From all the staff at TBB, we wish you the Best Year Ever!
I am back in Ann Arbor, home sweet home!
There will likely not be a post tomorrow as I expect traffic to be very light. I am also heading into the two busiest weeks of the year for my real job (yes I do have one that pays the bills!)…so help me God!
Kind of light traffic today. Lots of blogger “My 2012 Trips” type of posts. Of course I always find something to feature here that can improve your quality of life, cough!
BEST OF
Emily gets 8 cards and 355k points. Nice detailed post. And absolutely great disclosure policy up front telling readers which cards pay him and which do not. Most importantly, no featuring of inferior affiliate credit card offers! We are not done yet…He gives a mention and links to RTC’s credit card links and tells readers to use those links! Now THAT is outstanding, Kudos to you! Hey, Delta Points, Milevalue, Frugal Travel Guy, how about YOU doing it this way? Of course we would prefer not to have our eye sockets attacked with so many links in the body of the posts but maybe we are asking way too much! If this practice is copied by other bloggers it would be such a big improvement! Anyone cares to bet we will see others copying MMS? I would not make that bet, lol.
And since we are on this favorite subject of mine…Please read “A Quick Word on Ethics with MJ“. I like it! I responded in Marshall Jackson’s blog and pasting part of my comment here:
“Now, on the Ethics Tab. I LOVE IT! Sometimes I am harsh on other bloggers who, IN MY OPINION, do things the wrong way and say so in my blog (apparently, it is the most popular feature, lol). I would love it if there were no affiliate links for banks! But, it is what it is. For better or worse (yes Worse!) they are here to stay for a while and believe me I know know how hard work it is to do this blogging thing while carrying a real job and family responsibilities…it is actually insane! So, I think full disclosure is paramount and the RIGHT thing to do! And not buried in tiny font in an obscure part of the website NOBODY will go there to read! Disclose the relationship in the body of the post so ALL (most importantly, NEW Readers) readers are aware of it and let THEM choose what to do! I think such a practice should be adopted by all of Boarding Area blogs, the credibility of BA will shoot way up!
Keep it real, keep helpful content, add value, fully disclose and ALWAYS eat some aff clicks and promote the BETTER offer!
For my readers based in the UK, Head for Points is a must read! In this post “What do we expect from the loyalty market in 2013?“, he gives us his take on what’s coming for Avios, Hilton and Priority Club, Virgin Atlantic, credit card bonuses and more. It is another reminder that we US based addicts are so so lucky to live here where the banks are free to roam and give out insane signing bonuses over and over. Hey, who cares if they get in way ove their heads, we taxpayers will be there to bail them out again and keep up the bank executives’ bonuses!
An update on the Macy’s post by PointChaser! Not dead yet but a lot more caution is warranted. From the get go, this did not smell good to me. Besides, it may take me near a shopping mall and there are way too many people there going nuts on credit cards! I think we have a systemic problem in this space. There is so little original content that a blogger will spill something out too quick to ensure they are the first ones out with a new “hack”. Perhaps all the research in this second post should have been done BEFORE the first post came out instead of just getting it out there and then getting into more detail into the Terms & Conditions. You say to keep it under $5k per month. Too late, some bozo now is doing a LOT more than that, management notices, and bang, it’s over! YMMV as always.
New Girl in the Air on “Forfeiting Status in 2012“. This perspective is not only common but is NEEDED to keep us all grounded and not start losing all perspective like Chris Elliot rants about (and admit it, he is right about lots of things!). I am going from Delta Platinum to Delta Silver…It is time for free agency baby!
Very Good Points has an excellent blog post “Stop Hating the Road Warrior“. I think it is a pretty good take on what they go through!
Airlines We Lost in 2012 by Cranky Flier
Don’t worry, I am the Kobe Bryant of the TSA. Say whaaaaaaat!!!!!!This is definitely NOT what you want to hear when you are about to be groped!
The Best of Matador 2012 You can spend hours here, all amazing stuff! One of my favorite pure travel sites. No miles/points here, just travel.
NOT SO BEST OF
Noob Traveler writes for the 79th time about…you guessed it, Ink Bold vs. Ink Plus. And he has the weirdest disclosure language (ok, at least he has one!): Disclaimer: I receive a referral for the Ink cards mentioned. Thanks for the support if you decide to apply, and imagine a fist bump) [A fist bump????????? WTF!!!!!!]
I got him finally in this category! Frequent Miler has his Ultimate Rewards Mall 2013 Predictions. I don’t like these posts, just saying. It’s like trying to predict the tax changes in Congress these days, just give us the highlights when they are published! Filler posts are so not FrequentMiler like:-)
ODDZ & ENDZ
The 21 Craziest Things the TSA Found in Travelers’ Luggage in 2012. Some of these must be seen!
