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TRAVEL
Did I say I love the National Geographic Photo Contests? Twisted Sifter picks the 10 best photos. Must Click, just do it!
A new airfare search site skiplagged.com is live with a special twist in offering fares showing hidden cities and throwaways. View from the Wing correctly indicates that this special “twist” may not last long. Give it a click if you want to amuse yourself. Bookmark it? Nope. Let’s revisit in 6 months or so.
MILES/POINTS
Alaska Airlines held an Investor Day conference. Some excellent observations, such as: The vast majority of award redemptions are on own Alaska flights, next comes AA, after that Delta and, very surprisingly, only about 3.5% of awards are redeemed on all other carriers (including Cathay Pacific and Emirates). And of those 3.5% awards, only about 40% are for First or Business class flights. I guess there are just not that many of us as we thought 🙂 The other notable finding was that out of three million Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members about 1 million carry the mileage earning credit card…1/3 of them, wow! You can read more here from One Mile at a Time.
One Mile at a Time had another great post on how to redeem for Business class awards on Star Alliance. Hurry! Then he found more space on American and Asiana First. I almost booked myself a trip alone to Seoul and then quickly came to my senses
Loyalty Lobby‘s post on the Hyatt offer for its credit card that came with Diamond status as long as you had the card caused a little controversy. Yours truly is one involved in this “mistake” and I am laying low for now. Hyatt Gold Passport quickly came out with a “this was an error, we apologize for the mistake”. Yes I knew this must have been a mistake while applying and if I do not get it I won’t be suing. Sometimes with these things you just need to act fast and “hope for the best while expecting the worst”. Worst in this case means 2 free nights at the Andaz Maui #developing
Marriott is a program I just do not get along with. Apparently there is a generic 70,000 Marriott Rewards points offer out there. Chase again. (HT to View from the Wing…I think)
Ok, this is disturbing as many of us like to register for, well, pretty much all IHG Rewards promos we can find. Loyalty Lobby reports on a reader in China going through an IHG Rewards “audit” and getting accounts cancelled. My gut feeling is that something much more serious (fraud, etc) is involved here but I will be a little more reserved in registering for every promo code I see when it is CLEARLY not applicable to me. You know, better be safer than sorry.
Travel with Grant wrote “Free Amazon Prime Membership for “Family Members“”. Some friends on Twitter convinced me this is TBB worthy as you all know when it comes to online shopping I know enough to be dangerous!
Just before I was about to go to bed Hyatt came out with some enhancements to Gold Passport. Actually, for the most part, they were not THAT type of enhancement we are blessed cursed with lately. Mainly: Hyatt Gold Passport will have Cash & Points rate (best bang is for Category 2-6, avoid 1 and 7 and they are CAPACITY CONTROLLED of course), points expire after 24 months, 20% off Daily Rate for Diamonds and Platinums. (HT to DansDeals and View from the Wing)
ON MY MIND
There were some changes over the weekend in my life and I need to implement some changes in the blog. I will not telegraph them here like I did last time 😉
ODDZ & ENDZ
This photo is another one picked from the National Geographic Photo Contest
Paratrooper jumps over the Rio Grande. Isn’t this cool or what? Found here:
One of the most heart warming and inspiring stories I have seen lately. If you don’t get the same feelings reading this you must be an alien! 🙂
BATKID Saves Gotham, Unites Community, Restores Faith in Humanity
Isn’t this just beautiful? Found here:
I could not stand Van Damme but he has come back to make a commercial about Volvo Trucks. And it is one of the best commercials ever made I think:
BLOG BUZZ
Note: This section is intended for long time readers and miles/points addicts who follow the blogs in this space. TBB reviews blogs and tries to entertain above all. Don’t take this section too seriously or personally, it’s mostly entertainment!
Why Points, Miles and Martinis CreditCards gets so excited about a sale at Nordstroms? Because you can get 5x with the Ink cards of course! While at it, make sure you get these super ugly children’s shoes for ONLY $19.97. Hey, who cares, it is 40% off and you get 5x points while the blog earns “a small referral credit”.
Milevalue is looking for award bookers to work 25+ hours a week to book award tickets for its own “premier award booking service”. Say what, premier? I did not get the memo about that, did you? I can’t wait for the next award booking service to proclaim itself Platinum, Diamond…Titanium?
Million Mile Secrets continues its slide with more credit card sales, more giveaways, more Emily pics holding merchandise, more layup type questions picked to be answered, and yet another Friday interview with yet another “expert”. Just three comments, all negative (imagine, there are more “angry” people out there!).
One was by Robert Hanson: “What’s the one single thing people can do to get more miles?” There is one, and only one, possible answer to this question.” [Hilarious!]
And another comment by Corky: “What am I missing with all these copycat blogs? How can the revenue from being the 100th most popular points and miles blog possibly exceed the revenue you’d get from putting that much time into manufactured spend?”
Another one was by Paul who accuses the blogger of stealing pictures.
So, I am asking myself…”If these mildly negative comments were allowed to be posted, does that mean there was no censoring at all? Even more “direct” comments were censored and these three were allowed to be posted? No positive comments at all?” Yikes.
Milevalue had an outstanding post about AA Explorer awards. So, why don’t I link to it? I can’t…I remember all the times the crappy US Air card was pushed. Also followed up by some original reporting on whether US Air blocks Lufthansa space. Maybe the beatings administered here are taking an effect? Good to see but we need to see lots more in this direction.
