We rant away today after a weekend full of crap blog posts selling away the “hobby”. Your credit is their most important asset!
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Frequent Traveler University FTU seminar in Chicago was this past weekend. More are scheduled to DC and San Diego and even Amsterdam! Same speakers and most likely same topics. Reader on twitter said that it looks like a “fan boy circle jerk”. What is next, autograph sessions for $5 per autograph? I guess if there is demand and people willing to pay a fee to learn how to travel for free…Before someone jumps up to remind me why I am going to the Mile Madness/#WestCoastDO meeting in Phoenix in November I am doing it for the social aspects alone and to get away from my family for a weekend to keep my sanity lol.
More on FTU. The DC meeting is different. And MUCH MUCH bigger. They are rolling together somehow the newbie targeting session ($149 fee!) AND the Advanced session ($249 fee!) and, sit down please, an EXPO by USA Today! Is it just me or are the ticket prices higher every time? I bet the sponsors are paying even more money too? I thought that this FTU organization was non profit doing it all to educate frequent flyers? Or something like that. Whatever. Tickets will also be sold at USA Today, full details on that are sketchy at press time. Hmmm, what the hell is going on here with this USA Today angle, they are even bringing three “sponsored” speakers! Like I said, same speakers with same topics going over what they usually blog about. They are aiming at over 600 attendees (total?) and View from the Wing is calling it the biggest Frequent Flyer Event ever. Who are we kidding that this is about frequent flying anymore? This is about frequently applying for my credit cards event! I do not like this over the top commercialism of my dear hobby. Actually, it makes me sick to my stomach. What also makes me kind of sick is seeing several bloggers in my Blogs I Like list in the same speaker line up and even doing presentations together with the bloggers in my Blogs I Ignore list. To me this shows you approve of such blogging sell sell sell practices. YOU are contributing to this madness. And that makes TBB sad —-> sadface. When I find some downtime I need to work on my lists again. #readintoitwhatyouwill #DoNotBeaTool!
The other shocker was this post by Chris Elliott asking his readers whether to join Boarding Area. Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Doctor of Credit tweeted this which I found interesting: “Aint nothing but clickbait, Elliott is an excellent marketer and a terrible advocate.”. Which explains why Delta Points voted yes (Delta Points once sponsored something on Chris Elliott sometime ago, I think it was the email newsletter or something). If he goes there, I bet he won’t be as critical of loyalty programs and them “rabid” people. Or he may turn into a “____ credit card is my favorite”. I did not vote in his tool poll and I agree with the Doc on this one.
Signs You Fly Too Much: Haircut Edition – One Mile at a Time [Ok, is it just me? What’s up with “I need to get my hairs did.” What? Is this just some type of young Z generation language or something? I thought the post was ridiculous, read like the Chronicles of Getting my Hair Cut in some lounge with champagne. Different strokes for different folks. So many airheads in this space (pun intended). I guess I am out of fashion having my hair cut by June since 1986 for $13 bucks lol.
2 Cards Get You 7 Nights Hotel & Almost the Southwest Companion Pass! – Million Mile Secrets [Hmmm, I think I have seen this in some other places online. Commenter leaving back link says “Great hack”. &$%#]
The following two posts were posted with in a minute of each other as they were in my Feedly TOGETHER. Enough said. Priorities. Hey, you guys repeat the same stuff, you are probably fighting over the same readers for credit card conversions too! Do you compare conversion ratios and stuff or are you prohibited about discussing this information with fellow credit card salesmen too? Just wondering out loud. See you on another post full of your credit card links real soon. Nobody has picked up my idea on “Top 5 Cards When You Have Diarrhea!” I hear it’s a guaranteed weener!
Credit Cards With The Best Annual Spending Bonuses – One More Credit Card One More Time
The Five Cards That Give Your Spending the Most Leverage – View from the Wing
Is Pursuing Points and Miles Worth It? – Frugal Travel Guy [Let me ponder about this for a fraction of a second and go out on a limb here you guys. Yes?]
