We copy some comments to make a filler post. Hey, give me some credit (pun intended), not going to pretend that this is not a filler post. I still think it is a better read than a post about macadamia nuts, boarding music, cookies and last chance to get the Freedom card….sigh.
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This is an edited version of a few of my comments in yesterday’s post regarding the latest controversy in the miles/points land…
This topic is very controversial. I went back and forth a little bit on it earlier on Friday on Twitter where the format allows me to just fire away and clear my head!
http://twitter.com/FlyerTalkerinA2
I don’t feature much about MS anymore. I believe every bit of more publicity harms it. Of course the most hideous practice is Titan bloggers blogging about it like they are “experts” and just pushing more plastic credit cards with such “expert” posts. Those posts are the real culprits because of their much higher readership, no doubt about it!
At the same time, I would like to educate the little guy too….so, you see, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Which, in turn, leads to my main point:
The interests of bloggers are not congruent (I feel important when I say this word lol) with the dedicated MSers. Goes back to the old days of miles/points deals where everything revolved around FlyerTalk. Now with the blogs it is a whole new ball game. When the plastic credit card money came in, this altruistic (I smiled when I typed this and so are you hehe) and obscure hobby practiced by “misfits” (in a good way) got so opened up that now it is a feast towards targeting the eyeballs of extreme newbies who used to be mentored slowly by veterans (and some were chased away by some in FT for their symptoms…lol, I hear it still happens!). These businessmen need hits and they will do whatever it takes to get them there so they can eventually be sold (credit cards being the most lucrative product by far of course). I mean, the whole subject is sexy right? “Make money at CVS and travel for free” (enter pic of Emily holding VRs).
Maybe Saverocity in the forums where Google does not reach is the way to do it. Maybe the newsletter. Maybe speaking in general in the body of the blog and being more direct in the comments. I still say the best way is to meet in person and let people into “secrets” you personally know and can vouch for their reliability and, most importantly, their fitness not to get hurt. Because, you know, at the end, someone gets hurt. Most are innocent folks who got hooked by a blog that appeared in their google search (it is one of the Titan blogs in the Ignore list for sure) and just “fell” for the slick pitch.
The bottom line is….as long as MS methods exist they will be blogged. How you react is up to you. I say vote with your clicks and be true what you believe in. I believe Delta is criminal and have not given them a dime (actually it was $5 or $10 in taxes/fees for a saver award ticket to San Diego last year lol) since 2012. Take a stand. Express your views. And click my links LOL.
I think lots of people practicing this (including bloggers) will be better off in the long term taking a step (or two) back. It’s like a drug addiction, so hard to kick it.
I started this blog for entertainment, primarily my own. And I still like to vent and let off steam to keep my sanity. Plus find some cool stuff for, you know, entertainment/education/inspiration.
I remember meeting the Pudding Guy back in the first Chicago Seminars. At dinner he said something that stayed with me as we were discussing what he was up to since those pudding fame days. He said simply “I moved on” and got into marathons and of course traveling with his family. Now imagine keeping up with this hobby and blogging….it is just INSANE!
Anyways, to end it here, the latest Million Mile Secrets interview started with “I started collecting miles and points in January of 2014″. Reader on Twitter indicated the typo, should have been ‘January 2015″. The desire to share “expertise” with friends and family is just so strong sometimes…shaking my head.
This space is just too entertaining to give up…
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Hey, I appear to be first! What weird hour of the US day did you post this George?! (2pm UK)
I was at Panera, someone whispered to me “your Alexa is down, DO something”…so I did 🙂
First?
And be careful, the titan DeltaPoints will be attacking you for speaking I’ll about his “mothership”.
Roh roh. Giggles. Bunch.Sorta. More giggles. Amex links. Whine about the mothership. More Amex links. Zzzzzzz 🙂
I don’t ever go to Bow Tie Boy and his insipid wife’s blog. I’m being mean as I never met Emily so I am not sure how I know she is insipid. Maybe it’s the obnoxious pics of her in front of gift card racks. Seriously, the interviewe has been in the game for two whole months. That’s someone I want to get advise from.
Here’s the good thing, sort of, in that MS has gotten harder and you have to be more creative. The lazy MSers have disappeared. There is less activity on the MS boards. Even the forum on FT about blogs is getting less posts as many have moved on and don’t even go to the blogs that are usually talked about on that forum,
Keep up,the good work George.
