Let’s take a wild ride through the latest Delta Skydollar changes, loyalty program direction, the best analysis of the new Amex every day cards, a great Hilton code to save money, Reloadit features, another Milenerd rant, another article about Chris Elliott, see some more awesome travel pictures and end with my comments on the FTG credit card “tool”. Yes it is a rant!
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Delta changed course and announced the award chart effective January 1, 2015. The Delta apologists of course found another way to defend the arrogant sleazy DNA that runs rampant in the executive suites of this company. It is like being repeatedly stabbed with knives in the back, suffering and bleeding, only for the negative PR from the cruel and unusual punishment that you get one of them execs to take out one knife out of your back to gloat “See? We listen!”. Or something like that. I am not going to bore you. All I am going to say is if you are seriously expecting to find Level 1 and Level 2 level awards you are probably a masochist who enjoys inflicting pain to yourself. And think about it, FIVE different levels. FIVE? Are you serious? I am sensing the game plan is, with the typical Delta BS spin in a year or two from now “We listened to our customers, you asked for simplicity, so here you have it: Every seat available can be booked as an award for a specific valuation based on its fare”. Or something like that. Now if I could only find award seats to go to Sydney with my daughter and do it on her available schedule I will be thrilled and be done with this company once and for all! The end. Burn baby burn.
“Why it doesn’t pay to be loyal” by BBC (H/T to Loyalty Lobby). Fantastic article. It has been my personal opinion for a while now that there is less value in miles/points and we have been on a slow march to having them all become fully revenue based. They have become behemoths so the change can not be done in an instant. Actually, the first notice of the changes happened back in December 2002 by (who else?) Delta. Yes, 2002 not 2012 (NOT a typo!). And I am certain if it was not for the Great Recession we would have arrived there by now…
In my opinion, the best analysis on the new Amex Everyday cards was written by Free-quent Flyer in “Sizing up Amex Everyday and Everyday Preferred“.
This code “PR13CB” works well with Hilton reservations according to Loyalty Lobby. I made a note of it & added it to my codes folder 🙂
Mile Nerd‘s latest rant is: “How to be Mediocre“. Good rant but not as good as previous ones. Hey, as long as the author feels great afterwards it’s cool. Good break from reading the non stop card pushing posts and Delta Skydollars commentary.
Andy at Lazy Traveler’s Handbook rants on Chris Elliott and I like it: “Why Does Chris Elliott Hate Us Churners So Much?”
TBB makes another recommended blog list. This time by Personal Finance Digest. The fact that this blog is in my own “Blogs I Like” list has absolutely nothing to do with it, we swear! And thanks for using my Amazon link, I appreciate the support! I still feel weird making these lists. But I prefer from the “vote for me” lists which can be influenced if you have lots of family and friends clicking for you 🙂
Milenomics with a really good overview of the Reloadit card and its Safe and Bill Payment features. To this day my eyes have not seen this card!
19 Things America Does Better than the Rest of the World. Hey, porn, corn and guitars are in here…looking good America! 🙂
100 Trips to Take. Working on it. Slowly.
Some of the best photos chosen by National Geographic editors. At Bored Daddy. Awesome!
Vermont moose are already training for the Summer Olympic Swim Team. The snow creates proper resistance to build up power kicks for the Butterfly Relay.
Chicago reflected in Lake Michigan from an airplane. Wow, speechless! With an iPhone. Twisted Sifter has the story.
In case you missed it, there was another entertaining day yesterday in the TBB Comments. The founder of Frugal Travel Guy (the blog) just can not stay away from my blog! So much so that he even wrote a poem for me, I am so so touched! Talk about devoted readers who keep coming back, hooray! FTG (the person or Ingy or Rick I or anonymous) has been expecting TBB to fold like a cheap suit a year ago and here I am still providing entertainment for me and for you. Why the fascination with my little site that is a commercial failure? I mean, no wonder he doesn’t spend time in his blog, it’s so lonely as there is nobody commenting there! Anyways, I would like to apologize to my readers. I let you down. Trolls should not be fed and I violated this but sometimes I can’t help it. You know why? It’s because of stuff like this “amazing technology” at the FTG site: The Credit Card “TOOL“. Which is really yet another way to pump more cards to unsuspecting newbies. So, if you want to laugh (or cry for the poor souls who fall for this crap) take the quiz. Try any combination you want and the answer is ALWAYS FIVE cards or SEVEN cards (if you own a business). EVERY FREAKING TIME. Even for a rookie traveler, married, business owner, 800 score, 1 inquiry and interested in CASH BACK cards. The answer? SEVEN credit cards (the fact that they are the ones that pay the highest commission just happens to be a pure coincidence of course!). Oh, NO cash back cards, NONE! I tested it and I am giving feedback on the “tool” they asked for (haha). Test it yourself. And you can choose to send the results to the founder for further “analysis”. Did you get mine? I sent one, email was bite@me.com. Wait, I thought you mailed in a post once a week only. Never mind. Great advice to tell them ALL to apply for all cards on the same day! Hey, whatever pays the bills I guess. Poor rookie, trying to handle five or seven cards at once. Shaking my head.
FTG (the person) never answered the question: “How do you like this tool and do you think it belongs in such a “credible” site?”. Well, I am glad you asked so let me answer it in my own blog. This is the crappiest blog feature since, well, another gem at FTG (the blog): the Travel Challenge! This tool does not belong anywhere and it is just dangerous to newbies, the primary targets of FTG (the blog=the corporation)! But then again we know what matters at FTG: Conversions! Definitely not comments lol. Tools like this make me angry. At the end of the day FTG(the person)’s comments are costing FTG (the business) conversions=real dinero!
Reagan told the Soviets to tear down the Berlin Wall. I am telling the FTG folks: “Take down the Tool, find another way to pump cards”. Maybe pump like this?
And that will be it. Ignore the troll comments, it is obvious they are looking for attention. I reserve the right to write about Tools I find harmful in this space. Again, I apologize to readers for neglecting my own advice to stop troll feeding. Let’s get back on track going forward…unless the tool still exists recommending five or seven cards to everyone that is 🙂
And I leave you with this classic off the wall TBB moment:
Dad unicorn: Yeah
Baby Unicorn: Hell Yeah! Found here
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George
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
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First again! Let me annoy Ingy.
Real comment: One small hopeful result is that if you enter a 650 credit score, the Tool tells you not to apply for any standard credit cards. But it doesn’t include anything about income, although I know there’s a minimum income requirement for some cards.
I don’t know of any blog that talks much about income limits, including the important “newbie” blogs. What options exist for people that make $30,000 a year? Or graduate students? That would be useful content.
Thank God they don’t try to pump cards to people with bad credit. Next time I need a laugh I will play with that number some more. So, if you enter 651, you get…five or seven cards? Amazing technology indeed!
Thanks for the good info. Excellent tip on bloggers to actually generate some good content! Actually, now that you mention it, you almost never see posts on limited income/grad students etc. Hmm, I wonder why. You would think they would love to do that and push some more cards 🙂
I am starting to wonder if this type of content falls under compliance, you know, the same category as blogging about “churning” and “reconsideration phone numbers” 😉
2nd place is 1st loser
That’s funny. There is no way to be a loser if you read TBB, you are a weener 🙂
Thirst?
That is third and first — all rolled into one.
That’s funny, Brian. Guess I am somewhere between fourth and fifth, because we really shouldn’t count Adam twice.
OK, I’ll be 4.5.
I go by time posted; not the order from top to bottom.
You guys…thanks for the laugh this morning, commenting from my favorite place Panera drinking my favorite coffee Hazelnut
I thought you were busy? Whos got time to be sippin coffee at Panera??
I have been working out of coffee shops since the late 90s. I think I pioneered the concept lol. I am at Paneras so much they should be charging me rent! Of course I used the loyalty card…no points though 🙁
I also love working in coffee shops. Much of the book I published in the 1990s was researched and written at a coffee shop on the PSU campus. It was especially useful when I began and found lots of things at home would distract me. If I gathered up the materials I needed for the day’s writing, and headed over to the coffee shop, I could focus on that day’s work, latte at hand. It is less important now that our house has a room I use as my office, but back then when I had no decent place to write among the baby paraphernalia and my professorial husband’s endless papers and books, the coffee shop was my location of choice.
That’s the stuff! More ranting is better and funner, er…
“Tools like this make me angry” You shouldn’t call Ingy a Tool. That’s not nice!
Or not. I’ll settle for six.
