We express our feelings about two events: Chase Ink Plus 70k offers and Chris Elliott joining Boarding Banking Area for real, check out one of the crappiest IHG Rewards Pointbreaks hotel lists, learn how to add Amex Authorized Users and book Choice Hotel Rewards and Long Layovers, then visit Iceland, look at some awesome sheep, and end with some great personal finance stuff and two hilarious pics!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order
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BREAKING BLOG BUZZ NEWS & FEELINGS
Sometime on Monday late morning Chase let some Ink cardholders refer others for 10,000 Ultimate Rewards per 70k Ink Plus application/approval. Yours truly was not one of them I guess, maybe the bank has blacklisted me. SOME bloggers were kind enough to post that and some even showed the direct link to the offer. Most kept quiet. Not for long. As soon as Chase Bank released the affiliate offer to them all hell broke loose. So much pumping that just demoralizes you to no end…my eye sockets were just mauled to death! OMG! Another demoralizing low point was that Chris Elliott “consumer advocate” decided to join Boarding Area because, apparently, his readers “voted” 54% for him to do so. Unbelievable! Consumer advocate my big fat greek wedding butt! This is how you lose credibility pronto in my book! When you join this charade of bank representatives and…Grant 🙂
I thought Chris Elliott was just screwing around for hits with controversial bombastic claims as he usually does…Apparently not. I should save this stuff for Blog Buzz posts but I can’t help myself! I am also sensing something else. Randy Petersen has a pretty good view of what is going on. He is broadening Boarding Area to appeal to the more general travel audience. He has been saying how all the loyalty programs are going revenue based and has appeared to be cheering them up to proceed in faster pace lately. I love the credibility and fun around here but spending all this time for a few dollars per day when even Chris Elliott consumer advocate goes to Banking Area because of their marketing skills…you know this is just absolutely UNREAL! #developing
To top the horrible day off…my soccer team Gasping for Air sucked eggs tying up Code Blue 4-4 even after I scored three goals and an assist. Talk about letting me down! So…can it get any worse? Thank you for your support.
MILES/POINTS
IHG Rewards Pointbreaks hotels for just 5,000 points are here. Probably the lamest PB hotel list ever?
I am sure you have seen and will be seeing many posts about the AMEX Small Business Saturday promotion coming in November. Here is “How to Add Authorized Users to American Express Credit Cards” at Travel With Grant.
Marathon Man’s Whacky Theories on the FR Financial Review. By Marathon Man at Mileage Update. Amex Financial Reviews and stuff like that. Because “MSing is like surfing” lol.
How and Why to Book Long Layovers. By Travel Is Free. The dude is on fire. Go to Boarding Area too. Leave me alone out in the wilderness!
TRAVEL
Across a Peninsula in 4K. Another incredible timelapse video from Western Denmark at The Adventure Blog.
10 stunning portraits of Iceland’s waterscapes. At Matador Network. Stunning is an understatement!
25 Photos Of Sheep Blanketing The Earth Like Snow At Bored Panda. Beautiful sheep, beeeeeeeeeee!
PERSONAL FINANCE
Coping With Complexity. At Stumbling and Mumbling. This is an excellent short read.
Individual investors 1, hedge funds 0. At MarketWatch. I like it!
7 Ways to Avoid Picking a Bad Advisor. At Think Advisor. This is actually pretty good list.
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs I Ignore
Please pass my blog link to your friends and family if you think they will enjoy it too.
TBB
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First again??
I think I better look up the word rant next time. I’m sorry to be such a rant baby :/
second. from the er. one handed. managed to slice off a bit of my finger. will live. nurses apparently assigned me low priority….
it was just a tiny piece of the finger. luckily i had my headache meds (hydrocodone) in my purse cause we’ve been here nearly 3 hours…. at one point we had to wait while the nurse receptionist went to get her flu shot. apparently mondays are busy.
i will return to using caps when i can get my other hand out of the icepack it is wrapped in.
sigh. could be worse. by a lot.
GET BETTER SOON TWA!
Hydrocodone for headaches? Wow. :p
Yikes! Did something similar when I was a kid. Docs can do some amazing things, good luck recovering!
