One day I will catch up!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order
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Blog Buzz section in yo face going daily!
Sam: ” The Vegas of old worked for everyone-the smart guys got bargains and didn’t lose enough to matter; the suckers lost but thought they were getting a bargain; and the casinos raked it in. And that’s how I see the state of the bloggy (new word) today. The airlines are selling miles to the banks, and rigging redemptions to raise their odds, the banks are in on selling the miles and scooping up those swipe fees. The suckers think it’s all swell until they try to book a trip.
And what about the bloggers? Well they’re the ones standing outside the casinos, often in costume, yelling to catch your attention. “Step right up, folks.” “Everybody wins”. “Dollar bingo at 2 pm” “Ten cent beer all day long”. When I read posts about taking the kids to Mars on points I think back to Circus Circus, where you could lose the car payment while the kids played outside with Bozo.
So maybe we should really thank the bloggers for being such good carny men and women. Think of it this way-if the bloggers didn’t create all the traffic, the banks might sit down and figure out how to attract profitable customers and avoid the others. And then we’d all be cleaning out our card bags.”
Every once in a while TBB’s biggest “fan” Rick/Ingy/Frugal Travel Guy (the person) comes by and shares with us his thoughts. So the passages below preceded with >>>>>> is him, the rest is my inflammatory overly snarky responses for, you know, entertainment!
>>>>>>>>Of course I read your blog.
Of course I don’t read yours…I only scan it so I can “report” on it here so my readers don’t have to visit it and get their eyes gouged.
>>>>>>>>George is still whining
Rick is still whining about George whining. Yawn.
>>>>>>>>why not keep up with the fiduciary duties?
You are the last person on this planet to mention the world “fiduciary”!!!
>>>>>>>>>I’m sure they would appreciate the attention you give to this fiasco.
In the dictionary, under “fiasco” there is a picture of FTG
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog and participate in our community. It is due to loyal readers like you this blog is a fantastic commercial success LOLOLOL
>>>>>>>>Winners laugh and tell jokes while losers piss and moan. Stay angry my friend.
2: Number of comments at FTG today
4: Number of comments by “rick” FTG Founder in this TBB post Updated!
>>>>>>>>I can see why you are so proud George. You are indeed adding to the travel space. You provide a reference point for the bottom of the barrel. Stay angry my friend. It looks good on you.
So sad. Could have used the time to “write” another post pumping personal referral links. So so sad.
harvson3: Today’s reminder, for all you playng along at home:
1. George caused incivility in the hobby by criticizing other bloggers businesses.
2. George’s incivility led to a fall in trust in the hobby. Deals didn’t expire or go underground because they’re tapped out, or due to the entry of hordes of inexperienced hobbyists calling the airlines and harassing CVS clerks. People are less trusting now because of George’s blog.
3. George criticizing bloggers businesses for misleading suckers newbies makes George a loser.
4. If suckers readers click on inferior links, well, that’s their own damn fault. Caveat emptor, no take-backsies, I got mine, f— you. Bloggers Businesses can’t be expected to keep up with all the better links that don’t pay them, after all. Things move so quickly!
This has been another update from a different, albeit non compos mentis , universe.
DiffPaul: Rickgry, you clearly have no idea how gratifying it is to get regular visual proof from you on George/Buzz’s success in calling you and others out as the creepy snake-oil salespeople you have become! Of course your pyramid scheme is doomed as it depends on uneducated newbies. Once they educate themselves they sure won’t come a-clicking on your sales links anymore. But they’ll still need to buy something from Amazon using Buzz’s links!!
Kevin: Get back in there and SELL, SELL, SELL!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDI6SEIzwNM
TWA44: Just upping the comment count.
Blog Buzz: FTU Advanced wants me, the meaning of “Free”, Is a Travel Blogger a Credit Card salesman?, Top 10 Same Credit Card offers, and more nonsense!
Spencer F: I’ve got a case of the angries! The Hawaiian Airlines credit card fixes that, right?
TBB: The Hawaiian Airlines credit card is the answer for everything!
