Welcome to WordPress everyone…
Planning a post tomorrow and I hope I get the hang of this new interface. Hope you like the new look. Let me know how the comments work. This is all new to me, new challenge! I will be playing around with stuff learning WP for the near future. Any tutorials (from newbie perspective) & top 5 type plugins you recommend please let me know. Thank you for your patience!
The time has come…
No, not to get affiliate links. Hold your horses you angry haters out there ready to pounce on this eyebrow hair loss suffering blogger! What I meant was that the time has come to say goodbye to the Blogger blogging platform hosted at Google. This blog moved to WordPress sometime on Monday June 3.
PARIS BURNING
On a more happy note, TBB finally went on “Operation Burn” and got all hotels booked in Paris for Mrs. TBB and daughter in late August. They have been asking for a girl trip so I made a deal with them. I take care of it and I am off laundry duties for 6 months. Ok, negotiations ensued and we settled on three months. #winning
Burned 240k pts as follows:
Radisson Blu Metropolitan 3 nights (50k Club Carlson points per night) for a total of 100k points (3rd night free due to CC Visa)
Intercontinental Le Grand 2 nights (50k Priority Club points per night) for another 100k points
Hilton Charles de Gaulle Airport 1 night before early am flight at 40k Hilton Honors points
And this is why this hobby is as addictive as crack (not like I have ever tried crack…but u get my point!)
Thank you to all readers who helped me out with hotels and other trip matters, I greatly appreciate it!
I could have gone on here about which credit cards helped me to get all these points and slipped in some affiliate links for you all but…I won’t go there:-) Well, here is one that is not being pushed as hard (surprise…it is NOT an affiliate link!). Priority Club Visa for 80k PC points by Chase Bank.
Click on the link in post #1. You are welcome.
FLYER TALK GEMS
A few fascination discussions over the weekend at FlyerTalk:
Which Miles and Points Blogs Censor Comments
and
The points and miles blog business model
My FT handle is: gpapadop
MVP POST OF THE DAY
By FlyFasterFlyFarther, post # 85 (in response to a question by another FTer how to disclose a post on a mistake fare containing an affiliate link):
No, you should tell your readers the most lucrative way for them to make a booking.
If your referral link isn’t it, that’s fine, use it but say so.
“Here’s a place you can book this mistake fare. If you use this link, I get a modest payment (which is crazy with a mistake fare). You could also make this booking by _____ ad earn cash back/points/miles instead if you prefer.”
If you’re going to ask your readers to pay you, and you’re worth your salt as a blogger, then you should know what is the best strategy to make a booking. If you don’t know, or don’t honestly offer the information, then you aren’t worth reading.
It is fine to have an affiliate link that isn’t the best offer, but you should say it isn’t the best offer.
And it’s possible that on occasion you could get the best offer wrong, that’s ok if you acknowledge it and correct your mistakes. Your readers will judge if that happens too often (so they don’t find you reliable).
Pretty simple stuff, really. If you put yourself out there as an expert, then be an expert, and give your readers the absolute best advice you possibly can — regardless of whether or not it pays you in a given instance.
That is how you will grow your audience. It is also how you will make more money. Your credibility will make you money over time. Sacrificing that credibility may make money this week but isn’t your best strategy over time.
For our Canadian friend: he is young and should take the long view. Give the best advice you possibly can, don’t hide your financial relationships that could be perceived to affect your advice in fine print, and then it’s totally ok to make money from your advice and none of us should fault you for it.
We might wish that a blogger offered fewer credit card links, or fewer repetitive posts, but that’s an aesthetic issue. If they give the best information and do so honestly then we can’t really fault them, even if they aren’t to a given individual’s taste — which is to say we can both not like them and still respect them!
TBB is in complete agreement with FFFF. My father used to say: “Have a passion, do the right thing, have fun and don’t worry about the money, it will find you.” RIP!
Don’t forget to check your Daily Getaway Deals:-)
And this is my version of a filler post.
And thank you all for reading my blog. We should very shortly get back to the Buzz post. Very little action over the weekend!
Have an awesome week!
Browstrong (eyebrow hair is coming back, yeeeees!)
Site looks great! Good job, TBB. One suggestion, try to make the URLs perma-links with post name and date (instead of p=465). Feel free to poke around my site to see what I mean. This helps with site readability and SEO. 🙂
I figured that out, thanks! So many things to figure out….Hang with me!
Just checking to see whether you can still post anonymously 😛
That was an absolutely non-negotiable parameter I gave to the web designer who helped me out. Censorship belongs in North Korea. If someone wants to post non-constructive insults only…they look like an a*s hiding behind a keyboard. I laugh it off. I have been called many names, it is amusing imho.
It is da internet!
If only the things I heard about my mother were true I would be totally ashamed:-)
Hi George, You can’t imagine how excited I was to hear you are a fan of mine! Believe it or not I am a big fan of yours too! Fact is, you’re my second favorite George after my brother George. Lets get this new WordPress extravaganza off to a flaming start. How about a top ten list of the biggest hunk bloggers.
I wish Liberace was still alive and not Elvis!
I have so many top ten lists to work on it is not even funny…
Ok, I will do it after another blogger posts a top ten babe bloggers. Or top ten blogger wives.
Lets see if this generates any insults. Liberace, I rest assured you get my quirky sense of humor.
I may have some ribs for lunch in your honor:-)
Well, this is nice. Good choice for a way to blow all that affiliate link money you’ve collected!
Hi Dave!
haha I was thinking the same. I don’t think he is done spending all of that yet ! The pay day has been too generous.
