Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

HfP had 1 million page views in January …. which is a bit spooky, actually

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If someone had told me three and a half years ago when I started HfP that I would eventually reach the giddy heights of 1 million page views per month, I’m not sure I would have believed them.

However, last month, we did it.

1,022,000 page views to be precise, of which 80% came from UK readers.

This represents 199,000 unique visitors – although a single person accessing the site from multiple devices counts as multiple unique visitors, so the actual number is lower than that.

Alexa now ranks HfP as the 1,500th biggest website in the UK.

HFP

This is a very abstract number, of course.  When I write, it is just me and a laptop.

There are now almost 3,800 articles on the site, of which I have written 99.5%.  My plan for 2016 is bring my contribution down to 97% (nothing like setting a big goal for yourself …..), primarily through letting Anika spread out from Shopper Points to pick up some of the hotel and lounge reviews and general travel pieces.  Don’t worry, she knows what she’s talking about.

There may be a few other organisational changes as well, although I am not yet fully clear how it will go.  The current situation is probably not sustainable – I get 700 emails per week, for example, which continues 24/7 whatever I am doing and wherever I am.  I even got 29 HfP emails on Christmas Day last year.

I also need to spend more time out and about meeting the airline and hotel marketing and programme heads.  That would drive bigger competitions, exclusive news stories and higher value advertising, but it is not possible with the current workload.  Let’s see how it goes.

Thank you to everyone who reads Head for Points for your support – even if you read it via the daily emails and so didn’t contribute to the 1 million page views 🙂

Of course, as January is always busy due to the post-Christmas booking frenzy, February is only 29 days, March contains Easter which is always quiet and April is only 30 days, I may not be hitting 1 million page views again for some time.

Comments (68)

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  • Thomas says:

    Rob, huge congratulations and it echos what a great website and community you have created! Many thanks for all your articles with invaluable hints, tips, and tricks of the trade! Lets add another 0 to that access log 🙂

    Many thanks and all the best
    Thomas

  • Keith says:

    -Thank you from Hawaii that cost £1000 biz return and got lots of Avios
    -Thank you from Copenhagen where you helped me discover the delights of Qatar’s biz Dreamliner to Asia for not more than the cost of economy out of LHR
    -Thank you from Orlando (here now) where I can get here and back via Dublin in Business for £700
    All the above helps me look better with the Mrs as she LOVES turning left on the plane!
    -So thank you for that too!

  • Fenny says:

    Congtratulations, Rob. And yet another thank you for your replies, email responses and CC referrals.

    • Lawro says:

      Congratulations on such impressive figures Rob!

      I can only echo what others have said above, and again greatly appreciate the responses to comments during the day and quick responses to emails!
      Many thanks

  • Anon says:

    Rob, HfP is one in a million, congrats!!

    Glad to be part of the exclusive 0.5% other authors club!

  • Steve Blower says:

    I remember the days gone by, where we would meet up at FT events, and even then, you had this idea…..
    Look where it is now!
    We certainly would not be flying as much, up the front generally, for as little as we pay, and for as many avios, united miles, AA miles, and racking up Hilton IHG Starwood elite status, and Avianca, and Alitalia….
    You are singularly responsible for my champagne consumption, and I thank you most sincerely.

  • Gin and Tonic Please says:

    Massive congrats, Rob! I only got into the miles/points game 18 or so on this ago through reading your blog and getting my (first) Amex Plat referral. I’ve never looked back since. THANK YOU!!

  • Gavin says:

    Hi Rob, like everyone else I love the blog.

    A lot has happened since I started collecting points 7 months ago… for me the real difference has been the ability to keep a long distance relationship alive via the avios / points I’ve earnt since starting to collect without bankrupting myself.

  • Talay says:

    A belated congratulations on hitting such a milestone.

    Like many, the conversion of a required spend into something of value via any scheme is a huge incentive to me. I remember back to when Amex first gave us Centurion and a free BA Amex and we just put it in a drawer, never once figuring that it had value. Today, everything which can goes on BA Amex. If only availability was there to actually use the gazillions of points we have now accumulated !

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