Gems from the TBB Comments September 27 – October 10, 2014

We finally caught up to the Gem comments, hooray!

TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order

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Airheads in the Rewards Credit Bubble, Blogging Slog, Albania

Jed: You really need to pump your Amazon link more aggressively if your financial situation is so dire that you have to fly your family on Spirit! Or maybe start of kickstarter campaign to raise money to pay for tickets on a better airline …You’d get more hits on your Amazon link if you embedded the link at least five times in every post, posted pictures of your wife posing with the merchandise people can buy on Amazon, and of course show pictures of cat food that people could buy using your Amazon link.

TBB: The only reason the endless pumping continues is because some idiots fall deep into the hole and subsidize the bloggers who sell the cards and me and you for taking advantage of the cards. So, as long as this happens, expect it to continue. Regulators are not going to do much…

Blog Buzz: Too Many FTUs, Chris Elliott joining Boarding Area, Sell Sell Sell, Top 10 Clickbait Articles, Need Me a Groove

Spencer F: Top 10 Credit Cards that Help You Get a First on TBB?

TBB: …FTG IS THE DEFINITION OF credit card pumping. It actually created this whole scene resembling, excuse my language, prostitution. Case in point the Ink Plus 70k offers…Most kept silent until they got hold of affiliate links and right now the whole space is on FIRE about this card.

Some of us live and breath this stuff. We can judge TRUE expertise. There is not much of it at FTG. It’s a front for selling credit cards. “All that matters is conversions”. They pay writers like you (very little by the way from what I hear) to fill in some content that they inject with the cc links because that is where the dinero is. And it is ALL about dinero on that site, helping readers is way down the list.  …  This blog reviews blogs in a space I have lived and breathed in for almost 20 years. And I speak my mind because Roger Ebert spoke his. And I am funnier

Mike: Chris Elliot, the guy that says FFM programs are a scam is joining BA where they promote Credit Card sign-ups for the FFM bonus? It sounds ridiculous as a new star wars movie where Darth Vader joins the Rebel Alliance

Mr. Nice: USAToday is a primary sponsor of the “new” Freddies.. which happens to be owned by the same conglomerate that sponsors/runs BA… You are definitely NOT over thinking anything… I’m guessing they paid some good $$$ to be a sponsor of FTU. Speaking of which, if they sell out both sessions, that “earns” this non-profit a cool $120k… I’m guessing conf space and other expenses isn’t costing them that much on a weekend…

FTU advanced is sold out… thats $70k Cha Ching…Hmmmmm I wonder who gets all the Hyatt Meeting Planner points for this … Or will it be a cage match

Chase Ink Plus 70k offers, Chris Elliott joining Banking Area for real, IHG Rewards Pointbreaks, Amex Users, Choice Hotel Rewards, Long Layovers, Iceland, Sheep, Complexity, Bad Advisors, Pissing & Police

Scott: 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 (LT), 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

…[After being challenged]

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.

 

Steve: 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

 

Dia: 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.

TBB: I live this circle of hell daily

 

Blog Buzz: Chase Ink Plus 70k Offer Deluge Gone Amok

MilesMath: “I feel bad for all the suckers who signed up for the 60K Ink offers a few months back when the bloggers were falling over themselves to tell us to hurry and sign up for those offers. Really BA (except for a few blogs) should just be replaced by a website listing the current offer and typical offer for every credit card. You don’t need 20 different people writing content to tell me about the same offer.”  [Wouldn’t be great to have a network of blogs generate ONE page full of these affiliate credit card offers and then have the bloggers split the dinero based on each blog’s page views? That is when you will see many marginal blogs quit but the ones who have regular readers stay on and prosper….we ‘ll see then who is in it for the dinero or the true passion…hmmm]

AZTravelGuy: can still remember hearing Daraius and Gleff discussing credit card affiliate links years ago at the second Chicago Seminars. You know, the one where inflated ego FTG went around trying to get people to share stories for Nightline. Such a stupid idea, except for the affiliate marketers of course.  Anyway, Daraius was stupidly excited about making money from his links. Gleff had initially resisted but said, “Somebody might as well take the money. I decided it could be me.” The response from Daraius when I asked if content would be biased towards paying links was along the lines of an emphatic no. That’s obviously a lie.  [I remember…I was there!]

 

Steve: “This technique–which dies today–makes the Arrival Plus also the best all-around card for business and first class redemptions”

Uh no MileValue that’s incorrect. What you were trying to say was that it’s “the best all-around card for business and first class redemptions among the 3 credit cards that pay me affiliate commission”

LOL best card for first class. Well if you live in a United hub and are willing to splurge for United F I guess. Otherwise, just another piece that whoringly pimps out douchy advice to readers

 

Southwest Rapid Rewards, Delta and Amex Changes, Singapore Airlines Suites, New Zealand, Swiss Alps, Bardarbunga Volcano, Age Maps, Iraq, Top 1%

Ramsey: To My Dearest George,
Yesterday it sounded like you might be closing down TBB after it’s 2 year anniversary. This would be a very sad day indeed for everyone (except DP). May I be so bold as to suggest that you consider hosting the upcoming GLEFFies, a blogger award extravaganza. It will be held in BLOGGERWOOD, Hilton Head, South Carolina. Originally it was to be hosted by Ricky Gervais but he found a dead horse head under his blanket one morning and has bowed out. You would be a great replacement and a dead horse head in the morning I know will not scare you away. Of course we will cut you in on a share of the $375 pp fee we will be charging for tickets, and a full share of all the other kickbacks we can line up. Please give this offer every consideration. Thank You and God Bless You. Amen……………….Father Ramsey

 

Blog Buzz: Chase Ink Plus Sale Going Strong, Imaginative Excuses to Sell More, Lazy Blog Posts, Ridiculously lazy & greedy Posts, Mileage Run Play by Play by Mommies and More!

