Let’s go on a trip through the blogosphere: Backlash against bloggers for killing deals, Staples now selling Visa Gift Cards online, FTU impressions, Randy Petersen’s interview by Wendy Perrin, learn how Frontier is becoming Spirtit-ized, travel to pre-Soviet Russia, Vietnam and Mongolia and more!
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This is going to be a longer post than usual. The reason is, for the first time ever, I had time to look ahead and draft some posts! So, I have managed to enter some material already in the next three posts! And then all hell broke loose yesterday with two major events that this edition of TBB is starting out with. I almost thought I should start posting daily but I held myself back. I do not want to be like other bloggers blogging several times a day for something they saw in another blog or paste a press release. I like my 3 per week Buzz posts and trying to stick with that…So, here we go, buckle up!
Everyone has been blogging and raving about this deal. But Chasing the Points was the first one to post it first. Yes it is possible to buy $200 Visa Gift Cards online at Staples and make some money on the deal (and the points are “free”). And then you wonder why we have so many devaluations…
The Points Guy, in his #1 in traffic blog let the dogs out. You could have been booking US Air awards on British Airways without fuel surcharges. For God’s sake, even all the other major blogs out there held themselves back from posting about this. As soon as it was out of the bag, everyone felt obligated to post about it and blame…The Points Guy. How convenient I guess. So, when you hear of the phrase “bloggers kill deals” THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT! Outing these in popular blogs is a sure way to kill them pronto. Then again, we are dealing with US IT here so who knows. And hell no I am not linking to it.
This fed a frenzy of pretty strong commentary here in TBB and to One Mile at a Time‘s post. I don’t know why readers are giving Ben a hard time about this. But hey, it’s the Internet, it comes with the territory I guess. For the first time I seriously thought there was a competitor blog in comments, lol.
The Free-quent Flyer goes to FTU and posts his thoughts of the event. Trouble/mayhem maker TBB naturally finds this excerpt to post hehe:
“…here is the crux of the issue: affiliate bloggers are businessmen and women – but their business is not giving good advice to their readers. Giving advice to readers is a modality by which they conduct their business: selling credit card products.
And that was painfully obvious in (almost) every FTU presentation I went to. If you could insert an affiliate link into a PowerPoint presentation, these guys would have done it.”
Mile Nerd did a website redesign. I like it overall! And I am proud to see my blog listed as one of only five he reads, high five!
Fantastic interview of Randy Petersen by Wendy Perrin who has gone solo now and wish her the best. Very interesting that Randy will advise an airline today not to start a loyalty program. I think it’s a must read if you are in this hobby.
You were warned here that Frontier will be Spirit-ized. Well, on schedule, here are the news: Frontier revamps fare structure in “ultra-cost” move”. Don’t worry, Milevalue is still doing his best to sell the credit card smh. Business wise, I think this is the right move by the way. And Online Travel Review agrees with me.
46 incredible aerial shots of famous places By Matador Network.
Personal Finance Digest did his own awards titled “Digesties“. Lol. If TBB lols that has to be good right?
Reader Steve in the TBB Comments:
How convenient that certain bloggers are “finally” swapping out their SPG cards from their wallets after having them in their wallet for a decade.
What was it that caused that sudden decision? After all, SPG points haven’t been devalued in a year, so what could’ve happened that would cause one to now suddenly remove that card from the wallet?
The Final Years of Pre-Soviet Russia, in color. By Wired. Wow, what a find, these are incredibly interesting. Well, they are to me and hope you share the feeling. If not, let’s not worry about it and move on to the next one ok? 🙂
Best Roller Coasters. I need to get back to Cedar Point this year…
Eagle Hunters of Mongolia. By Asher Svidensky Photography. Wow!
If you plan to visit the Cook Islands you better hurry. At this rate there will be no one left there!
All right, here is the personal finance link. The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Investing All of Your Money. By Altucher Confidential. This dude is always an interesting read.
Credit card pimping posts bore me like this…
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George
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Hello, first!
Wow, first, just wow
Sorry, I win.
ok, so almost first. I guess that negates the “wow” effect.
Those Russian pictures are incredible.
I see a MMS in your future, be careful.
Do not do the interview.
I think he will 😉
MISS CLEO lol
Haha, only time will prove you guys wrong. I don’t think I have enough time to do a MMS.
That blog by Altucher was one of the most “real” I’ve ever read about WS.
“I’ve learned ONE MAJOR THING, which I will repeat below: ALL OF WALL STREET IS A SCAM. There are zero exceptions.”
