I have decided to pick a few comments from the past week and post them here for all to read because I know it is so hard keeping up with the comments…there are so many of them! Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to read and leave a comment. All are welcome! Negative feedback is especially welcome too because we can all learn from it (or just really confirm we do not like each other…which is fine too!).
I know I sometimes go off on my comments (hey, it’s entertainment!) so I decided not to be so arrogant to pick my own comments (except when I override this rule, it’s my blog, I can do whatever I want!). I gotta tell you I sometimes go back and read my comments and just shake my head while laughing uncontrollably thinking “Wow, how did I come up with THAT?”. Yes I know, it is weird.
August 18, 2013: “Cordelli Donation Information. And a Dear Friend Loses Her Cat & Her Touching Note”
Steve:
An ad for United Airlines just showed up on your blog
It’s hard to take the integrity of your blog seriously with an ad for United.com appearing
I mean, how can anyone treat your reviews of Rapid Travel Chai’s trip reports on North Korea objectively knowing that you’ll make money if I click your United ad?
That’s practically the same thing as the TPG’s and FTG’s of the world bombarding you with endless “you have to have it” hawkings of the same products they make their money off of.
Anonymous:
Anyone who doesn’t understand the significant difference between Google Adsense and affiliate credit card links is making a fool of themselves by posting here. Adsense is a few bucks for a blogger when loyal readers who want to help out click a banner ad. It’s literally about 5 bucks a day with no changes to any content whatsoever.
Affiliate ads are enough to make a very comfortable living and completely change the content of a blog. It’s well documented what the demands are on a blogger who uses affiliate ads. At least Dan’s Deals admits it and says he has a family to feed. At least he’s honest about what we all know. Affiliate bloggers sell out the best interest of their readers to different degrees. Huge difference between that at Adsense.
August 17-18: “Adsense, Angkor Wat, Georgia, AA Elite Promo, Club Carlson laundry, Expedia, Norewards, buzzzzzz“
Steve:
“Adsense is a few bucks for a blogger when loyal readers who want to help out click a banner ad”
It’s not about the $$$ amount. Has nothing to do with whether you make $1 or $1 million
It’s about the affilate ads affecting the content
The issue isn’t the MommyPoints and OMAT’s of the world making affiliate $$$ of say…. the Club Carlson card
The issue is the fact that they are only giving link-bombarding coverage to it now because it pays affiliate $$$ (the rare times it was covered before, it was usually somewhere in the middle of a top 10 CC’s post where it got lost among a dozen other links). And that they’re now largely ignoring the Chase Hyatt Visa just because it stopped paying them affiliate $$$ (or at least became much less lucrative). And if/when the Fairmont Visa pays affiliate $$$ too, all of the sudden they’ll “discover” that. And if the Club Carlson card ever stops paying affiliate $$$? Well hopefully MP can give it a proper burial since it will be more AWOL on the blogs than Hoffa. THAT is the problem with affiliate links.
August 19: “Balls Cup, North Korea, Hostel Visitor Types, Delta Loyalty Pain, CGI artwork, Minimum Wages”
An entertaining exchange between Frugal Travel Guy (the person–represented by >>>>>>) and TBB (the clown).
>>>>>>although I know it grinds the shi_ out of you.
You do telepathy now, nice!
>>>>>>>Rene at Delta Points is crushing it both in readership and income stream.
Mega lol!!!!!! Thank you to both of you for all the material, please keep it up! Entertainment at its finest, TBB readers are so grateful!
>>>>>>>every day you head out to Panera Bread thinking about those upcoming tuition bills and check that Adsense account.
Haters gonna hate. Yawn.
>>>>>>>>everyday you wish you hadn’t been lazy and started the blog when you first thought about it.
I do move slow, that’s a fact. I also don’t waste time thinking about the past, I suggest you do too.What a waste. Always looking ahead.Future is so bright I gotta wear shades (that’s from a song)
>>>>>>>>everyday George. everyday. and I get to pop in here for a second or two and just keep reminding you
You are late this morning, it is 8.57 am. Yesterday it was 8.03 am. For the record. Thank you for being such a devoted reader. I appreciate it.
