TBB Reviews Blogs. As of now there are 349 blogs in the TBB Feedly list (after the massacre last month when it was cut down from close to 600!). At the end of the day, deep down, TBB exists to review blogs for your entertainment, some education and even rarely some inspiration.
I have been around this quirky community for almost 20 years now and I have learned a thing or two about what it is about. As I have said numerous times, my site is primarily about entertainment. Mostly my own. I am doing my best to produce a fun experience and also have a positive impact by contributing to world peace and understanding. Or something like that. Or I am just bored and wanted something else to be obsessed over so I can stay out of trouble. I don’t know, I am still trying to figure out the meaning of life, don’t we all?
I have the timeline of the list edits in each of the three lists. And some background information on how they came about and/or how they were determined. So please visit each page. But let the discussion happen here.
These are my own personal lists. They are always being evaluated upon, with EVERY blog post! A great one becomes a deposit, a crappy blatant pimp post becomes a withdrawal. In my own mind. With EVERY post! If you do not agree with them I don’t really care because they are mine and I am keeping them! But please feel free to let me know of your rationale, I would love to read readers’ views, especially when they are opposite of mine!
Please always be respectful. If you are not it looks bad on YOU! Reading so much crap each day, sometimes, I admit it, makes me a little angry. I stand up and scream some obscenities to my computer and feel better and then I continue typing without taking that anger to my keyboard. I reserve the right to go on epic rants every once in a while. It is indeed therapeutic “letting go”.
BLOGS I LOVE
Weed in Albania. Communist party headquarters in Bulgaria. Homeless people in Budapest. My favorite travel blogger. I enjoy every post, they are all unique and original! And the pictures are awesome too. Hope he posted more often.
How can you describe Twisted Sifter? Eclectic appears to be an understatement. I get this feeling that my life being is enhanced with what appears here.
Ok, not a blog technically. What they do is find flight deals. I recommend following them on twitter. I get their tweets on my smart phone and I get excited every time. I also wished my home airport was not Detroit!
One of the most knowledgeable bloggers in the miles/points space. Veers to the most advanced subject matters. Full time traveler. I learn from this blog more often than any other.
BLOGS I LIKE
A natural in the blogging world! Original posts almost daily while most other bloggers repeat themselves. And you know your eye sockets will NOT be assaulted by marketing pitches.
Prolific blogger living somewhere in Asia. Breaks lots of royalty related news and finds details in program changes before the next blogger notices. Deserves a lot more recognition imho.
Always interesting and fascinating stuff revolving around, well, World Geography, my favorite subject back in my school days. Prepare to go on a visual journey somewhere on Planet Earth. Sadly, the blog does not appear to be updated any more. I will it give it a few more months…
Slowly building a blog network. Posts with original thinking. Love the travel related posts, not all personal finance related posts but can sure appreciate a different view. Watch them, it appears unique and quality content is high on the priority list here.
Well, the most miles on the less amount of time possible and he means it. And about twice a year he will go on an epic rant which is just a beautiful thing!
Very well written and mostly original content. Not very frequent posting but when it comes it is really good usually. Now a full time blogger…
You always find something different/original here. Always trying hard to educate readers and add value. I may not read every post but I usually find good stuff here.
Travel maniac. Likes to go to obscure countries. Has been to North Korea twice! Since most of us got in this hobby to travel you will probably enjoy some of his posts on the trips he takes, I do. He also has good knowledge of miles/points stuff and tries to post original content.
Focus on travel photography. And we are talking simply the best photos appear here! Does not post very often.
Excellent coverage of hotels and their royalty programs.
Blogs and has developed many techie tools for this hobby. I always like to read his points of view which tends to be unique. Not afraid to follow any line or call something what he thinks it is. I appreciate this direct approach!
Does not post very often but when she does it is something really unique with great travel photos. She also hangs out with Yomadic so she must be a true original. No miles/points here, just pure traveling!
The blog tagline is: “Exploring the bizarre, the macabre & other secret wonders of the world”. And he does that very well, always interesting posts. For example, check out the post on smoking weed in North Korea on September 29, 2013!
