I’m about to start another trip report and I’d really appreciate your feedback on how I should go about it.
Back at the end of August it looked like American was going to start adding fuel surcharges onto all partner awards (where the partner charged those on paid tickets).
It turns out to have been a system glitch, compounded by a vaguely worded memo talking about changes to certain revenue tickets, and then mistakenly confirmed by American’s twitter team. Oops.
But during the few hours that this was going on I decided to book an award ticket, to get in under the wire and burn some miles and presumably save myself some money on fuel surcharges in the process.
I booked Cathay Pacific first class New York – Hong Kong and return, and then added in some flights around it so that I would have:
- Washington National – New York JFK, American Eagle first class
New York JFK – Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific first class
Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City, Cathay Pacific business class
Siem Reap – Hong Kong, Dragonair business class
Hong Kong – New York JFK, Cathay Pacific first class
New York JFK – Washington National, American Eagle first class
The cost of the award was 160,000 American Airlines miles and $65.50 in taxes.
I left it like that for a few months, not certain I’d even take the trip and especially when it turned out that it wasn’t the ‘last shot to redeem without fuel surcharges’. But I decided to make the trip.
- I purchased Ho Chi Minh City – Danang, where I booked the Hyatt Regency Danang.
- And I purchased Danang – Siem Reap, where I booked the Park Hyatt Siem Reap.
- I also booked Hong Kong airport to Macau by ferry, where I wound up on points at the Sheraton during Chinese New Year. And I returned by ferry (walk-up) to Hong Kong, where I stayed at the Grand Hyatt.
- Throughout I had some great local experiences worth reporting on, a second visit to Pho Hoa on Pasteur Street in Saigon, a second meal at Fernando’s in Macau, walking around the temples in Siem Reap, two Michelin three star meals in Hong Kong – including Bo Innovation, a home for Chinese molecular gastronomy.
Here’s where I need your help.
- I think I should do a full trip report. Back in May I went to Singapore and Bali, and flew Singapore first class. I didn’t do a traditional, chronological report. Instead I separately reported on a few lounges (Singapore’s Private Room, Premier Lounge in Bali, Singapore’s lounge in Hong Kong, and their lounge in San Francisco), on the Grand Hyatt Singapore and on the world’s most over-the-top hotel breakfast, an overall take on Singapore first class after four straight flights, and an Introduction to Singapore Hawker Centers.
At the time I received a whole bunch of feedback expressing a preference to pull it all together in a trip report, so that readers can ‘come along with me’.
Would you want to read this trip report? or should I write just a few posts on the things that stood out most, and not part of a larger trip discussion?
- I think I should truncate the posts. One of the comments I received during the report on my recent trip to Chennai, India in Etihad’s first class was that the reports are really long and readers have to scroll down pretty far to get past them to the next post on the blog.
There’s an easy way to fix this, I can put some of the content ‘above the fold’ and then folks who want can click to see and read the full post.
I’ve generally resisted this because it felt like a technique to generate clicks, I know that I hate reading an article and having to scroll through page after page. But one extra click for trip section may be more helpful than annoying. What’s your preference?
- How long is too long for the report?
This was a two week trip, with Cathay Pacific long haul first class segments, regional business class on Cathay as well as Dragonair, a Vietnam Airlines domestic flight and a turboprop from Vietnam to Cambodia. There’s the ferry between Hong Kong and Macao.
Lounge visits around the world, including the Wing and the Pier in Hong Kong — the former having been renovated, the latter with a temporary roped-off first class section.
There were several hotels — two Park Hyatts, the lovely Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, a Hyatt resort in Vietnam I haven’t read much online about, and an airport overnight in New York.
And the food… I know food reports are a polarizing subject, but there were some amazing meals at both the high and low end, some people like to read about them and others find them useful as they make decisions about what to do on their own trips.
Add in some sightseeing, and this could easily be a 23-segment trip report. So I ask again, how long is too long?
Your feedback, and any other suggestions, would be much appreciated!