>>>>>>>>>revenge is such sweet sorrow.
That sounds angry. May I suggest Hazelnut coffee at Panera in the mornings? Tastes great and such a peaceful harmonious environment, it keeps inspiring me!
Speaking about “revenge” (wow, really?) how about this amigo?
In a space of a few hours TBB gets more comments than your corporate owned blog gets in a month. And THAT amigo makes me smile from ear to ear. You call it revenge, I call it #winnning
Thank you for being so caring about my upcoming college tuition bills. We’ll be fine. The kid is (so far) hitting a 4.0 GPA. Expecting major merit scholarship material coming our way. If not, I can still hypopimp my Filipino women dating ad. Who needs the SPG or Platinum amex links when you find the goldmine (Filipino women ads!).
It’s always fun messing with you. Have a nice day.
See you soon!
August 21: “TBB Epic Rant, Hong Kong, Prague, Miami, Avios, Hiltons, Blog Buzz”
Jeff:
You once again PRETEND TO NOT UNDERSTAND the fact that the complaint is the business aspect of it has taken over, and clouded blogger’s judgement and content.
No one said the first Chicago Seminar wasn’t a great event.
No one said FTG (the blog) wasn’t great in its heyday.
But credit cards links have polluted the market, FTG (the blog) became crap (though Ariana has improved it to some degree), the 2013 Chicago Seminars is full of credit card bloggers (except Captain Denny, anyone else? Yes, we know you are not in the game anymore, but no matter how much you refuse to admit it, FTG (the person) is still the face of FTG (the blog))
The cry that bloggers are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts is fake. And it is obvious.
So when the seminars are touted as 100% altruistic, being run for camaraderie and charity, it rings false. Why can’t it just be admitted that bloggers now attend because it is good for their business? Is it mentioned that the seminar presenters get cash for the credit cards they recommend? Or is that cash being donated to charity? We know it isn’t, and that is where the altruism fakeness shines through.
You call it crap, we call it consumer protection. People should understand the conflicting interests that bloggers and seminars have, and THEN they can make informed decisions.
If this was presented more openly, no one would have a problem, including George.
Steve:
Dear bloggers:
We know how cash & points work
We know how nights & flights work
We know how 5th nights free work
We know how the 5K bonus to airlines work
We know how SPG moments work
And if any of us don’t know? We can go to spg.com where it’s spelled out pretty clearly.
Please find better filler content to place around the SPG links. At least pretend you’re not mailing it in.
Sincerely,
Society
LOYALTY TRAVELER
A reader alerted me to some kind words Loyalty Traveler mentioned about my blog. I do not like reposting positive stuff that people say about my blog, feels kind of arrogant. But I want to share with you what Ric (who I highly respect!) wrote in the comments (and you can go there see my follow up if you like):
Banks co-opting the travel blogosphere is what I don’t like.
Why are there restrictions on disclosing how much money an approved credit card referral makes? How many times have you seen a blogger write how much a credit card referral pays? How is a reader to know when a link in a blog post is simply a link to a travel resource or a link that pays a commission to the writer?
I expect my view on credit cards to be in the minority, but I often express my minority opinion.
Just because you can make money doing something, does not mean it is a good idea for the environment.
Boarding Area is a nice neighborhood to be living. This is a diverse place with lots of entertainment and information and interesting people.
I generally shut my windows when the neighbors get too loud so I don’t hear them selling bank cards day and night.
Infrequently I yell.
@MilesAbound – Banks are what I don’t like. I watched closely the events perpetrated by banks in the past decade impacting the economy.
Banks co-opting the travel blogosphere is what I don’t like.
Why are there restrictions on disclosing how much money an approved credit card referral makes? How many times have you seen a blogger write how much a credit card referral pays? How is a reader to know when a link in a blog post is simply a link to a travel resource or a link that pays a commission to the writer?
I expect my view on credit cards to be in the minority, but I often express my minority opinion.
Just because you can make money doing something, does not mean it is a good idea for the environment.