Frugal Travel Guy (the blog), in a typical fashion, tells us all that you can have great holidays only if you use a bunch of credit cards you get from their site. It’s all about the jingle Ink bells!
Congrats to the newest member of the PFDigest team at the Saverocity site.
The Points Guy picked this question to answer “Should I Use a Chase Sapphire Preferred or United Explorer Card to Buy Flights on United?” How conveeeeenient!
Delta Points had another fireside chat with yet another Boarding Area blogger, Military Frequent Flyer. At one point Boarding Area was portrayed to be the go to source for the most unique info (seriously?), how admirable is the writing style of all BA bloggers (all?), how BA can bring world peace and cure world hunger. Obviously, the World Peace/Hunger were a figment of my imagination and has nothing to do with any blogs mentioned in this paragraph. Just to be safe here, this whole paragraph is completely fictional and has no relation to reality. What can I say, maybe I am high on drugs right now! More below…
One Mile at a Time the last three days has been killing it, high quality posts!
CENSORING
FlyerTalk thread on blogs that censor
This is getting absolutely ridiculous now. Out of the blue comes Delta Points and posts #362 accusing TBB of being a censoring blog(WTF!!!) and takes the liberty of editing the wiki post on top to include TBB in the “censoring blog” category! Ok, this gets better. Ingy (aka Frugal Travel Guy the person or Rick), obviously still bored and disturbed that TBB has not posted for three days, could not hold back and goes on a mega angry rant #365 and especially #367 where he calls me “a bozo” (classy!). Delta Points follows Ingy (see a pattern?) to state he PROUDLY censors (oh how I cringe reading that!). I was passing through and explained myself with post #376 taking the high road before continuing on to have a nice workout at the gym. After returning from the gym and taking a hot shower feeling totally refreshed I reread ingy’s comment and I did the noble thing to kindly refer him to my therapist. An interesting discussion developed and I think Matt of Saverocity nailed it with #382 which I quote below almost in its entirety:
Some bloggers are deleting comments that alert their readers to the fact that there are better deals for them on credit cards.
Some bloggers are deleting spam or personal attacks (deliberately posting personal info etc)
The two groups are very different, though the former is trying to pull the latter into the same simple two category ‘censors’ or ‘does not censor’ in order to achieve one of two things:
Dilution of the negativity of being labeled a censor
Or
Dilution of the integrity of another blog by branding them with the same negative brush.
It’s really very simple.
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First!
Noooooooo. Second 🙁
A few thoughts. Thank you for linking to my Amazon post. I was debating whether to write about it, but as Dan said on Twitter, this has been around for years.
Secondly, Tashir from Mile Value wanted me to help work on award bookings, but I was unable to dedicate 25+ hours a week.
Lastly, I won some contest months ago from PMM and he sent me 100+ napkins. Maybe I can send them to you for a holiday present and cheer you up?
Dan is THE master of the deal. Some of his deals cross the line for me but you can’t deny that he WILL uncover many a good one. It’s just up to you to go for it or not.
Today, Dan got me another few months worth of the wall street journal. Need something to line the bird cage with and their editorial page will do just fine. 🙂
Man you really have two admirers that want to make a shirt out of your skin. I really love that thread about censorship. Really shows how so many of the bloggers in this space have unresolved issues stemming from not being popular in middle school. Acting like teenage mean girls … so funny to see it played out so publicly.
The Owl pics scream O RLY ??!!! (long time internet meme)
Congrats to Matt @ Saverocity.
High quality post TBB. Well done mate. For this first time in a very very long time I did not cringe about anything in a new TBB post.
Top 10?
You go George!
Well no I was going to let this one slide, but to Oliver2002: “ingy: “George is just another Bozo on the Bus with little room to criticize others.”
See how IB controls you lot? You can’t do anything about it either or kiss your position goodbye 😉 I have never seen any direct attacks/name calling get by on FT except when it is by Frugal Angry Traveler Pimping Credit Cards.
When we started the EM&PR forum it was clear that the mod intervention would be minimal, and I’m proud to report in the 6+ months its been active I have only deleted three posts in that mentioned megathread and three posts in the animated gif thread because people posted the animated gifs in violation of TOS.
If you would follow the real forums I moderate you would notice that deleting/editing (ie cleaning up after little kids) is not my style, I usually send a PM to the poster with a time limit, indicating that the posted content speak for/against the poster. As far as the love notes between ingy and George are concerned, they are big boys and the latter was asked if he feels personally attacked.
Sorry, must call BS here. I posted the following 3 months ago in that forum:
“Same for the scum that push this card. You know who you are. ”
The FT mods warned me this was a “personal attack” and that I would be given a suspension if it happened again. When I asked for clarification on what constituted a personal attack I was told to reread this section of the FT TOS: http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q87 and that attacking a group of people (say bloggers) is also not allowed.
I guess I don’t understand why Ingy continues to get a a free pass in this regard?
I just checked HikerTs history in EM&PR and only find one deleted post from April 12 which says ‘dual post, delete’ in the ‘What is the most useful frequent flyer blog?’ thread. EM&PR was created sometime around April 13. So I call BS back.