@George, this looks great! The left frame is blank at the moment. I can only imagine what can go there 🙂
ff
Forgot to add, I alerted the mods at FT about FTG addressing this blog as Tabloid Blogger Buzz. I am not surprised that no action was taken. FTG has quite the pull if they are allowing him to call names like a child.
Old mileage run buddy: Thanks for the kind words. I have no idea what you are talking about the left side:-) You know I move slow unless it is getting back on the plane in Kona in lighting speed lol Regarding “Tabloid” I find it amusing. And I am not angry:)
I am on a mission….
to lose all eyebrow hair
or
generate the mother of all tax deductions with this site
Maybe I should take bets on this? You know the house always wins;-)
Gee George, now that you’ve made the big time with WP and your Benz (ya think we forgot?!!) please don’t forget us little guys, who laugh and gaffaw at your humor!
The day I have to turn the Benz in will be very emotional. You know what they say “Once you go Benz, you never go back”. I am thinking evil thoughts…wreck it a little and then offer to buy it for cheap:-) It will be quite a downer going back to either our Ford Edge or beat up 12 year old 182k miles + counting Toyota Camry
@liberace, What about curious George?
Liberace may be busy with ribs or something
FYI, I had to reset my RSS feed for your blog.
Great thanks for letting me know!
Man, MMS lists the LH post in his “Best of MMS in May” list. Talk about taking shamelessness to a new level.
Monthly best list=Filler
Zzzzzzzz
Total agreement with FlyFasterFlyFarther. His or her reply to Matt at post #90 is also a very good statement of what I’ve thought and not expressed nearly as well.
Also like the PC 80k Visa. Agree with the idea that there are lines easily drawn in the sand between those who make honest efforts to do best by their readers, and those who side with their own pockets and the banks in hopes no one will notice. And people do notice. Here, watch this in action on that Priority Club card. (To his credit, the card is gone from his permanent links at top. Improvement.) Note: that link at FT worked for me in late March 2013.
And the FT link worked for me in late May, 2013.
In complete agreement again harvson3. You know, do no harm.
Follow up question: I had this card several years ago. If I go for it again do I get the 80k points? I am not Dan by the way (DansDeals). I tried to do what with the BA 100k card & used a different BA # and Chase sent me the card with my original BA# on it and told me “no 100k again for you”. Chase is much better run compare to the other big banks!
Thoughts?
The 80k PC link still works. I am wondering if they get a brand new card product out after the PC rebranding shortly?
Changing your name may help with Chase.
I’ve heard it takes about 5 years with Chase to get the same bonus again. I have terribly unreliable sources, however, and I don’t even remember which one it was..
Thanks for the number. I even heard 3 but don’t believe it. I may be near 4.
In instances like this, I wish I was Dan:-)
You should have a wish list somewhere. I still wish for a list of your top 10 places to see in Greece.
I am totally drowning in top 10 lists. Maybe I should hire a writer to help me out;-)
You should a section to your daily posts….. the pimping non-affliate cards section
Everyday you can pimp a different card that’s far better than the cards that get regurgitated on other sites, but doesn’t get nearly the coverage. Good start today with the 80K PC card
You can cycle between the Fairmont Card, the CC cards, the superior US and AA sign-up bonuses, etc.
Website looks good, and you can start practice pimpin by following the suggestion above. Just don’t go all milevalue on us, ya hear?
“go milevalue on us, ya hear?” LOL, that was so funny!
I promise I will never…
He still provides some good content…He needs to eat, them fine Argentinian steaks (mmm) are not that cheap!
“He needs to eat”
Then he could,y’know, like GET A JOB.
And he has an award booking service that he says is so successful that he’s raised the price.
And he can still make money pushing credit cards without pushing inferior offers and deleting comments pointing out that there are better offers than what he promotes.
No, this line (essentially what’s being pushed by that saverocity guy over on Flyertalk) doesn’t wash. “But they’re poor and have to eat as full-time bloggers” … No, they don’t. They don’t HAVE TO BE full-time bloggers if it impinges on their integrity!
JUST SAY NO!
Nothing wrong with benefiting from the advice you give as long as you’re giving the very best advice you can and disclosing any potential conflicts of interest.
I am making your last sentence the MVP Comment of the Day tomorrow! And pretty much agree with everything else you state. I see saverocity’s point of view but it should NOT be an excuse. But it is…just heard a house flipping commercial on satellite radio (hey, my free Benz comes with satellite radio too!) and I am sure these guys need to eat too…sigh
Great idea actually…I need to stick with the format now…takes lots of time you know. I see my Google Reader, as of right NOW, stands at 383 unread blog posts…
Trying my best. Thanks for reading!
George, really like the site update! Awesome!
I can’t find your old posts but I’m wondering … did you ever get that 40K bonus for the SP Mastercard after cancelling the Visa?
Yes, I got it!
Canceled Visa, waited five and a half months. Applied for MC at the mastercard website and got 2nd bonus.
Check dansdeals. Big changes with Chase and Sapphire MC! Generic MC link at mastercard website is gone per DD
Nice site update! I like how I can comment easier now. I just got 2X 80K PC Cards for a possible bora bora trip.
Sweet. Sending wife & daugther to the Intercontinenal Le Grand in Paris. Thank you Jamie Dimon!
Thanks for giving us the latest.
You’re very welcome.
I like the new site George! ++1 for sending your fam to Paris 😀
Thanks! I ‘ll do anything to be off laundry duties…anything:-)