If you are in Britain you must be a reader. Posts frequently. Sometimes there is a gem. Always a good resource to ask UK/Europe questions.
Blog focusing on birding and ecotourism. Blogger knows a lot about miles too. You will not come here for a trip report featuring flat beds in First Class.
I like the originality of the content and refreshing way to approach the miles/points hobby. The blog has developed a great repository of content all tied together in a unique way & lingo. Great addition to improve/add to the hobby, unlike so so many new blogs that keep popping up that offer, well, not much at all! Posting has slowed down.
Short, concise, educational and just plain fun to read. Special bent towards (personal) finance aspects of this hobby addiction.
Original frequent content. Broke several big stories in this space. Puts reader first like most on this list. You can learn here.
Incredible links to incredible adventure-ish videos. I have lost count how many times I have said WOW watching some of the videos that appear here!
BLOGS I IGNORE
Milevalue
Delta Points
The Frugal Travel Guy
Million Mile Secrets
The Points Guy
Points, Miles & Martinis
Deals We Like
Noob Traveler
Extra Pack of Peanuts
Wallet Slot
Mommy Points
View from the Wing
One Mile at a Time
WorldWanderlusting
Canadian Kilometers
Sorry to see my hobby degenerate to this…
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?
Finally, LOL. Patience is a virtue!
Perseverance wins!
Curious to hear your commentary on the list changes.
Your.Script.Not.Reliable
I was going to bed but…what the hell:
Frequent Miler – Just did not think I Loved the content as much. Don’t get me wrong, I still like some posts but many leave me uninterested. I am not going to get into the MS thingie “controversy” here at all. It still has the best practices on the affiliate links, he is an outlier in this for sure. Just a gut reaction. Compared it to the other Love blogs and I am still crazy for them. I am just not crazy about FM. Or maybe it is a lame attempt to challenge him to…bring it 🙂
I have no one right now who can be added to the Love list. Not even close to consideration!
Added the Adventure Blog to the Like list because I have shared with you many of the videos he finds. Should have been added some time ago.
DansDeals was due to the pumping. Just way too much of it. Don’t get me wrong. He knows his stuff, works his butt off, the forum is great and has been up for a long time and I hear the seminars are pretty good. But ever since the Amex links loss I noticed more pumping and less great blog content (not as much as earlier). But…you know how I feel about pumping. Just got to to me suddenly…this is not a science by any means.
Blog of Francesco Mugnai – Really innovative stuff but not much anymore. Time to go.
Any considerations for the Like list? Yes, in this order: Miles4More (close). Travel With Grant (far)
Any considerations off the Like list? Yes in this order: World Geography (almost in). Travel Summary (has time), Milenomics & Lenticular Traveler (still safe but post frequency has dropped big time!)
Any considerations for the Ignore list? Always 🙂 Seriously, since I have Wallet Slot I should have Miles Momma. Both are just very small. Or just keep them both off the list. Extra Pack of Peanuts was going to be off the list until he had that pump for his course for $299 while pretty much doing podcasts…so I kept EPOP.
In my mind, many have entered this thought “Holy crap, seriously? If you keep this up girl you will be a layup for the Ignore list”: The Miles Professor, Just Another Points Traveler come to mind late Friday night after I had red wine glasses (not saying how many!)
I think we can safely put the entire Boarding Area website on the “Blogs I Ignore List”.
All of it is just meaningless dribble with some affiliate links mixed in so these lifers can pay the mortgage without actually contributing anything to society other than assisting unsuspecting people re-leverage their already leveraged balance sheets. (Run-on sentence?)
Fine with me.
Except the 5 blogs in BA that made my “Like” list 🙂
A few seconds before I typed this I checked my Feedly list and notice this one by The Miles Professor: “The Best Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses With Under $1000 Spending Requirement”. Just can’t resist it…
I will say that The Miles Professor is truly an inspiration for aspirational bloggers. She shows that you don’t have to be an expert or even produce original content to start a blog to earn, earn, earn with our good buddy Chase. She had a post Thursday about the Ritz Carlton CC which she blatantly ripped off from Lazy Traveler who posted something identical a couple of days prior…..
