We bring you an article about TPG supposedly being the best marketer, get you a hotel status match guide, Extreme FOMO, Basic Economy flying and much much more. For you. Freeeeeee!
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To help me catch up after my extended absence and to put things more in line with the click reality, the TBB Board has decided to make another change. No more posting on major holidays. You should not take time away from more important things in your life and come here to read my crap. Major holidays only, see you Friday and you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Never equate marketing with quality! How The Points Guy became the industry’s best content marketing channel. Can you believe this guy?
Now offering “digital investment startups a model for their own “financial education” or “financial literacy” ventures“. [WTF, let me get a shovel, Jeeeeesus!]
At the time, the travel and points world was still underground [Thanks a lot dude for destroying our little hobby]
Today, the site is an influential marketing channel for banks — they even work with The Points Guy before they launch new credit cards — and a trusted advisor to customers. [Trusted? Trusted? This is the blog that will try to sell you ANYTHING the banks tell them to. If you think this is trusted advice, you are a complete moron, there is no hope for you!]
The Points Guy doesn’t do a lot of paid advertising, but invests heavily in content. It now has a team of 20 writers… He insists that although he’s paid to promote cards, he only preaches what he believes [Lol. You should have kept that shovel!]
Banking and loans aren’t in our immediate horizon. Would it make sense for us to expand into trip insurance? Absolutely. Regular insurance? Potentially. This is an expansion phase. [Be afraid, be very afraid.]
NEVER TRUST anyone who says he serves two clients: consumers and banks. And gets paid by banks. EVER!
What is like flying Basic Economy on American and United Airlines.
Good reference page: Hotel Status Match Guide.
The Washington Post had this amazing piece how escapees from North Korea used to live. Must read imho.
How to Stop Your Snoring. Hey, I am trying to help here!
This is pretty cool. Vinyl Hub. It maps all record stores in the world.
This is wild, watch 245 people rope-swing off a bridge in tandem! I bet you if this was ever published at The Points Guy it would be headlined as “Rope-swing better with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card!”
I have always highly respected NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, who always speaks his mind, a trait we share 🙂
I do not suggest you waste one minute in this site. Extreme FOMO. Well, since I said it you likely will. It is a site where you can plug in the number of shares you COULD have bought at a specific date in the past and then watch in disbelief how much money you “lost”. Again, don’t bother…such an exercise is meaningless. Focus on things you can actually control. And look ahead!
I had no idea there was professional soccer for women in Kazakhstan and an American is playing there. So, if you ever visit, 7 Things to Do in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
Another interesting find: The 10 most interesting houses in Detroit.
Mapping the Largest Employers in Each State. Walmart nation!
BLOG BUZZ
This section is for advanced level hobbyists and veteran blog readers & personal rants & stuff
I can’t believe it took Southwest two months to shut down Southwest Monkey!
Breaking: After posting “Yes Gary, I would fly a regional jet for 1,700 miles“, Live and Let’s Fly is to be renamed Live for Gary to Notice Me immediately! Wait, he is not done yet. Later in the day he posted “Masturbation or Self-Gratification? Penetrating the Air France Controversy“. I swear he has been checking constantly to see if his hero gave him an HT.
It has been years since I visited my blog’s Google Analytics page. And when I first heard of SEO I thought it was an airport code and felt embarrassed not knowing which one it was 🙂
Mileage Update asked in the comments how long will I be involved in the hobby, considering the present burn rate and much reduced earn pace. Good thing I no longer book vacations for four as son is out on his own pretty much. Daughter will be too in the coming years. More domestic travel to happen to see our kids. All these are positive for my Award Wallet balances. What also helps the cause is having son apply for cards too but he does not show much interest in the hobby (and I don’t blame him). He’s had about five cards and I can (and should) focus on him earning more before he graduates from college. I see more trips to Greece in the coming years for me to look after my mother. I hope the banks relax the current restrictions but I just don’t see it. Hope never dies I guess. And MS avenues keep drying up and I just don’t enjoy going to Wal Mart stores anymore, I spend that time on the blog whining about the lack of clicks lol. So, to answer the question…I see 2020 as the end of my fantastic miles and points career 🙂
Son accepted an internship offer for next summer in Silicon Valley again. Offer includes free lodging and free food. I am sure you heard of the company 🙂 I need to talk to him to enjoy this ride and not get spoiled or entitled as this crazy strong job market for Computer Science majors will likely not last…
Interesting stuff on loyalty industry fraud.