Oliver – I will also point out that TBB gets more comments in a day than that entire forum gets posts in a month. FT and it’s trigger happy moderators make that no home for this discussion. George was pretty smart and/or lucky to work out that there were a lot of people with blog issues and it needed an un-moderated forum to allow the venting
Yep, the EM&PR forum has been a miserable failure in that aspect. I surmise the fact that there were no windmills to fight against or moderation boundaries to test in that section also has something to do with it. :p
Huh? Called out below for claiming false information? Trav, I thought better of you.
I doubt anyone cares what “you” think of them.
Lol.
I have to admit the latest MMS interview is really strange. First the site is not really a blog, I have no idea what it is. But the real gem – Jessica, the person from the interview posted her “bucket list” – she would like to see Bora Bora (duh), but also Italy, Spain, Greece, Thailand and… check it out – Florida and Grand Canyon. Is there any place she actually has seen? I guess she is a real expert…
And I have to agree, the latest posts on One mile are really good. Great lists, all of them.
Ingy is such a weird guy. My comments on his weak blog have been censored many times. Stopped reading it altogether a few months ago.
George – keep up the good fight. Don’t let the sleazebags get you down. You know you are killing it when Ingy and that toady DP are out there slinging mud – but wont allow the slightest criticism on their own garbage blogs.
I think you mean “sleazeblogs” – new term, I like it.
Here’s a useful way to think about which blogs know what they’re talking about and which ones just rip content. Lots of them came out with the Hyatt news at the same time, they probably had the details in advance. But which ones called Hyatt’s new 24 month expiration policy an improvement, and which ones knew that Hyatt hasn’t enforced its point expiration at all in the past? It’s what they do with the information in combining their own knowledge with new developments that gives them a value-add. Otherwise who needs 41 posts on the same press release?
Agreed completely.
* Over at View From The Wing, it’s yet another example of why Gary is almost unquestionably the best consumer advocate in the mileage community. He both maintains useful contacts within the industry, but at the same time applies his own extensive knowledge and isn’t afraid to call out programs when they’re trying to sneak in devaluations.
* Lucky over at One Mile at a Time, on the other hand, is enthusiastically cheering on the expiration announcement as “good news for the average consumer”. Gary actually calls him out on it in the comments, which Lucky seems to have decided to just ignore (while responding to everything else).
“Professionalism: _____ members shall conduct themselves in a way that would be a credit to _____ AT ALL TIMES. _____membership involves integrity, honest treatment of clients, and treating people with RESPECT” ( I capitalized a few words of importance)
That is one of the many reasons Georgie boy censored the comment. The deletion confirmed my suspicion.
Georgie Boy has got a secret. Tell us Georgie Boy all about your secret.
Don’t be passive-aggressive and childish, Rick. Be a model of integrity and report him to his professional organization.
George is my friend. I won’t do that. But the time may be coming that others will.
I have to admit though, It would be kinda fun to be on fly on the wall when said organization catches on to this quote from TBB
“FREE PUSSY RIOT”
That’s very kind of you to stop at passive-aggressive threats. With friends like you, George won’t need enemies. Do you also taunt friends you suspect might be gay or lesbian, suggesting they out themselves?
I think I’m missing something in the logic of this threat, though. The letter, as far as I can tell, would read:
“Dear professional organization,
It has come to my attention that one of your members maintains a blog where he criticizes other businesses for aggressive selling and deceptive marketing. In this blog, he refuses to censor or correct anonymous comments that use profanity and over-the-top rhetoric to defame other businesses. This behavior reflects poorly on your organization because professionals in this line of business should not a) have hobbies and side projects, b) allow anonymous people to say mean things on the internet, or c) criticize businesses for poor practices. Please revoke his license.”
What am I missing here? Is there more?
I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you know who/what Pussy Riot is.
Excellent retort, harvson3.
Little known fact: that Van Damme clip was the fourth take, and first after the third trip to the hospital ended.
Matt from Saverocity hit the nail on the head in this little instance of adults-should-know-better.
Rene shouldn’t bother attacking you, because as Ingy never tires of pointing out (and he’s most likely right), the types of people who click on affiliate links at those blogs are not reading TBB or they’re not swayed by content at TBB.
Really, Rene should be attacking Gary Leff for the latter’s popularization of the term SkyPesos. He did push back, for a bit. The term spread on its own. If you want people to read a blog about Delta, make an argument that Delta’s product is superior. Push back against those who denigrate SkyMiles and Delta, which just happen to be some of the hobby’s leading authors/press release re-publishers. It’s pathetic to kick down at this niche, non-monetized blog full of anonymous angries when authors of blogs with far greater audiences are subliminally or explicitly telling readers to ignore/avoid the product you’re covering/reviewing. Of course, Gary is powerful in this hobby and George is not. That contrast may explain things.
(To demonstrate it’s possible, look for trip reports by Tom aka NYBanker. He gets fantastic value out of SkyMiles, though to the best of my knowledge he hasn’t posted recently on his blog.)
I suspect DP doesnt really care THAT much about Delta. It’s simply the piece of the points world that he staked out early on and now defends, not as a Delta shill but as a card shill.
IOW, Delta is the ugly girl he chose to marry and he now parades her for a buck or two
Interesting article, don’t know how I missed it at the time. Basically, what DP is saying is that it’s perfectly OK for Delta to confuse consumers on purpose, as long as experts can still get a good value out of them after hours of hard work. I was unaware that loyalty programs are supposed to be that way, but what do I know.
Tell us more about your charity work. Richard. Your secret is safe with us.