Nick @ Personal Finance Digest: That’s Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® to you, pal.
Southeast Asia Guide, Avios, Booking Class Codes, Costs of “Free”, Pissing off Barclay, Tibet, Cliff House, Exhibitionism pics, Retirement & Social Security, Estate Planning & Wills, Affluent US Towns, Homeless Signs
TWA44:
OK, nominations for what one item our friendly bloggers should hold (or tie to their middles) while doing a naked handstand:
Dariaus – so obvious; a bowtie
Emily – another giveaway; a SW companion pass
GLeff – Let’s see, a pair of carefully folded PJs? A camera to document whether other hand-standing naked bloggers are texting instead of enjoying the view?
Milenomics – His tool belt, of course.
Buzz – A soccer ball?
Lucky – A Lufthansa rubber duckie
Pack of Peanuts – duh, you know.
KennyB – his wife and kids (exception made for holding more than one item; if the judges are strict, change “wife and kids” to “family”
MommyPoints – Little C
MilesAbound – The Maldives
Greg – A spreadsheet
MarathonMan – a CVS receipt that is taller than he is
Kathy – She gets permission to wear the shoes from her latest marathon.
Drew – Carrie
Carrie – Drew
TBB: Continuing on with the theme above…
ingy – Everyone else’s credit score to facilitate anal-ysis for more credit card recommendations
TPG – The PR staffer who blew securing the Nightline TV deal!
Milevalue – A Barclaycard Arrival application, what else?
DP – Every credit card application he sells!
Pizza in Motion – Pizza box!
Heels First Travel – Pair of heels bought with TBB’s Amazon link!
Blog Buzz: SHENA, The Credit Card Guy on Fire, Targeted promo posts, Qatar CEO Obsession and more non sense!
Comment by lois in the Nightline story about Mommy Points and “Free” Travel. Wow!
The real secret here is that this woman is basically making huge amounts of money by getting people to sign up for credit cards. Her blog is sponsored by American Express, for crying out loud. Every time someone signs up for a credit card through her blog, she gets a check. Much of her travel is subsidized by travel industry interests. Ie: she may stay in a fancy hotel that is being comp’ed to her in exchange for a glowing review on her blog. Please people, your credit is extremely valuable. Do lots of research before diving into something like this, and remember that this woman does not have your best interest at heart. She has _her_ best interest at heart. She makes money by convincing people they should have 20 credit cards. I think it’s insanely irresponsible of her to make money by convincing families they should be doing this. Are you thinking of buying a house? Well, how are 20 hard pulls on your credit report going to look to a mortgage officer? You may also end up losing points on your interest rate, which will quickly eat up any free travel you may have been able to get from her advice. Also, if you are not super diligent and super disciplined with your financial habits, this is a recipe for total disaster. Some people do well in the frequent flyer/credit card game. Most do not. That is why the banks keep it going. They are counting on people messing up. They make money. Mommy points makes money. And most people go in to debt, buy more than they need, or mess up their shot at a good mortgage.
MilesMath: “Award for best reason to sell Chase cards goes to FTG. Changing the made up name on the CSP in the Chase marketing materials results in 11 affiliate links.”
Blog Buzz: Selling the Lifestyle, Register for Promos and Click on all my Credit Cards, Duping & Mauling Readers, Most Ridiculous excuse of a post EVER
Anonymous: “I just wondered something. If you don’t like what these bloggers do, why do you give them attention every day?”
TBB: …TBB reviews blogs. I have almost 370 blogs in Feedly and I go through them and then I speak my mind here. I do it for several reasons:
-It is unique. I think of it as satire first and foremost. “Hobby”, err, Business has gotten so large that it was time for a business review Yelp like site I thought. I was not going to start blogging about how you can get 5% at office supply stores or quarterly bonus categories. How boring is THAT repeated to death!
-I do it so my readers do not visit these blogs but keep up with the ridiculous pumpy posts they do every day. I want my readers to laugh because laughter is the best medicine.
-For new readers, I want them to UNDERSTAND that these blogs are not the source where they can get unbiased and good advice. I want to steer them towards the Love and Like lists. This is my own PSA I guess.