Ozzy Osbourne International Airport coming soon?
THE END
If you like what you read here, please pass on the link to my blog to family, friends and pets too!
You can follow me on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2 along with 1,151 others!
You can find me as gpapadop in FlyerTalk and Milepoint.
You’re a riot! Love reading your blog and it saves me time from not having to check each blog individually. Thanks!
Thanks. I love riots, they are so much fun:-)
You should quit your job and post a bunch of referral links… LOL
This made me laugh, thanks! I actually really love my job unlike other bloggers!
Good stuff, TBB. Happy new year
Muchas gracias, much appreciated! All the Best to you in 2013!
Great writing George~ good recaps, love the humor and the links 🙂
k2o
Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, and link. ^MJ
No problem, thanks for reading me!
TBB Happy New Year! I hope your blog continues to be affiliate free, and holding blogs such as Delta Points, MMA and TPG accountable for the pimping. As well as holding MMA accountable for his latest trip report installment of Bora Bora “The deck on my overwater bungalow was creeky”
I have no idea how I became the Ethics police in this space:-) I never really started out with that aim! I just write what’s on my mind! I am afraid we may have a new mega report from D & E’s trip to India, prepare for it! If I had to choose Bora Bora vs India, I will take BB any day, lol.
Please no MMA, MMS. His disclosure policies are something I wish others will adopt! Even MV added now the good US Air link…so I think I may be having an effect…or I would love to think that I do!
I am still the new kid on the block trying to make this a better place and somehow I can keep this up!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Too little too late for MV
We’ve had a perfectly good glimpse of what his blog is all about post-sell out, and it’s pretty terrible
The Frugal Delta Points Value Guy
Another great post! I can put an end my RSS feeds and just check out your blog for a daily recap 🙂
Thanks for the mention!
Thank you!
I’d rather that d not pimp ccs at all and return to the days of original content and not the crap points envy has been churning out lately
With so many blogs it is so hard to find truly original content!
I disagree. There are blogs that provide truly original content (and little/no CC affiliate links!), but you don’t give them nearly enough coverage on these boards
Almost all of Wandering Arameans posts are original content, and also has the guts to call out FTG or Randy Peterson when they deserve it
Loyalty Traveler is the only one who gives coverage to all hotel programs, even the ones whose CC’s ….gasp…. don’t provide affiliate $$$ (a chill just went down my spine at such a terrifying thought)
If you want to expand to those who do minimal CC pimping, obviously FM provides tons of original content (although his posts are usually springboards for other bloggers unoriginal content)
And there’s this new guy called MileValue. Superb blog and tons of original content giving superb advice. Wait, what’s that? Nevermind.
I agree with your disagreement:-) I should have added “great original content” with the emphasis on great. I am trying to feature stuff that may make a difference in my readers’ lives in some way (educate, inspire, highlight a unique take on something, etc.), all in my own judgement of course coming from a veteran point of view in this miles/points game. And these posts should apply to a bigger population instead of a very small niche (i.e., total aviation geek stuff, trip reports full of airline food, etc.)
Of course I am aware of Loyalty Traveler and Wandering Aramean and I will always be more supportive of blogs not in pimping mode. Then again, I can live with blogs with full disclosure and dishing out good advice too!
I also hear you about FM and MV!
This is a work in progress…I thank you for taking the time to comment, it is really much appreciated!
I wrote the original post based on my experience – both as a former employee and customer who was successfully able to credit a giftcard to my account without problems. I figured if the store allows it, it can’t be against any policy. Clearly, that turned out not to be so and I quickly wrote up a follow-up post to make sure everyone was aware of it. As for the deal being shut down…maybe so. But if it’s against the T&C, I guess it was bound to happen regardless of whether it was abused or not. I’m not going to flattery myself by thinking I have enough readers to shut down a deal. Maybe I can blame some of the more high-traffic blogs that chose to repost it. 😉
Thanks for commenting here. I hope I was not too hard on you! Thanks for the quick update too.
Thanks for calling my attention to Matador, actual travel and only about 1 in 10 posts are gratuitous Top 10 lists.
No problem, thanks for reading and commenting here! I like your original content & non pushy way of aff cc links. I wonder how much traffic u got from MMS mention, I am guessing quite a lot! I am thinking about doing my own “my week in miles/points” post too…and then I run out of time…again:-)
My favorite “My 2012” was from a prominent blogger who managed to only apply cards and offers with affiliate links, what a coincidence!
@ TravelBlogger Buzz, not at all. It’s all fair game.