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1 and 2 I agree with you. 3 – skip the restaurants and sightseeing – at least don’t do detailed write ups of them. That’s not the primary reason most people (like me) read you.
“How long is too long?” from the king of verbose. 🙂 Is that a rhetorical question?
Write it all and I will print and read it on my next SFO-SYD flight.
I agree with Chris, focus on the flights and hotels
1&2&3 (and 3 only insofar as the food experience could be characterized as “incredible”)
Obviously I come with a biased perspective, but while I do think it is possible for a trip report to be too long…(bathrooms in Paris part 74.1), I think that people interested in going to the cities you visited appreciate being able to read some details beyond what the hotel lounge looked like.
Of course, there will be those who think activities and restaurants don’t belong on the blog, and those who think trip reports are too sterile and boring if they don’t go beyond the hotels and airplanes.
I say write it like you normally do and as always people can pick and choose. 😉
I am interested in the truncated response though!
23 parts? That’s all? 😉
I fully appreciated your report of Etihad and value your sightseeing and restaurant recommendations. Therefore I would prefer a full, detailed trip report, which could be broken down into segments. I realize you have a core readership of ultra frequent business travelers whose primary interest is, and will remain, the utilization of miles/points, hotel and airline reviews. However, I think your full trip reports broaden your readership and provide valuable insights for those of us who travel mostly for pleasure.
The funny thing is – people will tell you to do this and do that, yet they will read what you provide and in the way you provide it – that’s why you have a loyal following. People gain knowledge from you based on reading your reports in detail and if they don’t think it’s for them, I’m sure they skip over it. Enjoy what you write and I’m sure other will to. And if I do offer my $.02, yes to 1 and 2! And yes to your food and cultural excursions. It’s not just about the flights!
I want arrows and pictures of your wife……………………….Just kidding. Honestly do it how you want, if people have issue with spinning the wheel on their mouse a few extra times, well I feel sorry for them.
Yes to all! But for me personally, I anxious to read about Hong Kong (and the Grand Hyatt) because I will be there at the beginning of March!
Please do not truncate! I use an RSS reader (feedly) to view blogs, and I truly hate when I have to click through to finish reading!
Every blogger has his own style but I appreciate how Ben does a short trip report highlighting different legs of his trips followed by a separate detailed report later
Post it all! I don’t think it’d be too long based on your other trip reports I’ve read. If you want to see too long, just check out MMS Italy. Painful. Please don’t do that.
I personally love the food reports, but maybe just put all the destinations in one post so others can skip it?
Thanks for asking!
I, for one, appreciate at least a summary post of the sights you see and the food you eat, along with information about getting around on the ground in the different places. I find this to be some of the most valuable information that can really make or break a trip if you have the right knowledge at your disposal before you arrive.
On a few of my recent trips, I have started to do food tours and each time they have been highlights of cities I have stopped in. You meet up with a local guide and a few other travelers and the local takes you around to experience things I know I would have never found on my own. You are probably paying 3x the actually cost of the food (most of which is not at all fancy), but I have found the experience to be much more memorable and valuable than the cost.
I know some might just really enjoy the actual travel of getting to a crazy destination or being pampered in a hotel, as do I, but what is the point of going if you can’t take in a new culture and some new experiences? As much as I love Lucky’s trip reports, for example, and wish he would invite me along, I can’t help but scratch my head as he brags about filling up on hors d’ouevres at the club lounge rather than eating something more local, especially if you are going for pleasure rather than business and are not on a tight schedule.
Very interested in local sites & food – this is what is missing from most trip reports.
Any glaring differences between Cathay first class flights and your previous ones could be worth a mention.
I will still read it however you end up constructing it.
Post each report as to the destination then return from destination, include whatever stopovers in each leg, and make the “things to do” in each city a separate post. Besides your readers appreciating the details, trip reports drive traffic to your website.
Really enjoy your reports especially details about flights and hotels. But part of the reason we travel is that we get to experience the culture and the memories – which consist of some fantastic restaurants. I often think about a fantastic meal in Siem Reap or the amazing mezze at a restaurant in Istanbul as part of that learning. In short a blended approach with highlights of restaurants you fall for because just as I select an airline based on your experience, it’s also neat to know what’s happening around your destination.