Thanks Grant, Oliver and Spencer for the good wishes. Back from the ER and feeling OK for now. But I think when the anesthetic wears off I might be a bit less chipper.
@Oliver – Not to worry. I only take them if a really, really bad headache hits. But I carry one around just in case. Considering how long I waited before they finally numbed the finger, I was really glad I had a pill with me. I had the accident at about 6:15PM and they didn’t numb the finger until I was able to see a doc at about 10:40PM. Thank goodness I grabbed my laptop as we ran out of the house. But what I am most grateful for is that it wasn’t worse, and that my son was home to get me to the hospital.Turned out the doc went to the same state university back east that I did, which is quite unusual for folks from the Pacific NW.
Hey Buzz, I loved the sheep photo!
Haha, I’m guessing you went to State but live on the Sound. We have the same problem in my family. My side of the family went to State, and my sister in law’s family went to U of W.
Meanwhile I was born and live here in Columbus, OH. My rivalry is with George.
GO BUCKS!
All I can tell you is with the way things are around here in Wolverine country…I am scared, I am really scared 🙂
Actually I am south of you now, but went to undergrad at a state U in NY. Where there was no football team.
But I did attend UM for grad school so I must reply with… GO BLUE!! Luckily, given the current state of affairs in wolverine country, I now live in a state with a pretty good college team these days….GO DUCKS!
My uncle cut his thumb off once building a deck (power tools are not his thing). Anyway he said it didn’t hurt so much after he sliced it off. It hurt a hell of a lot more when they reattached it and the nerve endings were connecting back up again.
Luckily I just sliced off a tiny piece and missed the bone. And yes, it is very sensitive and I was warned it could be for a long time, as the nerve endings heal. Right now the inconvenience is worse than the pain, but fortunately it is not my dominant hand. I plan to milk it for all it is worth (as in no housework, dinners out, etc.) for as long as I can get away with it! But sadly it put a crimp in some planned month-end MSing too….
I appreciate the good wishes, but the less we talk about severed stuff, the better. I am also glad I didn’t faint. I don’t do blood well.
I’ll take a bronze!
I am embarrassed at how many desperate people are posting about how they have referrals in the comments sections of boardibg areas bloggers. It’s a publicly available offer. Stop.
I can see how when you stick around this hobby enough you get jaded, grizzled, curmudgeonly. I find myself rolling my eyes quite a bit as I move past 1 year of doing this.
Elaine – glad you’re ok.
I don’t have the 70K offer as an affiliate or as a blogger, but I did get it in the mail from Chase – friends I refer can get the card with 70K UR, and each friend (up to 5) that I refer, I would get 10K UR points as a referral. I doubt anyone will bite (my friends that would be willing to do a $5K spend already have the card), but i might send out some invites. I wouldn’t do this for a Hawaiian CC, but I do think ink is a great card!
@ Grant: First AND a mention in the “good” TBB, WoW!
@ TWA44: Ouch, hope you are better! I would go with the Barclay Arrival paying my hospital bill…unless it would assist in a somewhat meaningful way towards a new cc minimum spend 🙂
I am Greek, we love all sheep LOL And thanks to all for caring about TWA44’s finger…if I did this to my middle finger what the hell would I do every time I saw a 70k Chase Ink Plus blog post?
@ tv7: Bronze is not too shabby, hardware!
@ Cheapblackdad: I have been reading all these guys since Day 1. You won’t believe the transformations from respectable hobbyists to flat out whorish financial product pushers. It is beyond disgusting…but it helps keep my weight low because I barf so many times daily 🙂
Just when you think it can not get any more ridiculous…it DOES!
@ Kathy: I did not get in on that which really pisses me off. I already had to say No to a few readers who emailed me wanting to give me the 10k referrals. That blows! Yeah, no doubt it is a great offer indeed. Some bank exec really wants his/her bonus!
Buzz, I think you need to do end of the year awards. Here are some nominations for you.
Blog of the year: Travel is Free, Saverocity, PointChaser (controversial I know), Hack My Trip
Article of the year: Complete Guide to United Routing Rules (TIF), Airheads in the Credit Card Bubble (LL), everything else written by Who is Drew,
and for the razzies….
