We’ve just rolled out some major changes here at OMAAT, and I’m very excited about them. These changes are universally positive, and I hope that people enjoy them half as much as we’ve enjoyed putting this together. Nothing is changing for the worse, and hopefully a lot is changing for the better.
There are many aspects to this, with one common theme — community. We’re talking about everything from a new system whereby the most engaged users get fewer (or no) ads, the ability for members to submit their own stories that will appear on the front page of OMAAT, a new community forum, elite status with a gamification element (including prizes), and more.
Why We’re Making Changes to One Mile at a Time
I’ve written in the past about the state of miles & points blogging. The internet has changed massively over time, particularly in recent years, given the increased use of AI, the ways search engines have evolved, and the increasing shift to short-form video.
Just about anyone who makes a living publishing things online will tell you that the landscape has shifted drastically. That’s why we’ve also increasingly seen many sites update how they monetize things, with subscriptions and paywalls becoming increasingly common.
There’s no denying that using the internet has become increasingly less pleasant in terms of ads and constantly being asked to sign up for things. Nobody wants it to be that way, but it has kind of become a necessary evil.
That being said, we’re trying to take a different approach — can we make OMAAT more interesting, fun, and compelling than ever before? That’s the genuine intent with these changes, because what sets OMAAT apart from the more “corporate” sites is a stronger sense of community. We have an actual readership and don’t exist solely to get search engine traffic. There’s also a bit more personality here, and things can get spirited.
What We’re Changing at One Mile at a Time
If you scroll down the front page of OMAAT, you should notice some changes, which have all gone live within the past 24 hours. Before I talk about what’s changing, let me state what isn’t changing — well, basically everything you’re currently used to, including the content on the front page.
The initiatives below are all about building community, along with the new OMAAT video series, which will be launching in the coming weeks. You can find the pages for most of these changes in the new “Community” navigation at the top of the site.
OMAAT Community Rewards
Registered users at OMAAT have been able to earn “elite status” through posting activity for a long time, though there weren’t really any perks associated with it. It was intended to be a fun play on how points-and-miles enthusiasts are generally elite-status obsessed.
There are now meaningful updates to this with the new OMAAT Community Rewards concept:
- There are three elite tiers — Gold, Platinum, and Diamond — and the higher your elite status, the fewer ads you’ll see, with Diamond members getting virtually no ads
- You can earn elite status through community engagement, with activities earning anywhere from 20 to 2,500 points each
- There’s now a leaderboard with weekly and monthly stats, showing those who have earned the most points through being helpful, getting the most likes, having the hottest takes, and being the most prolific; your own profile page also shows your year-to-date and lifetime points
- Elite status is earned on an annual basis but is intentionally not too hard to achieve; status is based on the calendar year, is valid through the end of February of the following year, and existing elites get a head start toward status for the following year
- There will be direct prizes for certain activities (outlined on the rewards page), plus additional rewards planned for the most engaged long-term members
If you haven’t yet registered for a free OMAAT account, consider doing so, since you might as well be rewarded for the activity you engage in anyway.
OMAAT Community Stories
Those in the OMAAT community have a lot of their own stories to share, and I receive a countless number of messages from people asking if we accept guest posts or if I can cover their travel story. While I do this as much as I can, the ones that make it onto the site aren’t even the tip of the iceberg — there are only so many hours in the day.
So I figured it would be fun to democratize this a bit, which is why we’re introducing OMAAT Community Stories:
- Registered members can share their own stories in the form of blog posts, and they’ll appear on the front page of the blog in a similar grid to the stories I write
- The intent is to be flexible — you can share a travel experience (positive or negative), ask for feedback, write an op-ed about airline or hotel topics, share a great redemption deal, and more
- Posts must be at least 500 words (shorter content is better suited for the forums); you can also include up to five pictures
- There will be a manual review process to prevent spam, with a goal of publishing content within 24 hours; posts don’t have to be perfect, but should show genuine effort
- Members can engage on these posts the same way they engage on regular OMAAT posts
- Submitting a story that gets approved earns 2,500 bonus points toward OMAAT status, which immediately unlocks Gold status and reduced ads
- For the month of August, the most-read Community Stories post will earn a $500 travel gift card (your choice of airline or hotel), with prizes continuing going forward — submitting early gives more time for readers to find your post
You can submit your OMAAT Community Stories posts here. While I don’t want this section to become solely about grievances with airlines and hotels, that is a perfectly acceptable use of it — those are the most common types of reader emails I receive, and this is a great way to get some visibility on whatever went wrong with your travel situation.
OMAAT Community Help
On the home page you’ll now find a link to the OMAAT Community Help section. If you have a question about miles, points, travel, or related topics, that’s the place to ask. I will be engaging there as much as I can, and my hope is that the broader community will help out as well.
After submitting stories, answering questions in Community Help earns the most points toward status, with no limits — meaning it’s one of the fastest paths to a reduced or no-ad experience.
OMAAT Daily Discussion
On the home page you’ll also find a link to the OMAAT Daily Discussion thread. Every single day a new thread will go live where community members can chime in with whatever is on their minds — whether that’s travel news, deal alerts, trip reports, or anything else worth discussing.
These community features collectively represent a meaningful shift in how OMAAT operates, putting more tools and visibility in the hands of readers while rewarding the engagement that has always made this site feel different from the rest.