I really respect your cultural and, especially, your food reporting and would like to see more of it. You and the other bloggers have reported on most of the premium carriers/classes multiple times and I, personally, don’t need to read about CX First again unless it has changed substantially.
Gary,
Not that I mind it, but basically every BoardingArea Blogger, FTer has reviewed CX’s longhaul F/J, the lounges and short haul regional. If you could summarize the differences over your last trip in one big post that would be better. I think the local experiences (Hawker Markets and South Indian food) are better content. If it gets too big I dont mind clicking through though.
I enjoy your trip reports immensely as they are.
Please don’t truncate posts – this is not compatible with RSS and makes reading multiple posts at once more difficult.
A paragraph above the fold.
I am a fan of the long, detailed Trip Reports. It’s not like anyone is required to read the whole thing. I like to hear your recap of the flights, lounges, hotels AND the restaurants and sites. Give it all to me… I can skim what I am not interested in, but more importantly, when I plan a trip to Siem Riep, I have your TR as a giude then.
There’s no such thing as too long…
If you have to skip one thing, skip the sights and focus on flights, hotels, and restaurants
all of it please
I think a short version with click-through to the detailed reports would be best. That way, people can rad what they are most interested in and skip the rest.
I for one would love to read the food and sight reviews – they are what really differentiates countries and cultures. I couldn’t imagine visiting Asia over and over, without ever seeing Angkor Wat or trying street food!
Gary, I’d prefer that you put use the “above the fold” method in your trip reports. I don’t like having to scroll past an entire lengthy post to get to the next one.
Gary — responses to your questions:
1. I doubt I’m alone in benefiting from your trip reports. I click through what doesn’t pertain to my interests/plans/situation – no problem. I like being able to obtain your comments all in one place for each trip.
But having said that, I urge you to glean from the full trip report the really notable observations/experiences you had — flights/airlines, airports/lounges, hotels, restaurants — limited topics you anticipate will be of special interest to some and of interest to others who may not want or have time to wade through your entire trip reports, and blog on them individually. A trip like the HK/Southeast Asia trip you reference undoubtedly has material for many worthwhile single-topic blogs.
In general, with regard to flights and airline service, or hotels, if you’ve blogged about them previously (for example, CX F class), I’m guessing the majority of your readers would be fine with your hitting just the especially noteworthy features that stood out to you, concentrating on anything that’s changed since you last blogged about it.
2. I like your idea of putting what you think is the most significant material of a trip report “above the fold” and requiring a click to the remainder. I hope you’ll give that a try. Clicking through material that isn’t of great interest, for whatever reason, isn’t a major imposition.
3. How long is too long? Especially if you logically organize your reports, regardless of their length, and break them up with headings and subheadings, I don’t think you could submit one that’s too long. If in this way you help your readers find what interests them and skip over what doesn’t, the only limit I think should apply is how much time and energy you’re willing/able to invest in them. I anticipate continuing to find them interesting and helpful and to appreciate their availability.
I love a cohesive traditional trip report. Truncated or not, all in one day or spread over a week, I look forward to reading about your trip!
1
We do not need a full trip report of every aspect – We have seen Cathay and anyone who wants can read Lucky as well for the pictures.
The planning posts are way more useful
2
Do not truncate but break it down into segments
3
Throw it all in – I mean the ones without Cathay F pictures
The rest of the stuff has quite useful info
Often I find the slightly out of the way parts are more interesting.
The part about eating in Chennai was more useful than the pictures of the rooms at the Park Hyatt
I’m actually less interested in reading a tenth review of CX first (even though it’s lovely) so I’d prefer if you kept those parts short, save for anything interesting, and focus on the hotels (at least the ones in more “interesting” places) and definitely please cover the restaurants!
Please keep the restaurant, site, people aspects of the posts. If anything needs to go, it can be the photographs of hotel rooms, etc. You’re one of the few bloggers who has anything interesting to say beyond measuring the square footage of his hotel room and keeping a count of how many times the staff refers to you by name.