Shelley: You make yourself come off as an ignorant, misogynistic ass with statements like that, and you owe Mommy Points an apology.  [part of the job, part of the job!]

“Good mommies” who care about miles and points do exactly what MP did — considering the fare and the benefits for her family. A “mommy” can mileage run too when it makes sense. Calling her out for that is total sexist BS. George should admit it and apologize.  [Umm, I call out lots of blogs here!]

George, what kind of a “man” are you?  [Lol]

[Many comments in support of me followed] and this was best by icicle:

TBB isn’t sexist. If you think that is sexism, then you have a golden, lovely life. Good for you.

 

Steve: Ironically, the suckers who FTU bigwigs are touting to that they would get Hyatt Platinum status would have already had the status…. were those same FTU bigwigs who are hyping up Hyatt Platinum ever to talk about a card those suckers should probably already have… the Hyatt VIsa

That’s the VFTW way – tout the fact that you’re giving them something that they don’t already have because you actively withhold information about its existence  [Do you think they’ll be told that one great way to get Hyatt points is with the Chase Ink Plus card so they can enjoy the FREE Platinum status? lol]

 

L: love the alternate titles you give the blogs as the posts mount up. Cracks me up every time. Mucho giggling.   [ Me too! Trying to be creative, get the mind working, good anti Alzheimer’s brain action! I am running out of…combinations!]

 

Blog Buzz: Selling the Amazing Lufthansa Credit Card, Calling out Boarding Area Bloggers, Chris Elliott breaks BSmeter, Ebola Vaccine for FREE!

Sam: Buzz- I think you should set your cat up for a 15 minute consultation with Rick in Chicago.
You and your pussycat nose.

TBB: My cat will be told to start an EBay business for sure so they can try to sell us the Ink Plus. For totally FREE travel I have no doubt, NO DOUBT, the Barclay Arrival card will also be pushed

 

TBB:  I have several blogs in the Love and Like lists that do have affiliate links. Nothing wrong with having them. The issues are pummeling the readers to death with them while portraying themselves as “experts” doing all this for friends and family! And of course driving the content!!!

Would the blogosphere be better off without any credit card affiliate links? YES! But the fact remains they provide the ONLY MEANINGFUL way of being compensated for the time someone spends working on a blog!

Case in point. TBB blog revenue yesterday:

Amazon: $2.03
media.net ad: $0.69

I spend more time on my blog than many of these cc pumpers COMBINED. Not fair? Sure. But I am okay with it…for now. If you actually think about it what I am doing is incredibly idiotic….
Maybe I just like to laugh at myself LOL.

Thanks for clicking on my Amazon link by the way

 

 

Etihad mistake, Shangri-La Hotels, Amex & Red Bull Free Money, Norway, Zion National Park, Beach Hotels, Financial Crisis Lessons & Health

Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®: Hi, anybody have any questions for me?

harvson3: Oh, wise HAWEMC,

Everyone who got the Eithad mistake fare should cancel and refund their tickets, as they’re making airfares more expensive for the rest of the passengers, right? Please click my Amazon links. Finally, is there anything you can’t do, oh glorious HAWEMC?
– Chris Elliott, boardingarea.com

 

Scott: Love this line from Gary “And my favorite use for the points is transferring to airline frequent flyer programs like United (great availability using Star Alliance partners to Europe and Asia)” Of course, no mention of the fact that 70k united miles might get you a bag of peanuts with a star alliance award.

 

 

BlogBuzz: Click on All My Links 24/7 & BIG NEWS: TBB Joining Boarding Area! Means the end of Blog Buzz #sadface

John: Good luck, it was nice reading from you. I always thought I had a voice in the travel blogosphere – until now. I won’t be supporting Boarding Area or following you on Twitter any longer. You’re one of them now.  [Hope John was joking as I was! Someone find him and make him use the awesome TBB Amazon link! He or everyone else can’t go until you are converted! lol]

 

Maximizing IHG Rewards points, More Amex MR Points To Me, Delta Hate, Joining BA was a joke, Norway, Africa Tour, Millionaires, 401(k) gotchas

Kevin: [Continuing with the Delta news release announcing an increase in the MQDs!

You left out the part that says;

“We will continue to increase the MQD’s quarterly until we shrink our elite ranks and we reach a more manageable 7 or 8 total Delta Elite fliers. We’ll then remove all but two business elite seats from our existing aircraft and install more basic economy seating, since there probably won’t be a very high chance of all 7 or 8 of our elite members flying at once.”

“We hope to eventually sell off our entire fleet and purchase Amtrak for the use of our economy passengers, and we’ll one use one 8 seat private jet from our NetJets partner, increasing exclusivity of our remaining 7 or 8 elite passengers.”

Delta – Don’t Ever Leave The Airport.

 

 

 

 

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