Enjoy Thanksgiving, don’t eat too much and you bet when the Detroit Lions score I would be going nuts!
And I leave you with this…Rolling!
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
I woulda linked the “How to stop snoring” article back to the “Blogs I Ignore” list.
Buzz probably thought of that but he’s got too much class for that childish stuff.
HT: Chilish Stuff-Live and Act Like It Matters.
I debated whether to add the snoring article…At last moment, I said, what the hell 🙂
That “lot of paid advertising” is very subjective. I remember reading something where he said they were paying like 100k per month for Facebook and YouTube.
Then look what happened to YouTube when he stopped paying – his views to subscriber ratio is really poorly.
I wish I had inside knowledge of financials. I can’t believe all the money they are blowing on everything from salaries, rents, advertising, etc.
Passed on the vinyl hub link to the kid. Thanks!
I have lots of vinyl in my basement. Some years ago I bought this device to transfer them to digital. But I never did it, sad!
Oh my, the TPG article…I just threw up in my mouth a little!
A team of 20 writers that still can’t produce anything even halfway decent. Hell I should apply for a writing job there – they clearly don’t have very high standards!
Totally agree – a man can’t serve two masters and especially when one of them is the banks. Oh wait, I’m just angry, I forgot this is all about love of The Hobby and helping friends and family fly for freeeee!!!
Shymkent looks interesting – the blonde looks even more interesting!
Most having worked at a big corporation just want to build an operational empire so just hire more and more people independent of growth rate and scalability.
I want to go watch her play 🙂
Unbelievable with 20 staff they are so slow on pretty much everything.
Sometimes, when you are so deep in it, you start believing your own BS!
If its “that company” and he is living at “that apartment” complex (just down 101), let’s just say that’s going to be one hell of a summer. Interns with free housing and 7k a month stipends…well you can only imagine. The San Jose Mercury has some quality articles on it.
I think with TPG you are either fully against the dude, or really don’t see why everyone hates him. All my coworkers come to me for points stuff, but sadly half the time its to clarify some shhh they read on TPG. The dude is an SEO and advertising beast, you can’t really hate on that for it being what it is. I think he is one of those guys that everything is calculated including his dog (a Frenchie) which makes for some killer photos.
I just hate to think that someone who got started like any of us is now pushing cards at half the bonus that could be attained without an affiliate link.
Menlo Park
I am firmly in the against camp. Mostly because his presence has had a HUGE responsibility for normalizing this hobby and…pretty much destroying it. Secondarily, the conflicts of interest in his business are so huge you can’t find a shovel big enough!
You are 100% right that his EVERY move is calculated for maximum marketing bang. Down to his ugly dog named Miles LOL.
Brenton: It is about delivering conversions to the companies that pay you…Nothing more, nothing less. Best marketer? Sure maybe. Best advice for his readers: NO PHUCKING WAY!!!!
His dog is not ugly! That had to be said, but jeez I didn’t know he named it Miles, what a tool…
For the record, I am in the against camp as well. My advice to those asking me about items he has posted is to not read his post.
Happy Thanksgiving
I recall an interview with TPG once where he basically said he pursued this venture because he saw an opportunity and thought he could make something out of it, rather than having been someone who was into this points & miles world like most of us, and just happened to grow his hobby into something big. WIsh I could find it – might have been linked somewhere on FT. Anyway so he’s been a commercial shill from the get-got, basically.