Glad to. Thanks for asking. I tried to start a movement in our niche to switch some of our day to day spending to cash back cards. Lets face it. We all have more miles than we need. I was in hopes that people would switch to cash back cards and help feed the 14 million kids in America that aren’t sure they would get dinner tonight. It did not catch on. I was warned that people are more interested in donating to their local food bank than shipping food stuffs to other areas in the US. With my personal contributions and the support of a few others, we shipped out about $1800 in total to food banks across the US. Live and learn.
The Chicago seminars generated about $16-17k for charity this year and Katy and I continue to support our local free medical clinic, local food banks and the wounded warriors and independence fund helping our veterans.
Ingy is he that old credit challege guy from that lame Frugal travel guy blog? Haha, that was the most useless blog I had come across when I started doing my research on blogs to read.
It was full of “BAD” ideas and made you use the credit card links which offered lower points than what the best deal was out there. Greed at its finest.
It takes a special amount of bravery to come out and criticize others when your own blog (when you owned it) was such a disaster. Rick Ingersol, how does it feel to hear how bad and pathetic your blog was? A little improved now that its not yours.
You lacked the intellect as well as the knowledge to post any good deals/tricks or loopholes. All you did was push credit cards as your ultimate trick. What a bag full of fail.
Thanks for your comment and so clearly stating your position. You are quite right in stating the FTG blog is better than when I owned it. Almost three times as daily readers as when i owned it agree with you.
“Rick Ingersol, how does it feel to hear how bad and pathetic your blog was?”
In case it wasn’t obvious, he does a really good job at handling criticism
Wow, seems like differing opinions here? Your fearless koolaide provider said it was his favorite? George, take a credible stand here will ya?
“Snap to it, George.”–Ingy
I know this will come as little surprise, since he spends most of his retirement life trying to harm George’s personal life, but obviously Rick’s post today was completely mailed in
The guy spent 2 decades in banking and finance, and is asking newbie readers on a miles and points blog what to do with 100K?
I’m guessing it was the more likely scenario – Rick wanting to remind everyone again that he has a lot of money. Now that’s he got that out of the way, he can return to simultaneously telling you how irrelevant you are, and spending every waking minute of his life being obsessed with you
Steve, at 63 years of age, I’d better have $100k don’t ya think? And I haven’t kept up with the Deposit Bonuses, hence the post. Just looking for a little advice on the subject at hand, and reader engagement.
Sorry buddy, another failed attempt at spinning the negative side.
Why do you want reader engagement on that blog? Didnt you say you have no affiliation with it now that you have sold it to IB
“Steve, at 63 years of age, I’d better have $100k don’t ya think?”
Many people do. It’s just that they don’t often brag about it because you know…. lots of people don’t
But I would expect nothing different from a prolific DYKWIA’er such as yourself
Maybe it’s a reflection of a fragment of the baby boomer generation that likes to brag about their success and financial wealth. Or Ingy is an outlier.
Pretty sure he’s an outlier. I can’t think of a single baby boomer who talks about his wealth as much as Rick, or their charitable givings
“DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!!! I’M RICK INGERSOLL!!!! I MADE LOTS OF MONEY!!!! (by the way, I’d like to go back to the old days)”*
* For those who can’t figure it out on their own, that’s not a verbatim quote. Just a paraphrasing of it.
(is that disclosure on the bottom sufficient TBB? It’s far more disclosure that FTG ever gave on the bottom of his posts :))
ROFLMAO!
@ Rich: Congrats!
@ Grant: I thought we had rigged it but Rich ruined it all lol. I hadn’t seen the Amazon deal in a very long time so it was good to remind readers. I will pass on the napkins, nothing personal 🙂
@bluecat: I agree. Enough crap on that journal to take care of the birdcage for a very long time lol.
@dginchelsea: Thanks. Let’s try to keep it an entertaining site, don’t give them the reasons to call us angry. Do you see SNL folks being trolled for making fun of everyone, including themselves? sigh
@AgendaGuy: Thanks for the kind words. You were after me for a while and you were right 😉
@theblakefish: Easy Top 10!
@Susan: Thank you. And thanks for the help on my daughter’s issues. I ordered that book by the way.
To all on the FT censoring exchange: Thank you for taking the time to comment in a polite manner. I am still traumatized that Mia will come in and censor/ban me. And that was a joke 🙂
@Lenticular Travel: I agree, thank you.
@Anonymous 2.41 am: Thanks for taking the time to comment!
@ Paul: Thanks. I am working hard to provide entertainment mostly, some education and every once in a great while some inspiration. I just want to be able to do a split like the VanDamme dude when I get to be his age lol.
@ Anonymous at 6.42 am and @ A reader: I agree, great observation! ” It’s what they do with the information in combining their own knowledge with new developments that gives them a value-add”. Thanks to both for taking the time to comment.
@harvson3: I am going to take your advice and not feed the trolls. I had no idea that was the fourth take with the Volvo trucks! Putting me and Gary in the same line is a compliment, thank you. Last time I checked Amex did not contact me to give away 25k Emirates miles lol. I still can not believe the obsession about my site which has been a dismal failure as far as commercial success goes…Yeah, I hope Tom is okay!
@Anonymous at 9.13 and 9.35 am: Thanks for taking the time to comment.
@ Ingy; Thank you for telling us all about your charity work.