The world doesn’t need another one of these surely, but even with my very amateur skills at this miles game and 60 hour a week work commitment I can produce better content.
Can’t we all be bloggers?
BTW — TBB you set me up for that one.
Always welcome feedback, but I find this one odd especially considering I don’t have Chase links. Perhaps you confused me with another blog?
On the Ritz Carlton offer, I believe a few bloggers posted about the offer itself before and, as it turns out, Lazy Traveler included as I just looked up his post. While his post was an excellent display of the non-obvious benefits of the card, my post was specifically focusing on using the Ritz points for Marriott Flight and Hotel packages to extract the most value. Unless he deleted that section between when you saw his post and just now, it actually does not mention these packages at all… and, as far as I know, I didn’t see a mention of using these points on these packages anywhere else.
Not that I claim every post is 100% ground-breaking original and I do try to reference the relevant posts when I did learn something somewhere else, but if we’re going to make claims, let’s at least reference the right “unoriginal” posts. I am always happy to hear constructive criticism and address concerns like if TBB or someone feels a particular post does not make clear certain risks, but obviously, random claims not factual in nature are not something I can consider.
And as I always say, I am not an expert. I just share how I personally travel with miles. If some people prefer to utilize my strategies, they are welcome to read my blog. And those that would like other strategies have plenty of other blogs to read.
Will the real Miles Professor please stand up? — Glad you did.
Honey lets not split hair with regards to stealing Lazy Traveler’s content. You are correct, that card has been blogged to an endless extent for the past six months so you technically didn’t “steal anything” But lets not also not pretend that your strategy of packaging your 140k Marriott miles for a nights and flight promotion is “original content” worthy to be blogged about.
I’ll continue, it took Lazy Traveler perhaps 45 minutes (maybe) to dissect the terms and conditions of the card to produce that novel post for which you CC spammers doubtfully knew. If you can’t even give your readers that much respect to put 45 minutes into a post, then what good are you? What service do you provide for society? (We will get to this)
You’re last paragraph is what is troubling me. That isn’t what you are selling. If you believe that you are without a doubt full of shit. You aren’t selling your “strategies” my dear girl. You are selling your lifestyle; and you’ve made it quite clear to your unsuspecting readers that the keys to the Ferrari have been left in the glove box and daddy isn’t home. “All that you need to do is sign up for these 35 credit cards with low spending bonuses and you can live like me!” You are selling leverage in a world awash with leverage, you m’am are the conduit of the problem.
Understand what you are selling my dear girl, understand how you may be enslaving others with debt who may not know how to mange it.
Sleep well.
@ Too Nashty: That was a layup 😉 When I read your handle I crack up…”Hey, Too Nashty, whatz up?” Just has a hilarious ring to it!
Well, let’s be fair, the Miles Professor did not rip me off. I reviewed the 70K offer, and she wrote about some interesting benefits of the 140K offer with $395 AF, and from a completely different prospective. Being a cheapskate I am, I just brushed off the $395 offer, and didn’t even look into it.
No harm, no foul. Seriously. It was a great post!
And it’s Lazy Travelers, fellows, not Lazy Traveler, unless you insist that everyone else but me is a hardworking and persevering traveler. 🙂
That’s it – I have to start really pumping so I can at least get on ONE of your lists! 🙂
If there is ONE way to make it on my lists…that is the surest path…for sure 😉
Don’t really read Just Another Points Traveler and now I know why. Holy s***, every single post is a useless Chase pumpfest with another one today. This pushing the inferior UA offer without the $50 really pisses me off… MileValue style. I am ANGRY, LOL! The writing is so bad… you’d think her toddler wrote it. That blog is going back to My Ignore List. Ignore the whores.
Yep, she is out of control in the past week.
Hey bloggers, when there is a better offer don’t just mention it and still link on the affiliate offer several times!