-I have ridiculous goals and love going against the mainstream. This has become my ridiculous crusade. In other words, TBB is ridiculous. You should laugh at it…I do! LOL
-This acts as a creative energy release for me. It just makes me feel better and my therapist loves it I “let it all go”.
– I have this ridiculous expectation that my reviews will prompt bloggers to improve and put their readers first. But lots of them are so greedy I would never trust my mother to read them. My mother in law? Yes Lol.
– I am a big Roger Ebert fan. He used to say “Condemning and helping”. I like to be like Roger. I get all kinds of crap but hopefully I am helping some of these bloggers see how their posts are seen by others who have not lost all perspective yet what this should be about.
I think there is more. Just have not had as much coffee yet, may edit later to add more. Mind you I am doing this for just a few dollars per day. When the revenue breaks double digits here we have a party at TBB World Headquaters. Some of these bloggers have called me despicable things and have threatened me with lawsuits. It comes with the territory I guess. But one thing nobody can accuse me is me being greedy and obeying the banks by pumping credit cards every freaking day. Even when everyone realizes by now that it is the only way to make some money to get compensated for the time spent on a blog. I am learning and getting it. Key is to enjoy every day on this planet. If you don’t enjoy my blog please do not read it, it’s perfectly okay!
Jules Vern: instead of making mega-lists of every blog post that had a credit card link in the day or days before, it would be more manageable and your posts would be more readable and funnier if you would stick to the most egregious examples. “Deals We Like posted about a credit card with an affiliate link” is like “The clock hit 6 o’clock twice today and my dog peed on a bush.” Totally expected. We can pretty much just assume that happened. Entertain us with the most blatant stuff. That way, you can read the blogs so we don’t have to!! Thanks, Buzz!
Ramsey: My 3 boys are young men now. My latest piece of advice to them was “when you meet someone for the first time and right away they tell you the are Christians, smile, nod your head, and get the hell away from them as fast as possible”…………………………i think I read this in Bill Cosby’s book Fatherhood.
Steve: FrugalTravelGuy.com is an excellent tool if you want to learn how to redeem Avios
Andy Shuman @ Lazy Travelers: Spelling gods are never kind to spellcheck snobs.
Blog Buzz: Amex US Open, Milevalue has been renamed Barclays, Apple iPhone 6 pumping, etc etc. So Much Selling You Get Numb!
Elvis Costello: I’m Not Angry.
CHASE MARKETING MACHINE: HA HA HA I AM JUST KIDDING! THAT WAS NOT REALLY ELVIS COSTELLO, IT WAS ME: THE CHASE MARKETING MACHINE!
Fan of the Buzz BS/Rick/Ingy/Frugal Travel Guy (the person) [He is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Can’t stay awaaaaaaaaaaay! Sharing the loooooooooooooooove! Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite me!]
Glad to see the hypocrite of all hypocrites finally added credit card links. Not surprised AdChoice was the only group to take you.
Now it will be fun to watch the “shuck and jive” telling the “gang” how this is a good move for the hobby and how you are doing it right.
And here I thought you’d fold like a cheap suit on your second anniversary, but this will delay the inevitable I’m sure. You’ve got quite a stable of Amazon, RoboForm and AdChoice. You must be so proud 
TBB: Hey Rick,
Thank you for taking the time to comment in my blog. TBB “staff” appreciates all feedback, especially the whiny kind that entertains us the most.
“added credit card links” – LOL I wish those paid as much as the ones that are on top, bottom, left, right and inside the FTG “content”. I would love to see your reaction if one day I got the REAL credit card links. Spare me the “banks will never touch you” mantra…not sure I want to be touched
You thought I will fold like a cheap suit 19 months ago. Ooops, you were wrong. Again.
