Very slow weekend! So not much as most bloggers were busy editing their links for the Chase Ink cards promotion! Ka-ching time baby!
CHASE INK CARD PROMO & A WEEK LONG AFFILIATE LINK ORGY!
Well, it’s on. This will be a week long orgy of bloggers pushing Chase Ink credit cards so they can get paid. I am counting 26 blog posts pumping the same cards (does not include the foreplay blog posts!). I think we are about to see some of the most ridiculous pimping in the history of this hobby. It just goes to show you how much this space has been prostituted and to what extent bloggers will go to differentiate themselves (look like used car salesmen) to pump these credit cards out. So just a few points:
Here is the promotion directly from Chase (NOT an affiliate link). Yes it is a fantastic offer! I wish I had my own affiliate links to offer you all:-)
I am still waiting for the blogger who will be honest enough to come out and say: Hey readers look! My car engine died/furnace broke/airconditioner exploded/baby diapers run out/foreclosure notice received….I Need some money, please help me out will ya? Give me a good sob story and I may consider your links. Enough of the standard benefits and the “I earn a small commission and I sure appreciate it” weak BS!
I just want you all to know that IT IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS TO SEE ALL THESE ALARMING POSTS ABOUT THIS CHASE CREDIT CARD PROMOTION…But before elaborating let me feature here two posts that you should read:
How to Decide Which Blogger Link to Use for the Chase Ink 60k. By Food, Wine and Miles. I have no problem with most of the factors stated here.
Let me go off here for a second and reiterate some factors we me here at TBB think readers should consider:
- I would like readers to help out bloggers who are exercising good blogging practices. First and foremost, content must provide some value to the reader!
- Second, must do no harm; your readers must always come FIRST because without them you (as a blogger) would not exist! If you promote an inferior offer, readers should run away fast! If you promote an inferior offer knowingly, you are a weasel. If you promote an inferior offer unknowingly, well, you are too busy adding the links and definitely you are no expert, please buzz off or go back to your day job, thanks!
- Another factor is the full disclosure in every post (and not buried in a tiny print somewhere on the website). Respect your readers by giving them the choice of being fully aware that there is indeed a financial relationship involved! Let them decide.
- Another factor must be the blogger does NOT censor which is so North Koreanish!
- Another factor is the degree of pushiness of the blog posts (frequency of blog posts and number of links embedded in every opportunity…come on, this just crosses the good taste threshold at some point, spare us!)
- Another is the magnitude of the kickback…just kidding!
The Feeding Frenzy is On:60,000 Ultimate Rewards Points from Chase. By What’s Your Point. I think he has been reading my mind as I agree with these two statements: “I feel like I am at the zoo with a handful of peanuts or at a place where salespeople who are only paid by commission descend on you to get you to buy from them.” and “While there is really nothing wrong with what they are doing — especially if they clearly post a disclosure about their affiliate links — I think it is disgusting and ridiculous overall.”
A couple of reminders: If you recently applied for these cards, send a secured message online and ask nicely to receive the extra points. It may also not hurt to go by your Chase bank branch to see if there is an even better offer.
Best blog posts about this promo were: Frequent Miler, Rapid Travel Chai and Online Travel Review. Short and sweet, not pretending to add any more value on something that has been blogged to complete ad nausea (5x points in office supply stores wow!!!!)
Ridiculous blog posts:
Point, Miles & Martinis had 4 Chase Ink Bold and 4 Chase Ink Plus links (because one of each was not enough!)
Noob Traveler said “I don’t get excited about much, but man – increased sign-up bonuses make me happy”. Really? I bet you are excited more about the commissions hitting your bank account than an increased sign-up bonus! Also said: “I’ll be writing more about National Small Business Week this week, so stay tuned.” Oh %$#%^!
Million Mile Secrets had too many links…lost count. Made Noob Traveler look small time! See my threshold comment above, this is too much! And Emily is back holding stuff. I never understood that…well, I also never understood why One Mile at a Time almost never has any pictures of himself and other human beings in his trip reports!
Delta Points throws out the Sapphire Preferred and Freedom links because, you know, some of his readers may make a mistake and it will be a sin not to squeeze some revenue? (rhetorical question) Do no harm…well, never mind.