Really bad “first world problems” day. The new dishwasher which is supposed to be “whisper soft” is actually “roaring loud” with sloshing water sounds I can hear across the room and down the hall. (You might even be able to hear it in A2, Buzz). As a result I spent hours on the phone, between multiple calls to the installer, the store and the manufacturer. At one point I held my phone up to the dishwasher so the CSR could hear it slosh, and she began to shout “Turn it off, turn it off!” Maybe she was afraid the water would slosh over to wherever she was, though I don’t think it was India.
It remains unclear whether the installers blew it or I got a lemon. Either way, it took precious time away from other things and did so in an awfully stressful way. I found myself crawling around the storage area which is below the kitchen, to make sure no water had sloshed down through the floorboards (Luckily it hadn’t; there does not appear to be any leaks). I did learn, courtesy of some quick research on the internet, that sounds between 41-50 decibels are close to silent. So something is radically wrong with my sloshing 48 decibel dishwasher.
As I was bandied back and forth between the various CSRs, I cringed when they ended their calls with “have a good day” and “thanks for letting us serve you,” sticking to their script even when it was ever so clear my day was anything but good and that they were not serving me well at all, at least initially.
Persistence finally paid off and the manufacturer is shipping a new one to the store for me, without my waiting for either the installers to return to recheck their work or for a manufacturer’s rep to come to see if it is defective. Bad enough I had to stay home today and missed doing the MS I had planned. I did not want to have to wait at home twice more, before a decision could be made on what would come next. Now I just hope the new one arrives as scheduled next week, and that all sloshing ends when they install it. And that it is “whisper soft,” 48 decibel quiet!
The day ended with an HOA meeting in our living room that was only half as awful as usual. And a sink full of dirty dishes. As I said, first world problems.
On the upside, it is restaurant month here in the Rose City and there are some great deals to be had. And tomorrow, in case you missed it, is a first Friday! CSP anyone?
Oh, TWA — we had a “chirping cricket” in our (newly delivered) fridge (something to do with the pump?), and with our open plan (kitchen open to living room) — it was driving me nuts!! Poor (?) Sears had to deliver THREE new fridges before we got one without the cricket!! (My neighbor actually called me to asked what -the-heck was going on with us and fridge deliveries!) Fingers crossed you don’t have to go through three “flapping whale’s tails” to get a quiet kitchen!
Thanks for your sympathy and good wishes for my dishwasher’s future. Luckily I have a pretty flexible schedule, but when they won’t tell you a delivery time until the day before, and then it is a four hour window, it really can get inconvenient, without even factoring in the worry I had even before reading your post that it took three tries til your fridge cricket flew away. I have been worrying about whether the second dishwasher will be OK, and if it isn’t, whether to just accept it or start the product search again.
I really feel bad for the folks who can’t adjust their schedules as easily. It is a real PITA but at least I don’t need a boss’s permission to stay home or have my wages docked.
Fingers are crossed for a whisper soft Wednesday.
I dread the days I need to wait for the cable guy 🙂
@ Paul: I knew you would like it Paul. I almost never get angry. Unless I am faced with Start Here Tools pumping 5 and 7 credit cards with each click! You can only ignore so much, somebody has to say something!
@ TWA44: OMG,what a nightmare story. These are the types of stories that I TOTALLY dread as I don’t have the time and patience to deal with. Uggh. Hang in there. Sounds to me like a lemon. Did the Amex warranty come into play I wonder? I always buy electronics/appliances on Amex cards just as a resort to fall back on. And then there are consumer protection laws in this country too. In two extreme cases in my lifetime I sued and won so I am batting 100% in my legal career lol. No, of course I never sued for a travel/miles/points related issue of course, I am not one of those people lol.
Regarding Hilton,
Sadly you can’t cancel that rate. I sometimes prefer the minor league code instead (15% off). Alternatively if you work for the UK public sector (who doesn’t? And also have at least one company. I bet selling something at ebay is enough to qualify as a public sector worker in the UK), PR11PN sometimes works better.
Good to know, thanks. The samples LL showed were pretty darn impressive. Hopefully a reader can benefit from them.
Tried to get the Little League rates up last night and no go, even on hotels which had them last week. Not sure if pulled or a glitch.
George, did you know you can get triple points at restaurants today with your Chase Sapphire Preferred?
Shoot, really? Darn it, I just used my Discover card to get 5% cash back at Panera this morning for my small coffee (free refills and wifi!). I missed out on so many extra Ultimate Reward points…if only you had told me earlier
Lol
No way! I gotta make plans to go out tonight and eat like a king! …for the sake of extra URs!
I love Fridays!
“Here are 250 words about the resident troll…… Remember everyone to please not pay attention to the troll because he enjoys it… ps his tool sucks….”
It’s not that hard to just Ignore him.
Relatives visiting today. I didn’t think this hobby was challenging until I told my parents to sign up for a UA card and they did so… at IAH. SMH.
Should have had them use the FTG tool! You missed out on spending some serious quality time with them as they each filled out the applications needed for 10 cards total. AND you missed out on possibly hunting for VRs with them in the future.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I told my parents to sign up for a UA card and they did so… at IAH.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Just wanted to say your kids are adorable. And your daughter is a future gymnast in the making!
Thanks. They are still adorable…for the most part 🙂
” I’m retired seeing the world and enjoying life ”
HAHAHAHA!! funniest shit i heard.
” I’m retired seeing the world and enjoying life ”
— @IBElevatorGossip
At his age, he should be retired. What’s the big deal?
But he is not because he is still defending the crap that he started. Probably getting paid a little on the side to continue to promote great new things like “the tool”.
I am retired and happily mowing lawns (my own, for free).
I am not retired and I pay Sam to cut my lawn, he has been doing it for the past 17 years.Love the guy. I thought about hiring Steve but he was too expensive 🙂
I’m not sure why you keep saying to ignore the troll
That’s a great strategy…. if you actually want the troll to go away
But who here actually wants Rick to leave? Certainly not me.
I knew it Steve. You love our banter and FTG blog. You read it everyday. Try a lower credit score like 705 or maybe a lower available spend amount. Tell me what happens. I only used the tool once since it was put up.
” I only used the tool once since it was put up.”
See, retirement is killing you.
More lawns, please!
“Only used the tool once” – What, what, WHAT!!!!!
Rick’s only current involvement with the blog is collecting a paycheck.
The responsibility for what’s on the site now squarely falls on the shoulders of Internet Brand’s very under-qualified editor.
I like her own blog by the way. The question becomes…can quality be sacrificed for the sake of conversions? Yep!
There is no spontaneity in either. It’s series after series. Regular column after regular column. The series aren’t interesting enough for a reader to regularly tune in and the columns get so predictable and dry that it’s easier to tune out.
LOL. We love the Angry Troll. Feed him plenty.
I knew you loved the banter Steve and the blog:)
Hey Georgie boy instead of lying to your readers, why not plug in something like a 705 score and $1000 per month credit card spend and report the results? Why not try that georgieboy and we’ll see if you are man enough to eat some crow?
Rant away big boy. That’s all you got going for you.
Why so angry?
Flabio is not lying to his readers!
So…I am encouraged to lie so he can then prove I am a liar. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
The “Tool” basically cuts off at 715 credit score it appears. Rookie, business owner, 715, $1,000 spend————->Ink Bold, SPG business, Chase Sapphire. Hey wait a minute…I only asked for a CASH BACK CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah, the Tool does not recommend any Cash Back cards…My bad.
Thank you for recommending to apply for all three AT ONCE. I am a rookie and I think I can manage all this minimum spend.
Embarrassing is too kind for this!
Hey, anything for conversions!
Flabio
Thanks Steve I knew you loved the banter and blog.
Hey Georgie boy you are lying to your audience again just out of frustration and anger.
Try the tool with a 705 score and $1000 monthly credit card spend. Five or 7 cards George?
Now try 715 and $2k of spend.
Huh, you are so full of anger and bullshit George. You’ll rant just to build your audience and stir up trouble. I’d call that being a hypocrite when you call out others. That’s right georgieboy, calling you a liar. You man enough to eat crow georgieboy?
Go ahead George, tell your readers the truth George. It is not always 5 or 7 cards.
Call George, George or Buzz or Flabio…..but this Georgieboy is demeaning.
Totally agree, Ramsey. I never like name-calling and that is how Ingy uses it.
Meanwhile, Ingy has told Steve three, count ‘me, three times that he knew Steve “loved the banter and the blog.” Maybe he is trying to pad the comment count here? Or might he be getting forgetful in his beloved retirement? Trust me, Ingy, we got it the first time.