Blogs you sort of like – thanks, I’ll take it! And then I’ll start an anonymous pumping site with nothing but pictures of rubber ducks, toilets and Lufthansa cards and, with a little luck, make two of your lists at once!
Lol,
To everyone: If you see a site pushing the Carnival card hard contact me immediately. Oh wait, there was one in the Monday Aug 25 Buzz post!
I almost feel guilty that our upcoming trip to Africa – for birding of course – we will have a few flat bed J seats! But don’t kick me off the list or you will miss reports on Madagascar & Ghana along with the more commonly visited places such as South Africa, Mauritius and Tanzania! 😉
I think your place in the list is safe. You take us to places no one else does and your passion about birding is amazing. Looking forward to Madagascar & Ghana more than the others you mention 😉
Agree with you on FM moving down but disagree with Dansdeals not being part of that list. Despite what many readers have written against it here, i always felt that Dan has always produced original, unbiased “value” and has always kept his readers interest in mind even when outing even smallest of the deals in the net. He is extremely knowledgeable in the blogging world, capable of challenging any other master out there. Come on George, you know him better. He doesn’t deserved to be removed from this list. I know there has been huge pressure from the readers here but then IMHO he deserves a place there.
Also surprised to see Saverocity blog as a whole not going up. With the additional blogs added recently, it has just rocketed in terms of quality content, value, ethical standards etc. The most important point is its diversification and versatility that is unparalleled in this space and their wholesome approach to betterment of life and not just small bit of life – travel. I would like to know your point of view on what is still restricting you from moving it up the list. By the way, I dont want to create any misunderstanding between you and the group and i am perfectly fine if you don’t like to answer this here.
Thank you Kumar for expressing yourself here. A byproduct of my lists is…challenging bloggers to improve and sending a subliminal message that they can do better.
DD knows more about this stuff than all the Ignore bloggers combined. But bloggers have a choice how and how much to pump. The blog always pumped and, to his credit (pun intended), never pretended to be doing it for just friends and family. But the pumping has gone way up and the ratio of his good blog posts in comparison to the pumping going on has gone down. If there is one thing this blog space can use less of is…pumping 🙂 DD may be back, watching…always watching.
Yeah, Saverocity could move to Love but I am trying to reserve that list to truly exceptional (again, according to ME) places that almost every post makes me go WOW! There are still blog posts at Saverocity that definitely do not make me do that. They also need to a a little better job in differentiating the Saverocity brand with the owner Matt. When you think of Saverocity you think of Matt for the most part. Which is fine as it is his baby but I think it can be a little confusing. And I need to differentiate that a little better in my List what I am talking about. Not sure if I am making sense.
At the end of the day, these are my own purely biased lists for my entertainment and to keep me disillusioned my blog makes an impact. Based on my Amazon link revenue my blog is a joke 🙂 I still like it because I think it is a joke too!
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Crap….I just realized I did not pump the Amazon link in this post. Oh well, maybe I should not pump it as much lol.
Thank you for the challenge George. It is unfortunate that there are so many anti-MS people out there who jump on bloggers for sharing too much. I’m sure we would see a lot more high quality posts if that were not the case.
This week in travel news: Hyatt promotion and Avis free rides *yawn*
Maybe the anti-MS people are really pro MS? MS is dangerous and prone to weird loners using it. Posting about in blogs can hurt people who are just not cut out for this. And it is done to mostly create traffic leading…to credit card clicks. With many doors closed, wide devaluations and revenue based burning coming down the line…openly posting about MS stuff can only lead to activity detrimental to the actual hobby. Unless when it is not a hobby anymore…As I have always said, the interests of true hobbyists vs bloggers blogging for profit are not congruent with each other. It is a very fine & delicate line these days and admittedly some can get jumpy on this stuff. Sometime it is…me! 🙂
Well said George.
This line about “but you could get your readers in trouble” whether talking about credit card bonuses or manufactured spending is just… manufactured hype… to criticize these bloggers. Criticize away but do it honestly!
