BEST OF
In case you have not heard, Delta is ending the partnership with e-miles so you only have until December 31 to cash out your miles (must be minimum 500). If not, you are likely to be forced into redemption with amazon.com or restaurant.com. Hey, amazon.com sounds good to me!
Another great educational video explaining the difference between United Kindom, Great Britain and England.
Very Good Points has been cranking out some killer content lately. Here comes another very useful post regarding the Comparison of Starwood’s Thailand hotels!
You can cry foul on Million Mile Secrets all you want. But you can not take away the fact that the dude writes incredibly well (maybe too well?) and his disclosure policies are one of the best in this space. He explains the whole US Air thing; I am certain he took his time to read our own amazing investigative piece on this very matter!
THE POINTS.BOMB PRIORITY CLUB TO AMTRAK TO WHATEVER DEAL
I think I followed this “deal” as it was happening but I certainly could be wrong. I will give you my take on it and if I am off please tell me! Apparently this was floating around Flyertalk for at least a few days (there appears to be some confusion over this; the bottom line it was NOT on a blog!). Then at 7.42 am Loyalty Lobby breaks it out in detail how you could exchange Priority Club points to Amtrak Guest Reward points VIA points.com in a very advantageous exchange! Now, this should have had bells going off ALL OVER your head. First, Points.bomb is in the same league as Cartera&Netspend. I avoid them like the plague and you should too, they pray on the same folks who redeem 70k Skymiles for a domestic round trip to Orlando and are so ecstatic about it! Apparently, you can then redeem out of your Amtrak Guest Rewards account to Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Choice and of course for Amtrak travel. I ‘ve been having some connectivity issues here in New Jersey and was going to tweet that I personally would not do this as I just do not trust these companies to come through and this could lead to loads of hassle! Then at 7.43 am I see Gary Leff’s post about the same “deal” and I immediately thought ‘Oh boy, here we go again, some people would get hurt here!” Many people jumped on this. Then Ben could not help himself from informing his own readers about the same “deal” at 11.25 am with the screaming title starting with “Amazing value…”
This is not Alitalia guys who are on strike all the time or take time off for every occasion known to man!
Well, it was not long before Points.com fixed the exchange math error and made it, well, just like what you expect from this company…a horrendous exchange value that only the people mentioned above would do it (yes, they are out there!). Simultaneously, they canceled the exchanges too! It appears a few (the very first ones?) may have gone through (including Gary’s) but I bet there are a lot more tears than smiles. I would not be shocked if points.com somehow makes the speedy ones PAY dearly in some way too! If this is not a pure example of blogs killing deals I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS! It’s a tough call of course. Once it makes it on ONE blog it is destined for killing. The speed of pointsdotbomb about this was phenomenal. So…what about people who BOUGHT Priority Club points in order to do this? Ok, not the worst thing in the world but still… Now as a blogger I even have more fixed feelings about this! IF I had decided to publish it, I would have MUCH MORE ALARMING language about the particular companies involved and their well deserved reputation AND that SPEED is paramount! Enough said, bring on the insults, I am ready!
Or you could have kept it all quiet and let your twitter followers know about it in cryptic ways (no pics & arrows) but that would not help the blog in hits, bragging rights and all? And someone else would have outed this anway so might as well be first?? It’s a slippery new world we are in…
NOT SO BEST OF
Blogger hits new low…Serves aff link in a COMMENT, like serving them relentlessly in every other opportunity in almost every single blog post was not enough. Just could not let it go by without me commenting on it, Delta Points, this is what I do here!! It is comment #10, wow!
Milevalue has a piece titled “Roundtrip to Sao Paulo or Rio for 30k Miles”. Ok, fine. But I want to point out the extremely shameful plug at the end for the US Air “50k” offer, something that we, along with others, have written about and consistenly proved how this affiliate offer is total crap! If this is not a low blow to the intelligence of the readers I do not know what is! If not, it is incredibly misinformed. And yet another piece of proof that when bloggers get on the affiliate credit card merry go round the behavior…changes and it is NOT to the better!! We call it as we see it here at TBB!
Ok, this belongs in the best of category probably. But the title is “World’s Worst Places:Top 10 Places in the World You Do Not Want To Visit in 2013” Ok, these are bad, no need to mileage run there, don’t be a fool!
Reason number 934 to not like Delta? How about when even Johnny Jet wonders why “Delta has the Worst Frequent Flyer Program”. For the record, I made a comment in the story giving my perspective of a long time Delta Elite (Gold or Platinum) and why I am giving up, did NOT have any swear words and…it appears…I was moderated to oblivion! You take the time to contribute to the discussion and you are zapped…It goes against everything the internet stands for imho. I won’t comment again EVER in that blog. If my comment somehow appears again…I take this back:-)
ODDZ & ENDZ
10 Lessons from 10 Quotes that Changed My Life
Number 2 definitely applies to me as I did not want to regret not starting a blog!
I agree completely about all you posted today. Especially your thoughts about the PC “Amazing Deal”. Are these bloggers that stupid that they think hat-tipping a deal like this to death will not kill it. Especially sometime as blatant as this, with step-by-step directionss on how to buy PC pts and then redeem them for twice the value. Just not sustainable, I’m not sure why gleff and Lucky feel the need to hat-tip this and kill it so quickly. At least gleff got in on it though, that’s probably all he cares about………well, that and his affiliate dollars rolling in left and right. The more wild goose chases he send his readers on though, HOPEFULLY the sooner they start to get sick of him and call him on posting time-wasting deals like this.