I am very proud of Amazon, sure has paid back all cash expenses on the site months ago! RoboForm is the greatest software ever invented. YOU should try it and it’s okay to go direct
It’s a lifesaver. Not joking around. I manage close to 1,000 passwords, all kinds of security questions, different identities for all 4 of us to fill in all forms for miles/points accounts, enter (and win) sweepstakes only for a few seconds it takes me to enter with RoboForm. I can’t be online without it. God Bless my colleague who suggested it to me years ago!
What is AdChoice? Never heard of it. I installed something else to try it out. Kind of annoying but my readers are intelligent enough to understand. Got no time to deal with that stuff. What’s the rush anyway? Thanks for the inspiration!
And thank you for being a devoted reader. And for the support.
I suggest you come out of retirement soon as Frugal Titan Guy
Fan of the Buzz BS/Rick/Ingy/Frugal Travel Guy (the person): Shows the stupidity of some of your readers George. How could anyone suggest that somebody retired could be a titan?. I’m a “has been”. You are a “never has been” and Steve, well he is just lost in his own little world concerned about my relationship with Randy and Gary. I have none. Does he have idol worship issues? Steve would qualify as a “never will be”
No disrespect meant of course. You know, it is just for entertainment and all. I review blogs. Back to my feedly, Need to work on my list of blogs I think “provide nothing to the hobby” Again, all for entertainment.
PS move your referral pimp links up higher on the right hand column. Put them above the “Follow TBB” section. They will convert better higher on the page. And based on how rapidly you are adding “pimp links”, it looks like you need more conversions
TBB:
>>>>>>>>Shows the stupidity of some of your readers George
>>>>>>>>You are a “never has been”
>>>>>>>>Steve would qualify as a “never will be”
Letting it all go is very healthy. Hope you feel better.
>>>>>>>>No disrespect meant of course. You know, it is just for entertainment and all. I review blogs. Back to my feedly, Need to work on my list of blogs I think “provide nothing to the hobby” Again, all for entertainment.
Sure is! Thank you for your support! For updated reviews of blogs TBB staff like please check the lists in the tab labeled “Blog Reviews” above where nothing is blocked by credit card ads! Avoid, Like, Love. You are welcome!
>>>>>>>>PS move your referral pimp links up higher on the right hand column. Put them above the “Follow TBB” section. They will convert better higher on the page.
Thank you for the unsolicited marketing advice. If I move them higher they will mess my awesome logo where it shows you can fly from LIM to PER! Plus it will make it look like crap. So I leave the crap on the right hand side.
>>>>>>>>And based on how rapidly you are adding “pimp links”, it looks like you need more conversions
LOLOLOLOL. Yeah I should move a little faster, thank you! Thank God I don’t NEED more conversions. But if son goes to Stanford that may change lol. I will be adding more when I get around to it, thank you for your support!
Thank you for contributing to my site. We appreciate your dedication and loyalty to contribute to the blog’s mission!
Yawn…night night!
James: Shuck and Jive?! what an unbelievably racist comment…. seriously, wow
Aegean Changes, Choice Hotels, SkyScanner, Coolest Hyatts, Amtrak Rewards, Wilderness, Greek Isles, Boneyard, Suicides, Orgasms, Titan Class Flat Bed
JizzyJiz: Dis Blog is Dope
BlogBuzz:The Unbearable Tendency to Sell, Haters & Trolls, Dutch FTU, What IS “Free”, Travel With Grant Gets TBB Recommendation!
VC: I noticed the evolution towards clickbait headlines in the form of the quarterly Freedom signup reminder. Long gone are the days of the straight and to the point “remember to sign up for your quarterly bonus” headlines.
Now we have cryptic and supposedly enticing headlines like “Earn 5% at Amazon next quarter” which masks the fact that it is a simple reminder post for the the Freedom Q4 bonus [link] and INK with amazon gift card purchase [link] but likely, via honest mistake no doubt, forgets to inform that Discover has 5% back on all online purchases in Q4.
TBB: Yeah I totally agree. I hold my nose almost to the point of asphyxiating myself!