If you remember nothing else in your investing lifetime, remember the above.
Great photos! Ha Long Bay Vietnam is always my favorite.
The problem with the Cook Islands is that the wages are so low but costs for food and consumer goods are very high. Cook Islanders have the right to live and work in New Zealand (they are NZ citizens) and there are better jobs over there and the dole to fall back on if you can’t get a job.
@xp0 and The Other Carl: That was one of the closest competitions for First ever!
@ William Charles: Yes they are. They only showed up here in my incredible site. That was a joke lol.
@ P: Yeah, that James guy is very interesting. Spreading havoc and mayhem, my kind of guy lol. Having said that, regardless the status of the rigged markets, that has not prevented many investors to make money in it in an honest way #fact
@ Peter Thomas: Have not been there yet but the pics sure look so nice!
@ Tara: Thanks for the feedback on the Cook (ed) Islands. That’s kind of sad…
I already dreading all the trips to Walmart to get rid of the Staples Visa cards. Oy Vey.
I can’t believe I am standing up for Walmart . What the hell is going on around here????
The $200s are going to be the death of WM. Too many idiots show up with fistfuls of cards and let huge lines form. Great way to get gcs banned like they have recently at many of my local WMs.
I am VERY afraid you are going to be proved right
It has already happened in MA. No split transactions at the Walmart closest to where I live(Danvers). Also, even for single loads (all transactions) I am told “no gift cards”.
With Frontier Airlines credit card getting even hard to pimp……I predict that Milevalue will have to take a part time job working in a Shave Ice Truck in Hawaii.
Oh lord, the US Airways card pays affiliate commission again
Get ready for the card to be magically discovered again, even though the signup bonus is no better than what was already out there
That certainly explains DP’s post today.
And it is totally misleading because they are NOT AA miles from the US card, they are US miles and none of us know when they will be able to be combined.
OMG, it is TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL TODAY. Everyone has discovered the Barclays cards.
Oh please do not bring up DP blog. Check where the links lead (of course only the Barclays card are affiliate links). If you want to laugh (or barf) check where they all lead.
This is just insane. I am getting angry, a little right now.
Don’t be angry. I know you “ignore” my blog (right), and you shameless don’t link to my blog, so here is where it goes 😉
thank you for reading and participating in TBB comments, your devotion is appreciated bunches.
LH card tomorrow? Enjoy the DFW Amex lounge, sure shucks you can’t sell amex cards with that post
Giggles 😉
Come on George, relax dude 😉 It’s only entertainment…
Unfortunately Mommy points put herself on the levels on milevalue today…
In soccer terms, she has a yellow card issued 😉
Persistent Infringement? Dissent?
“Gee, Wally, it’s hard to decide whether The Points Guy is scum pond for posting about getting US Air awards with no YQ, or if he’s a sell-out for not telling us about is sooner. I dunno what to think.”
“Beaver, you worry too much. Pretty soon those bloggers will start charging for Super Duper Blogs with all the secrets you gotta know.”
“But Wally, if everyone knows the secrets, are they still secrets?”
“Only for the suckers, Beav. Only for the suckers.”
Sorry I was busy applying for the Lufthansa and US Air cards 🙂
I hope the suckers bother the bloggers about what to do when they get rejected hehe
Many many more will be approved than rejected George and the bloggers will be paid for their efforts. It will be only a few that get reject because they don’t follow the advice given by the blogs to have a score over 700 and few if any inquiries with Barclays before applying.
Are you angry you don’t have affiliate links and are not participating in the profits of being a blogger? You should have got in the game when you first thought about it, Man, I bet you could have taught us all a thing or two huh?
But alas. You didn’t 🙁
Commenter innocently asks on VFTW:
“but I too don’t understand what the hype behind this card is on boardingarea today. This card is routinely offered at this level. Or for me better yet 35k and no annual fee. Why they hype on this band of sites today.”
Let’s hope this person doesn’t visit FTG.com. It’s people with that kind of naivete who they like to prey on
I left a comment asking how this was a good deal for readers only to have my comment disappear. Oh censorship…
And here we have another critical post by the infamous Steve. “IN” as in not famous for anything more than his demeaning others. Steve tell us all why do you feel the need to run down others? Is it your way of lifting your own self esteem? Does it make you feel big and strong and powerful to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet and criticize others?
Is it really the only time of day you get to feel good about yourself when you are criticizing others? Most of the other commenters in the space don’t feel the need to be so negative. Will you tell us why you do it day in and day out?
I know I’m not the only one is the space that would like to know. Come on Steve, do tell us why you like to knock down others?