There is a TON that’s bad out there and not only by bloggers on the Ignore list. Take DD, removed from the like list. TBB has some sort of pro-DD bias even now, not putting it on the ignore list. 90% of the posts are shilling products he wants readers to buy because they’re a “deal” spending more money to line his own pockets. Very few of the posts are about travel or miles. And the ones that are? Pumping. TBB you are deluding yourself if you think the pumping is new, you are just justifying why you used to say good things about him. Maybe you were flattered that he came here to your comments. He’s told readers to take lesser offers that pay him for a long long time. Probably something going on here like when TBB used to give MMS a pass, and even talk about how great the site was, while HE outed deals? #hypocrisy
TBB needs to get real, and not fake concern for the unnamed masses of readers. Treat them as grown ups who can make their own choices. Some make mistakes, but don’t treat them like children. #respect
All of the moaning about blogs talking about MS makes the blogs even more boring as if that were possible!!! You don’t want them to talk about MS but you complain when they talk about credit cards. Produce original content about earning miles, but do it without credit cards or manufactured spend? Good F’ing luck. This used to be a better blog. TBB isn’t one I love anymore. It still still one that I like. #onprobation
The Masked MSer….LOL, Good one!
Thank you for taking the time to comment and letting me know how you feel.
DD will NEVER be on the Ignore list as long as the Forum is alive!
My lists are my own and I stand behind them. I do not expect everyone to agree with them of course. Get your own man 🙂
I am real and I am known to be delusional too! How can I treat my readers with respect when I am not a grown up myself? Ok, that was a joke. I laughed about it. How delusional it is YOU are telling ME to treat my readers with respect when I could easily take a few hours to thoroughly research this murky affiliate world and start pumping myself when I take a few hours every day before lunch going through hundreds of blogs (more after lunch & dinner & late at night..it never stops really!) for MY readers? So dude puuuuhlease!
TBB reviews blogs and produces laughs. If you are not laughing with the stuff I post here you should not be reading it amigo. Educating and rarely inspiring is just a bonus.
I think my wife has me on probation hinting to me that the amount of time I spend on the blog versus what it brings in is completely delusional 🙂
You aren’t enjoying the blogs on your ignore list, yet you read them and tell your readers not to read you if they aren’t enjoying #hypocrite
Some of your best advice, TBB, was that bloggers should take their commenters seriously, especially their critical ones. #opportunitytolearn
You’ve gone downhill. You have a handful of commenters who love everything you write and egg you on. You clearly love it, and you feed the masses and the trolls. You think not pumping credit card links gives you credibility? It doesn’t. The content you produce is the only thing you can stand on.
Until a few months ago the content was much stronger. Maybe you tried to be fair? Now you just go looking for things to poke fun at, and half the time it falls flat. #wanttheoldTBBback
Do what you want with your blog, but you’ve done the travel community a service here and it would be a shame to see you heading towards irrelevance like FTG. #seniorcitizen
I read them for TBB journalistic purposes ONLY! I am doing it for YOU so you don’t have to. You are welcome 🙂
If you call me a hypocrite for THAT, just imagine what I would be called when I finally post “TBB has credit card links” OMG 🙂
I have been told I have gone downhill many times 🙂
I do love my readers, even masked ones!
Every single blogger in this space who does not pump credit cards has a leg up on credibility. No doubt about it.
I don’t think I am doing much different as far as content goes. The Blog Buzz is a little more active because I can make the time for it. Fall is coming, I have no templates to keep the Blog Buzz section humming along. And yes I do LOVE to poke fun at things, especially credit card pumping sellout phony experts who are doing it all for friends and family 🙂
Dude, I will do what I want with my blog because, well, it’s mine! You can rest assured no banking relationship has influenced any decision I have made here. So many can not say that! But it is becoming apparent that it is idiotic for me to keep doing that but, you know, I like it. Not the first time I am doing anti commercial things you know.
Thanks for the compliment in the last sentence. I am always open to hear feedback. I do not want to be irrelevant like FTG. I want to be TBB…it rhymes 🙂
I agree the DD forum is the best part of that site because the aggressiveness of many of the posters has been educational and entertaining for me. I’ve learned from the forum.
