Ray Manzarek, musician, radio and TV personality, and co-founder and keyboard player for the Doors, died Monday, May 20 in the town of Rosenheim, Germany, about 50 kilometers southeast of Munich, Germany.

1975 and the opening of my doors of perception.

In summer 1975 I was 15 and a child-man having experienced so many new perceptions after 18 months living around Mainz and Wiesbaden, West Germany in the Rheinland-Paltinate.

Mainz was established as a Roman fort city over 2,000 years ago.

Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain

And all the children are insane

All the children are insane

Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

The Doors – The End

Teenage Mediterranean  vacation mania

My family took a summer 1975 road trip from Mainz, Germany to Barcelona, Spain and then across the Mediterranean coastal beaches to Pisa, Italy in a used 1972 Volvo sedan my mechanic dad was always working on. And he towed a travel trailer pop-up tent behind the Volvo that two adults and two kids could comfortably sleep in. I really don’t recall how five of us squeezed into the trailer tent to sleep when my older sister came to Germany during her California summer college breaks.

At the age of 15 this trip seemed like it might be unendurable. Spring 1975 had provided months of new experiences with so many interesting people I had met, helping me open new doors to thoughts of the world around me. The thought of spending two weeks with my parents, all day and night, well…

I had gotten use to having the privacy of my own room at home. Eighteen months in Germany with my own bedroom had been the longest period in
my 15.5 year life to have a space of my own to relax and read and listen to music without my younger sister being a noisy child around me.

Two weeks on a road trip sitting in the back seat of a car would require a minimum of 1,500 pages of reading material to occupy a good three
hours a day when I could tune out and fantasize.  I packed the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy to keep me occupied on the long two-week car camping trip to France, Spain and Italy. I had read it a couple years before and I wanted a re-read to take my teenage angst thoughts into dreams far away from my high school friends.

Wiesbaden High School, a US Armed Forces school, is where some 1,500 teenagers from a large radius of communities attended high school in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1975. The girl who captivated my eyes from Day 1 of English class had finally connected with me by the end of the school year.

Hello, I love you

Won’t you tell me your name?

Hello, I love you

Let me jump in your game

The Doors – Hello, I Love You

She was Swiss American and lived in the hills north of the Rhein River, some fifty miles away from where I lived. The small Army helicopter base where I lived nearly two years was ten miles south of Mainz on the south side of the Rhein. Summertime meant a bridge too far for two 15-year olds to maintain a relationship through high school summer break.

European Vacation 1975

My parents were frequent road travelers in Europe.

Once, while living in Germany, I asked my mom,

“Everyone else I know has a house in the States. Why don’t we own a house?”

My mother responded by asking me,

“Do you know any other kids who travel around Europe as much as you do?”

I ran through my mental catalog of people I knew and I had to confess.

“No.”

She gave me back another reply saying something like,

“Would you rather we spend our money to keep a house we don’t live
in or do you want to travel?”

That was a no-brainer choice for me.

The Travel Music Bag

One of my travel bags was always filled with cassette tapes of music and I had a portable 8- inch high x 12-inch long x 3-inch wide cassette tape player. No belt strap for that piece of machinery. It was handheld or backpack material.

My 19-year-old sister, on summer vacation from University of California Santa Cruz, had brought a few dozen cassette recordings of rock albums with her to Germany. She was my conduit to music civilization. She had turned me on to early Rod Stewart, Laura Nyro, Bonnie Raitt, The Kinks, Yes, CSNY and in summer 1975, the Doors.

I think Lou Reed, an influential rock star for me at the time, is an artist I had found myself in 1975.

Jenny said, when she was just five years old
you know there’s nothin’ happening at all
Every time she put on the radio
there was nothin’ goin’ down at all
not at all
One fine mornin’, she puts on a New York station
and she couldn’t believe what she heard at all
She started dancin’ to that fine-fine-fine-fine music
ooohhh, her life was saved by rock ‘n’ roll
hey baby, rock ‘n’ roll

Lou Reed – Rock n’ Roll

Buying record albums or cassettes was expensive in Germany at the time and U.S. Armed Forces radio, even German radio, was virtually nonexistent for listening to rock music. That genre was not part of radio programming in 1975.

My good fortune is the Volvo had an 8-track player and my dad had a cassette tape adaptor for the 8-track player. The 8-track was already out of style in 1975 and I picked up a number of good rock albums on 8-track format in the dollar bargain bins at U.S. Army exchange stores in Germany. This was a time when regular vinyl albums were typically selling for $4 to $6.

My dad tolerated my 8-track tapes of John Lennon and Neil Young albums and gave me turns listening to my tapes when he was not listening to
musical soundtracks like Camelot and West Side Story and operas.

The summer 1975 Mediterranean vacation is most defined by my repeated listening of several Doors recordings on the beaches of Spain, France
and Italy. The Doors opened me to a new world of perception in 1975 .

Take a long holiday, let your children play

The Doors – Riders on the Storm

That trip took us to a mountain town in the French Alps where we camped surrounded by managed forest in a Heidi-like place. A week later we were on the beach in France where a baguette cost the equivalent of one U.S. penny, a liter of soda was 3 cents and a beach bonfire party across the road lasted most of the night.

This is the best part of the trip

This is the trip, the best part

I really like

What’d he say?

The Doors – The Soft Parade

The Doors’ use of words to create a dynamic fantasy with a musical soundtrack left an even deeper impression on me than reading Lord of the Rings on that trip through the French Alps and the Mediterranean beaches where we camped from Barcelona to Pisa, Italy.