Which Card Will You Sign Up For Next? – Frugal CreditCard Guy [Since it is at FTG, let us consult our commission schedule and check with our affiliate manager to see what pays US the most and then we will find a reason to slide in our links and sound like we know what we are talking about. Our readers fall for stuff you just won’t believe, its’ a riot!]
Since I Met Minimum Spends I Carry Three Cards – Milevalue [How low can you go to sell the same darn credit cards? Apparently, the answer always is: Lower!]
An 18,000+ point Delta Mileage Run: Alaska Boardroom LAX vs Delta Skyclub & flight from LAX home – Delta Points [I got excited for the end of this trip report but then…I got depressed when I realized there is one more part with “final thoughts”. Oh boy…]
Cathay Pacific Airlines First Class LAX – HKG Flight Review – Noob Traveler [This is how you sell the dream baby and trick newbies to click your credit cards. Smiling couples, champagnes, flat beds, warm nuts, caviar, the whole package. Which of course ends with all the credit card links prominently…about ten of them. Of course this was FREE!]
The 5 Cards That Offer You the Best Insider Benefits – View from the Amex Wing [Didn’t I tell you we will have another post with yet another made up reason to sell more credit cards? Remember when this blog used to offer the non affiliate Amex Platinum card offers? Yeah…too bad those can’t help conversions. I hear of Benz and Ameriprise offers out there? You. Don’t. Say!]
Corrected: The Citi AA Business Card Earns on 5% Annual Bonus – Rapid Travel Chai [Oops. Bad blog post. Corrected. By co-presenter MMS. Whaaaaat? Commenter Geoff said “I wouldn’t trust MMS with any math…I have a high opinion of you and your posts, but associating with MMS is a net negative for your good brand perception.” Ouch. I agree. Bad and #sadface.]
Why Revenue-Based Programs are Bad for You — and Why You Should Jump Ship Now – View from The Chase Wing [Another rant bitching about the inevitable and eventual move to all these becoming revenue based. We are talking about this blog’s livelihood when a “Free” first class seat would be priced at 1,350,00 miles (on Delta it would be north of 3 million…if you can find one…because theoretically you should…but we are talking about Delta!) Anyways, where am I going with this? Oh, I saw this part “I don’t like revenue-based programs because there’s an inherent conflict of interest between employee and employer interests” and I almost exploded. How about the conflicts of interest of this blog selling credit cards non-stop when they pay you to do so huh?. This drives me nuts…working on it]
Ok, this is really funny. And TBB is all about Fun and snark you know 🙂
Personal Finance Digest with Top 10 Rejected Credit Card Clickbait Articles! LOL
10. Top 10 Credit Cards for Jimmying Locks
9. Top 10 Credit Cards for Paying Your Blog’s Web Hosting Fees
8. Top 10 Credit Cards for Funeral Expenses
7. Top 10 Credit Cards for Getting a Cute but Rambunctious Little Kitten (with photos!)
6. Top 10 Credit Cards for Enduring the Crushing Pain of Daily Life
5. Top 10 Credit Cards for Obscure 19th-Century British Novelists
4. Top 10 Credit Cards for Getting Certain Illicit Substances in a Nice, Straight Line
3. Top 10 Credit Cards for Collecting Affiliate Cash
2. Top 10 Credit Cards That Can Be Sharpened Into a Shiv for a Prison Fight
1. Top 10 World Elite MasterCards® for Flying on Hawaiian Airlines®
Can You Get a 10% Bonus When You Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points? – Million Mile Credit Cards [So glad you asked, click on all my Chase card links!]
Frequent Traveler University December 5-7 Event Tickets Available – The Miles Professor [Keep selling and one day you can be a Titan. Yes you can!]
A Mainstream Journalist Gets Their Credit Card Advice Dead-on – View from the Chase Suite [Salespeople never cease to amaze me every day. But this one was, well, not as surprising I guess. I should know better by now. Nearing end of the month and just want to score some more credit card conversions. So we find an article by some other “mainstream” journalist as a prop to sell some more of our credit cards. Brilliant huh? Or, more like, Titanic! Barf!]