@TBB, haven’t had to use the Amex warranty. Yet! I hate these episodes too. Too much like the glitches when occasionally ticket numbers don’t make it from one airline to another on award tickets.
Sorry about the repetition of the same post. I’m not that good with an Ipad.
Entertainment. For Free. TBB
I want to apply for a Cash Back card with the “Tool”. Ooops, the “Tool” does not sell any!
After being called a gutless coward because some John said something stupid in my blog'[s comment once, being called a liar for not lying using the “Tool” is an improvement indeed.
This Flabio ran 2.5 miles NON stop. Now Flabio this!
I do love the banter and the FTG blog, but not for the reasons I suspect you want
You know how when driving past a car crash on the highway, drivers tend to slow down to gawk at it?
That’s also the likely explanation for the little traffic that the FTG blog gets… Just people wanting to drop by and see a trainwreck…
The posts get worse and worse, but we can’t look away.
Just because we can’t look away, doesn’t mean we’ll click any aff links and support the trainwreck.
FTG is an integral part of the TBB Mission to Entertain my audience. Thank you!
It looks like Rick is really, angry and defensive today (or as he calls it, “enjoying retirement”)
Must be a day of the week that ends in a “Y”
Maybe I will mow his lawn for free. I will enjoy the sunshine and think about more ways to save money and see the world at prices we all can afford while I see that he is pounding away at this keyboard, composing sonnets about his favorite Greek
THIS is what I am talking about.ENTERTAINMENT. “LawnMowerMan”. Just make sure you put all the lawn equipment on your Ink Bold all right?
No no, go to Office Depot, buy Home Depot gift cards with your Ink Bold, THEN go buy your lawn equipment….
(I know it was just a mistake TBB, because you’re so dismayed at your card recommendations!)
This is what I meant 🙂 I mean, do people do it any other way? lol
Bwahahahaha
Rick’s writing repetitive comments. Is he ok?
Warning to all Tabloid Blogger Buzz Readers: In case you haven’t noticed yet, George Papadopolous will say and do just about anything on his blog to discredit others. He rants about a credit card tool without proper investigation. You really owe to your self to ask yourselves a few questions before listening to this guy that would like you to believe he is the Siskel and Ebert of the travel blogging world.
Is George smart enough to consider trying lower credit scores than 800 to see the results?
Is George smart enough to consider using a lessor monthly available spend on the credit card tool?
Or is George so bent on tearing down others he will say and do whatever he has to, to condemn otherswork
I never tried the credit card tool until I wrote a post about it last week. I was never in favor of it, didn’t think people would use it or believe it would ever be a good as human eyes looking at unique situations. That was my opinion, but not my blog anymore and the tool was developed by a gal that is far smarter and more honest than George will ever be. She took into consideration many factors and there are many varying answers to what the tool will spit out. Credit Score, spend amount, business no business, categories of spending.
But in one stroke of his mighty pen George condemns the tool because he is too stupid to try other variables than an 8oo credit score. Of course somebody with an 800 score will qualify for a huge number of cards if his spend is acceptable. But that was not George’s intent.
George decided to demean somebody else’s work without a true trial of the tool. I tried it this morning and although not perfect, it will give far more accurate results than George rants about. George rants “contempt prior to investigation”.
That is not what really concerns me. I’ve known from day one George is just a big blow hard stroking his ego with a blog that takes down others. He won’t provide his name because he is afraid his other gig will find out (finally after a year of prodding) , he rants about disclosures but his are far from in compliance or accepted practices. He rails against “pimping” then subjects you to a daily plea for using his Amazon link. Complains about a post on Bigcrumbs yet pimps it himself every single day.
My point is that all of you readers should take George at absolutely face value. He is a Bozo on the Bus. In this instance under the bus for not truly trying out the tool and giving it an honest appraisal. But that is George’s style to knock down others while he has shown repeatedly he knows no more, in fact in many instances behind the scenes, way less than other bloggers.
I spent a day several years ago conversing with Seth’s audience and the Pied Piper Syndrome was so clearly evident there, there was never an y need to return. If Seth said the world was flat, his readers in response to my comments would have agreed with him. Yesterday I saw only one of you question the results George reported on the tool. I had hoped that many of you would have checked it out for your own honest appraisal and comments either taking in to question Georges rants, or being able to confirm that it only spits out 5 or 7 cards. I was disappointed to see that you did not. although it is heartening to see many of you try to change the subject. I just hope it is not to protect the Piper.
A word of warning to you all. Just because George lets you say anything you want on this blog be it positive, negative, complimentary, critical or out of line. that is all he is offering here. If you follow him like the Pied Piper that is certainly your choice. But I suggest you take everything he says with a grain of salt and questioning mind. I will remain to question his ethics, creditability which took another huge hit with today’s rant. In fact, I will place him only one slot from the bottom of bloggers I distrust and ones that will say anything regardless of truth.
Again after one year plus I suggest to all of you:
“Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”
George is a long way from the head of the line.
Rather than have to write all that Rick, have you ever considered just copy/pasting Grandpa Simpson’s stories and claim them as your own? The 2 of you are essentially saying the same things….
“like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ’em. “Give me five bees for a quarter,” you’d say. Now where were we? Oh yeah: the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…”
– Grandpa Ingersoll
Not worthy of response. Keep following the piper 🙂
Might I suggest less ironic ways of telling me my posts are not worth responding to than via a response to my post?
That’s funny
Rick, my fellow senior citizen who needs to really retire since his hate of Buzz is getting the better of him.
FYI, we read and follow this blog, “because” of Buzz’s credibility from the beginning. We enjoy his writing styles, we enjoy reading his thoughts and his collective notions on what is happening on the blogosphere. Whatever he has said about FTG, has been nothing but close to the truth. FTG freaking sucks balls mate.
Who are you to come and tell us who to trust and who to follow? You are the worst of all out there, and you have the guts to come out and call out Buzz? Go back and create your dumb travel challenges.
Shame on you old fart.
Sorry, catch phrase “noobitup”, you have been replaced by the funniest moniker ever, “Grandpa Ingersoll”
G.I., I will mow your lawn for free. Even though you live in a condo. No charge.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>G.I., I will mow your lawn for free. Even though you live in a condo.
Lol. Probably the best line in today’s comments!
Sorry, what?
“Is George smart enough to consider using a lessor monthly available spend on the credit card tool?”
You’re pushing a tool for newbies — and you expect THEM to know to LIE to your tool in order to get good answers?!
I actually tried as low as $1k per month hoping to get recommended less than 5 or 7 cards…Nope!
Rick… I tried combinations of credit scores of 740 to 850 with monthly spends of 1,000 and 10,000. I also tried selecting cash back, hotel points, and miles — every result was the same five cards:
– Chase Sapphire Preferred
– SPG Amex
– Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa
– The US Airways Premier World MasterCard
– Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card
Why are all these results the same?
Also, I noticed that your recommendation engine says the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card awards “2 Points in your first year after meeting spending requirements.” I suspect that is supposed to mean nights, but it looks like the engine is broken as the “total rewards” should be two nights and 2,500 Hilton HHonors points (based on $2,500 of minimum spend.)
So, the information doesn’t seem to be very customized based on the data provided by the user. Widely varying spend, credit score, “rookie traveler” vs. “expert traveler” and desired type of rewards resulted in the same cards being offered in eight or ten different scenarios. Even if I select that I’m “apart” of SkyMiles or Membership Rewards, the same results are returned.
Essentially, what you appear to have built is a form that collects email and demographic data, and then promotes the same cards card (that likely pay the top commissions to you.) It is rather disturbing that you pretend the tool is “doing the work” for the user, when you’re not really doing any work at all — you’re just pushing the same cards.
This type of pimping under the guise of helping readers is what turns me off about many of the travel bloggers out there, and why I’m glad someone like George is around to bring attention to the likes of you and the methods you use to enrich yourself while claiming that you’re helping your readers.
Wow, this IS what I have been talking about! Thanks for the comment Hua. I am posting it in the next TBB blog post…if that’s okay with you.
You and many others understand me. The only troll will dismiss you as one of them angry ones trolling the internet not saying nice things all the time. And stuff like that. And remember, what counts is “Conversions”. No wonder TBB is a complete failure. And I am enjoying it immensely!
The comments aren’t entertaining to me anymore. That’s unfortunate.
Good comment!
They still are entertaining to me. Maybe I should build a Tool to take a poll or something like that…
Ok, time to go to the gym to work on my Flabionitis 🙂
Count yourself in the minority.