Singer/poet Jim Morrison had already died four years earlier, July 3, 1971 in Paris.

My memories of 1975 sharing rainy days on Spanish beaches with the Doors is one where I was captivated by song lyrics, yet also turned on by the musical ingenuity compared to much of the rock music I had heard in the previous four years.

The second week of the 1975 European vacation was more socially engaging as a vacation experience when my sister, her boyfriend and I went to Rome without the parents.

But, that is another story.

Good-bye Ray.

Made the scene, week to week

Day to day, hour to hour

The gate is straight

Deep and wide

Break on through to the other side

The Doors – Break on Through

Ray Manzarek is the voice I personally associate with the Doors legacy. In many different cities and towns, on radios and on TVs over the intervening years since summer 1975, I caught Ray’s distinctive voice and listened to a man speak about life and music and spirituality as if he truly had a view through clean doors of perception.

Ray Manzarek’s life and his death meant something to me.

Successful hills are here to stay

Everything must be this way

Gentle streets where people play

Welcome to the soft parade

All our lives we sweat and save

Building for a shallow grave

The Doors – The Soft Parade

The article says 85% of Starwood’s luxury guests are Generation X and Generation Y wealthy travelers. These are the people who were born 1966-1976 Gen X, and 1977-1994 Gen Y.

Generation X and Generation Y are the two age groups that encompasses most of the BoardingArea bloggers, although a few of us are older Baby Boomers and there is even a Generation Z blogger or two who were born after 1994.

Generation X in the USA is also called the ‘lost generation’ since they were exposed to a much higher divorce rate and time in daycare than baby boomers. This cohort of 40 million or so is considered to be the generation of people who tuned out the news and politics. They had the lowest voter participation rate of any generational cohort. Yet, this is the best educated cohort with nearly 1 in 3 earning a college bachelor’s degree.

Generation Y is a cohort of 70 million in the USA born from 1977 to 1994. This generation is supposedly characterized by their immunity to advertising and marketing pitches. They are characterized by diversity and segmentation due to the expansion of cable TV, internet, and satellite radio during their lifetime. This cohort is less brand loyal.

In the USA the Generation X and Generation Y cohorts are less likely to become the millionaires and billionaires of tomorrow.

Starwood appears focused on its Asia properties for revamping and expanding luxury.

The new luxury hotel environment is geared for the tech savvy with personalization catered to the guest’s interests. One of the topics I frequently read articles about is using social media for data mining to build a personalized profile for hotel guests. This is a rapidly growing area in hotel and revenue management.

[Three bottles of Stella Artois and a fruit plate please! That makes this hotel traveler a happy guest upon arrival.]

Generation X and Generation Y are big on credit cards. This is another great source of data mining on personal spending habits and interests.

Melanie Nayer is a popular hotel industry columnist I read regularly.

Her Starwood luXurY trends article was focused on the Chinese traveler.

Do Generations X and Y in China have the same characteristics as Americans?

Chinese Gen X/Y traveler desires, according to Starwood Hotels:

• full-service urban hotel.
• breakfast option at hotel.
• dual sinks, shower and separate vanity make-up area to reduce congestion in the bathroom.
• in-room amenities like coffee/tea maker, WiFi and internet access.

That does not sound too demanding to me.

I like those same features in hotels.

My other primary request is an ice machine where I can cool the warm bottles of Stella Artois. Sometimes I just can’t squeeze enough beer bottles in between all the other items in the electronic mini-bar.

Earn 8,000 points after two qualifying stays from May 23 through August 31, 2013.

Choice Privileges promotion registration required prio to completion of first stay.

The offer is promoted as “Take Two Trips and Earn a $50 Gift Card.” What actually happens is after two stays the Choice Privileges members receives bonus points added to base points earned for the two paid stays to reach 8,000 total points. Generally there is a minimum bonus of 5,000 points for members who earn more than 3,000 base points from the two paid hotel stays ($300 to $600 in spend.)

All Choice Hotels properties globally are participating (except Nordic Choice countries which have their own separate loyalty program).

Trips must be a minimum of two consecutive nights at:

• Econo Lodge®,
• Rodeway Inn®,
• Suburban Extended Stay Hotel®, or
• MainStay Suites® hotels

$50 Gift Cards

The price to redeem points for a $50 Gift Card from a variety of merchants is reduced during this promotion to 8,000 points per card.

$50 Gift Card Options

U.S. Resident Options
Amazon.com
BP
Bahama Breeze
Chevron/Texaco
Chili’s
Exxon/Mobile
LongHorn
Macaroni Grill
Macy’s
Maggiano’s
Olive Garden
On The Border
Red Lobster
Seasons 52
Shell
Sunoco
Canada Resident Options
Canadian Tire
Esso
FutureShop
The Gap
Harvey’s
Kelsey’s
Milestones Restaurant
Montana’s Cookhouse
Petro Canada Gift Card
St- Hubert
Swiss Chalet

Take Paris rather than the gift card

The better redemption option, in my opinion, is saving points for international travel. Through June 30, 2013 there are dozens of hotels in Europe for 8,000 points per night in places like Paris and London where the published room rates are in the $200 per night range.