This is what happens when the economics of the affiliate links are so devastating. I would like to express how much I appreciate some readers who keep urging me to join the crowd circus. I am in no rush. I want to do it right if I ever get around to it. And all the factors I listed above with the bullets will be there!
If someone is kind enough to explain to me the different variations of Bent Offers, Credit Karma and Creditcards.com (is this last one open to everyone?) Maybe I should look into it as I am afraid the IRS may disallow the TBB business loss as a “hobby” loss:-)
TRAVEL
A tour of the farm where Korean Air grows what they feed you on board. By CNN Traveler (HT to Cranky Flier)
BLOG BUZZ
Breaking News: Delta Points discovered Facebook can be neat and clean and crisp too! And you can scroll forever without having to click on other buttons. That Zuckerberg dude must be up to something:-)
I do not like Ariana writing about credit cards on the Frugal Travel Guy blog. Just seems so…wrong!
ON MY MIND
Ginoooobli is back! Great to see the San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Game 6 should be a classic.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Nada
I beat Jeff!
You are a weeener:-)
Hey, Jamison, I appreciated your trip report on Ponce, PR. (We were considering a trip to PR.) It made it sound dull, and not an urgent priority to visit. It was, welcome, however, to see an out-of-the-way destination get a review. But now I wonder if the downside wasn’t Ponce, but your trip report style. You’re making Rio de Janeiro, one of my favorite cities and an absolute gem, seem lifeless and dull. Please do some research on the UPPs and favelas; the story is more interesting and complex. And Copa and Ipanema look so sad when empty. The life of the city is in the people, especially charming, happy, smiling, lying, clever Caroicas.
There are too many buses in Rio because the bus companies are huge campaign donors to city council and mayoral candidates and can effectively block the city from disciplining and regulating (and re-auctioning) their concessions. The metro line isn’t going to solve this; if the metro was a solution, then the Aterro do Flamengo wouldn’t be the daily parking lot that it is. Story for another time.
I didn’t spend much time in Ponce, but it looked dead and abandoned. Perhaps the Rio trip report would be different if it were a weekend filled with people on the beach during peak times… not much time to report spending <34 hours in a destination for the 1st time. I try to do my best since I am relatively new blogger and appreciate all the constructive criticism.
My mother always suggested having people in a photo, for some reason or another.
And you should definitely come back to A Cidade Maravilhosa. One of the knocks against cariocas is that they go to the beach during the weekday, too.
Link fail? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ciAv7wkJs
awesome video! gave me chills haha.. i definitely want to go back to Rio sometime in the future
I think adding pictures of real people in trip reports adds a certain “warmth” element to it. Otherwise they become just cold like Ben’s:-) Or, you can go nuts and go over board like MMS:-)
haha, i travel alone! That would be tough
TBB, thanks for this site. I’ve been reading you for awhile, sorry I haven’t commented before. I was waiting for your summary on the recent sign up bonuses. Sad to see how things have devolved. Thank you for the tip to goto a local branch to see if they offer anything better. I’ll go later today to check that out. Keep up the great work, I mean hobby!
Thank you, I appreciate it. Let me know if you found something better in the branch.
George, did you have to put the word exploded next to baby diapers?
Now I cannot get this disgusting image out of my head. Prune juice, anyone?!?
I write many things intentionally…but that sure was not it:-)
Every blog on this all the time does feel ridiculous. Still — and you agree in this post — it is a very good offer. It’s the offer of the month. One of the best questions that was asked during the Amex 75k in May was “which blog shouldn’t have posted this?” Not posting this, for a miles and points blogger, is almost malpractice even apart from the ka-ching. (Ok, maybe DELTA points is a bit off posting about Chase Ultimate Rewards, but hey Korean Air is still in Skyteam even if their flights don’t earn Delta status and Chase points can be trasnferred to Korean to fly Delta if you can ever find award space.)
Sadly…you are right. I was making a point that there is just too much of the same thing posted ALL OVER the place! And it is only Monday!!!