Ingy posting here costs FTG (the corporation) MONEY!
I spent more than enough time messing with the “Tool” and I expressed my honest opinion about it as I was asked for. Look a little bit above for another scenario’s results.
THE TOOL IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE TRAVEL “CHALLENGE”!!! IT IS SHAMEFUL AND GIANT LOAD OF CRAP. FOR SOMEONE TO DEFEND THIS CRAP IS BEYOND LUDICROUS. PLEASE TELL THE SUITS TO TAKE IT DOWN TO SAVE ANY CREDIBILITY YOU HAVE LEFT. THANKS!
Ignore the troll. Or not as it really drives up comments and the advertisers keep calling me to buy banner ads, woohoo!
you are wasting your time…he doesn’t care
I tried out the tool a month or two back and tried to catch them out, I put a poor credit score, and a weak overall profile.
The advice was that I should not apply for new cards, and should focus on paying off debt and repairing credit, I think it is excellent. As I wrote this, I just did it again, set a score of 565, 6 inquiries and other random data, and I got this message:
Based on your current credit score, we do not suggest applying for a standard credit card. Using credit cards for free travel, or any other reason, requires discipline and the ability to pay off your monthly balance IN FULL at the end of every billing cycle. Interest rates on credit cards are HUGE, late fees MASSSIVE and have got more Americans in credit trouble than any other credit instrument. This free travel technique is not for everyone. You know yourself better than anyone. If you can mange your finances, live within your budget, do not get distracted or make impulse purchases, and have a dependable reoccurring source of income, we have suggestions for you. Below we have outlined next steps to improve and build your credit profile.
Read more at: See Results | Frugal Travel Guy
I think that is an excellent recommendation, and that the guys at FTG should be applauded for it.
A person with a 565 credit score should not be allowed anywhere near a site like this because it is obvious they are doing a horrible job in
managing their finances
living within their budget
they DO get distracted and make lots of impulse purchases
they probably do NOT have a dependable re occuring source of income
They should not be visiting sites that tempt them to get to London for just $200 or whatever!
Anyways, the “Tool” cutoff point is 715 it appears. I just always wanted a Cash Back card but they never recommend any of them 🙂
Thanks for the comment. I think you should work a deal with FTG to feature this to Saverocity readers. #justkidding
Take a moment and think about what you just said. It is what we both agree is the correct ethical thing to do when people who shouldn’t apply for credit do apply for credit.
If the recommendation of the tool was to take a card when in that position it would be valid to call them out on this, but it does the right thing.
Now, sure it suggests affiliate cards, but that is not any different from the approval most ethical bloggers take (which I consider myself to be) in having only affiliate links on their cards page. I think it’s not perfect, but it’s no different from your affiliate page, which only offers links to your affiliate stuff.
So, I think it’s good, because they don’t exploit the people who they shouldn’t exploit, and the bashing and rudeness of the comments is a steamroller attempt at bullying by many readers here, which is not something I appreciate.
I’m not one to go with the flow, which is why if I see through the nonsense and see that Rick is actually correct here, and attempting to ridicule and bully him with ad hominem comments is not entertainment.
Thank you Matt for standing up. It takes courage sometime. George did a poor job or exploring the “tool” but doesn’t have the balls to admit it. In fact his latest comment here doesn’t even refer to his early accusations it only shows 5 or 7 cards. George will say, do, admit or delete whatever is necessary to cover his ass.
The truly honest will clearly see through the mounting evidence of the Tabloid Blogger Buzz charade. Those less inclined to the truth will always follow the loudest pied piper.
And to the commenter below, I don’t hate George. I hate the hypocrisy and methods he uses to take on those that are vulnerable to Haters. It is the worst hypocrisy of all. I wish all his readers the ability to see the truth and the concept of personal accountability.
Wait. So do you think that is a good tool or not? From what I can tell, your research was testing a very basic boundary condition. If someone with a low credit score tries out the tool, and the tool actually does not try to rape them, are we to think the tool is useful? That’s only step 1. Besides, I’m pretty sure that anyone with that low of a score will be rejected by banks.
The real test is whether or not the tool is giving good recommendations *tailored to you*. If not, then the entire thing can probably be replaced by one or two “IF THEN ELSE” statements written in text in a blog post.
Just wanted to add that I think I’ve been reading about more and more of these helper apps out there. Is it the same one that TPG has? And I think MMS? I’m getting lost with all of the competing apps…
“IF THEN ELSE”…that’s all it is.
Wallaby is behind the TPG one. Looks better and of course it is better than this “Tool”. But still leaves much to be desired. There was one Maximizer or something that MMS and Hack My Trip were having up on their site (they even approached me) but I don’t think it worked well either. I used to get their emails, I no longer do. Maybe they run out of money.
Making such a tool work has a LONG way to go. I think the main reason is there are so MANY options in the US, it becomes a giant battle keeping it up to date. And don’t get me started about assigning valuations. We are all so different…so tough to standardize. It’s like financial planning actually. You can do a boiler plate financial “plan” which is probably not worth the paper it is printed on. To do it well, you need to dig deep and learn about goals (travel goals), current situation, income/assets/debt and I could go on and on…
Right now I do feel like Flabio. I love curry stuff!
@ Matt: I respect your opinion and thank you for not going with the flow, I admire that and I like doing the same!
But I strongly disagree with your opinion here. In previous comments I explained different scenarios I tried for me and my wife. The answers were always the same. The most ludicrous was looking for cash back cards…you NEVER get one because there are NONE apparently!
There is not much technology behind this “Tool”. It is designed for the one metric that blog measures for success: CONVERSIONS. They picked a score and everything below it you get served the nicely written boiler plate so the newbie will think “Oh, they are so nice people to tell me this!”. I would tell them TO GET THE PHUCK OUT OF THERE PRONTO AND NEVER TO RETURN…of course, in nicer terms 🙂
There is NO tailoring going on, it’s a sham.
for the final time:
Rookie Traveler (remember, no cards)
Married
Business Owner
Both domestic and international
760
0 inquiries
$2,000 month (all checked except clothes…not that it matters)
Not part of any program listed (not that it matters again)
give them my email address (I wonder if a newsletter will come in my inbox pumping more cards…u think?)
I did not choose to send the results to Rick 🙂
Let’s see what we get:
Congratulations! 7 cards match your profile! Based on your monthly spending, we have calculated potential rewards for your first round of applications With these results you can:
Customize your credit card rewards package
See your potential Total Rewards Breakdown
Read Rick’s Review
Get great Travel Tips!
I am not going to go over the 7 cards, I am sure you have seen them before. Remember, this is a Rookie with NO cards! But let’s not stop there, this “Tool” is so helpful. Ready for it?
1. Apply for all 7 cards credit cards on the same day.
Remember, I am a rookie. IT DOES NOT MATTER! And remember I spend $2k per month. IT DOES NOT MATTER! WHAT MATTERS ARE THE APPROVALS, THIS IS HOW FTG GETS PAID. But I am sure you knew that.
I could go on. But I digress.
I simply provided my feedback as asked. I am a straight shooter kind of guy and instead of being thanked for my feedback I get another ridiculous personal attack. Hey, it sure is entertaining and Entertainment is primary around here!
We would love your feedback on how the application works for you. It only takes a couple minutes, costs you nothing and you don’t need to provide any personal information.
By the way, I wonder how many were added accidentally to some email lists, perhaps email address is not considered personal information?
Comparing my disclosures and affiliate links (!!!) to the FTG site was pretty funny, come on!
Again, I appreciate the feedback. I learn from negative feedback and I always try to improve. But there is something about this “Tool” that sets me off. I can’t help it but I am trying 🙂
Thank you to all the readers for the support! And thank you to Rick too, I would never imagine creating such a strong loyal reader than you!
Flabio just consumed a whole bowl of curry noodles…dang it!
Deflect make jokes and try to laugh it off. You assaulted somebody in your rant about their efforts. It is your only play George,. Then you back up deflect, joke and try to laugh it off. I’m been watching you since day one when you asked me to remove your own name from your blog. Your rants about disclosures but I don’t see a lot of difference between yours or anybody else’s. Your rants about pimping of credit cards yet you sign up to pimp your own stuff and that’s ok? You allowing demeaning comments about bloggers but can’t seem to take the heat when you get called on your BS.
But the most important change here is that your readers are now starting to understand your schtick. Those that want or need an angry critic will stay but, those that want the truth may just move on. Time will tell. I got a lot of faith in the truth.
Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone
I’ll be here George until you stop criticizing others or clean up your own act. Your choice buddy.
