Boarding Area's Fall
Jul 25, 2016, 10:39 am
#841
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Admirals Club, Global Entry
Posts: 1,141
I don't believe the One Mile at a Time comment above is correct. In fact, it's so 180 degrees wrong that it misses the little joke here. Or I think it's a joke, anyway.
One Mile at a Time has been comically upfront. First the news about no Admirals Club Access. Then an immediate pivot to how great the Citi Exec card is since it'll be the only card that gets you into the club after July 2017. For me, anyway, that's more than enough naked and opportunistic hucksterism to make me laugh -- as I've already said. Killing off card benefits, in other words, isn't a problem. It's a marketing opportunity!
As for the other "devaluations," nothing's been confirmed yet. According the thread here on Flyer Talk, it currently seems most likely that the two things I personally care about -- the 1.6x for AA tickets and the 2x and 3x bonus categories -- aren't changing. I haven't seen anything about killing off the 15% and 25% Citi banking bonuses either. So, to repeat, the 1.6x and the bonus categories aren't going anywhere. So far as we know. For now. Fingers crossed.
UPDATE: Well, I'm sad to say, this is a partial retraction. View from the Wing now says the 1.6x is vaporizing. So my post was correct for all of about . . . ten minutes . . . .
One Mile at a Time has been comically upfront. First the news about no Admirals Club Access. Then an immediate pivot to how great the Citi Exec card is since it'll be the only card that gets you into the club after July 2017. For me, anyway, that's more than enough naked and opportunistic hucksterism to make me laugh -- as I've already said. Killing off card benefits, in other words, isn't a problem. It's a marketing opportunity!
As for the other "devaluations," nothing's been confirmed yet. According the thread here on Flyer Talk, it currently seems most likely that the two things I personally care about -- the 1.6x for AA tickets and the 2x and 3x bonus categories -- aren't changing. I haven't seen anything about killing off the 15% and 25% Citi banking bonuses either. So, to repeat, the 1.6x and the bonus categories aren't going anywhere. So far as we know. For now. Fingers crossed.
UPDATE: Well, I'm sad to say, this is a partial retraction. View from the Wing now says the 1.6x is vaporizing. So my post was correct for all of about . . . ten minutes . . . .
Last edited by FallenPlat; Jul 25, 2016 at 10:50 am Reason: Added "Fingers crossed."
Jul 25, 2016, 11:25 am
#842
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
According to the "About" section, the author is a Zachary Abel who's done some occasional acting in apparently teen/kids shows in the past:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Abel
I don't know, I'll check it out, looks like it could be a decent blog. I have to admit I like the monkey!
No joke. You're incorrect that nothing has been confirmed. Miles to Memories posted the updated offer landing page on 21 July which included the elimination of 1.6 AA redemption, 4th night average rate and no taxes, golf eliminated...offer now 40K after $4k spend (some 50K links still may be active at the moment though).
http://milestomemories.boardingarea....stige-changes/
Initially some poor editing on the landing page left open the chance that 1.6 may not have changed, but M2M followed up and had that double-checked the following day:
http://milestomemories.boardingarea....-more-changes/
Again, this was from the official landing page, not rumor and speculation. Some other BA bloggers were also posting after the landing page came up within a day or so of this, though I don't recall which ones offhand.
In comparison, OMAAT's last post on the Prestige (until today) was 20 July, covering the then-confirmed Admiral's Club loss under the guise of the AA Exec card. But all else was still unconfirmed rumor and/or speculation.
VFTW's last real post on the matter (until today) was on 18 & 19 July (the 19th being only about the Admirals Club changes) - when most changes were still speculative.
The point is that at least one revised public Citi offer landing page confirming what actually has changed, has been available since 21 July and it has taken these two "titans" 4 days to mention it again.
In comparison other BA bloggers have been on top of posting the confirmed news as soon as it was out on the 21st. Previously OMAAT couldn't miss an opportunity to mention the Prestige card.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Abel
I don't know, I'll check it out, looks like it could be a decent blog. I have to admit I like the monkey!
I don't believe the One Mile at a Time comment above is correct. In fact, it's so 180 degrees wrong that it misses the little joke here. Or I think it's a joke, anyway.