@M A: Thanks for taking the time to comment. Let’s not get angry…I know it is hard.
@ Ingy: “That is one of the many reasons Georgie boy censored the comment. The deletion confirmed my suspicion.Georgie Boy has got a secret. Tell us Georgie Boy all about your secret.” smh
@ Ingy: “George is my friend. I won’t do that. But the time may be coming that others will.”
Never explicitly threatening….Been taking these shots since I first dared to say something that was not all glowing about FTG (the blog).
FREE PUSSY RIOT every day until they are all FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@harvson3: Thanks a lot for the support and your voice of reason here.
@ Steve: Thanks again. I wish I had $100k spare cash laying around. How about buying bitcoins? KIDDING!!!!
FYI, bitcoins passed the $400 mark recently. smh, I had a chance to buy them under $25 a piece not long ago.
This bitcoin stuff is just crazy!
Boy I was expecting a bombardment this morning about the Sapphire and Freedom improvements but so far it seems I was the only one to cover it and it’s been a couple of hours already: http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/36630
Wait for it folks 😀
I feel the same… very rapidly growing thread on SlickDeals but not even one mention of it on the blogs. I was going to write a post but my f’ing blog is down. I am in the 24-48 hour neverland period where I am waiting for DNS changes to move it to my new hosting which hopefully won’t be up and down like a whores drawers the way gigapros have been. Oh and that reminds me internet hosting, now there IS a business absolutely rife with abuse, fake reviews to generate affiliate commissions etc. as bad if not worse than the cc game.
Can you imagine all the posts on what you can do with an extra 10k, all about rotating 5% categorires, if this were an affiliate link?
Great post Dan, but the Chase bombardment at the bottom was a little over the top
I get the UR links in the post, but the BA Visa? United Explorer?
Completely irrelevant. At least you stuffed it all in the bottom, I guess. but still….
Not at all irrelevant IMHO.
I never apply for cards without doing a 3BM or 4BM from the same bank. Heck I’ve had successful 12BMs with some banks but more than 4 with Chase would be really tough.
That’s 3x or 4x the bonus for the same single credit pull.
How do you best play the game best with Chase?
#of applications, time between applications etc, churning cards etc
I believe this requires a whole seminar 🙂 The subject is vast and everyone is different. Dan is an outlier for sure .
In prior Buzz post I elaborated a little in the comments about Chase and how it treats credit lines…
My Chase banker called me about 2-3 weeks ago with a head’s up on the CSP Offer that she said was effective November 17. Applying at the bank lowers the minimum spend to $2000 for those who prefer a lower amt than the $3000. I will verify that when I stop by today to register for their contest. Luckily my branch is just across from Walmart. 🙂 But this was the first I heard re: the Freedom card. Thanks.
Comments are even more interesting when others chime in to defend George against Ingy. That seems to happen when George holds back which is fine since he has certainly made his argument already many times.
My wife got a targeted offer that was just $500 spend.
Yeah, Ingy bothers a lot of us. I was trying to put my finger on why this is exactly. He certainly comes across on this board as pompous, a braggart, and a know-it-all—that enough can be a deal killer to liking the guy. But I have another reason for not liking what he does here.
I followed him almost from his start. (I even have mass mailings from him where he inadvertently CC’ed all his loyal followers–including Daraius and George!—so I know there were not many of us back then.) In those days, Rick made a point to personalize his blog. Here was Rick, the helpful banker, who would analyze your credit and tell you what cards to get. Here was Rick letting you in (sorta) on some secrets, making you feel like you could play the game. Here was Rick’s wife, his boy, his stepdaughter, all contributing to the family. Rick the recovering addict, Rick the military supporter, Rick struggling with weight loss. And on and on. You came to know the guy, in a way.
Now I see this “other Rick” and it’s all about the money. Makes me question whether or not all the rest over all those years was one big fake after another, just to build an audience and then take the cash and run.
I have to say this is similar to my thoughts. I honestly enjoyed reading FTG back when I first became aware of the miles & points game. It wasn’t the slickest site, and maybe didn’t always have the top deals but it seemed “real”, I guess. Liked his kids’ posts, too. I would include it in my short list of websites when friends & family wanted some good newbie-type intro to the game.
After the sale, I don’t really care for what IB has done with it. It’s better looking and all, but there isn’t really a “voice” to it, or anything to make it stand out anymore. Not surprising given that it’s IB.
But the “Ingy” I’m seeing here and on FT is disappointing. It doesn’t even sound like the same person who I thought used to write FTG. I don’t have any interest in ever reading FTG.com again, that’s for sure – and I suppose Ingy will go on my ignore list on FT now.
Thanks for the kind words. I am really getting tired of the endless back and forth with my biggest fan. Sorry for the repetitive arguments. I have spoken my mind. TBB will go on and be a mixture of SNL/60Minutes/ConsumerReports/JonStewart or something like that 😉
Hello everyone! I drove to Grand Rapids and back today and almost feel asleep on the way back! Safe and sound and way behind on the blogs today. And in a few hours I am playing a soccer game with my Gasping For Air team going for 4th win in a row and a 4-0 record (for the 1st time ever!). After the game, beverages at TGIF’s. So no Buzz post tomorrow most likely. Should have one up on Wednesday…that is what I am aiming for anyway!
To all the commenters I have not responded individually, make no mistake I have heard you. I do read everything!