@TBB another great post to read in the morning, thanks for your contributions each day!
@gregorygrady I thought TBB did a good job laying out the issue, what did your comment add here? You have a real problem with gleff, WE GET IT. And the way you make it known in the comments on this blog OVER AND OVER is getting really old. You couldn’t give it a rest even ON CHRISTMAS DAY? I overheard MMA talking at FTU about how he’s amped up writing in detail about deals BECAUSE OF the incesssant over-the-top complaints from folks like you. So realize that bloggers don’t kill deals, YOU kill deals.
@TBB – coming from someone who peppers his blog link and post links on every blog comment section, FT post and just about ever place on the web, perhaps a look in the mirror would be good. 🙂
maybe I’m missing out on a lot of points, but I dont’ do all the sites like big crumb and plastic jungle. Just too many hoops for me.
and, I have only one other thing to say:
Καλά Χριστούγεννα!
@gregorygrady: As I said numerous times, I call it as I see it. This blog is therapy for me, gets thing off my chest. And hopefully makes the whole space of this hobby a better place for all. I still would not take things as personal but feel free to rant here with me:-)
@Anonymous: Thank you for the kind words. I think there is some truth to what you are saying. There is no doubt that bloggers, deep down, they enjoy the little “fights” with readers who comment, I certainly do:-) So doing so may lead them to post more of the same, true! But…if they had not posted it, the commenter would not be posting to rant on it, right? 🙂 Anyways, bloggers can do whatever they want, it is their own blogs, this is not North Korea! Likewise, I will do my own and post whatever what I feel like and whatever comes to my head, “get it out there” my therapist keeps telling me, it is so cathartic indeed, lol.
@ DP: I plead guilty on making a few commments in some other blogs where I did not have much to add to the discussion only to get my blog link out there! I certainly feel bad about it. I have toned it down and will comment if I have something to add, point understood, thank you. At the same time, even if they come here, there are no ads all over the place and credit card links in every opportunity that makes eyes socket hurt! Adding a cc link to your comments was too much, I think it went over the line and I said so in MY blog. Hope it is constructive criticism! And I will NEVER EVER censor a comment (unless it is purely a personal attack with bad names or a spammer hawking cialis & things of that sort).
@ Kathy: I am definitely NOT the guy who gets mega miles fro shopping related stuff. Yes, I do have some emiles accounts but that was done to keep some miles accounts alive. As far as portals go…I, personally, think they are more trouble/hassle than they are worth simply because I just hardly do any online shopping Z(or shopping in general!. I do have an ebates account. I tried TopCashBack and it took FOREVER to get some money back from them. I sould have one at Big Crmbs but never got around to it. Need to keep it sane before this stuff overtakes your existence:-) And now with the blog I certainly have much less time!
Merry Christmas to you too!
I honestly dont mind if bloggers have cc links on their sites. Some people, like TPG, make a living off this. HOWEVER, misleading someone is a much different thing. Here is what I have seen lately:
A 40k Usair card with annual fee is better than 50k no annual fee 1st yr with 10k bonus on anniversary. Huh?
A 30k Delta card is better than a 70k Delta card..Huh?
Just a thought.. I’m ok with making a living but DONT mislead (aka lie)please
I have stated before that bloggers work hard and should get compensated for what they do if they choose to. Especially if they are doing this full time! BUT they need to take into account that spreading false information and advice (due to greed or misinformation) IS WRONG and should not be tolerated! I will call it as I see it as I have said many times before. In addition, you can do this credit card pimping in a classy way or a whorish way. I think doing it in a classy way is preferred BUT doing it in a whorish way (in short term thinking) may provide quick clicks to keep blogger in good terms with Flex Offer affiliate company whose transparency is NOT a strong trait! There has to be other affiliate companies out there with better business practices instead of these guys! Anyways, I totally agree with your two examples. There are more, I just pick the worst examples to highlight only!
And thanks for taking the time to comment!
It would appear Delta Points found something very heavy in his Christmas stocking from TBB for being a very naughty blogger this year. Rene, thanks so much for leading the way on BoardingArea to promote some of our worst affiliate offers. You should also be commended for encouraging your readers NOT to apply for the 70K DL offer. That was very solid advice. We would also like to thank you for censoring comments on your blog that might question any advice. Do we also owe you thanks for contacting the moderator team on FT to censor some of the comments there about you? Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings from your friends at FlexOffers.
@FlexOffers: lol…FlexOffers, that sure made me laugh, very original!
MMA’s never ending Bora Bora Trip report continues. I thought it was over! Oh no the Ghost of Christmas past! Don’t bring me back there! NOOOOOOOOO! I’ll change, I swear!
I thought it was over too! It is amazing how just one trip can provide daily content for sooooo many days! I should have a contest “Guess next Bora Bora trip report installment title?” My guess: “D & E go for ice cream at the beach next to the port”, or “”E’s mother picks us up from the airport” and so forth:-)
I think the next one should be “D scratches his ass, E yells at him”
It’s easy, the next one is the flight home series.
That is where you are wrong my friend…I do not believe they are getting off the island until Valentines Day 2013
Hmm, yeah, this could indeed be the perpetual trip report..oh oh, let’s not give them any ideas now:-)
How about the flash any ff program card to get into the elite security line series at ppt and lax? Or the food is to expensive at lax series? Or list all the foods e is allergic to series?
I admit I gave MV the benefit of the doubt when he started using aff links
Mea culpa
“Our 2nd honeymoon in Bora Bora part 514,731,988: the OJ had slightly more pulp than I was expecting”
These are very funny you know, lol