“ALWAYS FIVE cards or SEVEN cards (if you own a business). EVERY FREAKING TIME” I quote your rant this morning
.
Not true, and now you’ve been called on it.
When you practice what you preach or stop criticizing other, I’ll be gone
“I’ll be here George until you stop criticizing others or clean up your own act. Your choice buddy.” First of all you aren’t here because George criticizes people. That is the dumbest thing you have said since maybe this morning. This has nothing to do with George criticizing people. This has to do with the one honest thing you have ever said on this blog, “F’ing with George brings such glee.” This is why you are here. For whatever reason you got an axe to grind. You are pretty transparent in that regard. It is sort of sad how obsessed you are with this blog.
Let’s sort of try and put things in perspective. You are on here bitching, baiting, insulting, and making a general ass out of yourself on a blog written by a guy who likes to bitch about things that annoy him in the miles and points world. You know a community that gets pissed if something happens that makes it harder to redeem miles they earned by laundering money on credit cards. So George dared criticize (fairly or unfairly) some stupid credit card tool on your former blog. What an affront to all things decent in the world. Talk about first world problems.
Scott: Yesterday this blog had the highest number of page views! Not that I really care about these metrics…I just found that to be quite remarkable! For some reason this dude has been totally obsessed with my blog ever since I dared to criticize (fairly) the corporate owned blog he has nothing to do with! If this is what retirement is like I think I should keep working 🙂
“All I wanted was a Cash back card and she wouldn’t give it to me!” New song by the Suicidal Tendencies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoF_a0-7xVQ
Thank you for that video. I always liked the Suicidal Tendencies, fits my personality lol. I have no doubt after my biggest fan watches it he would think I am evil and will crusade even harder to save the internet from the plague or something like that. Oh…wait
Having fun with Google, maybe FTG hates TBB so much because he thinks he is a CIA agent who staged a coup d’état in Greece back in the ’60’s.
Growing up there I used to say that he was my uncle! Nobody phucked with me while in school. Well, there was one bully everyone hated. I beat him up so badly he never uttered a word since then. Coincidentally, that was the last time I ever fought. Because, you know, I am a lover, not a fighter
LOL
It’s all about entertainment!
Man, I hope that Malaysian plane is fine but it is not looking good right now. Pray for safety. Moments like these make what we do around here a minute detail. Ok, no more laughing.
My wife is from Malaysia by the way. Yeah, a Greek and a Malaysian in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Don’t ask how it happened. One thing led to another and before you know it you are looking at college tuition bills and a mortgage 🙂
And two really cute kids who are lucky enough to be able to travel the world courtesy of their dad’s hobby, ugh, addiction.
I quit smoking cold turkey 13 years ago. I have tried to quit this too…but I failed miserably at it. So I said screw it, let me start a blog instead as therapy 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-GLO_PydqU
I miss these guys
Hallelujah!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Chase InkBold
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Fidelity 2% ooops, never mind, scratch that one. Don’t worry the noob won’t notice!
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn
SPG Amex
Looks like another fun day, LOL. Thanks for the mention, George.
I really like it when you rant…There is something therapeutic about it, no doubt 🙂
Matt@Saverocity has days when he appears to be one of the biggest tools in the blogging world. The kind of suckups you would expect in a corportationy world working for the raise/bonus/ladder climb. That’s what you will end up doing when you never worked your way up through the proper channels but will take you places at the expense of everyone calling you out behind your back. I have been watching his smooth moves here and there in comments for a while now.
Most of the blogging audience appreciate the individual bloggers and often go on to say they hate the blogs and the content but like the person behind it etc, Matt is probably the only complete opposite. I haven’t checked his blog in about a month or so but I know if I check it, I will probably get something good to read. But he might be the only person behind a good blog that I will not have a beer with.
I think you are being a bit unfair to Mr. Saverocity. I played around with the credit card tool and I thought the results were fair. I put in a 700 credit score with $1,000 monthly spend and it did not recommend any cards. I put in 715 and it suggested only two cards Chase Sapphire and SPG. Which, if I was going to recommend two cards to someone just getting started, those two cards are in the discussion. I don’t think Matt is too far off in saying that the tool is not as bad as some are making it out to be, at least in terms of what it is designed to do.
Granted the tool is just another method to push credit card apps, but big whoop. FTG has turned into nothing but a giant infomercial for credit cards. The tool is just more of the same crap that we would expect to see on FTG.
I like saverocity’s website but I don’t read it too much because I think there is occasionally very irresponsible advice given out on the website.
Yeah most. Except for Milevalue. The blog is terrible and the guy is far from being likable…
Just to be clear, I’m not sucking up when I stand up and say that a lot of what goes on here in the comments is bullying. I’m no fan of FTG the site, and don’t particularly care for Rick the guy either way since I’ve never met him.
I’m just pointing out that a lot of the criticism is unfounded and it strikes me that it’s any excuse to be a dick on here.
I’ll temper that with a lot of the criticism is founded and that site is a pile of poop from a content perspective, I just think they did the right thing regarding not pushing clearly unqualified people a card.
You really should have a pint with me. I think we would clear up a lot of things, but heck, I can be a real arse too so maybe you won’t like me and that’s just fine.
I just want to put in a good word for Matt. I first “met” him a year or so ago, when he was doing a survey of his readers. He was most gracious as he listened to my feedback. From that developed a nice email friendship right around the time when I was booking my first complex award trip. Matt really guided me through, checking sites he had access to on my behalf and running various scenarios for me until I booked the trip. It took his time but he assured me he was happy to help. Subsequently, when we’ve emailed re: which credit cards to go for next, he is completely scrupulous in recommending the best offer out there, whether or not he has a link to it. It is true that some of his MS ideas are unique but he really is one of the few bloggers who does produce new content regularly. I’d certainly be happy to meet him for a drink!
And it’s be a blast if TBB, Milenomics and Frequent Miler came too!
About the “Tool”:
I played with it and tried several scenarios concerning me and my wife! Our credit scores range somewhere between 770 and 810; having to lie about that, I don’t know, makes me uncomfortable. Pretending I am a rookie traveler and spending as low as $1k per month did not make me uncomfortable. We are VERY interested in Cash Back cards. So, I took the time to play with it and every time I got recommended 5 or 7 cards (the same ones!) and never once a Cash Back card! And always told to apply all at once. Now exsqueeze me but if that is not crappeola advice I don’t know what is! Mind you, I spent more time on this “Tool” than the founder who did not like it at first, used it once and agreed to use it. If it did help someone fine! If you liked it, fine! I absolutely hate it as I deem it a very poor lame attempt to clobber newbies with more credit cards to get them TO GET THE CONVERSION DONE! Readers are not number one on that site, CONVERSIONS ARE. End of story. Instead of being thanked for taking the time to provide my honest opinion about the “tool” they asked for, we get another deranged personal attack by a retired person with way too much time in his hands who is here more than anyone else making a complete ass of himself and (this is important) costing conversions on that site and hurting the other fine people who write there and who I consider them my friends. If this is happy retirement, I would just keep working, yikes!
@AgendaGuy: Yeah man, you are a bit harsh on Matt. I will have a beer with him anytime, I just want it to be on a Friday when I can get 3x on my Chase Sapphire Preferred so many bloggers keep reminding me about 🙂 I like going against the flow. It is so easy in life to go with the flow. You know, being all nice and smiley/giggley all the time and sucking up to banks and sit when they say sit and jump when they say jump and stuff like that. I also like the content at Saverocity. The personal finance posts can be improved but he is learning 🙂 We have not met in person but we talked on the phone, he is cool.
@ Matt: Regarding bullying: Ummm, we can discuss that over a beer…you have NO idea! Regarding doing the right thing: I don’t think doing the right this is telling some poor soul he has no business applying for cards he has no hope of ever getting approved for/converted when you tell a rookie traveler with decent credit score, business owner, as low as just $1k per month spending, interested in CASH BACK cards only to apply for 7 credit cards at once. That is beyond ludicrous! There should be laws against this crap. Imho. Only in America I guess!
@ TWA44: We agree about Matt. It is so easy in this space to sacrifice everything for the all mighty dollar so I do have high respect for bloggers who try to do it the right way. It sure is not easy! I don’t know about Milenomics, never seen his picture. Just his hand 😉 Frequent Miler: I have warned him he is in danger of being downgraded from “Love” to “Like” if he keeps sticking up for Delta 🙂
@TWA44 – thanks for the support, it is a pleasure to help out and I will whenever I can, as for the drink, I hope we can do that some time in the future, though to get all of us together you may have to travel…
George – I’ve reviewed a lot of products like this. I just reviewed on for a planning firm and it failed under my numbers, as this tool failed under yours. However, when it fails I look at the concept and think ‘is it designed in an evil manner’ and simply because it wouldn’t allow me a card, I say not.
