I hope you had a great trip. My family and I enjoyed teaching a year in American Somoa and a three day visit to Western Samoa. We then settled in the Bay area and ran into relatives of my students for years. Beautiful places and PEOPLE.

If you find any cool Rarotongan Razor Blades bring them back and we can trade (be sure to check, no carry ons!) next time you are in Seattle or I am in Portland!

Travel on!

I am based in India have to believe the folks like you than the brochures and Travel agents .. Wish the New Zealand tourism can offer the 360 degree viewing of those exotic places like we get to see in India . See http://www.view360.in/ and how we can feel the Wow and be excited before reaching..

Any plans to come India.. I am in Hyderabad .. Please do get connected via email at rk@dhanvada.com and the phone +91 9440179822 . Will tell you how to lose the way and discover in the place in a perspective never ever before..

RK Dhanvada

I was reading recently about new regulations for credit cards, and the possibility of reduced rewards/miles on applying. I’ve been thinking about doing your FF mile challenge (I already have loads of miles, but could always use more), and am interested in what you think about the future of air travel for those of us who have relied heavily on FF miles for travel.

Have a great time in the Cook Islands!

But the last year I asked, I was told I received a press pass, but when I picked it up, the envelope contained a “film only” pass which prevented me from attending some of the private parties and social gatherings. I asked about it and the people said they didn’t know. When I approached one of the organizers, they told me it was the new policy for “bloggers”. I knew of one other person who identified themself as a “blogger” and I don’t know what kind of pass they got.

Anyhow, I do two things “wrong” as it relates to the press passes. First, I don’t review movies beforehand and write teasers to get people to go — I list what I’m interested in seeing (in the calendar portion of my site) and write about what I saw afterward. Second, I critique the festival itself in addition to the films — for instance, I brought up a point about how the scheduling prevented an attendee from viewing many pairs of movies because the end-time of the earlier and start-time of the later overlapped.

This is clearly speculation on my part, but I think it’s grounded in logic outside my own bias (“look at me I’m a dangerous blogger” blah blah blah). Press passes are used as a way to get the event promoted. From a business perspective, a press pass should pay for itself many times over: by using the advertising budget to offset the cost, the number of attendees to the festival should increase enough to cover that cost. In my case, the direct effect of my website was less than that cost.

This year, I didn’t even ask for a pass, instead purchasing one at a discount from the local PBS auction. I had felt the pressure of bias and I wanted to remove that pressure.

What I took away from that, I guess, is to understand what I’m getting and why. Air New Zealand will never simply tell you what they hope to achieve by offering you this, but — if you want — you can deduce what their motives are. It’s important for me to understand this when I’m in that kind of situation, but for others, not so much. I feel very uncomfortable in a situation where I’m getting a better (or worse) deal than I think I should, I am confident that my deal is unusual, I am confident that the party I’m dealing with has reason for that aberration, and that party refuses to disclose their motivation for the aberration.

So, I’d be uncomfortable if Air New Zeland said you’re getting a free ticket because you were selected at random. I think their motive is that you will find your flight so pleasant that you will write about them in a favorable light. Or that the Cook Islands tourism people paid for it. If it were me, I’d feel better if I knew.

I’ll be curious to see your emotional reaction to that facet of the trip afterward and in the future.

That said, I won’t be in the Cook Islands ’til August, so I look forward to hearing more about your experiences…especially the food. Travel safe!