VFTW: The Five Cards That Give Your Spending the Most Leverage
OMAAT: Credit Cards With The Best Annual Spending Bonuses
These two posts were posted almost simultaneously. Nothing new really. So, you tell me. You are a loyal reader (huh?) and you see YET another credit card barrage. I don’t know….but if it was me I would be PISSED of seeing yet another post! I can understand they need to make money to keep the links but constantly coming up with moronic titles full of affiliate links (while not giving most of the non affiliate ones the light of day) well makes me barf and…keeps me fit! So I thank them LOL.
American Airlines Routing Rules, Club Carlson Fall Promos, Hilton HHOnors Gold, Aegean, Marathon Man Rant, AMEX Saturday, Queenstown, Norway, Chicago, Millionaires, 401k Plans, Gay Children, ISIS Takedown, Overhead Kills
Will: Seriously, you’re blog is the best out there. The finance and photograph links alone make your status undeniable, and then you do all the filtering so we don’t have to. I wish you had more links to stuff we can buy just so we can reward you for all the hard work. You should post a GroupOn and LivingSocial link if you ever buy anything from there. [Priceless]
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs I Ignore
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TBB
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First
Finally made it # 1.
Second again! Guess better than third
no your not
Why the name icicle?
I know it was asked in the other posting, but Scott cracked me up with his “Last” comment. I wanted him to keep the last word. I like his blog. 🙂
Icicle is a song from Tori Amos. One of the most famous feminists out there in the world. And whom I totally adore. My mom was raped as a child, and sought help from RAINN- the group that Tori co-founded. My mom and I just talked with Tori in Orlando at her August concert, actually about this very same topic. Yes, there were tears.
So when Shelley went off on her sexism tirade…I found it both hillarious and ironic, especially considering that anyone knows anything about Tori, it is that Tori fights for women’s rights, gay rights, and human rights in general. One of the reasons why I chose the online name of “icicle”.
The end of my little explanation story. And yes, I stand by my statement that Gleff’s blog (perhaps not him, haven’t met him, but his blog) is a wee bit sexist. If I ever think that TBB is sexist, I’ll let you know. So far, all I’ve done is think and laugh.
P.S. Maybe you need to due a fundraiser on kickstarter or the other thing like it. Hey, if someone one can raise money to make potato salad, why not??
“Andy Shuman @ Lazy Travelers: Spelling gods are never kind to spellcheck snobs.”
Ummmmm that could easily apply to me. You know, considering that I used ‘due’ instead of ‘do’. *sigh*
Um, no. My remark was directed at someone who did a silly spelling mistake while criticizing someone else’s spelling. Amazingly, this happens quite often to grammar police, and it always cracks me up.
No doubt this person must have been angrie 😉
Last is the new first?
Hmmm….everyone can be last but…only one can be first!
@ smabyguy: First First? We are not worthy!
@ Vinay and third: Lol, thanks for the laugh you guys!
@ icicle: Hmm, don’t know about this “last” business. It prevents others from continuing to post comments, generate traffic and increase the pennies earned from this crappy Ad banner I installed, boo! 🙂
Seriously now, thanks for sharing the story behind “icicle”,Wow! Very touching. Still can’t believe that guy raised so much money to make potato salad!
George, you got it all wrong. There can only be one first but an endless number of lasts. Great way to pad your comment numbers.
I should have looked at this one here before replying to you above! Never got that timing thing down!
I’d love to corner numerous paid bloggers and ask them to explain the meaning of fiduciary duty. I’d guess many (though not all, as these people clearly aren’t completely stupid or uneducated) have no idea what it really means.
I doubt they know. And I am sure they would rather not bother. What they are doing has absolutely nothing to do with anything fiduciary!
Icicle-
My deepest heartbreak fro you mother’s terrible experience. Tori Amos has been a great resource for many, many women, and as I understand it, so has the Rainn Foundation she supported.
I really liked and still think about Tpri’s song Upside Down:
“I’m ok when things are not ok”.
Ok, I should listen to some of her songs now!
Buzz-
Start with Winter, then go to Crucify. Anything on the first two CDs. After that, it’s all in your (her) mind.
Ok, sounds good, thanks. I usually play stuff on YouTube while messing around here so I should take a closer listen to her.