One Mile at a Time has been comically upfront. First the news about no Admirals Club Access. Then an immediate pivot to how great the Citi Exec card is since it'll be the only card that gets you into the club after July 2017. For me, anyway, that's more than enough naked and opportunistic hucksterism to make me laugh -- as I've already said. Killing off card benefits, in other words, isn't a problem. It's a marketing opportunity!
As for the other "devaluations," nothing's been confirmed yet. According the thread here on Flyer Talk, it currently seems most likely that the two things I personally care about -- the 1.6x for AA tickets and the 2x and 3x bonus categories -- aren't changing. I haven't seen anything about killing off the 15% and 25% Citi banking bonuses either. So, to repeat, the 1.6x and the bonus categories aren't going anywhere. So far as we know. For now. Fingers crossed.
UPDATE: Well, I'm sad to say, this is a partial retraction. View from the Wing now says the 1.6x is vaporizing. So my post was correct for all of about . . . ten minutes . . . .
One Mile at a Time has been comically upfront. First the news about no Admirals Club Access. Then an immediate pivot to how great the Citi Exec card is since it'll be the only card that gets you into the club after July 2017. For me, anyway, that's more than enough naked and opportunistic hucksterism to make me laugh -- as I've already said. Killing off card benefits, in other words, isn't a problem. It's a marketing opportunity!
As for the other "devaluations," nothing's been confirmed yet. According the thread here on Flyer Talk, it currently seems most likely that the two things I personally care about -- the 1.6x for AA tickets and the 2x and 3x bonus categories -- aren't changing. I haven't seen anything about killing off the 15% and 25% Citi banking bonuses either. So, to repeat, the 1.6x and the bonus categories aren't going anywhere. So far as we know. For now. Fingers crossed.
UPDATE: Well, I'm sad to say, this is a partial retraction. View from the Wing now says the 1.6x is vaporizing. So my post was correct for all of about . . . ten minutes . . . .
http://milestomemories.boardingarea....stige-changes/
Initially some poor editing on the landing page left open the chance that 1.6 may not have changed, but M2M followed up and had that double-checked the following day:
http://milestomemories.boardingarea....-more-changes/
Again, this was from the official landing page, not rumor and speculation. Some other BA bloggers were also posting after the landing page came up within a day or so of this, though I don't recall which ones offhand.
In comparison, OMAAT's last post on the Prestige (until today) was 20 July, covering the then-confirmed Admiral's Club loss under the guise of the AA Exec card. But all else was still unconfirmed rumor and/or speculation.
VFTW's last real post on the matter (until today) was on 18 & 19 July (the 19th being only about the Admirals Club changes) - when most changes were still speculative.
The point is that at least one revised public Citi offer landing page confirming what actually has changed, has been available since 21 July and it has taken these two "titans" 4 days to mention it again.
In comparison other BA bloggers have been on top of posting the confirmed news as soon as it was out on the 21st. Previously OMAAT couldn't miss an opportunity to mention the Prestige card.
Last edited by 84fiero; Jul 25, 2016 at 11:32 am
Jul 25, 2016, 1:58 pm
#843
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Admirals Club, Global Entry
Posts: 1,141
Thanks for the correction. Lots of times I'm happy to be wrong . . . but obviously not this time. The 1.6x thing, especially. Oh, well.
On the other side of the coin, I've noticed for a while now that Miles to Memories frequently has better reasoned, more well thought out posts than just about anyone. The writing is ok, too.
So bravo to Shawn. Looks like I gotta burn some points by next July . . . .
(I'll probably keep the Prestige since it costs me only $100/year and comes with a 25% "relationship" points bonus besides; but I'm not a happy camper anymore. And now it looks as though I'll have to get the Exec.)
On the other side of the coin, I've noticed for a while now that Miles to Memories frequently has better reasoned, more well thought out posts than just about anyone. The writing is ok, too.
So bravo to Shawn. Looks like I gotta burn some points by next July . . . .
(I'll probably keep the Prestige since it costs me only $100/year and comes with a 25% "relationship" points bonus besides; but I'm not a happy camper anymore. And now it looks as though I'll have to get the Exec.)
Last edited by FallenPlat; Jul 25, 2016 at 2:05 pm
Jul 25, 2016, 7:20 pm
#845
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,659
Jul 26, 2016, 2:44 am
#847
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,659
Respectfully, I disagree.