I need a better way to make myself spend less time on this crap. And leaving Friday-Saturday-Sunday blog action not reviewed it obviously amounts to a mega Blog Buzz post on Monday morning. Mind you I have another regular “positive” TBB blog post ready with some good stuff over the weekend which is now becoming kind of stale which will publish on Tuesday so I don’t kill myself. Quarter end work coming up so dear God please give me strength to keep this up!
I read a blog post somewhere about what you can do to make your blog succeed. One “tip” was to stop writing so much and promote, promote, promote your site. It said at least 50% of the blogger’s time should be spent on promoting. WTF, really? I think I spend 2% of my time doing that and that just consists tweeting my blog posts some times throughout the day (which brings most traffic). In almost 2 years I have 3 banners on the right hand side: Amazon, the one with ads paying pennies per day and Roboform with a few sales and hitting the minimum payout is probably a stretch. So, obviously I am a commercial failure. Please do NOT ask me about monetization, amazing I get questions about THAT lol! If anyone knows of a company I can use that will let me stick something on a separate tab with credit cards and not mess with me and allow me to say “Don’t go for that one, it is NOT the best offer” and will not bother me with endless emails with “sell sell sell” directives and not mandate a sales quota and, heaven forbid, tell me I can not say this or that PLEASE let me know, l really appreciate it! I just want to see the Troll’s reaction about this 🙂 Still searching for a workable groove to keep going…
I am still amazed Chris Elliott is considering Boarding Area! Shaking my head. I feel so much better when I release what’s bothering me inside, love my therapist! 🙂
That yakov dude over in DansDeals is really onto stuff…like the Chase Ink Bold going away it appears. Hate to hold the good stuff until Tuesday. So, just a teaser for Tuesday’s post. 🙂
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First again George! I’m on a roll!
Thirst.
Hey Matt, Amal and I want to thank you for joining us in Venice, it was great to see you. Amal loves the toaster you gave use for a wedding gift. You can even fit bagels in it, she loves that. Please pass on a thank you to your pal’s the Afflecks and thank them for the blender, Hamilton Beach makes a good one.
Hi George and Amal,
congrats on the weeding, so kind of you to comment at TBB. We appreciate the support. I sent a gift (gift card) with a pigeon but apparently the bird did not make it very far as it was bought for (almost nothing) with TBB’ s Amazon link revenue. Why almost nothing? Because that is what it brings in LOL.
Heard Vogue got exclusive pass on your wedding for a cool $1 million. I wonder how much they will pay for an inside access to the TBB World Headquarters. No bow ties allowed, just naked people running around and booze bottles everywhere! So…THINK!
Trois
FTU is stupid, but anyone who pays to be there deserves to be ripped off.
It’s all about personal responsibility! For some, this must be turning into an expensive hobby, filled with motivational speaker and CC salesfolks. Somebody paid $249 to hear Rapid Travel Chai get you all randy about AAs credit card! That’s cheaper than the toothless hooker down the street. At least I know what I’m buying there.
Top 10 Credit Cards that Help You Get a First on TBB?
@ United 1k: Wow, again!
@ Brian Cohen: You crack me up!
@ Neil: Bronzy!
@ Anonymous: As long as it is sold out, there is clearly a market for it. Not my cup of tea. Went once, learned nothing I did not know, noticed the fanboy “movement” & got turned off by it. I still had a great time though!
@ ABC: Your hookers in your street are sure pricier than mine LOL! It is amazing to me people will pay $249 plus all the money to get/from there to socialize with others and listen to the stuff they blog about. Reader email: ” I went and it was poorly produced. Learned more at Ann Arbor Do. Not advanced. Everything publicly available.” And on it goes!
@ Spencer F: Great idea! How about:
10. Amazon order with TBB link over $100
9. Amazon order with TBB link over $200
8. Amazon order with TBB link over $300
7. Amazon order with TBB link over $400
6. Amazon order with TBB link over $500
5. Amazon order with TBB link over $600
4. Amazon order with TBB link over $700
3. Amazon order with TBB link over $800
2. Amazon order with TBB link over $900
1. Amazon order with TBB link over $1,000 ——>SPECIAL: We plug your site as much as a commercial blogger plugs Chase cards for a whole WEEK—–>Hurrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Have a great Monday everyone! Can’t believe it is almost October, wow!