A couple of more things: Don’t feed the trolls.
Well…I will leave the other one for later then… I need to take a power nap!
Chase actually announced a better offer on their own website today for 50k + 5k for auth user for the CSP
It’ll be FASCINATING to see who highlights this. VFTW did a separate followup post on the 50k + 5k offer. MP has edited the top of her post on the 40k offer to indicate the bigger bonus. I’ll revise: it will be even MORE FASCINATING to see who does not highlight this. DD will tell everyone to use his link ::cough:: and get Chase to match the bigger bonus. I wonder if they will this time since VFTW points out that the 50k/5k card has a higher annual fee (still waived the first year).
I informed Gary of it and he promptly replied and made a new post with the current best offer. Hats off to Gary!
I added a comment to both One mile at a time and Million miles secrets informing of the better offer, both deleted my comments. 🙂
Gary has previously posted when I commented with a possibly better offer, too. I don’t always care for some of his posts (just not relevant to me sometimes) but he is consistent and appears to usually be above board.
I see that MMS updated the post to look in the comments for the better link. Not sure why your comment is not there, but there are other comments with the better offer, so doesn’t look like he is deleting comments.
Could be a spam blocker issue.
Lol, I already updated the post the new offer.
Interesting to see Chase price an annual fee based on the signup bonus. I wonder if this is the wave of the future.
I don’t see an update on your post.
I still don’t see an update to the main text of the post. Sure, comment 76 by “CHAIM” gave the new link. At a minimum I would have expected that the other was mentioned in an updated post.
I’m not the only blog that used to have an updated link posted and I’m afraid that I can’t share any more than that. Sorry guys.
Dan deleted the better link in the comments. The link from Chaim is gone.
George – Are you sure that Dan’s Deals is a better blog? He’s selling the inferior link and deleting comments to the better link!
See my response in this matter below.
Been out almost all day. Just now catching up late at night. Missed all the excitement with the 55k CSP offer….
Trying to get my head around it
Hey, I booked a trip alone to Seoul a year ago. Well, I took it about a 14 months ago, booked long before that. 🙂 I have a blast wandering places by myself. You should try it. Your wife and kids leave you behind often enough!
I did that earlier in the year to Norway and absolutely loved it. I had an Asiana First trip pulled up on United but the flights back were not ideal and then you posted about some ticketing issues and asked Gary and then….I just came to my senses that I just can not just go like that. I am already going to Greece in December for the holidays.
I still want to burn some US miles for a 90k award but too busy with life and TBB you know 😉
As it turns out, it ticketed perfectly fine. 🙂 There’s just that worry ever since a problem existed way back when. And frankly you should be using US miles, it’d cost you less!
And whaddaya got against Van Damme? He’s great in Bloodsport and in The Expendables! 🙂
Wait a minute, you like Chuck Norris too? lol
Listening to the 12 year old scratch out Ladies Antebellum and Gaga on his violin and reading the harmony that is TBB comments… fitting.
Sounds heavenly to me 🙂
Oh man @ that Flyertalk thread. You censored ONE comment and all of the sudden you censor everything? That’s really grasping at straws there, guys.
I will say, that with a blog like this, you’re going to make enemies, and is it becomes popular I wouldn’t expect your personal details to remain private all the time. Good luck navigating those tricky waters. I definitely appreciate what you do 🙂
Thank you. TBB has been under a constant barrage of threats…Some would love to shut me down pronto because my site dares to challenge the pompous crap they spill out to their readers.
When I see the crappy US Air offer get explicitly AND implicitly pushed to unsuspecting readers I get “angry” 🙂
Story at 11 or….next Buzz post. Which will come very late tonight.
Let’s ignore the trolls por favor 🙂
And the value of MilePoint Premium takes another hit… have to admit I almost bought it when it first came out, but am glad I didn’t. First United devalues its chart, then Amex Plat gives out HHonors Gold, and now everyone can get 10% off Hyatt gift cards.
Still a decent deal for someone who can not get HHonors Gold any other way…They are out there 🙂
One great thing that I have noticed with the competing Sapphire bonus is that you can really judge a blogger by which offer they are talking about. My favorite non-mention / purely commercial post so far is this one. http://romsdeals.com/2013/11/19/best-time-start-travelling-free-now/. Not a single mention of 55k offer and affiliate links for lesser offer prominently displayed. FYI, I checked and the 55k links are still working.
Did everyone notice what happened here?
I think the 55k offer was NOT meant to be pushed by the bloggers and this is why you saw them all delete their posts FASTER than you can say “Sapphire”! The ones who posted it do not have Chase links and wanted to do the right thing and/or wanted to create a buzz strong enough to….get Chase links 🙂 See MV’s pitch starting with INCREDIBLE.
This is what the hobby, err business has become…An unrelenting incestuous pumping conflict of interest mega fest.
It is very sad…
Updated my link. I was informed that 55K was one day only yesterday. I’m west coast time so hard to get up early to update the post. Thanks!
Nice try George.
Some affiliate bloggers like TPG have a dedicated post up to the better offer. Others like MMS have removed their affiliate links and prominently tell you about the 55K offer in their post.
Of course, your pal Dan says “I’m not the only blog that used to have an updated link posted and I’m afraid that I can’t share any more than that. Sorry guys.”
He still has inferior links up in the post and doesn’t mention the better offer.
Do you really believe that you are Consumer Reports?
