Monday, August 17, 2015

The awful truth about TripAdvisor.com reviewer points

I enjoy sharing my experiences and one of my favorite outlets is writing online reviews.

When it comes to reviewing products on Amazon.com, I’ve written reviews of 352 books, movies, and other products. I currently rank 8,118th in the Amazon pantheon of reviewers. They noticed my zeal for reviewing stuff a few years ago and invited me to join their Vine Program under which they offer me books and other products to read or use and review.

Likewise, I have attained the lofty status of a Level 6 Senior Reviewer on TripAdvisor.com, with reviews of 98 hotels, motels, restaurants and attractions all over the United States.

And according to the TripAdvisor.com tally, I have earned 11,603 points.

I’ve been watching the points pile up lately since I got home from my recent trips to Billings, Mont. and Las Vegas with several places to write about.

I’ve been wondering what the points are good for. Free lodging, meals?

The TripAdvisor web site makes no mention of the value of points or if they can be redeemed. Finally, I found the answer in the TripAdvisor contributors’ forum.

They’re not worth a damned thing. Completely useless. Nobody seems to know why the site compiles them.

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