[Exdiplocourier]

…..Maybe to just consolidate some of the replies here….. Transparency, Editorials in Exchange for Experiencing the product and for Advertising Revenue, Influencer, Googling the Passenger which may lead to an OTT service for said passenger….of course the ‘Elephant In The Room’ is our good old ‘Business Traveller’ magazine/online etc… do you all stop to ask how the editorial board take their freebies or massive Travel Agent discounts and of course the mag’s natural need for lucrative advertisers revenue from rich airlines hotel groups etc…
When did you all last see a really scathing, down at heel review from our generally good and readable BT ? Glass houses and all that…#Naff!!!
I’ve been a non subscriber and subscriber casually reading BT since the 80’s….and I’m still waiting for a ‘Michael Winner’ moment staring at me from the ‘Gushing’ rose tinted pages of our beloved BT…..are you ? Baa! Baa!

[canucklad]

I think the primary difference is that Tom, Sam and the rest of the BT journalists don’t threaten/blackmail establishments with bad reviews.
Plus, BT and its online version have to abide by the strict laws asssocited with established media advertising.
At the moment these laws do not impact social media. In short its the wild west of the advertising, or more accurately publicising world.

2 users thanked author for this post.

EU_Flyer, Montysaurus

[AnthonyDunn]

I must just be getting old or Ive never had the brazen effrontery or brass neck to “try it on” as these hucksters appear to have done. My estimation of CX and Swire Group has gone up a further notch or two.

4 users thanked author for this post.

cwoodward, AFlyingDutchman, capetonianm, Ahmad

[capetonianm]

The other side of this coin is that I was told I have been banned from a particular chain of hotels (NH Hotels) after a complaint to management about their refusal to honour the rate printed on my confirmation from their own central reservations system when I checked out. When I confronted the GM of the property in Madrid and said I would put this on TripAdvisor and a couple of other sites (they only seem to care about TA) I was told I was banned from the chain. Their loss, not mine.

A week after I’d checked out I received a very odd text telling me I had left a laptop in my room (I hadn’t) and they would send it back to me on payment of a courier fee. Clearly some kind of scam by a staff member but it might have been a ‘revenge’ attempt.

Earlier this year I stayed at a hotel at VIE airport which happened to be an NH, so clearly the ‘ban’ was an empty threat.

[Swissdiver]

[postquote quote=972187][/postquote]

I banned NH for all sorts of reasons, and even in Vienna, where they have a very strategic position with little if any competition around, I prefer to take the metro and go in the city centre.

[capetonianm]

We considered staying in town in VIE which would have been more pleasant but we had an early morning longhaul flight, neither of us is good at early morning starts, and I get nervous about missing flights if there is any transport to the airport involved. Instead we took a train into town, had early dinner, went to a baroque concert at the Karlskirche, and took the train back to the airport.

The NH looked like the best option at the airport and it was very good indeed. In contrast I have stayed at several of their properties in Madrid and they varied from shocking to mediocre.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Swissdiver

[Swissdiver]

Oh, there are then more than one NH in Vienna… I was making reference to the one on the island (“Danube City”), close to the UN buildings.

[simeoncox]

If you are able, watch an informative discussion on the subject of so-called influencers by advertising insiders at: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/gruen (season 11, episode 4, available only in AU).

[EU_Flyer]

[quote quote=972037]When did you all last see a really scathing, down at heel review from our generally good and readable BT ? Glass houses and all that…#Naff!!![/quote]

Surely it’s about balance? Any article or review that is purely and/or primarily scathing becomes un-appealing to me. Plus I don’t read BT or similar publications for any ‘expose’ on hotels, airlines or restaurants although thorny issues are often raised in the Letter to Editor section where the offending provider is also given the chance to respond. Sounds balanced to me.

1 user thanked author for this post.

AFlyingDutchman

[sarika78]

It is perplexing to witness an influencer risk their standing in favor of a business class upgrade request. Irrespective of one’s social media position, everyone should prioritize acting with dignity. It seems reasonable to ban someone.

{content}

[CathayLoyalist2]

Yet another member of the DYKWIA Club

1 user thanked author for this post.

TupeloKid

[PatJordan]

I have written some “scathing” reviews over the years, which BT has seen fit to publish. Some of these reviews have resulted in interesting exchanges with other posters, with mutual respect for others’ views being clear throughout.

Other regular posters have similarly been critical, which BT has published also.

So, I think it unfair to accuse BT of having rose tinted glasses. What attracted me to BT in the first instance was the editorial policy of being fair and impartial. This has continued since I first registered with BT…..over 24 years ago (where has the time gone??).

3 users thanked author for this post.

ASK1945, MartynSinclair, cwoodward

[Author]

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