We need to buy some stuff we’ve been putting off for a while. It might come from Amazon. This could be fun!
If it could be fun for you, it can be double the fun for us, thanks!
Every single reply in previous comment of mine ended with an exclamation mark. I think I read too many blogs? 🙂
Ummmm…..I wrote both of the FTG posts you’re making fun of this week. My mom emailed me this post this morning and you have seriously offended her. =)
From your site, I found this amusing
DISCLAIMER and DISCLOSURE: Hey dudes, although we try to be accurate and promote our true financial beliefs, we are not financial professionals. There is pretty much risk in every financial decision you make, so do your own due diligence and make decisions based on your personal situation. Also, we may get paid for some of the stuff we say here – although we always try our best to give honest reviews and recommendations
At least there is some originality in this disclosure. Don’t bet on seeing this at FTG…if you can find it that it LOL.
Everything about me is original- including my posts on FTG. However, you continue spreading the false idea that FTG and other sites plant affiliate links in all of their posts and push an agenda. It is simply not true. As I’ve told you before, I’m a partially disabled freelance writer in Indiana. I get paid by the post and write about my personal experiences with points and miles. Whenever I mention a credit card, it is only because I have personal experience with it and wanted to mention it.
False?
Plant affiliate links?
push an agenda?
Not true?
I like your sense of humor Holly.
Sorry we don’t think much of anything that makes it on the FTG site around here.
Why don’t you take the Credit Card Tool for a ride and see what credit cards it recommends for you? You can send your survey responses to Rick FTG (the person) for “objective analysis”.
We tend to adjust our views on sources paying us…it is common.
What is hilarious is that current and former FTG writers post more comments here than the comments that their site attracts.
Hey, all I’m saying is that everything I write is unique and honest. That is 100% the truth. I love writing about points and miles and you’ll never see me write about a card I don’t have or never plan to have. That’s all =) I get paid the same amount of money no matter what I write.. and I love my job!
Great, we are happy for you. But I think you can do better…elsewhere. Make more and credibility can go…UP!
I think Bezos is an ass…Can YOU say that to their/FTG/IB/KKR faces? 🙂
Why tell us you’re disabled?
Because this blog picks on random people that have nothing to do with the credit card pumping that you all claim is a problem. I, for example, am just a random person living in Indiana who is trying to make a living and support my family. I don’t get paid when people sign up for credit cards unless they sign up on my own site which doesn’t happen that often. I pointed out that I am partially disabled because I am a REAL PERSON- just like everyone else who gets picked on here. Every online personality is a real person with a real life- flaws and all.
We are all real persons. Except Gary Leff who is a cyborg pumping out ten blog posts every day 🙂
Holly, I got news for you. FTG IS THE DEFINITION OF credit card pumping. It actually created this whole scene resembling, excuse my language, prostitution. Case in point the Ink Plus 70k offers…Most kept silent until they got hold of affiliate links and right now the whole space is on FIRE about this card.
Some of us live and breath this stuff. We can judge TRUE expertise. There is not much of it at FTG. It’s a front for selling credit cards. “All that matters is conversions”. They pay writers like you (very little by the way from what I hear) to fill in some content that they inject with the cc links because that is where the dinero is. And it is ALL about dinero on that site, helping readers is way down the list.
I do not fault you or Jason Steele who are just writers taking advantage of content providers to host your writings. YOU are not pumping readers with cc offers every day, THEY are. You just collect the check and…cash it.
This blog reviews blogs in a space I have lived and breathed in for almost 20 years. And I speak my mind because Roger Ebert spoke his. And I am funnier 🙂
Glad you found it amusing- that was the point! Sorry I’m not a boring asshole.
You would not believe this space which was a tight little community of misfit hobbyists has now been full of them “boring assholes”. I do not count you as one of them by the way.