If you feel this would annoy too many people who only want to know about hotels and flights, consider making separate posts with the actual interesting bits for those of us who want them.
I would definitely vote for truncated posts on the front page and a “read more” link.
Also, a small thing, but if a click on the XX Comments message at the bottom of the front page article could take you to the actual comments, rather than the top of article page, that would be nice.
Gary, please do not truncate. I will be going on a similar trip in November and would love to hear about several of the places you visited. Especially the part in Da Nang and a Siem Reap. I will be staying at the Park Hyatt in Da Nang and would love to hear your trip report on that as well as the food and you’re touring experiences.did you check out the Le Meridan in Siem Reap and then choose the Park Hyatt?
I would also be interested in hearing how you arranged your Visas for Vietnam and Cambodia.
How you booked the flights in detail please!
Agree with others that there is no such thing as too much detail!
And how did you get that HKG stopover with a standard AA award?
@CW – whoops, fixed a mistake in the text, 160k miles 🙂
Full length report, please.
I don’t notice having to scroll a lot, mainly because I arrive to your posts via direct links from your RSS feed. I can imagine that people who stop by the home page would get tired of scrolling and would appreciate a “fold.”
Most people probably come for flight and hotel reviews. I, for one, would appreciate at least the names of the restaurants and a de minimus thumbs-up, thumbs-down.
I’m voting for a Lucky style set up. Multiple segments: Planning, miles and points. Lounge and flights. Transport to hotel, and hotel rooms and service. Meals and sightseeing. Folded so the next time I’m looking for a past post, I don’t have to scroll, and scroll and scroll to get past it all.
The longer the better. 🙂
I love the trip reports as you’ve always done them. Long, full of detail, useful, helpful, lots of photos. Don’t change a thing!
POST ALL YOU HAVE. I also went to Pho Hoa for a second time visit during my last trip on UA miles for Southeast Asia destinations. The best Pho I have had for years and I love the country for its great foods. If have time, I will post my trip report on Flyertalk.
Include the food, high end/low end.
I love the detail. That’s why I read your posts!!! No need to truncate; give me the details. If folks don’t like it, they can scroll over. And adding the click through is fine too.
I specifically like the food reports. In fact I reread one today on thai food as we are going to Elephant Jumps tomorrow.
And I also agree that the way lucky organizes is nice.
Thank you again for all of your work!
Only thing I feel strongly on either way is to definitely keep the food and activities in your reports…always enjoy those.
Do a full report but keep the sightseeing and restaurants really basic.
I agree with mommypoints. I like the idea of a medium to short introduction with the ability to click if the details are wanted or needed. If you separated it all into different reports one could get a lot of details or less, as desired.
@Jeff W – at Elephant Jumps, order off the authentic Thai menu even though most things on both are very good. The Hung Lay Curry can’t be missed. If you can stand it, ask about the Durian Sticky Rice for dessert. But everything is good…
Keep it thorough. Gary, you have innate good taste in deciding what’s just enough. You’re the most elegant & concise writer in this corner of the blogging world. Don’t doubt yourself.
Keep the food & general destination reviews coming. How many of the other boys (Ben, Seth, Daraius) take cooking classes while traveling? You can critique with more authority. Please keep up the good work!
Definitely above the gold with a click through. Break up the subjects so if someone doesn’t want to read food or Cathay f, they don’t have to but can still read what they want. Keep the local content (food, sights) – I’ve used them, bot just read them.
And thank-you!!
Gary,
I want it all. Food and everything.
I think 20 something on posts one one trip is too much, but a long varied trip could probably support 10. Part of what I know I like and looks like a lot ofthers in these comments is takes on activites, sights, cultureal experiences, and food. Reading only about flights and hotels doesn’t gove a person a good feel for what its like to actually be there, and those other topics do.
Thank you for your posts!
You miss the opportunity to book Intercontenental Danag, cant express all of in words, check it out, if you can try it.