TPG might have a post dedicated to the better offer, but he sure as heck has the inferior link prominently posted in it before the first sentence of his post is even completed
You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post for “you might still be able to find a working one on this FlyerTalk thread or via SlickDeals”
And MMS removed his links, but doesn’t actually link to it in his post or include it in any of his headlines (all the headline of the post says is about 5000 points for adding a user).
The only bloggers who are prominently featuring this are the ones who don’t get a commission. And none of the bloggers who do actually mention it in their headline (most don’t even remove their inferior link – certainly TPG, MP, Gary etc. STILL have inferior links up). MMS to his (relative to other bloggers) credit at least doesn’t have the inferior link, even if he has the story buried under 4 filler posts and doesn’t allude to the better offer in his headlines
Hey, no one is really Consumer Reports, come on 🙂
I am trying to keep up with everything, I do my best. All for no freaking gain other than love for this hobby earning more insults and lawsuit threats than any other blogger (of course tiny compared to the supportive ones).
Can you please provide me the links to ANY blogger who does business with Chase who posted AND left the 55k offer up?
I did not single out anybody here. This is a Chase tactic that puts out bloggers to dry. I don’t like and I do not blame the bloggers really…they are just caught in this trap.
It’s a very murky world. I promised the wife I will do something about my site but I think I will do it…next week. Pretty soon she will call for an intervention lol.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
In the meantime, do you agree how FTG (the blog) pushes the inferior US Air offer? Because I sure don’t.
Ok, just to round up based on the blogs I’ve seen, here are the facts
– The only blog I see which is a Chase affiliate that actually has a headline alluding to the better offer is TPG. However, he has a link to the inferior offer in the first sentence of that post and you have to get to the last paragraph of the post before he even kinda/sorta tells you how to maybe get the offer
– MMS is the only Chase affiliate blogger I see that has removed the inferior offer from his post. Everybody else still has links to the 40K, many at the very top. He makes no mention of it in his headline
– Most bloggers now have the chase posts buried under a lot of filler. You have to scroll way down on Gary or MMS’ blog to get to any posts about the CSP
So i guess MMS has handled this the least bad if only because he’s the only one NOT displaying the inferior offer. At least he had the courtesy to take his down, even if you have to scroll to the middle of his comments to figure out how to get the better offer
I agree with your assessment…again! That’s my take on it too so far.
Again, I feel very bad for the bloggers here who were kind of “set up” by Chase. You do the right thing and you can get thrown out like garbage. You don’t and your readers do not get the benefit of the much better offer. I should not feel bad but for some reason I do. I have always been an emotional kind of guy you know…
TBB will not name names on this one. I think this REALLY exposed the huge inherent conflicts of interest present in this business. I mean,the two offers were not even close!
So….do you think this may be considered a different product and we can go for another signing bonus? 🙂
Hey Consumer Reports Wannabe,
Dan is promoting the inferior offer to the CSP in his comments to the CSP post. Are you going to call him out?
He also is deleting comments to the better offer.
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/36630#comments
Very lame Dan… Even the worst credit card pimp (TPG) disclosed the better offer.
See above:
Can you please provide me the links to ANY blogger who does business with Chase who posted AND left the 55k offer up?
Now you’re asking us to do your job? Hire Steve!
MMS has removed his link in the post and directs you to the better link in the comments. He doesn’t delete it and encourages you to use the better link.
MP & VFTW mention the better offer and don’t delete comments with the better offer.
TPG links to the SD and FT thread.
Dan’s Deals deletes comments with links to the better offer and inserts links to the inferior offer in his newer posts. His main post on the topic doesn’t mention the increased offer.
Guess which blog makes the “Blogs I Like” list?
I hear you.
I look at the whole body of work the bloggers produce.
This whole episode was unique, it happened too fast and blinsdided the bloggers.
DD is definitely on the watch list to be taken off my “Blogs I Like” list. It saddens me. We all make mistakes.
I see the content in DD and MMS and I…come on!
Fact: There are HUGE conflicts of interest in this space!
I didn’t write a specific post about either offer, but I do still have both links up in my Best Signup Offers page. Can I keep the 55k offer up? We’ll see…
You were an outlier always 😉
When they find out you have it up, I think, you will be asked to take it down and you will do it.
What do I know about this stuff anyways…I am just making it up as I go along lol.
I like this approach by Chase. It will, however, damage the relationship with bloggers.
Take a 40+5k offer and donate $100-200 to your favorite blogger.
Or just take a 50+5k offer and donate $0 to your favorite blogger.
Who will support starving bloggers when it hurts your wallet?
Yeah. I feel sorry for the bloggers here, I really do. For some anyway 🙂
I need to just put up my “bad” list and just stop this crap…it never ends, does it? 🙂
Who knew, we know pimping wasn’t easy but now it seems Whoring isn’t easy either. This is put end to all pretense that they are any type of consumer advocate and starting calling the what they are.
Pretense? 😉
This incident, in my opinion, is isolated.
There are bloggers out there who do a decent job and add value.
The Discover It card is now offering free FICO scores on monthly statements. You might read it here first, because there are far more lucrative cards to shill out there.
Yep, saw that. I am getting the card today or tomorrow. Every interaction with them so far has been great, very impressed. Of course let’s see how many will take the time to post about the Friday triple dining points and of course shill the Arrival card for its own score 🙂
Use it for all non-Amazon online shopping, then hit the $1500 quota with Amazon GCs for future purchases (or whatever trick Greg D-K discovers between now and Dec. 31st). Easy.