I don’t think you’re boring either. =) BAHAHAHAHA
You know I’m just messing with you. =)
Just read your 7/19/14 article – What to Do if You Are Morally Opposed to Tipping Servers…………………..your answer, eat at home. Also, you only used the word “asshole” 4 times in i, very professional …………………………3 minutes of my life wasted.
Please keep coming back to my website! I get paid for the traffic- thanks!
Chris Elliott exists for a reason: he lobbies on behalf of people who didn’t read the fine print. Suzy Orman and Dave Ramsey help the same audiences, even if we in the game have no use for them and roll our eyes at their writings sometimes.
I think the Doc of Credit has it wrong. Chris Elliott is not a great marketer. A few months ago, he had to go begging for donations to keep his site running. Less than two months later, he was writing dispatches from a road trip to Disney (maybe?) he was taking with his family. I have nothing against taking vacations, but the contrast was gauche.
On a particular level, if the big blogs exist to sell to newbies too busy or unsophisticated to read the fine print on Flyertalk and elsewhere (e.g.,
PointsLinks,MilesAffiliate Links, andMartinisConversions, The Bow (Tie) and Arrow Publication), well, then Chris Elliott may just fit in at BA. He can reverse his stance on loyalty programs, and they can all going newbie-helping/-hunting together.“Keep selling and one day you can be a Titan. Yes you can!” I love it… absolutely love it… keep it up, it’s too funny.
Cheers,
PedroNy
@ Holly: Your mom is cool! 🙂
@ harvson3: Maybe begging works as well as pumping 🙂 I think he will fit in great next to his fanboy Delta Points. He writes for USA Today you know which I find this recent tie in with FTU very interesting. Maybe the USA Today may make them an offer they can not refuse?
I am just making crap up in my own blog full of crap 🙂
@ PedroNY: TBB exists to provide entertainment and bring out smiles to readers. And to reduce my therapist’s bills. So, to my own ridiculous metrics, it has been a huge success 🙂
All these FTUs seem to be a cross of Glengarry Glen ross and a multi level marketing company. Bring in more targets and sell sell sell. I don’t mean to disparage GG and MLMs.
I like the twitter comment re fan boy circle jerk,
You’re just doing exactly what Elliott wants you to do. I thought the idea was to try and ignore this sort of stuff? Elliot makes grandiose statements about FF programs because he knows it creates controversy and pageviews.
Harvson is right, Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey do the exact same thing. I don’t think either of them are great consumer advocates either.
Making absolute statements (e.g FF programs are evil, all debit is bad debit, your a slave to the system!) doesn’t help consumers in the long term. It’s not educating consumers at all, it’s making them fear something that can be used responsible if the consumer is properly educated.
Show me the positive lobbying that Elliot has done and I’ll happily apologize.
Let us know the bank that can be funded with CC up to 30k and we can start a discussion……
Yeah really. If bank is near me & you tell me Doc…the going rate is 3 links to your site #winning 🙂
I never hide information, I always share it. I’m doing my due diligence at the moment to make sure everything works before I post about it. Don’t worry, the post is coming I’ve just been very busy recently.
I would probably not post THAT…not going to last much longer if you do. Just an observation. I call it “deal preservation” for the worthy and sticking it to the banks 😉
He got that one lady her cruise fees back when her husband came sick and couldn’t make the cruise, even though she didn’t buy trip insurance. And he got Southwest to apologize and send a voucher to those other people for the breaking of their grandmother’s urn in the baggage compartment. That’s Elliott’s bread and butter, being a helpful gadfly to the careless on a micro level.
I guess those episodes count as advocacy.
Yeah right. The guy could be a great marketer for whatever he can sell that claims how he keeps so thin!
I should have known when I saw Delta Points sponsor his newsletter 🙂
@ It’s me: GGR & MLM, ouch ;:-)
@ William Charles: I think you are right Doc.Thanks.
Chris Elliot, the guy that says FFM programs are a scam is joining BA where they promote Credit Card sign-ups for the FFM bonus? It sounds ridiculous as a new star wars movie where Darth Vader joins the Rebel Alliance.