Great Paris value Choice Hotels 8,000 points reward nights (4-15-13)

*Terms and conditions: Member must register at ChoiceHotels.com before arrival and book their trips at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Member may also book through a travel agent or corporate online booking system. Choice Privileges member number must be provided upon check-in. After a second qualifying trip with arrival between 5/23/13 and 8/21/13, member will be awarded enough bonus points to reach the 8,000 point level, which can be redeemed until 11/1/13 for one (1) $50 gift card at defined retailers on ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard. Only members earning this bonus qualify to redeem for the $50 gift card. Only members that register for the promotion are eligible to earn the defined promotional gift cards during the promotion. Terms and conditions apply to $50 gift card options. See card for details. Choice Privileges Diamond and Platinum members who register and book through ChoiceHotels.com will receive an additional 100 Choice Privileges bonus points with every qualified trip during the promotional period. For Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites or Ascend Hotel Collection hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. For Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, or MainStay Suites hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is two (2) or more consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. Allow 72 hours from check-out for points to post. You must maintain an address in the U.S. (including U.S. territories) or Canada to be eligible for this promotion. For Choice Privileges program details, eligible rates, eligible countries and point redemption rules, visit choiceprivileges.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotional offer?
Choice Privileges® members will receive enough Choice Privileges points to redeem for a $50 gift card of their choice for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer after completing their second qualifying trip when booking at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE. Members must register at ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard in advance of their trip to be eligible.
What are the dates for the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotion?
This promotion applies for trips with arrival between May 23 and August 21, 2013.
Is registration required to participate in the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotion?
Yes. Choice Privileges members must register at ChoiceHotels.com before their first trip to earn an unlimited amount of gift cards during the promotion.
How is a “Trip” defined?
For Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, Cambria Suites® or Ascend Hotel Collection® hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs.  For Econo Lodge®, Rodeway Inn®, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel®, or MainStay Suites® hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is two (2) or more consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs.
Is there a booking requirement to be eligible for the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotion?
Yes. Trips must be booked at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE with arrival between May 23 and August 21, 2013.
Are bookings made through my mobile device on ChoiceHotels.com eligible for the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotion?
Yes, bookings made through your mobile device are eligible for this promotion.
As a corporate traveler, are bookings made through a travel agent or corporate booking system eligible for the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotion?
Yes, bookings made by Choice Privileges members through a travel agent or corporate booking systems are eligible for this promotion.
Is there a booking requirement for Elite Diamond and Elite Platinum Choice Privileges members?
Elite Diamond and Elite Platinum members can book directly with a hotel, however if they book through ChoiceHotels.com and are registered for the promotion, these members will receive 100 additional Choice Privileges points with every qualifying trip.
How do I redeem my Choice Privileges points for a $50 gift card for dining, shopping, or gas?
You can redeem your Choice Privileges points for a $50 gift card for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer only through your online profile at ChoiceHotels.com or by calling Choice Privileges Reservations. During this promotion, a $50 gift card for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer is discounted to an 8,000 Choice Privileges point level.
Can any guest earn a $50 gift card for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer?
Choice Privileges members must maintain an address in the U.S. (including U.S. territories) or Canada and register at ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard in advance of trip to be eligible for this promotion.  Only members earning this bonus qualify to redeem for a $50 gift card for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer.
Is there a deadline to redeem a $50 gift card for participating dining, shopping, or gas retailers?
Yes. Members have until November 1, 2013 to redeem their Choice Privileges bonus points for a $50 gift card for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer.
What are the participating retailers included in the “Two Stays Pays. Earn a $50 Gift Card.” promotion?
For U.S. resident members, the participating retailers includes: Amazon.com, BP, Bahama Breeze, Chevron/Texaco, Chili’s, Exxon/Mobil, LongHorn, Macaroni Grill, Macy’s, Maggiano’s, Olive Garden, On The Border, Red Lobster, Seasons 52, Shell, and Sunoco. 
For Canadian resident members, the participating merchants includes: Canadian Tire, Esso, FutureShop, The Gap, Harvey’s, Kelsey’s, Milestones Restaurants, Montana’s Cookhouse, Petro Canada Gift Card, St-Hubert, and Swiss Chalet.
How many times can I receive a $50 gift card bonus during the promotion?
Choice Privileges members can earn an unlimited amount of gift cards during the promotion. A $50 gift card bonus can be earned after completed each second qualifying trip with arrival between May 23 and August 21, 2013.
Can I use the Choice Privileges points earned any way I choose?
You may redeem the Choice Privileges points earned for any redemption option you wish, however during the promotion you can redeem your bonus points earned through November 1, 2013 for a $50 gift card for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer for 8,000 points.  You can use the points as soon as you receive them, or retain them until you accumulate enough points for higher reward levels or other redemptions.
Are international trips included in the promotion?
Yes.  All hotels included in the Choice Privileges program will count towards the promotion, as long as a qualifying trip is booked at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE.
When will the bonus points post to my account?
After completing your second qualifying trip, allow 72 hours from check-out for the bonus points to post to your Choice Privileges account.
When do my Choice Privileges points expire?
Choice Privileges points expire on December 31, two years after the year in which they were deposited into your account unless forfeited or canceled earlier due to membership inactivity or otherwise in accordance to these rules and regulations.
Who do I contact if I have further questions?
If you have further questions please contact Choice Customer Support.
Where can I learn more about the Choice Privileges program? 
To learn more about the Choice Privileges program visit choiceprivileges.com.
What is the Advanced Purchase Rate?
Advance Purchase Rate means that the reservation must be made on ChoiceHotels.com using your Choice Privileges number and must be made at least 7, 14, 21 or 30 days in advance, which will vary based on the hotel for which a reservation is being made. The rate starts at 15% off Best Available Rate, is non-cancellable, non-changeable and non-refundable. Your credit card will be charged for the total reservation amount within 24-48 hours of booking. Learn more.