I have learned there too.
I suggest that you separate bloggers from forums in the future. One is predominantly generated by the users. The other is purely generated by the blogger.
There are about 6 forums worth spending your time on (I’m not counting Milepoint!).
Great wording about “treating people like grownups” I do not believe in some people acting like they have the moral high ground because of their position. I those who call someone a “pimp” for earring their keep is bothersome to me. In a debate, you attact the argurement with relevant data that you present not attact the person.
I can assure George is real and having spent an evening in back and forth conversation/debate with him and Andy over this issue, he makes a clear, honest case for his position of which I have respect but also respectfully disagree.
I use the analogy that if a 100 people are in a bar and 3 % of those people will end up with addiction issues, you don’t stop serving alcohol to everyone by saying you need to protect the the 3%.
PS: Who is Tara and what blog does she have as I like the places that she will be traveling.
We can disagree and we can still be friends…it’s cool.
Regarding your analogy….I see your point. What if you knew this one person was already toast but kept ordering very expensive drinks? Do you keep selling or not? A bar owner with good ethics will surely stop the selling and look to get him some help ( a tax or Uber or whatever). Many will keep taking the money. Taking the same position as you are stating. Maybe it all ends well but…maybe it doesn’t! This guy gets behind the wheel and crashes the car. He dies, fine you say, it happens. What if he crashes to another car and kills an innocent person? What if that person was one of your family members? I have no idea where I am going with this by the way, just came back from the airport after dropping off Mrs. TBB. My point is…Our actions have consequences. The ignorant people who take the #1 crappy credit card tool on the net at FTG and get encouraged to apply from 7 to 29 cards at once should NOT be doing exactly that. It is very likely they will hurt themselves, their family and the whole society at some point where we have to bail them out or they may goo cookoo and do crazy shit you see in the news. But, nope, we take the easy way out, the “personal responsibility” route out. I am all for personal responsibility! Heck, I have never given a penny of interest for credit cards to any bank. But there are MANY in this country who should not be encouraged to spend more using plastic, it is like giving them rope. FTG and the other sites don’t give a flying salami about that as long as the dough from the cc’s keep coming. And all they are doing is exactly THAT. Posing as travel miles/points experts while doing it. So when someone calls them pimps I may not like it because I am a nice guy in general but I SURE understand it where they are coming from!
Boy that was long…..Probably more thought went into that than a whole week of posts at Delta Points LOL
Tara writes Miles to the Wild
George,
No messages came to my email so I just saw this. I am glad I am making you work/think.
Surely you cannot believe my philosophy of personal responsibility condones the killing of innocent women, children and dogs? I am a recovering person myself (30 years).
I am all for to use an Italian expression keeping, “this thing of ours” on the down low. But, more so for selfish reasons of not wanting any good thing to end than a sense of nobility to protect people. I am being honest and maybe others can relate to the same honesty. I protect my family, friends, the young adults I help in substance abuse rehabilitation and any one who ask me for help. I am not looking to protect the world. I think most people should never have gotten access to credit and so much easy mortgage money because they screw up a good thing such as NO Doc Mortgages, yes I will say that again no doc mortgages. It was fantastic the money banks were handing out. It was the best of times and for many the worst of times.
One of the most important bit of knowledge I learned over the years in the field of psychology is that you can’t protect a grown person from his/her self.
I for sure understand your good intentions and generous spirit to look out for people and more importantly in the words of the poet Alexander Pope ” A little knowledge is dangerous thing”
Ok, John, I see your point and you see mine. Life goes on, c’est la vie or however it goes it.
OMAT has been outed and I don’t mean it the way you may think. He is no longer, if he ever was, a person to follow if,you think you will get the same service he does.
A couple of recent examples: Business Class on Singapore Air, No body gets service in J that he describes unless your name is flagged. he has a very unusual name and I’m sure there are not too many Ben Schlappigs around. The computers can look for names and send an alert and voila there is your service protocol.