BTW Steve my real name is Rick. Is your real name Steve or is that a made up name? Do you have a handle on Flyertalk so we can all look at your postings and contributions to the space? Come on Steve tell us more about yourself will you?
“BTW Steve my real name is Rick”
Maybe I’m missing something, did someone here think otherwise?
Montpelier is the capital of Vermont and the Magna Carta was signed in 1215
Ok, now it’s your turn to say something irrelevant!
Just asking you if STeve was your real name and what your FT handle was. Don’t deflect STeve. Some of us want to learn more about you. It will be interesting to see what you post on FT? what you contribute of a positive nature anywhere.
No irrelevance here Steve. Just wanting to get to know you better 😉
“Just asking you if STeve was your real name”
Was?
glad I got your intention. Poster below are talking about all your contributions to FT. enlighten me. I’m old, feeble and losing my mind. show me a post where you said something positive on FT. Please I need to see it. Please
ok…I guess we can add creepy to the list of adjectives used to describe Rick.
On an aside, your contributions were 100% self serving. Anything Steve contributes to FT, he does without commission or ulterior motive. He does it to help others
You “contributed” for cash. Kinda different. Funny how that not for profit blog you started lasted about two weeks…. “Contributing to the space” is harder when it doesn’t line your pockets, no?
Cue up ingy rattling on about being angry….
another young disenfranchised male that would rather be angry than productive. You have a bunch of that around here George.
I will gladly match my contributions over the years to this hobby with you or Steve any day young man. You are just too young and new to see it.
Steve’s contributions as far as I can see consist of tearing down others. Is that what you specialize in as well? Dies it make you feel better about yourself as well? Does it raise your self esteem?
haha, called it! don’t really see how there was an anger in that post. i certainly don’t feel angry, but ok, if you say so!
and wow, are you condesending. i’ve been around this hobby a LONG time for what its worth. so, some gentle advice, maybe work on your attitude because it does turn people off… i mean you are the only person who was banned from attending the Charlotte Do and had their ticket refund, IIRC
and that decision reflects very poorly on the organizer not me. somehow one 63 year old male was a threat to the organizers??? gotta question the legitimacy of the group and their agenda with that decision.
and for your clarification my attitude is intended to turn people that criticize others “off”
what on earth makes you think you are better than others?
how on earth did i imply that i was “better then others”?? I simply pointed out that your intentions on “helping” people hasn’t been altruistic, it was commercial – and that you had been compensated fairly for it, so the need to puff your chest to measure how many people you “helped” vs. those that help people for free is a silly endevour.
secondly, i find it very amusing that you take no respsonsbility for getting banned from charlotte – its always the other’s fault right?
I’m not the one that did the banning. Of course you would find it amusing. What did I do to get banned? Question a guy with affiliate links offering to act as a fiduciary for others while earning affiliate commissions. Why even George agreed it wasn’t right.
For the record. I answered more emails and questions about the hobby before getting affiliate links than you will get in a lifetime. I’m not afraid to stand on my record of contribution. But it seems Steve and others are a little hesitant to talk about theirs, Or for that matter even willing to disclose their identity so others can see it they do more than complain about bloggers? Huh??? Anonymity is a wonderful thing for those that like to play in the shadows.
Add Wendy to the ‘censors comments’ list when probed about the gushing CSP treatment and not originally attributing content to FlyerTalk.
Wendy?
It’s late, my mind has been fried today. So many Barclays card posts I almost lost my finger from pressing Delete so many times 🙂
TBB said: “Very interesting that Randy will advise an airline today not to start a loyalty program.”
Now that peeked my interest. Here’s more, from the Perrin interview:
“Q: If you were an airline and you wanted to make a splash with a new loyalty program, what would you do differently?
A: Not have one. Imagine if Apple had an airline—an Apple Airways that concentrated on product, that did not ask customers what they want but knowingly delivered it to them, that found ways to entice them to pay a premium price for service and schedule, and that, more than anything, delivered sizzle with the steak. I’m not one to think that loyalty programs are needed for every enterprise; they are, however, great when you can’t do other things well.”
Now that is a novel idea. I am a huge Apple fan, clearly one of the folks who drank their kool-aid. I love how my Apple products work together so seamlessly. I love the geniuses. I love the $99 one-to-one program. So I happily pay a premium for Apple products (using a 5X card, of course 😉 ). If there was an airline that served my hometown, where the product and service was significantly superior, I would just as happily use cashback cards and pay to fly. Randy is clearly on to something!