Registration is required for this promotion offer.

Normally Best Western stays earn 250 miles for members choosing miles instead of points. This Aeroplan offer is 8x miles for 2,000 miles each stay.

Analysis

A sample Aeroplan one-way award booking on Air Canada for June 1, 2013 from San Francisco to Toronto shows up as 17,000 miles + $58.30.

I am going to Toronto next week and I have been following the airfare rates for a couple of months. In this example the 17,000 points save a minimum of $170 and as much as $300 with 17,000 miles, based on the rates I have seen over the past two months of $230 to $370 for a one-way ticket for this route.

Assume 2,000 miles will save about $20 to $30 in airfare cost for an economy class ticket and this is a good hotel stay rebate.

I stayed this past Tuesday night at Best Western Cedar City, Utah on a $54 rate. Unfortunately I did not know about this offer at the time.

I like this deal better than the current Best Western offer for a $50 gift card after three stays.

Best Western Aeroplan Terms & Conditions

Best Western Rewards® and Aeroplan® Summer Promotion 2013 

Terms and Conditions    Individuals who (a) have enrolled in the Best Western Rewards program; (b) have chosen  Aeroplan as their earning preference; and (c) have registered for the Aeroplan Summer  Promotion between May 13 , 2013, and August 31, 2013 (“Promotion Period”), will earn 1,750   Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in Canada,  the United States, or the Caribbean Islands during the Promotion Period* (the 1,750 bonus  miles is in addition to the 250 base miles, for a total of 2,000 Aeroplan Miles for each qualified  stay). Limit of 8,750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles during the Promotion Period.    BEST WESTERN  REWARDS ENROLLMENT , PROMOTION REGISTRATION, AND SELECTION OF AEROPLAN AS  EARNING PREFERENCE REQUIRED PRIOR TO THE FIRST QUALIFIED STAY.  Enrollment into the  program and registration for the Promotion can be completed at  www.bestwestern.com/appromo3.  

*A “qualified stay” for the purpose of this Promotion is defined as one or more consecutive  nights at the same Best Western branded hotel at a rate eligible for earning Aeroplan Miles   through Best Western Rewards. Only one check‐in/check out permitted per qualified stay.  Qualified stays which take place during the Promotion Period, but which have a check‐in or a  check‐out date that overlaps the beginning or the ending of the Promotion Period, will be  counted towards the Promotion.      Promotion may not be valid with other offers, promotions, or discounts. Promotion is subject to  cancellation or change without notice. Please allow 4 ‐ 6 weeks for Bonus Aeroplan Miles to  post after completed stay.     All Best Western Rewards Program rules apply.  Visit www.bestwesternrewards.com for  complete Program terms and conditions.    

BAcon provided a seminar on credit card affiliate marketing for the blogger as a revenue stream. The presentations were about as vague as bloggers are about their relationships with credit card affiliates.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

or

DISCLAIMER: Some links to credit cards and other products on this web site will earn an affiliate commission, and this web site has a financial relationship with several credit card-issuing banks. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the card issuer.

 

Basically any travel blog site with a disclaimer like this on the bottom of their page is participating in the credit card affiliate marketing program with some intermediary corporation who is the conduit between the banks and the bloggers.

The whole thing looks like a pyramid scheme to me, but several bloggers are making enough money to quit their day jobs and write about points and miles credit cards as the greatest innovation for (U.S.) travelers since the invention of air travel.

And maybe it is.

But I have a problem with award travel inflation rapidly increasing the cost of flights and nights within global frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. Billions of miles and points are issued and sold through credit card loyalty program relationships with the banks and these hotel and airline credit cards overwhelmingly cater to U.S. residents as the only travelers eligible for most of these credit cards.

So what does an approved credit card referral pay?

Apparently, the card payment to an affiliate marketer (i.e. travel blogger) is in the range of $80 to $200 per card. $80 being so low that part of the credit card referral payment probably went to another blogger higher up the food chain. $200 being the payout for a premium credit card.

Since I do not belong to any of these affiliate marketing programs, I have no contractual agreement to keep secrets from my readers on credit card payout rates.

However, I can’t tell you which bloggers let the fee out of the bag or they might have to silence me permanently. No telling what T&C are in those contracts about disclosure. They must be iron clad since it has taken a long time for me to get the details.

Coyote Jokes

I have been sitting on the fence for the past couple of years about credit cards. That is a lot of money to turn down for mostly passive work. Cranking out a credit card post and telling how great the bonus is for your travel and where you can go with those points and miles sounds like easy writing to me.

The one thing that bothered me about the whole credit card affiliate marketing scheme is the representative stated that your referral sign-up rate must be maintained and grow through your blog to be retained as an affiliate marketer of credit cards. That kind of explains to me why the posts on credit cards come so rapid fire whenever there is a new card bonus out there. To keep on keeping on the blogger has to pimp enough cards to keep the affiliate marketer paying for credit card sign-ups happy or risk losing the generous revenue stream.

The aspect of the affiliate marketing I learned is that I can’t simply put up some credit card links on a back page of Loyalty traveler for the major hotel loyalty programs and passively sit around receiving payments for approved credit card member applications. The affiliate marketing company wants to see growth in approved credit card referrals to be happy with the blogger partner.