10K point bonus is a “very good offer”? Really? What low expectations. Bloggers were breathlessly predicting 75K bonus and reduced spend. But Inks are worth getting even if they had zero sign up bonuses.
Not too sound too much like a teenager, but OMG!!!! I’m starting a business just to ink some UR points.
You know you don’t really have to;-)
Thanks for sharing my post, George – curious to hear how everyone else decides which link to use in circumstances such as this one.
I liked your list. I wonder if bloggers make a deal with other bloggers: “If you get the cards from my links I would get my card through your links”. I have no doubt that this is going on:-)
Well, I will be applying directly from Chase. All this pimping is a bit much. Had been using Ben’s links before because I enjoyed his trip reports – but I already know he’ll have at least 3 more posts on this topic this week… And his trip reports are getting so drawn out over time that I lost interest as well. I mean how often can one read about CX 1st?
I used to support bloggers by using their links. But it’s turned into a zoo. I go straight to the CC company.
MMS was just informing (“pimping”) his readers about “11 Miles & Points Credit Card Updates You May Not Know About”. Very helpful if you’ve been hiding under a rock. Even irregular readers would know about these.
Ever since I started the blog I seek out non affiliate links to preserve the editorial integrity of the blog.
If everyone did the same, 2 things will happen: 1) Chase will keep up the mega promos flowing longer (as it is less costly for them going direct instead of ponying up commissions to affiliates/bloggers) 2) Many bloggers will get out of the blogging…good riddance. They only got in it for the easy dough anyway.
There are some good bloggers who don’t pimp AND, most importantly, provide good value. I find it perfectly fine to reward them and avoid the pumpers with subpar (bordering to the ridiculous) content.
If TBB ever joins the circus I would do it the way Frequent Miler does it because I suck in sales techniques:-)
I deal with sales folks every day at work. Bloggers are wolves in sheep clothing. ” Creative” how mommy points comes up with great use of UR points an we are only at day 2! My bet is that we will see a HARD sell for the next 6 days (every day). Any integrity would be preserved by a soft sales approach (a la FM).
If that was a Facebook post I would click “Like”
+1
MrPickles is such a dirtbag. “Secrets” shared at FTU were just “tips that shouldn’t be posted online so that the deals don’t get killed.” Bloggers there actually DO show some discretion, avoiding posting about things that would obviously kill deals but willing to talk about them off-line.
Except MrPickles. Shared with him on the understanding they wouldn’t be posted online he goes ahead and breaks that trust, does it anyway, just for controversy and clicks. And once again he gets some of the details wrong.
Qantas has misfiled its fares for sale in Brazil. Called out online they can easily correct this. MrPickles brings down the credibility of the First2Board site.
No need for name calling.
If I was in a room and asked to not reveal to the public I would comply.
Then again, maybe, he is trying to make a point that bloggers “revealing” such secrets in an open seminar and expecting it to stay secret it is, well, kind of idiotic?
Yes, it is a good discount. But what if there is an issue? Good luck dealing with Brazilians!
Not WOWed:-)
No, the real dirtbags are those who keep it within their own little cabal – and then charge for the “secret” info at places like FTU. Mr. Pickles is simply letting the masses know about it. And as he stated, it had been blogged about previously. Kudos to Mr. P!
I stand by my statement: “If I was in a room and asked to not reveal to the public I would comply.”
Was it blogged before? If yes, where? Being stated in a cryptic manner buried in a thread in FT or MP does not count:-)
I told you you should have posted about my “2 airline tickets to Norway Sweepstakes”! Much more interesting that all this Chase affiliate link $%*#
http://www.pointsandtravel.com/sweepstakes-2-tickets-to-norway-for-two-on-icelandair/
But it’s coach:-)
The ARV is $2,000, valuing the tickets at $1k each…I think that may be the reason?
Wow, George, you have become an elitist?! Coach not good enough for you? What’s next? A trip to that Holy Ground that only the super elite (and vaguely effeminate) travellers go to? (I am talking about the Maldives, of course. If it were not for super elite status and mega frequent flyer points, no one would go to such a boring place that is on the other side of the world!)
I’ll take a B&B in Norway in coach any day of the year over a bungalow in the Maldives.