I would be interested to know which “flavor” of FICO score this is, but I am off to a lunch meeting.
In light of the most recent example of the bloggers pledging allegiance to the United States of Chase, can we all agree that the footer in Gary’s CC posts are an absolute load of crap?
“The content is not provided or commissioned by American Express, by Chase, by Citibank, US Bank, Bank of America, Barclays or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed what I have to say”
C’mon Dan, be straight with us. Stop trying to beat around the bush.
And in other news Chase just agreed to pony up $13 Billion in fines…
Fine=Cost of doing business
Will be passed on down to customers unfortunately.
pocket change for Chase, and a write off.
Good catch, Steve!
The statement you posted from Gary allows him to “do a Clinton” and weasel his way out, however. Although Chase has not reviewed/approved/endorsed, they APPARENTLY (I say this because we are just guessing here) have CENSORED what their little minions can say and do about the new offer.
How does it feel, bloggers, to not be able to speak freely? Must suck big time.
I feel sorry for them, I feel they were set up.
I promised my wife I will take some steps to justify my time spent on this…
In other words, I am looking for a way out LOL
Am I the only one to comment that the Van Damme video is amazing?……………….Just saw MMS Friday interview with Flivin which stands for F*ing Living. It is F*Awful!!!! It makes me pissed off at Al Gore for inventing the internet. These F*idiots (Ramsey pulls no punches) think they just invented such a great catch phase that they can market a website and merchandise around it. I only wish we could read the MMS comments left that day that were censored. MMS is F*Crap lately
No you are not, that is one of the most awesome videos ever made!
Thanks for sharing your feelings about MMS. I share them 🙂
I’ve posted dozens of times on garys blog without ever having any issues
just posted a comment with the link to the superior chase offer… “your comment is awaiting moderation”
I’m guessing he’ll be in no hurry to let it through
See my comments above.
I feel sorry for the bloggers, they were all hung out to dry in this one…
Links in comments often go into the spam queue, it’s an Akismet thing, right TBB?
Correct!
Usually that is what happens. So, you need to alert the blogger that you left a comment on that date and around that time so they can go into the spam folder (dangerous job!) and “unspam” it. After that you should be good.
I have a great idea for Rick, since he is so eager to bring this “hobby” back to the good ole days
He should withdraw any invitations to speakers at the Chicago Seminars of bloggers who are pushing the inferior CSP link and censoring mention of the better CSP link
Afterall, the good ole days were all about this being a hobby where we help each other, instead of the modern day greedfest this has become
If you’re pushing the inferior link, then you’re out to line your pockets – not help others. Simple as that.
So it seems perfectly reasonable that he won’t allow to speak anyone who is being the complete antithesis of what he wants the “hobby” to revert back to, right? Can you really preach wanting to help people while at the same time bringing in speakers who are doing the exact opposite to their readers?
LOL.
That would never even be considered because, you know, you are just an angry hiding behind your anonymity. What is your last name Steve? Do you have a secret? Why don’t you publish your email address too so you can…never mind.
Remember a priceless quote:
It’s all marketing 🙂
Congratulations Greece. Looks like they will make it to the WC.
Economists would say that Greece in the WC already…
I’m afraid everyone is in the same big WC, and there is no escape, we just keep spinning…
Yeah, 3rd World Cup in a row now…Very happy for the homeland!
3rd straight World Cup? They didn’t go to Germany 2006.
4th straight including the Euros, sure.
Ooops, meant 3rd World Cup. I was in all games in the first one 1994 here in the US. A very traumatic experience for Greeks 🙂
I see 2nd round next year!
Seems like all the award booking guys left MV and started their own group,
advertising themselves on MMS 🙂
I guess that’s why MV is looking for people for his award booking services…
Or maybe they got tired of the TBB constructive criticism for being included in the “Blog Buzz” so often ?
You can only push so much crap until people say “enough is enough”
Not sure if this happened but I sure like to think so.
TBB improving the hobby one comment at a time LOL
I still have the 55K offer up! Sign up quickly for the non-affiliate link!
New philosophical question, akin to trees falling in forests: If a person does a 3BM using 3 non-affiliate links, does an affiliate blogger somewhere start to cry?
No doubt 🙂
LOL at all of MV’s award bookers leaving
I’m guessing they got frustrated because conversations like this were probably the norm
Client: “I want to go to ____ in C/J”
Award booker: “ok sure, do you have any Ultimate Rewards points”
Client: “what’s an ultimate rewards points”
Award booker: “Chase’s points. you get them on the CSP, CIB or CIP among other cards”
Client: “Never heard of ’em”
Award booker: “ok, what currencies do you have”
Client: “I’ve got 30K US miles, 25K SPG points and $440 in free travel”
Award booker: “That’s it?”
Client: “Yeah, why, are there any other ways to accrue miles?”
Award booker: “Let me guess. You don’t read any other blogs”
Haha Mini Trip Part 1 (of …..? ) Good lord
Priceless.
http://boardingarea.com/pointsmilesandmartinis/2013/11/how-to-earn-elite-qualifying-miles-when-using-ultimate-rewards/
Redeeming Chase points to pay for travel at 1.25 cents apiece is “Great” and a “good option.”