In whose interest?

I also loved the comment made by the credit card affiliate marketing representative that blog posts about churning credit cards are frowned upon and may result in the blogger’s affiliate contract being terminated.

Really?

I guess I read more blog posts than the typical credit card affiliate marketing representative.

The Devil’s Tool

I don’t think credit cards are the devil’s tool. Credit cards are necessary for most travelers planning to fly on an airplane or stay at a hotel.

My prior impressions though were confirmed by a major bank credit card representative when he stated something to the effect that the bank will use travel bloggers to market their products as long as it is in the bank’s interest to do so. Once bloggers become a liability that relationship will be severed.

I firmly believe the central issue is the bank’s interest.

That interest serves you as the consumer as long as you can pay off your bill every month and rack up free travel points and miles. Avoid illness, divorce, unemployment and unanticipated major expenses and life will be fine with you and the bank issuer of your credit card. That relationship changes quickly once your less-than-full balance payments start accruing 18% interest or even higher.

Bottom line is credit card affiliate marketing has turned into a major revenue stream for travel bloggers.

That explains the frequent flash floods of credit card signup bonus posts every time a new credit card bonus offer appears.

I guess I should look over my email closely from the past week and see if I received any emails from the credit card affiliate managers who took my business cards last week.

Let’s chat.

I like the idea of making some money for nothing and taking my trips for free.

And I won’t be able to write anything about the business of credit card affiliate marketing once I ink that contract.

Club Carlson registration link.

Points & Cash nights are not eligible for this offer.

This is a good rebate for inexpensive properties under $100 per night. Club Carlson sells 10,000 points for $70 and I think that is a fair value to give this bonus.

Promotion Analysis

Assume a 2-night stay at a Country Inn for $80 per night room rate.

$160 will earn 3,200 base points + 1,000 points online booking bonus for base members. That is 14,200 points and nearly enough for a category 2 hotel night at 15,000 points.

Silver and Gold elite members earn 2,000 points online booking bonus.

• Silver elite earns 25% bonus points. This is $160 x 25 points/$1 for 4,000 points and 2,000 points online booking bonus. 16,000 total points for a $160 2-night stay with a rebate value of about $112.
• Gold elite earns 50% elite bonus for a total 16,800 points for a rebate value around $117.

I try to take advantage of promotions that offer more than 50% of the rate I am paying in a points rebate. Two low cost nights will earn sufficient points for a free night at a Category 2 hotel.

Club Carlson Visa card members are eligible for a free night on an award stay, so this offer can provide two free nights at a category 2 hotel with the points earned from an $80 per night hotel stay.

Now the question for me is whether I will have a need for a two-night stay in a place with a Club Carlson hotel during this promotion period from May 13 to July 21, 2013?

I rank this Club Carlson offer for 10,000 bonus points as the best current hotel promotion next to Marriott’s MegaBonus where two hotel stays earn a free Marriott Rewards category 1-4 or 1-5 hotel night, from May 15-September 2, 2013. The Marriott Rewards promotion is a high earner for one night hotel stays.

I like this Club Carlson promotion as the highest earning offer if you need a two-night hotel stay. And since Marriott Rewards ‘Unexpected Bonus’ offer is available through September 2 and capped at two or three free nights, then this Club Carlson offer is one to use for May, June and July travel.

Then, pick up the Marriott bonus with late-July and August travel.

Tunnel View parking lot is one of the most popular photography spots for views of Yosemite Valley.

Turkey vulture welcomed me to Yosemite Valley after hours in the high Sierra of Tioga Road where I was watched over by Raven, my guide animal for Utah and Death Valley. Seriously, ravens were the dominant wildlife feature in all the National Parks I visited. Turkey vultures are the birds I encounter commonly when hiking the Monterey County coastline of Big Sur.

Turkey vulture appeared as I first saw Yosemite Valley from Big Oak Flat Road while driving west through Yosemite National Park on Highway 120 from Tioga Pass, the highest trans-Sierra road at 9,945 feet.

Three main features of Yosemite Valley are seen in the Tunnel View photo with El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome.

Southwest face of El Capitan.

El Capitan is a vertical granite rock face rising 3,000 feet from the Yosemite Valley floor. El Cap is one of the great rock climbing venues of the world. There is the southwest face and southeast face with different climbing routes.

Bridalveil Fall plunges 617 feet to join the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.

Half Dome at 8,840 feet has a vertical granite rock face that rises 4,737 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor. The Native American Ahwahneechee name for Half Dome is Tis-sa-ack. This is another favored climbing location.

Bridalveil Fall is an easy walk of a couple hundred yards from the parking lot. The mist from Bridalveil Fall keeps the area quite wet at the base.

Tourists at base of Bridalveil Fall are usually sprayed with mist which is comforting on warm days and chilling on cool days. Yosemite Valley was about 70 F degrees on Friday, May 17, 2013. The mist was refreshing.

Cathedral Rocks are the large rocks seen on the south side of Yosemite Valley between Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome.

Yosemite Falls at 2,245 feet is the 20th highest measured waterfall in the world. Yosemite Falls actually has three sections with the upper falls plunging 1,430 feet. The Middle Cascades are a series of five plunges for a drop of 675 feet. Lower Falls is a 328 feet drop with a popular viewing location near Yosemite Lodge.