What gets me is that someone so new feels they have something to add on top of so many other bloggers doing the same thing and doing it SOOOOO much better. They just keep coming. I just shake my head…violently at times!
I think the MSing contributes to the continued devaluations…partly at the very least.
And thanks.
Jesus Wants Me to Have This Jet …… http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/14/jesus-wants-me-to-have-this-jet.html ………… What balls!!! In the name of religion and God (this is why i am an Agnostic)…………SPEAKING OF BALLS!! This Preacher must of read Lucky’s Plea to his flock for money to ride in Ethiad’s Residence. When you think about it, they have quite a bit in common………..From now on I am to be addressed as Reverend Ramsey. Gotta run Buzz, just call from Al Sharpton, said I should accidentally burn all my financial records http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415212/suspicious-fires-twice-destroyed-key-sharpton-records-jillian-kay-melchior
Well, looks like Lucky at One Mile at a Time made a whole blog post about this….and then Gary from the Suite blogged about smelly poo…yikes!
Speaking of smelly lavs….. VFTW posted another Lav Selfy. WTF.
We’ve seen that one before, he didn’t even post a *new* laviator selfie.
Chris Farley R.I.P.
Indeed. That must have hurt!
Guys I just got my brand new passport int he mail today!
Do we think Amex Platinum is going to be worth it? I’ve heard that I’ll get the annual fee waived as active duty but I am afraid that is just a rumor since I didn’t have it before joining…Is it worth getting anyways to risk it?
Well, it is about personal responsibility 🙂
amex is pretty good about canceling very soon and getting full refund. Then again, the company is in serious trouble and may have adjusted its policies…No idea, I am a civilian.
It’s not just a rumor, Military Frequent Flier has the best resources on this sort of stuff. This post in particular should be helpful: http://themilitaryfrequentflyer.boardingarea.com/2013/08/27/how-to-get-your-annual-fees-waived-on-american-express/
Thanks fellow William!
Your points make no sense because you write like a child.
Not sure who you are referring to but if this was addressed to me I just want you to know that it did not prevent me at all from finally eating some tacos today….and they were magnifico!
And yours does? Ingy?
Anonymous, if you are knocking someone’s writing, please use proper English and and correct sentence etiquette, dumbass.
Wow, just catching up on some comment reading, I missed a wild Friday! George, you probably jumped up in some sort of website ranking. On Friday 13th, nevertheless!
Pre-blogging, I remember people getting all jazzed up with new threads on FT opened up, and it was all about how this new thread will kill a deal, or how too many comments will kill the deal, etc., etc. Unfortunately, deals die. MSing is not a right, it’s a privilege with an uncertain expiration date, just approach it that way — and all will be fine.
I still think the best bang for your “buck” is excessive churning. Why no one gets all pissed off about killing that deal, all of bloggers and FT posts talking about applying for credit cards, over and and over and over again. I don’t understand why that does not get the same amount of heat or upset comment posts. No one blamed a single blogger last April when Amex personal cards cut down on 12-month churn ability, I think that was a much bigger loss than a freaking Chime card or Evolve or even Vanila cards, seriously ~ 500,000 miles/points per year for my household just evaporated, that hurt a lot more, no one blamed a single blogger for that. Why not? Should they? No, it’s part of the game, just move on, find a new way. I just lick my wounds and move on to Citi Exec. 😉
Cheers,
PedroNY
PedroNY,
Fantastic comment,thanks for posting it!
@PedroNY,
According to Travel with Grant , “Stefan @ Rapid Travel Chai shared PedroNY’s credit card churning strategy, which is very extreme and not for beginner” (FTU in SD).
http://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2015/03/09/my-review-of-ftu-advanced-san-diego-and-tacos-el-gordo/
Do you mind sharing what it is?
Thanks
Just a lot of CC sign ups, 20-30 per year. Not that extreme, many do it.
Cheers,
PedroNY
Yep, used to be normal. Remove AMEX from the equation and it’s getting harder to get to those number.
Yeah…it sure is getting harder. I mean, I am even thinking about doing the unthinkable…go for that Marriott Business card nowadays 🙂
“I still think the best bang for your “buck” is excessive churning. ”
Hear, hear!
I definitely agree 🙂