Randy is always on to something 🙂
That comment sure says a lot about the state of this game. The situation on the ground has completely changed! He knows it as loyalty programs by airlines have and will continue to change (and these changes will NOT be positive for us gamers!). But they have the upper hand now and, barring some unforeseen economic shock, I expect the downslide to continue. On the contrary, Gary Leff will continue raving on how airlines are wrong to make these changes and fight hard to preserve…everything revolving his expertise 🙂 But he knows it too deep down…
Forgive my punctuation and lack of eloquence tonight but it’s been a long day and apparently I’m fat-fingering typos all over the internet this evening.
Anyhow, not to give this any undeserved clicks, but Lifehacker has an post featured from a blog called “The Credit Card Fly” about “How to Get Into Luxury Airport Lounges for Free”.
After reading all the author’s tips and tricks, I checked out the site and found a blog that appears to be chomping at the bit for affiliate links. The blog appears to be targeted at newbies… It was started in 2012 with a big gap until March of this year, and every post presents a deck of credit cards as solution to everyday problems such as how to get a million miles, free stays or flights, (or the content about lounge access that was featured on Lifehacker.)
I can’t wait for this one to show up in the TBB blog rankings, but I can guess where it will land. Oh, in case anyone is wondering about “free” ways to access luxurious airport lounges, here are the secrets:
– Ask strangers to guest you in
– Buy refundable international premium cabin tickets
– Use one of several credit cards that include lounge access
Out of respect for your “shameful non-linking practices” I have left the links out of this comment (but included a comment on Lifehacker with a link to TBB.)
I actually DID read that Lifehacker article! Lost interest at the refundable ticket tip 🙂
I like Lifehacker but sometimes I shake my head what they choose to post. I usually check out these sites but I decided not to bother with Credit Card Fly at all. Not going to even mention it, not worth the time at all. I am sure Barclays cards will be featured prominently there these days too lol.
Thanks for the link too.
Pretty $200 GCs at staples.com were reported on FT before Chasing the Points “reported” it. Sorry, got to call BS here.
See here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1572422-best-visa-mc-1ppd-ms.html and note similarity of discussion to the blog post by Chasing the Points.
What??? Bloggers get information from FT? This must be a first
You mean the pimps just steal content and fob it off as their own and pretend they are experts? And then all the other pimps link back to the first pimp without fact checking? Say it isn’t so!
But with all the nimrods busy clicking affiliate links, it only encourages such scumbucket behavior …
I guess you don’t like bloggers? why because you are better? Could have done a better job? But didn’t. afraid the deals you’ve been sucking on for years will get exposed and you will lose out?
why shouldn’t others have the information as well?
I simply reported on which blog this showed up first. We all know pretty much everything is discovered at FT 🙂
Speaking of FT, these ads are getting ridiculous and the digest newsletter now features credit card recommended by Frugal Travel Guy.
I see Internet Brands closing in 😉
George, that feature has been on the FT newsletter for over two years. It seems you are a bit out of the loop. BTW, it is a very successful piece for FTG and their readers 😉
I grew up just a few hours from Cedar Point so I’ve been going there since I was wee!
I <3 Top Thrill Dragster. Haven't tried the newest rides yet but I am definitely a Cedar Point snob who believes that all other tri-state area roller-coasters are lame.
I LOVE Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world. All other parks are just posers when it comes to roller coasters.
I remember the first time I went there back in High School I thought this was heaven on earth. It’s been a few years since I last visited. I need to make it back this year and ride the latest rides.
Dragster to me is the best ride I have been on, nothing comes close. Ok, Millenium is still pretty good too 🙂
When he is not writing fluff/filler pieces on “How to get the seat you want on your next flight” (by asking someone to switch with you). CREDIT CARD SALESMAN Gary Leff does back to back sales pitches for BarclaycardUS’ USAirways and Lufthansa credit cards. So do all the other credit card salespeople it seems. Its like a memo came out to all to pimp this or is there added incentive $$ for them.
My eye sockets have been pretty much destroyed and it continues today. Check out the Extra Peanut guy pump Barclays post. It’s beyond ridiculous at this point…
At least TBB readers can trust HERE there will not be a filler post with inferior links today… uh…. wait.. 🙁
Hey DP, I edited your other comment so your link back to your site does not work. I think this is grounds for you to threaten to sue my site again like the past three times. Sure looks like a winner this time.
Bite me.
All the time trolling here could have been working on your links leading to Barclays cards and your credit card links full of crappy cards and a few non affiliate links conveniently buried at the bottom. Classy.
Have a nice day.