Sell out of the year: Mommy “Free!” Points, Chris Elliott, MMS
Lehman Brothers “Greed is Good Award” Award: Milevalue, FTG, MMS
Dick of the year award: Gary Leff, Wandering Aramean, FTG (the man), Delta Points, Canadian KM
Ethical Blogger of the Year: Milevalue, FTG, Canadian KM, MMS, VFTW
Did you put that last category (and nominations) in just to check and see if we are still reading? 🙂
I second the idea. Bring back the Douchies!
Love the nominations for “Ethical Blogger of the Year” LOL
I like the nominations…but Pointchaser? Hack My Trip is losing steam…
And liked the Lehman Brothers Greed dig too!
TBB is at its best offering a consistent case for honesty, transparency, and putting readers first. TBB (the blog, not the man) goes off the rails when it becomes a place for shit like “Dick of the Year” and “Douchies” not to mention pimping vs pumping and the other misogynistic garbage that finds its way into the comments here. Keep it civil, keep it funny, and don’t make it so easy to dismiss your arguments with this sort of crap.
+1. It’s about the blog content, not the blogger as a human being. Although I get how they are difficult to separate some days…
Thanks Jules for your comment. And for the kind comments.
So…what do you want me to do? Censor what my readers comment? When will it stop then? It’s a slippery slope anywhere I go from there so I don’t bother.
I do not agree with such language. I prefer pumping to pimping. Maybe Scott got a little carried away, we all do from time to time. It is hard to hold back sometimes when our eyes are gouged by the incredible Chase Ink Plus cc linking orgy happening as we speak!
Yes Dia it is really difficult sometimes 🙂
TBB — I don’t think censoring is a good idea, but you respond to most comments already. If it’s not the rhetoric that you endorse, you should say so when you reply. Call your readers on it. You create the culture of your comments. Let your readers have at it, but stand up for better quality discourse. I really think language and tone undercuts your important message. Sorry to be the turd in the punch bowl guy for everyone who thinks that sort of thing is fun.
If it was someone else other than Scott I would have said something about it. I cut him some slack because of his long stellar history here 🙂
Lets not take away by the quality of the comments here overall compared to the complete wasteland around the blogosphere. We all have momentary lapses once in a while, it’s life! And it’s real 🙂
I let every comment by Steve Sucks stand by the way 😉 It is about “credibility”.
Ok, message received. I should be more vocal about this I agree. I still do not agree with pimping, I prefer pumping.
Time to hit the gym even though every single bone in my legs is so sore!
@J.V. If you ran TBB, this site would be as boring as your comments and your name, and about 10 readers. Sorry Buzz, but I call them as I see them. Please feel free George, to tell me to Buzz Off anytime, I will still love you……………………………..why is pimping such a bad word to be used in this space? Some blogs ARE whoring out credit cards to any sucker they can get. Political correctness is getting out of hand in my mind. Let me throw in a WTF just to piss off Jules…………….. ………………………………………….God Bless and fly high, Father Ramsey.
Brilliant!
I will never tell you to Buzz off…WTF man!
Maybe it’s because it gives pimps a bad name being compared to… 🙂
You forgot the Amen in the end lol.
Apologies if offended by the use of the word dick. However, when one posts pictures of people using their cell phones and then makes fun of them on a blog read by tens of thousands of people a day, that makes you a dick. When you incessantly belabor a stupid point on flyertalk with a condescending attitude and false sense of intellectual superiority that makes you a dick. When you intentionally delete a rival from a picture of an online ballot while promoting yourself, that makes you a dick. When you single handedly shut down a hack by filing a complaint you’re a dick.
Sorry, if you didn’t like the word dick.
I thought it was spot on, actually!
Amen
Like to call it as is and not sugar coat it here Jules!