Now, I agree it can be improved, and tweaked, limits can be switched etc, but it as a concept isn’t this awful thing.
Actually, I just punched in your numbers, and it said I wouldn’t get the signup bonus – now, is that Ideal? Hell no, is it honest, pretty much.
It is a conversion tool, but that is no surprise, the entire site is a conversion tool, just like thepointsguy and others, they are crafted purely to convert.
Furthermore, on the tool, you are coming at it like it should offer you XYZ, but it never claims to do that, the site/tool claims that if you want to travel for free let us pick your cards. It doesn’t claim to act in your best interest and has no fiduciary responsibility, it is a tool that is supposed to convert you, it is like all such tools rough around the edges.
That doesn’t warrant the attacks it gets in my opinion, and to me, it seems like many of your commenting readers just look for an angle to troll an easy target, which I think is bullying and I think they should take a look at themselves.
Of course it doesn’t help that Rick goes and makes an arse of himself every other comment.
One more time – I am not on Team FTG, I am saying he needs to sort out his online behavior, but at the same time there are way too many folk here that like to poke him and are just being complete arseholes themselves.
So hopefully, I will alienate both camps 🙂
@ Matt:
Regarding bullying, how is this? “I’m sure IB will be monitoring the site over the next couple days to see if George removes his false accusation and statement.”
The concept is great! Just like variable and equity index annuities you know. It is great, you can have cakes and eat many cherries on top too! But when you peel it you see that it usually does not come anywhere close to delivering any of that and it is just a marketing scheme to pump and close the sale. Your fiduciary reference made me laugh, like a lot! 🙂 Read my case…Recommending 7 cards and apply at once is ludicrous.
Dude, it is March 8th and friend visiting told me I look half my size which made me smile. And I ran 3 miles straight today, something I have not done in years! Dear readers: Keep me accountable to lay off the pizzas!
Do I sound angry to you? Tools make me angry…I admit it. Poor rookie looking for a cash back card. This is how lives could be destroyed. Too bad they missed the disclosure as they did not bring a magnifying glass that day with them, it’s all their fault.
If I did not have tax returns to do right now I would do that Hitler parody video like Amol did some time ago, can’t find it right now.
#FlabioNOmore!
@Matt – I find it incredible you give a pass to TPG’s “Tool” because it “doesn’t claim to act in your best interest”. And you, a wannabe financial planner think that is acceptable? I think ANYONE who puts their financial interest ahead of unsophisticated readers is nothing but a scumbag.
Methinks a few classes in ethics are in order…
Fair point about ethics, but you frame it interestingly. I am constantly questioning ethics and this one actually got a pass because when I tested it to see if was designed to really take advantage it passed my test by advising the person NOT to apply.
Now, the tipping point George mentioned is valid, the tool should be tweaked for that scenario, but it is worth mentioning that this tool does not claim to be the tool to pick all your cards in your best interests, so it is not claiming to be something that others here claim it to be. Essentially that is building a straw man argument and unfair.
I’ve a very strong desire not to screw over my fellow man, but sometimes I see things differently. If you consider the planner aspect you brought up, based on meetings this week I could argue George is being unethical in billing for AUM rather than just a flat fee system.
Ethics are tricky.
I think this comment thread is running out of room so I have no idea where my reply is going to show.
This is a VERY complicated area. Well, it is complicated only in the US as most developed places are much further along in doing this better than we do in the US. Of course, where else would you find such perverse conflicts of interest in the financial market place? You wouldn’t see banker types shoving subprime mortgages down people’s throats. Anyways…we will run out of room here for sure. Maybe another blog post. I am having a hard time adding personal finance aspects into the TBB blog which deal mostly with the quirky world of miles/points addiction and of course what it should always be about: TRAVEL!
This one definitely did not get a pass from me. Oh well, we disagree. It happens in life. We move on. People in my credit situation would always be recommended to apply for 5 or 7 cards at once. I think this is darn awful advice for a “rookie”.
Regarding the AUM vs flat fee systems: Matt, this debate in the planner circles has been going on for a long time. It is almost as old as the fees vs commissions debate (which, thank God, has been mostly decided in the marketplace). I would love to talk to you more about it when we have time. This country will go a long way if they finally make everyone abide by the fiduciary standard and not letting many weasel out because they shoved a crappy product to some poor soul who trusted them because it was somehow remotely suitable. That is key. After that we can discuss different ways of doing it. Finding the RIGHT way to charge for financial advice is very difficult as we are all different. You make it work the way you figure it out and as long as you always do the right thing (being proud doing it as a fiduciary) for the client and always have your fees disclosed in a fully transparent manner and make it work and keep them happy by not leaving and referring you to others, it’s fine. Fees are going lower, there is a lot of pressure from the techie side, no doubt. How about reviewing that new tool wisebanyan that will manage your money for free? (what a deal!). I do not like Betterment, their bias towards advisors is part of their marketing plan. In addition, not sure how many of these tech platforms will be around in a few years. I have seen MANY come and all of them disappear after a short period. I tell clients up front you are NOT paying to manage your money, you are paying me for overall advice and being on your side. I pound it to them that my fee just happens to be calculated based on AUM because, as you will find out, it is so much easier and, let’s face it, very commonly accepted. Of course the ones who pay 1% for just investment management are, well, victims and there are a LOT of them out there. I thought about going to flat fee but how do you set it and how do you change it when the inevitable spike in work occurs (divorce, death, etc.)? At the end, the work evens out. Look at my fees and we can discuss further 🙂 This issue will always be around. You will soon figure out that you just need to pick one that works for you and go forward while always putting the clients first (which will likely mean you make less!). Read the latest Zweig article.
Ethics: I think a big part of it is in your DNA. Then it can get damaged by how greedy you are amid the situations that have intense conflicts of interest. Of which this miles/points world is which has morphed into a giant credit card pumping orgy since 2010 or so.
Just to refresh your memory, let me quote you one more time Georgieboy.
“Try any combination you want and the answer is ALWAYS FIVE cards or SEVEN cards (if you own a business). EVERY FREAKING TIME.”
Any combination you want huh? What about all the scenarios you tried AFTER attacking the developer of the tool that proved your above statement to be blatantly false and misleading.
No deflection now George, No “But, but but, not what I meant” You’d fiond your life going a lot better if you didn’t feel the need to attack when you don’t have all the information. You lose CREDABILITY when you just shoot off your mouth.
So lets move past your latest screw up in a civilized manner. Just apologize to Sam who spent hours creating this tool, (like it or not, perfect in your eyes or not is not the issue). I’ll even help write it for you. Just copy and paste in the next comment below and sign it “Respectfully George”. (Sam will appreciate the sincerity I’m sure)
“Sam,
I want to apologize for my misstatements regarding the FTG cc tool you developed. It does NOT, as I accused you of before, ALWAYS answer Five or Seven cards. After further investigation AFTER making my attack on your work, it became apparent that the tool does take into consideration issues regarding credit score, available monthly cc spend etc. (PS I still wish it covered cash back cards, but that is not the point of my comment to you.)
As a side note, I promise in the future, to work on making clear, accurate and constructive comments regarding others work without the need to sensationalize at the expense of accuracy. I hope you will accept my apology and wish you continued success with the FTG CC tool.
Respectfully
George”
That ought to smooth things over George, as I know in my heart, you want to do the next right thing.
TBB, I know that Rick is amusing at times but this latest post raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The guy actually might be unstable.
My father once told me: “Some people hear what they want to hear, no point of communicating with them. Ignore them and you ‘ll be happier”. I think he was right!
Sam has a long way to go imho. I hope he/she takes my feedback into account and improves it, it is FREE! Who knows, he/she probably gets a bonus based on the # of conversions done which is probably the only measuring stick on everything on FTG (the blog).
You know something else? Yesterday broke the record in number of page views WordPress informed me. Thanks!
George, you sound so, so Angry?
Congrats, George! Keep it up.
Thank you all for your support! 🙂
OMG TBB and FTG you two sound like you are both 5 years old. As my mother used to say when my brother and I would fight, “Stop egging each other on”
TBB I love your site and usually do read the comments but I am going to have to pass on the comments until civilized, polite discourse is evident.
