refundable. 
  • Our concierges will pickup the phone or respond to your emails
  • More interesting hotel in a more interesting location.  (beignets at Cafe du Monde within 2 blocks for breakfast)
  • Your time is valuable; Rocket checkout is 3 clicks. Let’s say all the bidding takes 20m –> 20m * ($90 / hour opportunity cost of your time) = $30
  • Your first booking would be made with a 3000 first purchase bonus.

You could imagine that the comparison is a no-brainer if guests otherwise typically book via OTAs like Expedia. The Priceline comparison requires some mathematical gymnastics, but is still compelling in some circumstances. Fire away….



MileNerd
Hmm…fine points there! You ok with me using some of that side-by-side in a future blog post? I’m willing to go to more lengths for a deal than most people (obviously) but you actually got through to me on this one. I see why someone would use RocketMiles now. Bumping up the miles a little and lowering the price a bit would make it almost a no-brainer. No other response from me this time. Other than the fact that I think it’s limiting to search by a specific mileage program. Someone like me collects all miles and would prefer to see all hotels in all programs at once. All in all, you kind of schooled me on that one!

Jay
Pretty sure there was no schooling involved….

The truth is that, if someone is (1) willing to put up with the hassle of Priceline or Hotwire and (2) cares more about cash than points, we might not always be the best solution.  It typically takes some calculations to figure it out and we aren’t really designed to compete with those guys.  

On the other hand, for folks that would have otherwise bought on Expedia, Booking, Orbitz or a corporate travel agency, I think that Rocket is a no-brainer.

Side x Side comparison?
Of course, definitely OK with this stuff in a blog post.

Lowering the price?
Our business model and our relationship with the hotels requires us to be “at parity” on price with the market rates.  Part of the reason we can offer so many miles is that the hotels generate demand without public discounting, which makes them happy.  I wish we could do something there, but at least users will know that they are paying same as other online travel agencies, at least those not named Hotwire or Priceline.

We appreciate the dialogue, so please keep sending feedback!

—————–End of conversation—————–

Alright, I’m back. I think you guys can see why I shared the conversation. Besides the incredible customer service, my mind was actually changed as far as the product. Jay made some great points and backed it up with a lot of specifics. More importantly, it made me think about how I was unfair in my efforts to be fair. Hope that makes sense. And hopefully this was worth posting. MileNerd out!