I’d add a meme of the year category: Vendoming (pats self on back), Banking Area, “Stay Chase-y, my friends”, First2Blogging…
No tengo tiempo. Need to devote some time on monetization like Chris Elliott did:-)
Hey, did ya see how Gary worked in Vendome! in one of his latest posts?! *sigh*
Commenter of the year:
– Ramsey (and his offshoots)
– Harvson
– SteveSucks
The “opinions expressed are my own” moment of the year:
– The Amex Stars posts (“I think the service might’ve been too spectacular”)
– The over-the-top reviews of the Centurion lounge (OTR had an all time great post parodying this)
– The Chase Ink 60K offer/manna from heaven (any regular TBB reader knows full well about this)
The most useless blog feature of the year
– Friday interviews
– Thursday Travel Challenges
– Weekly Wishes
– Top credit cards for the month (“since offers are constantly changing…. here’s a top 10 list that is identical to last month”)
Biggest blogger dropoff of the year
– Lucky
– Gary
– MP
Awesome! I have nothing to add…time for me to go home 🙂
Gary upped it to eleven something now…
@steve…..I am HUMBLED. grazie…………………….p.s. I will always have your back in this space.
@ Jules Verne …………………..TBB = ENTERTAINMENT, education and Inspiration.
Re: the Pimping vs. Pumping debate. I will continue to use the word that more closely matches the action being described. Which do you guys think more closely matches what is being done by the blogosphere? (hint – replace “a prostitute or a brothel” with “Chase or Amex”)
From Dictionary.com:
Pimp – a person, especially a man, who solicits customers for a prostitute or a brothel, usually in return for a share of the earnings
Pump – an apparatus or machine for raising, driving, exhausting, or compressing fluids or gases by means of a piston, plunger, or set of rotating vanes.
Ok. It’s a free country, you are obviously taking personal responsibility 🙂
“compressing fluids or gases by means of a piston, plunger, or set of rotating vanes” ROFL woohoo!
Love the sheep pictures, and it just likes “omg” moment 🙂 3 goals and 1 assist were very impressive for soccer. MVP anytime soon? Thanks.
I was ON last night while my teammates were off. It is usually the other way around. Still bugs me we left two points, we beat this team so many times before. We have a goalie who is on and off, the dude can go from a perfect game to literally catching nothing!
So how do you guys think Gary will handle his Chris Elliott obsession now that he’s on Boarding Area?
My guess is Chris Elliott criticism will go the way of the Hyatt Visa when it stopped paying commissions.
This will be very interesting to watch.
I am not so sure.
They both like the click baits these “controversies” attract.
It will be fun to watch…
Maybe there will be a cat fight now and then. Similar to the Lucky vs Gary battle regarding the valuation of a given point. => whatever sells your portfolio better.
I expect the addition of Chris Elliott to be as impactful as the addition of Travel Update.
I think it will be interesting to see how it develops…
Buzz-
The article on Marathon Man’s Amex Financial Review rant should be attributed to View from the Wing. You might also note that MM’s rant was in early July, and Leff rebuts it with an article he posted last May.
Is Gary coming out with a greater hits (pun intended) series or just cleaning out his old files?
He is probably too busy to answer, looks like he is super busy selling the Chase Ink Plus card. Eleven ways…wow!
Almost of of those deals are better deals with AA miles. Rest assured if this 70K offer is around for a week, Gary will have made more posts about it (some would say whoring it out like a pimp) than the 100K AA offer which lasted months
No doubt!
I would never in a million years imagine that Elliot would be interested in joining Boarding Area. But, then why not? There are different kinds of blogs over there, and judging by Lucky’s “welcome” this is going to be… well, interesting. I don’t see it as selling out, and I don’t see him seeing the light, either. 🙂
I see money over credibility…again
+1. I have to admit, though, that I’m constantly amazed. Just when I thought standards could sink no lower, a new circle of hell is unleashed.
I live this circle of hell daily 🙂
Past two days:
Amazon link: $0
Media.net ads: $0
Talk about hell indeed lol.
Then think about it this way. The hatred for loyalty programs is Elliott’s staple. Going to another side would be detrimental not only to his credibility but to his own self-interests, as well. I don’t see it happening, but I see it as Randy being a marketing genius. Just when things couldn’t get more boring, what would be a better move than inviting a controversial blogger who will surely stir things up?