Next, after throwing hissy fits at registration with SPG and documenting it on his blog I am 100% positive his name is also flagged for VIP/DAPU and again he gets a three room suite at the Swan (or Dolphin, whatever). Can’t make Mr Narcissist happy as he complains it took him an hour to “clear” the rooms. WTF? He complains if he doesn’t get an UG and complains if he does. pathetic.
So, his reviews are no longer valid at all, if they ever were given how he handles his self with airlines, hotels, etc. If you don’t think I’m correct just look at his relationship with UA. He is NOT welcome to fly them and they have flagged him as a Do Not Sell.
What did Ben do to UA to flag him as a Do Not Sell?
I have stated many times that OMAAT’s reviews leave me cold. No people, no stories. Just the same old crap, same photos, yawn. If I was running any type of loyalty operation I would go out of my way to identify the big bloggers and find a way that their treatment was exceptional! Makes great business sense to me…heck, everyone.
@ Jack: He says he responds to every question he gets at “Ask Lucky” tab. Please do and report here 🙂
Lesson learned: from now on I will book my reservations under the name “Ben Schlappig”.
Loyalty Lobby continues to impress me hugely. How weird is it that, with all these blogs about, his is the only one which tries to cover pretty much every deal out there linked to the major loyalty schemes? I try to have the same breadth of coverage for the UK but John is covering it globally.
He has also cracked the revenue model for a non-card site.
I was having the EXACT same thoughts in the past few days. Mind blowing indeed.
If you do a detailed post with pics and arrows so I can follow it on cracking the revenue model for a non-card site I will read it and I will link it here so you can enjoy thousands upon thousands of hits 🙂
Of course I checked out Loyalty Lobby based on the rave review of Raffles…
So he isn’t pushing cards, but it seems that each post has an affiliate link or a referral link inside it, with zero disclosures.
Aspirational blogging?
So aspirational that View from the Wing has been so upset he hired special forces to scour the online terms and conditions of all loyalty programs so he can finally be first at something and not have to HT (reluctantly) at LL.
LL does no credit card pumping. Which I find amazingly remarkable by itself. The economics for it are so biased toward this model.
I think I spend way too much time in Feedly, TBB comments and WordPress…
The links do not drive the content though, that is the key.
Same happens here and I see the fruits of it. Amazon showed a big fat zero on Saturday!
That’s an important point. I admit I don’t read it, but just looking at the site based on these comments it appeared everything had a link – and how can you be sure that it isn’t the tail that wags the dog?
I’m not against making money, and I do find these affiliate links less offensive than credit cards, since the fallout is simply that people might lose out on their own cashback portal (and perhaps not even that always) but I will say if we are going to call it out as having achieved something to aspire towards they should disclose a little more openly.
Overall though, a model I prefer.
Only communists are against making money. Oh wait, judging what happened after 1989…
I have a dream: Next to every affiliate link there is a dollar amount, how much it pays the site owner.
Yes I am delusional.
Good luck keeping affiliates for more than a day with that strategy. Maybe someday tho…
Yes a dollar amount and a kick back to the person that clicks it 🙂 talk about delusional.
Now THAT is really delusional John lol.
What a day! I booked my Bora Bora tickets for next year and I’m still on the list!!!! OMG!!!!!!
This year has been tough on me, I had to cancel a great Thailand trip (because of work)
and has been overall swamped. Hard to keep up with anything…
Really jealous George, that picture with your daughter is great and the shirt looks great too LOL.
I wish I could see some games instead of just many locker rooms I had to visit….
A few more posts with pics will keep you on the list…I mean look at World Geography, has not posted anything for 6 months and it is still on it…but not for long.
This pic is one of the few in my life that came well. I am the second worst photogenic person. The first one is my brother 🙂
George! I just wanted to let you know I got the offer for the 80k IHG with free night on anniversary and was approved. It just came in the mail and in my email and I signed up. Was wondering your thoughts if the card is worth keeping after the 80k…it seems like it is to me, largest hotel chain, platinum (which I will earn from work anyways). Also I wish I could have came to the TBB meet up 🙁 Another soon please?! I am a little newbish so I post this like this, but you are my favorite and my idol.