That was my first thought too…Stranger things have happened…
Buzz-
You think if I went to a FTU I could get Mommy Points to give me an autograph for another $5? Maybe on a credit card app? Do you think her autograph has a little smile face on it?
This is a great country, huh.
Sure is! Get your 70k Ink Plus card NOW, hurrrryyyyyyyy!
Love end of quarter bank exec bonuses!
Just saw a tweet from Travelblawg that Elliot is indeed joining BA.
OMG. I thought it was a gimmick to create some controversy and traffic.
THIS IS A SEMINAL EVENT!
I need to get my act together and look further into monetization…go from 2% to 10% of my time spent on the blog!
Wow!
I am speechless.
IN the meantime, I am being buried by affiliate chase Ink Plus 70k links. BURIED!
Put me on record as in favor of this. While I don’t agree with Elliot’s stand on FFP’s at all, BA seems bent on expanding its empire. Better to have someone like him than yet another blogger writing about Uber deals or 10 best credit cards for some obscure purpose. Plus watching Elliot and Leff argue may be worth the entertainment.
Why do you think he won’t change his tune? That Travel Skills dude did? Johnny Jet sure did….oh wait, how come he is not there yet?
No doubt Randy got a good thing going. This builds credibility on his site and he is in the forefront of getting away from loyalty programs. In his latest Inside Flyer editorial he was almost cheering on AA to get started going down that path. Maybe he is sensing the games we play are ending and it is time to broaden the market…and I mean REALLY broaden it. Probably makes sense as far as $$$ go I guess.
I need to do what makes sense for me too…
Maybe it is time for that tab so many readers have been asking…or a move a la OTR!
Decision time….WOW…Still can’t believe he is going to BA, thought it was all smoke and mirrors for controversy/traffic! WOW!
give us the tab buzz, give us the tab!
I am not going to telegraph anything as some powerful readers here can mess things up for me for payback 🙂
Mr Elliot may well change his tune – many before him have. My point was in the meantime at least this will be entertaining and different in the short run. Or at least better the reading a whole page of 70k Ink Plus posts.
There must be something brewing with BA and USA Today…
Maybe I am over thinking it 🙂
Yea, actually I’m really disappointed with USA Today. I just do not like Gleff. I’m going with my instincts, and they say to avoid Gleff. The whole smug, smarmy “oh, lookee loo….here’s USA Today doing this and that with us…aren’t we just superior beings?!”
Blech.
They need to expand the market of potential newbie victims to shove credit cards on to…
Remember… USAToday is a primary sponsor of the “new” Freddies.. which happens to be owned by the same conglomerate that sponsors/runs BA… You are definately NOT overthinking anything… I’m guessing they paid some good $$$ to be a sponsor of FTU. Speaking of which, if they sell out both sessions, that “earns” this non-profit a cool $120k… I’m guessing conf space and other expenses isnt costing them that much on a weekend…
If the $120k is true I need to start me a non profit too then 🙂
Well, at least, they will flow it all back for “frequent flyer education”….that is the mission of the non profit right!
990 forms are public information by the way 🙂
Just noticed FTU advanced is sold out… thats $70k
Cha Ching…
Hmmmmm I wonder who gets all the Hyatt Meeting Planner points for this … Or will it be a cage match 🙂
Why all of the sudden my comments are “waiting moderation” @ One Mile At A Time, anyone else is experiencing this milestone? Should I stop over thinking this? All of those comments over the years, hat tips, deal suggestions — all count for nothing once I mention that he should consider including 10k referral link in his great Ink post? Should I even care?
Thankfully I can vent and speak my mind here…
Comment Freedom,
PedroNY
He might be in the process of changing comment systems, which would reset all previous approvals.
“Comment Freedom” LOL
Maybe Andy is right.
Maybe he knows you post here.
Maybe I am over thinking it too…
Let Freedom Ring!
It’s a badge of honor to have your comments “awaiting moderation”. Means you’ve said something worth saying.
To all: If this ever happens here please let me know so I can dive into the mega Spam folder to Un-spam it!