I’m sure nobody cares what I think anyway, just had to say it.
Sorry about that.
Thank you for your kind words about my site and I DO care about what my readers think!
Thank you for taking the time to comment….Yeah, you are right, I should turn it down a little. But there is a history behind this. Or maybe it’s about the glee or something like that 😉
George, ignore her. Look at your view count. New record. And even she couldn’t help but chime in to scold you.
This blog post has a new record in comments too! I haven’t checked the page views yet. When I get around to it.
With all the talk about the FTG tool, I decided to take a peek. But the “See Your Results” button doesn’t give me any results at all. None. It doesn’t even seem to register my click. Maybe the site is down…. although it was happy to record my clicks up to that point. So I can’t shed any light on the debate.
I did not do any great analysis, but the12 rewards programs listed on the form is an odd mix. Delta is listed but not United; OneWorld Alliance is there but not Star Alliance, Priority Club but not Club Carlson. Complete it is not.
Sorry you had non response problems with the tool. I’m sure IB will be monitoring the site over the next couple days to see if George removes his false accusation and statement. If they do not correct the non response issue, please let me know and I’ll contact them for you.
TRY ANY COMBINATION YOU WANT (bolding mine) and the answer is ALWAYS FIVE cards or SEVEN cards (if you own a business). EVERY FREAKING TIME.
This is the first time any one has made the accusation that the tool “ALWAYS OFFERS FIVE cards or SEVEN cards”. The tool has been available for months. IB has received hundreds of emails and comments from readers and never have they heard that the tool “ALWAYS OFFERS FIVE cards or SEVEN cards”
In fact, TBB readers have also confirmed that statement to be false. Seems like someone ought to learn how to read what they write and make sure they are correct about what they are saying before criticizing others work.
In fact a simple solution, that all others bloggers in the space seem to follow is: If you can’t say something nice, Don’t say anything at all.
I’m really starting to think that we should stop poking the bear, i.e. Rick I, Rick Ingersol, Ingy, Anonymous. His obsession with your comment about the credit card tool is beyond rational. I’m pretty sure “sam” (if that is who actually created it) would take less issue with your comment then Rick has. The amount that he is perseverating on this is actually sort of concerning. Plus, he can’t keep his log in straight. It is sort of manic. You should check and see if all the various logins are the same IP. Maybe it is some imposter. I hope so.
It is the same IP Scott. For a while waaaaaay back I thought of the same thing. Is this the same person I (thought I) knew? In person he is a really nice fun guy. Get him behind his PC and say something not nice about FTG and, well, you have seen it here for months now!
So, I guess I am supposed to say all nice things about everyone, you know, like Delta Points does in his interviews by the fireplace, smile and giggle all the time and praise the amazing blogs in the Boarding Area? So ludicrous!
It is my own blog, I lay it all out here and enjoy every single minute/post of it. Remember, I stopped the hammering of blogs a la Siskell at my 1 year anniversary and then I got called “gutless coward” because some John left a stupid comment here. If I think something is crap I will say it, especially when I am asked for it. Instead of being thanked about taking the time to do it and a simple “we will take your points under consideration” like Mommy Points will beautifully say…Nope, it is a personal ugly attack non stop and now ( I am sure you caught it) another implied threat that I will be hearing from Internet Brands. Bullying anyone? Why the obsession about this site with “declining readership” and total commercial failure (in their own metrics, not mine)? Why? It sure beats me!
I still feel awful for not calling out MMS more back in the Siskel days because I was counting on doing the interview at his site to gain me some readers…Actually I feel awful about that looking back putting clicks in front of how I feel about something. I hope it never happens again.
I need to finish dinner, with some fat free Greek yogurt now 🙂
I started reading this site a few weeks ago – and have made two First posts – BECAUSE it’s critical. To me, that’s a strength. The miles and points blog explosion has introduced lots of lower quality writing. The credit card frenzy has changed the field. Money changes you. As an example, compare the first few months of milevalue against today. Or compare FTG in 2009 against 2014. I just loaded frugaltravelguy.com and kept my screenshot. Before scrolling, I see five credit card advertisements [bestnewbiecard, CSP, Ink Bold, Ink Plus, SPG). I see two pieces of content (United Airlines basics, frugal guide to Portland).
I’ve been looking for a place to read reviews on blog quality so I can focus my time. I’d settle for tripadvisor – flawed, but can help make rough cuts. I had hoped the external points and miles forum on Flyertalk would help, but FT rules are still too restrictive. This place is a little flippant, but there’s a lot more help than harm.
Welcome aboard Adam.
I thought you were regular reader Adam who is an attorney who has chosen to represent me in case of a lawsuit. Pro bono of course. He tells me he can’t wait!
“Flippant”: I LOVE it. Let me repeat, I LOVE this. I see it as a compliment! Actually in my real job I am super boring. I actually tell prospective clients “If you are looking for excitement with your finances, you are talking to the wrong guy”. I coined the term (ok, I think I came up with it but not sure exactly) “investing should be as exciting as watching paint dry” or something like that. What do I know? I am just a bozo typing stuff on a keyboard from my home office and Panera. Starbucks sometimes too (yes I have the Gold card and load it with gift cards I buy at Staples with my Ink Plus, come on!).
This blog acts as therapy for me, an avenue to release my amazing creative energy and try to contribute to world peace and understanding. I ‘ve been in this “game” for a long time, it’s a passion. Who am I kidding? I am an addict scoring stuff and sticking it to the man and has contributed to cherished memories over the years. Sadly, the whole space has been pretty much prostituted to the nth degree and every newbie who just discovered you can cash in 25k miles flying to Orlando from JFK started a blog and pretty much add noise and credit card links. I mean, look at so many Friday interviews “I discovered miles in November of 2102 and started my blog to share my tips on how to fly for free for my friends and family” Huh? I am sure you are.
Anyways, I just knocked down a tax return, had a glass of wine and entertain myself to see who posted in the TBB comments. I mean, is there better entertainment and fun comments than in any other blog? If yes, please tell me because I sure have not seen it yet. Anyways, I have no idea where I was going with this. Looking back, one of the most useful classes I took in college was typing. No joke. I am a fast typist and I owe it all to that mentally unstable professor who was timing us with a timer typing. I still have nightmares about it!
Ok, I think I remembered where I was going with this. So when I started I wanted to do something new because as sure as hell I was not going to start yet another blog telling all how to get 3x UR points with the Chase Sapphire card on some Friday of the month, the incredibly amazing tip that is Southwest Companion Pass or promote the Platinum Amex (even though the main lounge benefit has been decimated…it still pays the highest commission several birdies have been telling me). So, I used to follow lots of blogs so I decided to make my blog a Blog review type of blog. With my typical tell it like it is and admittedly somewhat flippant style 🙂
Actually, looking for a slogan I almost went with “Read TBB. We waste our time so you don’t have to”. Or something like that. Meaning, I will go through all blogs ( I follow close to 800 now, it’s a hobby, huh!) and feature only the best entries that I think, based on my judgment of course, fellow miles/point and travel enthusiasts would like to read. And also feature the ugly pointing what I did not like about them and hopefully getting them to improve and lift the whole space to raise the overall quality another level. I believe I brought awareness of the incredible conflicts of interest and bias in content involved, heck I have the emails to prove it! And I am VERY happy about that as I believe I have contributed to making the world a better place. Anyways, there has been infinitely more praise dished out here than criticism. And I think my criticism is very fair. Anyways, it got way too much to keep up with. I mean, the credit card pumping has become a phucking cancer in this space. Like you said, it changes people, you are SO right about that as I have seen with my own eyes. It is hard not to actually. And many times it is not the bloggers’ fault. They need to play the game and some do this full time feeding their families. It is a very fine line, I understand that. I was NEVER against non getting compensated for adding value to your readers. I was (and am) against pumping them up day in day out with crappy biased content, lack of visible disclosures, censoring and other crap.