Boarding Area is a nice neighborhood to be living. This is a diverse place with lots of entertainment and information and interesting people.
I generally shut my windows when the neighbors get too loud so I don’t hear them selling bank cards day and night.
Infrequently I yell.
– See more at: http://boardingarea.com/loyaltytraveler/2013/08/22/hyatt-promotion-sep-9-nov-30-earns-50000-bonus-points-after-20-nights/#sthash.I01K8lAJ.nGU5x5I2.dpuf
@MilesAbound – Banks are what I don’t like. I watched closely the events perpetrated by banks in the past decade impacting the economy.
Banks co-opting the travel blogosphere is what I don’t like.
Why are there restrictions on disclosing how much money an approved credit card referral makes? How many times have you seen a blogger write how much a credit card referral pays? How is a reader to know when a link in a blog post is simply a link to a travel resource or a link that pays a commission to the writer?
I expect my view on credit cards to be in the minority, but I often express my minority opinion.
Just because you can make money doing something, does not mean it is a good idea for the environment.
Boarding Area is a nice neighborhood to be living. This is a diverse place with lots of entertainment and information and interesting people.
I generally shut my windows when the neighbors get too loud so I don’t hear them selling bank cards day and night.
Infrequently I yell.
– See more at: http://boardingarea.com/loyaltytraveler/2013/08/22/hyatt-promotion-sep-9-nov-30-earns-50000-bonus-points-after-20-nights/#sthash.I01K8lAJ.nGU5x5I2.dpuf
Great idea, hope you mean to make it a regular column!
I have many ideas, not enough time to do them all. Need to clone TBB
Wait a second — I am second?
I second being second — even for a second…
I second that!
I followed the link to Loyalty Traveler and in the comments TBB wrote, “I always said credibility is the most important asset and you have it”
In those same comments the blog author acknowledges taking comped hotel stays while covering hotels.
WTF?
Good point!
But Ric is different, he marches in his own drum (me too). I have been reading him since Day One too. To resist the easy dough for so long is really special! Yes, he does takes comps and he fully discloses it. He wrote a long post why he does it. I am fine with it, I make an exception for Ric! If he was milking it selling financial products AND taking comps he would be joining some others on the “must avoid” watch list:-)
Besides, after his comped trip reports, I doubt he is invited back. I wonder how come he is not blacklisted yet. That’s, well, special:-)
TPG offers his advice on international upgrades. Any guesses? Get points by signing up for my credit card links!
http://thepointsguy.com/2013/08/what-is-the-most-generous-airline-for-upgrading-from-economy-to-business-class-using-miles/
He even gets plenty of things wrong in the post, such as neglecting the value of upgrades on Virgin Atlantic. That’s surprising since although there may not be an affiliate link for the Virgin credit card (?) they are both an American Express Membership Rewards and Chase transfer partner!!
He also doesn’t seem to understand how the UK luxury tax works, and mistakenly claims that “Airlines do allow upgrades on alliance partners” (oneworld does not) and doesn’t say anything about upgrade inventory (I guess that would depress the credit card clicks) or distinguish it from award inventory. IF YOU ARE GOING TO PIMP CREDIT CARDS AT LEAST GET THE ACCOMPANYING (excuse) CONTENT RIGHT. Thank you. I am using all caps, does that make me angry?
so much of content these days is written with this question first:
“What can I write to allow me to push more credit card links?”
It is a sad sad hypocritical state of affairs…
From WSJ Marketwatch
Airlines offer no-crying sections
Seating devoid of screaming babies — for a fee
Scoot Airlines — a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines — announced that it will let passengers pay about $14 to sit in a “child-free” zone. Crying children are banned from sitting in this “ScootinSilence” area
Sorry INGY you can’t sit in this section!!
Scoot? I am sick of getting emails and snail mail from the scooter store myself lol.
I’m not sure if I should be disappointed or pleased I’m not on this post. On the one hand I feel I’ve been ignored. On the other hand I’m glad I don’t spend nearly that much time commenting on this blog or any other.
I would definitely not worry about it and just enjoy Dubrovnic!