Travel Website - IgoUgo.com

[Timeshare Von]

For those who are not familar with www.igougo.com, you may want to check them out. It is an amateur travel site with the majority of content (reviews, journals and photos) submitted by regular travels like you and me. I have found them to be very helpful when looking for input from other travelers on hotels, restaurants, activities and tours. Real info by real people . . . no commercialism at all.

One of the best aspects of the site is that contributors can earn "reward points" which can be cashed in for gift certificates on a number of online vendors, including Amazon.com. I have used my earned points to buy a lot of the travel books and camera equipment in support of my travel habit. I think in the two years that I've been submitting content to them, I've earned $600 in Amazon gift certificates . . . maybe more.

If you enjoy writing and telling others about your travel, you may want to look them up! At the very least, you should be aware of them and the resources they provide to travelers looking for honest information on travel destinations and services.

 

[chellej]

I used to post there but quit when they sold to RCI (Which RCI has since dropped). I was a bit annoyed that they culd just sell my reviews & profit from them. IGOUGO is the same as TUG, once you post, the website owns the copyright. I am all for helping other individuals but for someone else to profit from it I think is wrong.

JMHO

 

[drgary]

Way To Go!!!!!!!!!

Hi Timeshare Von,

I visited your travel writings at: http://www.igougo.com/planning/journ...GuideID=347099

I am so impressed. You put a lot of effort into your travel reporting and I now have a totally different interest in learning more about igougo.com.

Also, I have created a website that is free at: www.travelbesttips.com (it may interest you).

Any suggestions that you might have would be appreciated.

Making the internet travel friendly and helping one another find good values and interesting comment......that's my passion.

drgary
www.travelbesttips.com

Again, my compliments for a job well done.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Chell . . . I understand your frustration with the issues of copyright. I don't like that they might use my photos for their own purposes so my really good ones, I have placed a (c) bug with my name to protect and maintain my ownership, which they have acknowledged to me in writing. As for their selling content, that is partially how they make their money, which I don't find much fault in. I figure I've done alright in receiving the award points and gift certificates to somehow compensate me in a small way. What I do find offensive is that they apparently do not even acknowledge the original author when they do publish material, with attribution to their own editorial staff. I didn't realize that IgoUgo was "sold to" RCI. I thought RCI Community was one of their partner sites, which subsequently chose to no longer support. I think IgoUgo is now part of the Travelocity family. They also share content with a site called RoughGuides.com.

DrGary . . . thanks for the complement. I write because I enjoy it . . . and appreciate the gift certificates for Amazon.com. Several of the "guides" (what they call their contributors) have become increasingly frustrated with the technical glitches of the site, along with some really badly administered programs. Frankly, for that reason, I often have a love-hate relationship with IgoUgo.com. But the bottom line is that they are providing a free service to the traveling public and have very good information available on many locations, hotels, restaurants, tours and other services.

 

[PStreet1]

I, too, quit writing for them when RCI bought it. Maybe I'll take another look. I'm also interested in the Amazon.com gift certificates; when I was doing it, that wasn't part of the deal. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[azsunluvr]

I've been posting journals for several years on igougo. Knowing I'll be writing a journal helps me to look deeper into my surroundings so that I might find a gem to write about. I also take more creative photos knowing I"ll be posting them.

I'm azsunluvr there also, so look me up! I'm heading over there now to check out Timeshare Von's stuff!