Upper Falls of Yosemite Falls being dispersed by wind.

I talked with a 20-something physically fit woman riding a bike through the valley. She said hiking the 3.5 mile trail to the Upper Falls is one of her great experiences in Yosemite. The combined plunges of Yosemite Falls makes this waterfall number 20 on the top 20 highest waterfalls in the world.

Yosemite Falls seen from the Valley floor meadow.

Completing the circle

Pulling myself away from the beauty of Yosemite Valley was a delayed reaction. Monterey was still a 200-mile, four hour drive to endure to reach the end of my 3,500 mile, 12-day road trip from Monterey to Colorado Springs for the Boarding Area conference (BAcon) and back again with stops in seven National Parks along the journey.

When the mountains call I must go to them.

But I always find my way back to the sea.

My view of the Santa Cruz Mountains looking north from my street in Monterey.

This desert journey through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Colorado took me to the mountains and deserts, then home to the sea of central coastal California once again.

Mount Dana (13,061 feet) on the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park is the second highest mountain in the park. There are trails from Tioga Pass Road to the summit of Mount Dana.

Some of the best pullout view spots are along the road in the 11 miles before reaching the Yosemite National Park Tioga Pass entrance gate. The vehicle entrance fee is $20. 

View from around 9,000 feet on Highway 120 east of Tioga Pass.

Tioga Pass Road seen climbing up the eastern Sierra mountainsides.

East of the Tioga Pass summit and Yosemite National Park east entrance gate are Tioga Lake (9,700 feet)and Ellery Lake (9,538 feet) with small campgrounds.

Tioga Lake (9,700 feet) is two miles east of Tioga Pass Yosemite entrance.

Tioga Pass (9,945 feet) east entrance to Yosemite National Park. The weather forecast showed 50 degrees as a high and 25 degrees as a low for Friday, May 17, 2013 with a 30% chance of snow showers.

Tioga Pass opened for seasonal vehicle traffic on May 11. 2013. Snowfall was far below normal for winter 2012-13 for the second year in a row after a heavy 2010-11 snow season.

From Tioga Pass gate the road levels out through Tuolumne Meadows. Within the first couple of miles of road I spotted two deer and some ground creature scurrying around in the grass covered sub-alpine meadow. They are not seen in this photograph of Tuolumne Meadows (8,619 feet).

Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park.

Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park.

Large boulders are deposited in different areas of the meadows. Trees grow around the rocks.

Tuolumne Meadows.

A couple miles west of Tuolumne Meadows is Tenaya Lake.

This looks like a natural infinity pool at the edge of Tenaya Lake.

Tenaya Lake is the largest lake in what is called Yosemite’s front-country.

The sun was intense and I lathered my face in sunscreen. Walking in the woods around Tenaya Lake reminded me of something I hardly experienced at the six other National Parks I visited in the previous two weeks. Mosquitoes gave me several bites around my head within minutes. Those bloodsuckers love me.

Chief Tenaya

Yosemite is a gorgeous place. The high country is dramatic scenery only surpassed by the lush splendor of Yosemite Valley and its tall waterfalls.

Not surprisingly, the Yosemite region was occupied by the Ahwahneechee tribe when the gold rush brought prospectors to the Yosemite Valley by 1850. Conflict between miners and Ahwahneechee resulted in the Mariposa Brigade forming to track, capture and relocate  local tribal people. The Mariposa Brigade entered Yosemite Valley in spring 1851 to capture and relocate the 200 or so members of the Ahwahneechee tribe to an Indian Reservation near Fresno. Chief Tenaya and part of the tribe went to the reservation while other tribe members joined other groups in the Mono and Paiute regional tribes. Chief Tenaya was allowed to return to Yosemite Valley, but after miners were killed in 1852, an army batallion was sent to Yosemite Valley. Chief Tenaya fled and took refuge in the Eastern Sierra  with Mono Paiute.

I‘ve read two different stories, but both versions tell Chief Tenaya was killed by the Mono tribe in 1853 for either a gambling or horse stealing fight.

Apparently, from my quick read of several online articles, there is a controversy over the accuracy of National Park Service historical information calling the Ahwahneechee people of Yosemite as members of the Miwok Indians when there are arguments they were Paiute and enemies of the Miwok.

• Yosemite – The Embattled Wilderness (National Park Service)
• A History of American Indians in California (National Park Service)

One of the interesting stories is the name Tenaya Lake was given by a non-Indian member of the Mariposa Brigade. Chief Tenaya’s response was the lake already had a name ‘Pie-we-ack’ or ‘Lake of the Shining Rocks’.

Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park.

Tioga Road is adjacent to Tenaya Lake and overuse of the lake area has been a concern in recent years resulting in the closure of the campground. Visitors are allowed to swim, fish and use non-motorized watercraft like a canoe or kayak on the lake.

Tenaya Lake seen from near Olmsted Point.

Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park

About one mile west of Tenaya Lake is Olmsted Point named in honor of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York’s Central Park. Olmsted was an early conservationist and helped popularize the movement to make Yosemite a National Park.

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant in 1864 and set the precedent for the federal government to protect land from development. Eight years later this precedent developed further in establishing Yellowstone National Park in 1872 as the first National Park. Yosemite Valley remained a California State Park until becoming a National Park in 1890. During these years a couple of legal cases involving the state’s right to invalidate homesteader’s claims to property within the park reached the U.S. Supreme Court which declared the homesteaders could be evicted.