MORE TBB COMMENT SECTION MIA from the past
AGENDA GUY (AGENDA GAL LOVED FIGHTING WITH THIS GUY)
TARA MILES WILD
LENTICULAR
OLIVER2002
COMMONMAN
TWA44/ELAINE (EVER SINCE SHE VISITED YOU)
HIKER T
MATT SAVEROCITY
LOUIS RUKEYSER
WILLIAM CHARLES (BEFORE HE BECAME FAMOUS)
ARIZONA GUY
KID WHO DID CANADIAN MILES BLOG (FILED DOT COMPLAINT)
SCOTT (DID PDX BLOG)
JAMISON
ANON
ANONYMOUS
ANONYMOUSE
ARIANA (the blogger)
FREE TRAVEL GUYS (blog that lasted 2 weeks)
AGENDA GUY (AGENDA GAL LOVED FIGHTING WITH THIS GUY) – Who?
TARA MILES WILD – She is still blogging!
LENTICULAR – I think he comes by with another name once in a while
OLIVER2002 – Still around FT
COMMONMAN – Wow, so long ago!
TWA44/ELAINE (EVER SINCE SHE VISITED YOU) – I see her on Twitter and FB
HIKER T – Oh yeah, has not appeared here in a long time
MATT SAVEROCITY – Still see him on Twitter. Not sure the whole Saverocity network is going anywhere though
LOUIS RUKEYSER – Drinkjing
WILLIAM CHARLES (BEFORE HE BECAME FAMOUS) – He is busy linking to VFTW
ARIZONA GUY – I think he moved to Chicago
KID WHO DID CANADIAN MILES BLOG (FILED DOT COMPLAINT) – Blocked
SCOTT (DID PDX BLOG) – His rants against ALL affiliate links rivaled mine
JAMISON – He became a dad
ANON –
ANONYMOUS
ANONYMOUSE
ARIANA (the blogger) – Busy killing any MS that is left and selling cards at FTG
FREE TRAVEL GUYS (blog that lasted 2 weeks) – I think it was a little more than two weeks. Maybe five?
My experience is akin to Phil’s in that others come to me for advice about what they’ve read on TPG. When this shyster recommends a card for a lower sign up bonus than is offered elsewhere, it really chaps my hide.
The main corresponding advice I give is to not read TPG.
I can’t deny he’s a good marketer but the taking advantage of the naïveté of folks just to line his pockets really gets me. And I also personally feel that the most interesting travel isn’t done from high-end chain hotels, though those are the only ones which apparently earn him commissions/perks.
IMHO he’s the worst single thing that ever happened to our hobby. But he sure has made the banks happy.
Agreed.
“IMHO he’s the worst single thing that ever happened to our hobby. But he sure has made the banks happy.”
MMS had bigger impact on killing churn strategies.
They are owned by the same company 🙂
George, care to expound your prediction on future job market? Links to more reading, perhaps?
I have a strong record by not making any predictions whatsoever 🙂
All I know is that the current job market is very strong. I see it with my clients, friends and now my son. It is clicking!
My daughter wants to go into Marketing. I am trying to influence her to go and learn some hard skills. She is not Science at all like me. Hopefully some tech stuff, the future.
MAJOR changes underway.
I am hungry, going to have some pizza I think.
Job market is strong in some sectors. IT for sure. Retail, absolutely NOT. In general, most are concerned that their jobs will replaced by robots. Prostitutes included.
If I were getting my BSCS degree these days, I’d tack on a graduate degree specializing in AI. If this interests him. Presently private business is poaching profs and grad students from universities and it’s a ‘sellers” market. I think I punctuated that correctly….
And I hope you are using the decades-old harassment charges as a teaching moment for him.
Interesting, I passed it on to him…
The kid has 2 offers from them FANGs. And two rejections…I think he’ll be all right.
View From The Wing just had to run the numbers on the CSP vs CSR. What an opportunity to pump the CSP links three times and then throw in an AMEX Platinum card link too…
So sad, no CSR affiliate links so readers don’t even get a generic public link to it…
Serenity now…
Mile Nerd’s Thanksgiving post:
http://www.milenerd.com/2017/11/what-who-im-thankful-for-here/
What does he mean? Any clues?
But he gets one thing right for sure. It is about you guys I am still doing this so THANK YOU for being part of my life!
TBBon!
One Mile at a Time had the MOST ridiculous click bait post ever posted. OMG!
He goes a whole post about how he flew with one of his idols…and he never names him. And all the morons comment and increase page views——>$$$$