Non-NonRev

+1

I was an interested reader at first, but the glaring lack of intellectual curiosity, combined with the lack of disclosure of accepting free travel arrangements (a big no-no to me) turned me into a former reader.

oktoberfest

The point is that the game is coming to an end because of the media exposure, endless seminars etc. Kind of the like the stories with the headline, Crime down DESPITE more criminals in prison.

Astrophsx

You are saying this over a RS article, Youtube feature, and TV spot in Australia? I mean... these bloggers have been going on the news networks for a while and Nightline... The only difference is that they didn't say the people who run the airlines are idiots.

SANspotter

I've been hearing about imminent doom since '98. Every year, something happens which sends everyone running in panic, claiming the end is near, and yet...here we are.

The rules will change, and we will change with them. It's a never ending cycle.

cruisr

And what was the exposure of the "Hobby" in 1998? It was a much much smaller % of people doing it. Hell, when I started CC churning in 1998 it actually did not have a name. FT was there and that was about it. Back then there were not blogs and the cc pimping that we see today and as a result there are many many more people with eyes on the "Hobby" currently. Deals have died after the exposure and deals tend to go away faster then in the past.

I think the CC companies are getting stricter and the gravy train is for a fact ending in a few forms such as once in a lifetime rewards being imposed. So I think the Hobby is under going a paradigm shift and it is dying but it will be a slow death, not a fatal heart attack.

mnscout

But what was the credit card gravy train like in 1998?
That's one reason why churning didn't have a name.

Astrophsx

Right but there is also a huge difference in the amount of exposure from these bloggers in the past 5 years. Examples:

1) While credit card churning has been around for a while several prominent travel bloggers have gained very large audiences. Once they began to detail how to churn cards and published the reconsideration numbers with a script it wasn't too long after that CC companies started to clamp down. I would say one of the biggest reasons people did not get into the churning game was due to having to read so much in the forums and lack of knowledge on how to meet minimum spend which bloggers changed very quickly around 2010.

2) Hidden city ticketing and throwaway ticketing have gotten a lot more exposure from blogs. No longer does the average Joe have to read pages of comments on FT and try and decipher code words and acronyms.

3) Manufactured spending really took off in '09/10 with dollar coins, rebate portals, and amazon payments. While several forums covered these methods they didn't receive full exposure until the hit the blogs. Before there were wikis you had to go to a blog to obtain the spoon fed version.

4) Correct me if I'm wrong here but there were only a select few non-bloggers that bragged to the media about the MS deals?

5) This is only a guess but I am not sure of the "backroom" discussions that are being made at things like the Freddy awards and what not. Now these "hobbyists" are being consulted by travel companies. Not only that, some of the bloggers have direct financial relationships with these companies.

So while I wasn't around in 98 I can say that bloggers have a much larger influence of the direction of the hobby. They want to be TV personalities and have higher aspirations. I have no idea if that is a good or bad thing for those of us who do this as a hobby.

Someone pointed out that Ben may soon get burned out. Maybe he's looking to transition into something different and this is just a foreshadow of what is to come?

cruisr

It actually was pretty good. Id be getting 10K-15K UA or CO points and the redemption rates were much lower so as a % of a ticket redemption it was probably as it is now. Also, Chase use to give miles for balance transfers. Can you imagine that today? It was funny after I was doing it a while I wouldn't bother unless I would get 25K miles.

The best was the Chase offer in 2004 in which for every $1 in a heloc you would get 1/2 a UA mile. I refinanced 400K and got 200K UA points for a grand total of $53.00 (which was the interest for one day as I wired it back the funds the day after it hit my bank account) and Chase paid all the closing costs. I don't think that would be possible today.

Astrophsx

nsx

That was a good one. I did it too. Some people even churned it! I watched for similar miles for HELOC offers but that was the last.

cruisr

Got that right.

Actually it was a HELOC not a refi from Chase. I fixed my post. that's what happens when one is so old they forget things.

skunker

You mean like the Citi 100k miles offer for AA? There are reports of people getting 5 or 6 cards and all the miles and not paying a dime. Just buy a refundable ticket, get the miles, close the account, refund the ticket, and get the annual fee back.

I still can't believe Citi allowed multiple cards under that promo.

Kagehitokiri

that was what led to the AA/citi crackdown...

IIRC at least one blogger encouraged people to do it

Astrophsx

Can't be any worse than the blogger who promoted signing up for the same card 5 times in the same day.

pricesquire

To me - this is my major issue with Ben. It's sad really...deeply sad.