Olmsted Point view of Clouds Rest (9,943 feet) rising above Yosemite Valley. Half Dome is seen in distance.

Half Dome (8,847 feet) seen from Olmsted Point through telephoto lens. The granite crest of Half Dome rises 4,737 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor.

Lone tree at Olmsted Point with Clouds Rest and Half Dome in background.

The rock face is cracked with deep grooves where some trees and shrubs and grasses take hold.

Life growing out of the cracks in the rock.

The scale of everything in Yosemite is grand. Boulders the size of cars litter the landscape.

Walking the sheer rock faces.

Hiking trails descend from Olmsted Point.

Tioga Road traverses about 40 miles of forest and takes an hour or more of driving to reach Yosemite Valley from Olmsted Point. The elevation drop is gradual from 8,300 feet to 4,000 feet.

Tuolumne River by Tioga Road.

May is one of the best times of the year to visit Yosemite and see waterfalls. The Yosemite Valley plunge waterfalls are the grandest and most popular sights, yet there are many other locations for smaller waterfalls along Tioga Road.

Waterfall seen from a bridge on Tioga Road.

The western slopes of the Sierra extend 30 to 50 miles west of the high Sierra to reach the grasslands of the foothills dotted with oaks. There are miles of forest land in the lower elevations of the Sierra at 3,000 to 6,000 feet.

Looking west to the lower Sierra. Fires are a natural part of the forest environment. Historically fire would have burned out sections of forest at greater frequency than in the past 150 years since park protection. There are areas of Yosemite with fire damage from recent years.

This section of forest a few miles east of Crane Flat above Tioga Road.

Crane Flat has a gas station which I used to add sufficient fuel to reach the central valley towns for cheaper gas. Crane Flat was charging $5.01 for gas. Eastern Sierra towns were around $4.50 per gallon. Valley towns like Merced were around $4.00.

After Crane Flat the road is called Big Oak Flat Road. The entire road distance from Tioga Pass to Yosemite Valley is 64 miles.

I spent four hours in this part of Yosemite National Park.

Half Dome seen from the west on Tioga Road-Big Oak Flat.

After driving an hour from Olmsted Point over more than 30 miles of road, Half Dome is now seen from the opposite direction while still on Tioga Road. There are still another ten miles of road to get down into Yosemite Valley.

Merced River  coming out of Yosemite Valley.

In the background of this picture is Bridalveil Fall.

A telephoto shot reveals more to the eye.

Bridalveil Fall (617 feet), Yosemite National Park.

A sight like Bridalveil Fall is a life memory.

Yosemite is art on nature’s canvas. The views are grand and spectacular.

Tioga Road offers access to a side of Yosemite National Park many visitors do not experience.

Yosemite Valley is the premier attraction for Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite Valley sights will be another post.

I woke up yesterday in Mammoth with stream of consciousness thoughts, wrote an ADD structured blog post and then apprehensively went to see if a bear or woolly mammoth had ransacked my car where I had left three day old chicken from Colorado sitting in the dry ice chest. Even the bears did not desire that buffalo sauce chicken from Beaver Creek.

The car was untouched and I immediately tossed the forgotten old food from the ice chest before starting the 33-mile drive to Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park.

Still skiing on Friday, May 17 at Mammoth Mountain. Some years skiing conditions last to July.

Four miles down the mountain to Mammoth Lakes Village and I was feeling sickly from lack of food and high altitude.

The night before I had seen a sign in the village advertising $4 breakfast.

Old New York Deli & Bakery, Mammoth Lakes, CA.

$4 breakfast consisted of two eggs, potatoes and toast. Food along with a $2 extra large coffee, brought my floating head sufficiently down to earth for driving 33 miles north through Long Valley to Mono Lake and then up Tioga Pass for the 59-mile drive through the high Sierra of Yosemite National Park.

Mammoth Lakes is a high altitude winter ski and summer adventure resort town at 7,880 feet in elevation. This is the place where athletes come for  endurance training.  The village is great for breakfast deals.

Mammoth Mountain (11,059 ft.) is located on the southwestern edge in the Long Valley caldera. This is one of the largest calderas on earth, about 20 miles east-west and 11 miles north-south, formed from a volcanic eruption some 760,000 years ago. The Mammoth Lakes area of the Eastern Sierra is still seismically active with major earthquake potential.

Mammoth Lakes, California.

The Eastern Sierra is a rugged and visually stunning landscape. Much of this mountain area is protected in three National Parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia.

The Eastern Sierra is difficult to access from coastal California most of the year when the few mountain passes are snow covered and even when plowed, often require snow chains. I have traveled this region only in summer before this current trip. I think the Eastern Sierra mountains are more visually stunning after most of the snow has gone and the barren rock faces are the dominant feature of the landscape.

View of Eastern Sierra from Highway 395 north of Mammoth Lakes, California.

Near Mono Lake are the Mono Craters, the youngest volcanic region in North America, created some 40,000 years ago.

Mono Craters south of Mono Lake.

The inside cover of Pink Floyd’s album Wish You Were Here featured ‘The Diver’ photograph taken at Mono Lake by photographer Storm Thorgerson who passed away one month ago on April 18, 2013. Storm designed many rock album covers for Pink Floyd and others like Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy,

Mono Lake, California

The Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here album art features the calcium carbonate tufa spires of Mono Lake. I was just five miles from the South Tufa area where the limestone spires can be seen, but Yosemite was foremost on my mind and getting through the high mountains was my priority before storm clouds forecast for later in the day.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve will be a journey for another day.