You have the Master card I assume.
No reason at all not to keep it for the first 10 to 11 months. You stay as Platinum and you get to use the 81k IHG points as you see fit. If you find some great Pointbreaks hotels for just 5k a night it is 16 free hotel nights, can not beat that!
At that time interval, you call and you say you are thinking about canceling and was wondering if there is a retention bonus. Nothing to lose except a few minutes of your time. If nothing, give it another shot a week later.
Now, at that point, I would go out on a limb and say that this is one card to keep because of the free anniversary night that can be used in ANY property in their system. So pick a VERY expensive Intercontinental once a year and have a fabulous stay and it will cost you the annual fee of the card which is only $49. Yeah, it’s a keeper.
If you have a Visa instead (doubt it) let me know and will tell you what to do .
As I mentioned over at a Saverocity blog, this card is sold with the line “you can stay at the Z Ocean Hotel, which retails for $350/night, for only $49!” It’s an aspirational marketing ploy.
In reality, there are blackout dates for the Chase Free Night. (As an example, I was looking at Miami hotels over winter break, and found no availability at the … Z Ocean Hotel.) I’m not flying to Polynesia to eat peanut butter sandwiches at a fancy hotel just to maximize its value. However, it’s nice to keep the card in your back pocket in case you find yourself stuck somewhere or in need of a hotel room. For example, we used the certificate at the Holiday Inn Express in Owego, NY. We had to be there for a funeral (which don’t allow advance planning), and we saved $139-49 = ninety dollars over paying retail price. It’s a very family-friendly hotel, and I’d recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Owego for the night.
TL;DR: keep the card even if you don’t go to Polynesia.
Good tips Gents. It is the master. I forgot to call and ask about retention bonuses, but I just got canceled the SWA card, and am about to cancel the United Chase as they put primary rental covered (I don’t own a car and rent a lot) onto the sapphire, which I’m debating is worth it.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I wanted to keep IHG as my main hotelier (is that a word?) because in the military all army base hotels are IHG so at least I can earn free points and might as well eggs in one basket. Also i’d rather stay in one hotel in a city than, whereas changing airlines is still done usually at the same airport 🙂
Just some thoughts. I love getting the good gouge from you guys. Thanks for the retention heads up and the warning on blackout dates 🙂
Sounds like IHG Rewards is a good match for you as the goto hotel loyalty program. Hilton used to be my goto hotel but its points have been massacred so I am now a free agent for hotels too! It’s always good to diversify in miles/points and investments too!
You can stay at the Willard in DC a hotel the wife and I love. We go over Thanksgiving this year for something different. Besides, after going solo this Oct/Nov to the. Balkans i had to come up with something she would enjoy. That is until we are off to my favorite city and hotel in the world in January.
Glad to see Walmart rigorously train their new employees!!! Here is how my 2 visits went at the new store’s money center………………………..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQGX3J6DAGw
My local WM’s machine is always broken, must be the same 2 guys fixing it 🙂
By the way OMAT seems to bend over backwards to get Amex links into his review of the LGA lounge and Economist post, is it safe to assume he got his links back?
Yes. Already slotted for Monday Buzz post 😉
@ Too Nashty:
It is all about personal responsibility LOL.
I am not selling anything here really. Lifestyle? You want lifestyle? There was a Spirit airlines card that was applied for in my household yesterday. Yep, I am coming out of the closet! Spirit baby all the way to…Cancun (got a plan). And now my reputation as an expert is completely ruined, I am marked for life! Who is going to listen to me now, I haven’t even gotten close to the Maldives and shunned the Vendome?? Who is going to buy credit cards from me when I can’t get them there huh? Nobody is going to buy credit cards from a guy who gets the Spirit card to Cancun for free( enter fees reimbursed by the Arrival card<-----click my imaginary link). You are welcome for the entertainment. To Barclays We Trust (and their billions in fines too, woohoo!)