Anyways, so anniversary #1 (which is insane actually as I never thought I would still be doing this 16 months later!) I evolved my blog (we all evolve, it is called life) and decided I can’t be doing the thumbs down in every post as I would soon be out of both thumbs and most fingers at this frenetic rate (yes, there has been an explosion as you indicate!). So, I created my three lists of which I am very proud of and hopefully readers direct newbies to learn from, they are all there: http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/
My attempt to monetize last year by adding Googleads was a huge failure. Apparently, some were “too” excited to help me. Part of my new year resolutions (I have a good track record with them) was to do more toward monetization so I added a referral link page (thank you to the one person who got me an Uber referral) and Amazon affiliate link which is doing very well with my ridiculously low standards. I am fully aware that I could make double for just one freaking card application. Just imagine if I can get my programmer friend to do a tool for me so I can get newbies to apply 7 at a time. Oops, there I go again. Sorry about that…
I have the highest respect for bloggers in my two good lists who try to do the right thing and produce valuable content that adds real value to others’ lives. I do not like the ones in my Ignore list. Way too corporate and salesy and i can go on and on. Hopefully someone benefits. If not, it’s fine. I sleep like a baby. The commercial thing to do was to be all giggly and kiss up to all of them, maybe do guest posts or whatever to drive up clicks and conversions….ahhhh conversions. As someone said “It’s all marketing”. I absolutely despise that, hey I did not pick Accounting as a major because I loved marketing lol.
At the end of the day, TBB provides entertainment. Primarily my own.If readers find my content good enough they will read me. If not, they can get the phuck out of here, it’s a free country. I am actually intrigued I have developed a following…I was always a little weird growing up, doing my own thing, listening to weird music (I still do) and I like building things the right way from the ground up. Maybe one day I will look into this credit card thingie, I hear there is a lot of money in it. But I am afraid it may change me too. As long as I can show the wife that I am changing the world and at least I am getting enough coming in to pay for my coffee at Panera every morning I can put it off. And when I do it I will try to do it the right way like Frequent MIler or the other blogs in my LIke list. Because it CAN BE done right it’s just much harder. Or you can pump away like the ones you referenced. If you ever see me doing that please let me hear it and unleash a anti TBB rant, I would deserve it.
I think I should catch up with Feedly. No blog post on Sunday. Good to be blog post free for a few days. You know, for things to cool down a bit before the next explosion.
Actually…it will be fun to work on a TBB Tool. Maybe I ll do that at the DFW Centurion Club next Friday. I am going out with a bang before I close my Platinum Amex!
My we certainly see things differently don’t we George. You make false statements about a blog and I’m personally attacking?
You weren’t called a gutless coward because somebody made a out of line comment about that nice lady Summer, suggested that bloggers were doing drugs in the bathroom. Let me clear George you were called a gutless coward someone made an off color comment. I called you a gutless coward for not removing the comment that was so insulting to others without fact or evidence.
Your readers that have even one smidgeon of integrity probably sit in amazement that you wont or cant admit that your statement about “any combination” Is a flat out lie and you know it. Believe me, they see it as well. That’s my whole purpose being here. to make sure you do not distort the truth, demean others needlessly and make false statements. If you want to say you don’t like the CC tool, that is your right. But I strongly object to your making false statements and am embarrassed for you for backpedalling, changing the subject and diverting the conversation. Believe me your readers see it as well. All it took to diffuse was an honest admission that your rant crossed the line of truth, and that not all combinations yield Five or Seven cards.
But you make your own choices about how you write, what you say and how you treat others and if you care at all about fair representations of fact. Siskel and Ebert you never were. Believe me and we all see it everytime you overstep the bounds of reason and truth. Its kind of luck the nickname I gave your blog long ago.
Tabloid Blogger Buzz. Just like the Enquirier and other grocery store magazine trash, you seem to hold little interest in fact or decency..
http://youtu.be/biJn1Nf7H_4
Haahaha. Ingy, you’re priceless. Your amazing lack of self awareness is awesome to behold.
“Enjoying retirement” – Thanks to the TBB Blog! I mean, why anyone would spend so much time here if they did not have a good time?
Today I run a mile in 7.47. I have not done under 8 minutes in years! And I am down 12 pounds so far. #schwing #winning
Matt, Ingy, and George. I’m back too. 🙂 YAY. Now all we need is deltapoints and maybe mms/tpg? Oh or their ghostwriters. HA
We have missed you. You were number one for many posts. While acing your college exams, you remained Number 1, I just wanted you to know that.
I think what is missing is more cowbell obviously!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGBD1KUz2RA
“In 1957 I saw him turn turn the Secretary of Agriculture into the Secretary of the Interior. It was hell on their wives, but it sure brought down corn prices. Built a house out of corn. It was the worst home I ever owed. When it got really hot it smelled like Frito’s”
– Grandpa Ingersoll, on TBBs attacking his tool
Bwahahahaha. Funny funny.
Oh wow this is such bad advice and against Chase’s terms. I can’t believe the things that TPG will tell newbies to sell them on the value of the credit cards he’s selling.
http://thepointsguy.com/2014/03/can-i-transfer-chase-ultimate-reward-points-from-a-family-members-account-to-mine/
“That’s the beauty of Ultimate Rewards, they are much more flexible about things like transfers than many other programs. You can combine other people’s accounts with your own, and do it entirely online.”
Uggh. Wow. He should know better. Or maybe a Tool wrote. Look at all the “questions” asked? How come no one asks a question that does not involve a credit card that compensates that business.
This crap makes me angry…but I get over it by being filppant here 🙂
It never stops…
You should hear the anecdotal stories I have heard about some bloggers. You’d be amazed.
In other news, these comments now qualify for TL;DR on this Sunday morning. Bah. I’ll use that time more productively elsewhere. You know. Earning cash back by the thousands.
I hear stories too but off the record 🙂
I am nearing $1k on that blueish colored card! And heck, the Arrival card could pay for some trips too by now. And making records in page views and comments. Life is good 🙂
Lightweight. Have you read the braggarts who can’t help themselves but state their numbers in the FT thread?
Yep, I am a lightweight. But I manage to stay in the game longer. I have enough, I am not greedy. I have not seen the numbers in FT, I can only imagine from prior experience 😉
I need to get through tax season and Maui and then I can get back in. In my book, knocking off 4 Bluebirds already for March is not too shabby, considering I have this blog toy thingie I am messing around with 🙂
So you shant be in Seattle for FTU? I have no intention of attending FTU, at all, but it’s an excuse to meet up with others equally not interested in the FTU sessions.
So, how many people do we think missed their flights this morning because they forgot about daylight savings time?
I do hope my son, whose birthday is today, was not one of them. He is flying from South by Southwest in Austin to the east coast.
A good day to all!
I love it that my cell phone and computers automatically do that. I just only have to fix the darn clock in my car.
Ann Arbor is very sunny. I wore shorts to the gym! Maybe I can see my driveway finally today after the rest of the ice melts!
And then, there’s Arizona. One of only two sane states in the country.
I am enjoying retirement. Top three things I did last week: fishing in Chile, tanning in Hawaii, and posting on this blog. Life is good.
Oh, and I gave my first class seat up to a serviceman. Many of you were not on that flight where I gave up my first class seat to a serviceman so, if you want to read all about how I gave up my first class to a serviceman, you can visit my blog where I wrote it all up for you.
–Grandpa Ingersoll
Hey Rick-
You’re a real prince with giving up your seat like that. You mentioned it several times-did you give up just one seat or several?
I know people that do that sort of thing too. They just don’t brag about it over and over because they think that sort of bloviating makes it look like it’s all about them.
Probably not last.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/03/06/good-question-why-are-there-so-many-mean-anonymous-comments-online/
Stick with George you guys. You deserve each other.
What about mean commenters who aren’t anonymous?
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/02/internet-trolls-sadists-psychopaths-lulz?utm_content=buffercb131&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Congrats on the blog records TBB!
Somebody once told me, don’t argue with idiots, at some point they bring done to their level and beat you with experience.
Thanks Boon for the lead in. I never wanted to call George one myself but, oh well now.
After this “Toolgate” weekend it is obvious that George and the Tabloid Blogger Buzz gang is more interested in what YOU ALL DO, whine and sensationalize than listen to some constructive advice, maybe delivered harshly but still advice.
George could have easily said: “in my investigation of the tool….” or “after doing several searches with these parameters, I was surprised to see….”.
But No, instead he chose to make a false and untrue statement. That was George’s choice. In his rant he was indeed the idiot you so clearly expressed. But like you said Boon , When you get down to their level they just beat you with experience. I hope his experience as an idiot does not extend to the clients he represents or the paper he writes for.
As George wrote up comments in real life, I am a nice, fun guy and the times I met George face to face we got along just fine. I am so disappointed that in his obsession to attract and fire up his readers he will cross the line of truth to garner the desired effect, belittle and demean others. I am also truly sorry that I have had to give George a little of his own medicine to help him see the errors of his ways, but at this point, I’m willing to accept that he can’t and will not learn to act with a little more caution and respect for others in his approach. He may indeed just be an “idiot”.
At this point I am starting to feel sorry for this guy, wow!