Tioga Pass is the highest paved road mountain pass across the Sierra Nevada in California at 9,945 feet. The pass generally opens in mid-May and opened May 11 for the 2013 season.

California State Route 120 is the road I drove from Benton to Mono Lake with the five miles of dips.

The entire 59-mile section of Highway 120 through Yosemite National Park is called Tioga Pass.

Much of the Tioga Pass road through Yosemite National Park is at 8,000 feet or higher in elevation with scenic views of sheer cliffs, large boulders, meadows and lakes. 

California Highway 120 west looking up to the high Sierra of Yosemite National Park.

Next up Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park.

Over the past few years a common occurrence happens when points and miles bloggers meet me. People generally tell me that I am nothing like they expected from reading my blog.

There were about 45 bloggers at the Boarding Area conference in Colorado Springs last weekend. I spent time talking with about 15 of the bloggers.

I am horrible at small talk, mingling and working a room.

Tell stories and I’ll be hanging with you for hours. Hang with me and I’ll tell you stories for hours.

Rude Awakening

I had met only a few of the BoardingArea bloggers at two events in the past. I was a presenter at FrugalTravelGuy’s 2010 conference in Chicago. I cancelled out on the October 2011 conference in February 2011 while suffering a fever in Washington, D.C. and I have never been asked to speak at any other Points & Miles events.

I do not go to MegaDo, FTU, the Freddies and all the conference gatherings. My experience with these conferences has been most of the conversation is about someone’s latest credit card acquisition and shopping miles score rather than stories of the personal travel adventures coming out of those deals. People tend to talk about places they have been without telling much about the places and the people they meet there.

My blog is where most people meet me and apparently that is not a sufficiently revealing source of information to provide a picture of who I am and where I came from.

These comments or something very similar were said to me over the three BAcon days:

• You know how you imagine someone will be and when you meet them you realize they are completely different. (I’m not sure if that was a positive or negative reaction. I think it was positive at BAcon, although at other conferences I think it was meant negatively.)
• From your blog I thought you were much older; like 75 or something. (I am 53).
• You have a much more interesting personality than comes through on your blog. You should share more of your stories.
• You  should share more of your personal stories on your blog. (I know I just said this in the previous bullet, however, this was told to me by several people.)
• You are an odd duck among the BoardingArea bloggers.
• You really are a hippie. (Not really. I tried to be, and I lived around many hippies, but I have always been more of a solitary soul than a communal participant. That is why I am so happy living life as Loyalty Traveler blogger these days.)
• What’s up with that creepy hot tub photo on your blog?  (This sentiment was expressed by several bloggers.  That is why I addressed the hot tub photo issue in its own post this week.)

Oral Fixations

I like to hear travel stories. I like to tell travel stories.

The question I ask myself frequently as I write Loyalty Traveler blog posts is “How much of my personal history should I share in my posts?”

It is hard to know when a story from my past 53 years is relevant and interesting to readers or if it comes off as a narcissistic distraction.

So I am thinking of trying something like “Story Friday” on Loyalty Traveler where I share a travel story from my past. Since I am not good at following routines, the story will likely appear any day of the week.

To start I think I should give readers three broad spectrum posts to share my parent-guided travel years (1-15), my self-guided travel years (16-34) and my domestic and international travel years (34-48) up to the time I started writing Loyalty Traveler.

The Story Inside

My family are storytellers. We grew up in an oral tradition and much of that was due to frequent moving during the years when my father was in the army.

Can you see the real me?

I have lived in Monterey for the past ten years and I was born about seven miles from where I currently live. I met my wife Kelley at the Monterey Peninsula Junior College in a room about ten minutes walk from where we live. Until 2001, I never lived in the same place for more than four years.

Growing up I changed schools 12 times in 11 years from kindergarten to my last year of high school. I stayed at Seaside High for less than one year before leaving home during my junior year on a cross-country Greyhound bus to see the U.S. My parents were not the problem I was fleeing. I had wanderlust and school was too depressing a place to be hanging out for another year.

For the next few years I blew like a tumbleweed or dandelion from place to place living on the beaches of Oahu and Kauai, deserts of Nevada and the woods of Vermont. Some days I ‘d simply walk out to the road and put my thumb out to see where I would end up at the end of the day. I love the outdoors and I quickly tire of cities and crowds of people.

Rock and roll music gave me life. I am not a musician, just a listener. Before starting Loyalty Traveler my favorite job was nine months I worked in a record store when I was 19. I am a bit of a musicologist and most of the live concerts I have seen in my life were the result of winning rock trivia contests. If you want to talk Classic Rock, I am a good resource. Readers might notice I often use rock lyrics in my blog posts.

This post is not a travel story. This is just an opener.

Until another Story Friday.

Update May 18, 2013: Yesterday was a day spent in Yosemite where I had to tell myself for 90 minutes to put the camera down and get laser focused on driving home before dark. While making the 4-hour drive from Yosemite Valley to Monterey, I realized I forgot to add that the BAcon conference was the best travel-blogging-as-a-business conference I have attended yet. This post made that major omission and likely left some readers with the wrong impression of BAcon.

There were 45 bloggers at BAcon and many memorable travel stories to hear from bloggers who travel for business and leisure. I know I’ll be reading more travel bloggers regularly after last weekend.

Randy Petersen and the team excelled at the conference organization.