Considering it takes me less than an hour a week and nets me ~$750/month and maybe another 25K in spend a month, I'd say it's actually well worth it!
Granted, it helps that there's a gift card exchange a stone's throw away for the trust side of things, but even before they opened up I was doing pretty well
Considering it takes me less than an hour a week and nets me ~$750/month and maybe another 25K in spend a month, I'd say it's actually well worth it!
Granted, it helps that there's a gift card exchange a stone's throw away for the trust side of things, but even before they opened up I was doing pretty well
Jul 26, 2016, 2:58 am
#848
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,460
Respectfully, I disagree.
Considering it takes me less than an hour a week and nets me ~$750/month and maybe another 25K in spend a month, I'd say it's actually well worth it!
Granted, it helps that there's a gift card exchange a stone's throw away for the trust side of things, but even before they opened up I was doing pretty well
Considering it takes me less than an hour a week and nets me ~$750/month and maybe another 25K in spend a month, I'd say it's actually well worth it!
Granted, it helps that there's a gift card exchange a stone's throw away for the trust side of things, but even before they opened up I was doing pretty well
Let's say you buy a discounted 100 card for 88 and then sell it on ebay for 96. Great, that's 8 bucks. You'd have to do that 100 times to make what you claim. But that's not accounting for when you get ripped off on the buying or selling side.
For example, if you sell on ebay, the buyer has all the power. They can claim they never received the card after draining it and you have no recourse.
It's just not worth the aggravation.
Jul 26, 2016, 8:12 pm
#849
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,659
I find the claims of 750/month in earnings to be dubious.
Let's say you buy a discounted 100 card for 88 and then sell it on ebay for 96. Great, that's 8 bucks. You'd have to do that 100 times to make what you claim. But that's not accounting for when you get ripped off on the buying or selling side.
For example, if you sell on ebay, the buyer has all the power. They can claim they never received the card after draining it and you have no recourse.
It's just not worth the aggravation.
Let's say you buy a discounted 100 card for 88 and then sell it on ebay for 96. Great, that's 8 bucks. You'd have to do that 100 times to make what you claim. But that's not accounting for when you get ripped off on the buying or selling side.
For example, if you sell on ebay, the buyer has all the power. They can claim they never received the card after draining it and you have no recourse.
It's just not worth the aggravation.
And, I only buy from original issuers anyhow.
Take the last staples + iTunes deal last week for example: Bought $7800, 5x points at 15% off. Sold them for 88%. ~$230 in profit and 39K UR points. Granted, I did spend about an hour scratching codes and inputting them. But well worth it
Jul 28, 2016, 4:28 pm
#850
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,878
Jul 30, 2016, 12:00 am
#853
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,659
But dare I call out Randy publicly, the community director will keep deleting my posts because she is obviously infallible and absolute in determining what is a contribution or "content."
Definitely no bias there. Can't bite the hand that feeds you, now can you?
Aug 1, 2016, 1:15 am
#854
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: JRF
Programs: AA Gold, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 1,784
Anyone else read Boarding Area on the Apple news app? It comes up as "Frequent Flyer" for category (the only other one to show up is TPG) and it's the only way I read bloggers now. Unfortunately actual respectable bloggers (Doctor of Credit, for example) aren't on it, and there's always this one entitled scumbag Canadian on BA that comes up .....ing about everything...
Aug 1, 2016, 2:30 am
#855
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA, VS, HH, IHG, MB, MR
Posts: 26,871
Anyone else read Boarding Area on the Apple news app? It comes up as "Frequent Flyer" for category (the only other one to show up is TPG) and it's the only way I read bloggers now. Unfortunately actual respectable bloggers (Doctor of Credit, for example) aren't on it, and there's always this one entitled scumbag Canadian on BA that comes up .....ing about everything...
PS. Totally off the point, but I've just realised that I have to pay Apple $99 per year to have ads running on Apple News. Yup, I pay them instead of them paying me! This is because I need to be registered as an app developer (even though I am not) to access the Apple payment portal. Seems a bit of an own goal given that, given the underperformance of Apple News, I'm not sure I'd make a lot more than $99 back.