TBB ain’t no elitist…TBB remains a man of the people:-)
1,300 vs 1,000 is pretty close to fair value:-) I am pretty much hooked with the darn blog, not time for extra trips lol
I’d stay in the Maldives, if it weren’t so far. A quick trip to Kauai offers similar solitude – and you get there in a few hours with some low cost awards. I’d rather spend time on the beach and not in a pressurized tin can, no matter how nice the seat.
I’m not at all interested in Norway. I lived in the cold north, but wouldn’t want to visit, let alone live there again.
After you read my trip report on Norway (when I get it done) you would want to visit. It’s beautiful!
This summer in economy in August: priced out at $1300 each
My post was tongue in cheek. (I forgot the little 😉 ) Oh well, we know George likes his Norway fjord flings. Once he books the Maldives, though, I’m unsubscribing. 🙂
Hey, George, y’all got trolled on the Flyertalk EM&PR board over the weekend.
The comments began as “Boy, it was crappy that Rick took that comp and didn’t tell us which company to avoid.” Then Rick showed up to comment “LOL at all these anonymous attacks. Angries.” And all hell broke lose, with everyone tut-tutting at Rick, DP showing up to defend Rick, and Rick finally noting that he didn’t care and was laughing all the way to the bank.
Twenty or so comments of bluster and complaint and everyone forgot the original problem, which was that Rick protected the company that comped him instead of helping out his readers. He will get future comps. Well played, Ingy, well played. Troll on.
Compare the thread started by Seth, which has stayed on topic (but not elicited an answer).
Don’t feed the trolls, kids.
Exactly;-)
It is quite entertaining…and sad:-)
The absolute funniest part of that whole thread was that no one responded to DP’s (quite impotent) defense of FTG/ingy. Poor guy put a lot of effort into it–what with the bold font and all–but no one cared…. Ha! (evil laugh)
You are so angry, if you have nothing good to say don’t say anything:-)
No, angry comments are often the most entertaining. Keep em coming. And as much as FTG and his toady DP say it doesn’t bother them, they sure spend a lot of effort defending themselves and casting stones.
They sure do:-) DP said goodbye to FT, I am not buying it;-)
I noticed that kokonutz, the External Miles and Points Resources forum Ambassador, has been suspended. Did the moderator finally tire of his negativety and wake up to the fact that rather than promoting the forum, kokonutz had turned EMPR into his own personal platform for taking cheap shots at bloggers and other FT members?
What, I thought he WAS the moderator?? I guess I still confuse Ambassadors and Moderators:-) Who suspended him? I thought he may have been a bit harsh but very fair! I guess they take this action while others continue to evade questions and launch idiotic personal attacks and are still allowed to do so…
That whole board WAS INDEED needed!
Except he wasn’t taking cheap shots. He was just holding blogger’s feet to the fire.
Sorry, TBB, I did it again, this was a reply to Mr. Karma (love the name).
There are about 90+ moderators on FT, so there is no ‘the moderator’. Feel free to ask Koko about the background of his suspension, I’m sure he will be happy to enlighten you. 😉
Shame on you and your peers Oliver.
I don’t have time to track him down. It will be nice if FT had a board with all currently suspended members, who suspended them and the reason:-)
All my interactions with Koko have been great.
RE: Delta Points on Facebook
Facebook makes modding all UGC so stupid easy. Between the ‘Moderation Blocklist’, that little ‘x’ button in every comment, and the ability to block users all together… It’s a perfect fit for Rene. …much more so than Twitter could ever be 😉
I like Facebook because I can scroll FOREVER:-)
Looks like MrPickles censors now. Only 4 comments on his post exposing another thing that was shared with him on the condition he not write about it. My comment was left > 12 hours ago and isn’t there.
Sometimes I wonder where MrPickles is coming from:-)
So one thing I am confused about… and I’ve seen multiple people do this. They say the bonus is for 6 days even those who announced it last Sunday. June 16 – June 22 is 7 days.
Math Professor? 🙂
It’s just odd! Even if one somehow has trouble subtracting… “National Small Business Week” should give a hint. A week, by definition, is 7 days.