If you use Schwab 2% cash back you are leaving a LOT of money on the table

You can use Amex Blue Pfd and get 6% cashback at supermarkets. Through gift cards that can be extrapolated to pretty much all restaurants, gas stations, Amazon purchases etc. If you can't get 6% cashback on at least half your purchases you are doing something wrong.

I agree with others that view the true value of points being the price you'd be willing to pay for the redemption. Belfordrocks narrow view of taking cost price / miles is foolish as it fails to account for the fact that people would rarely pay the kind of prices first class flights would cost, and those that can afford to have less to worry about collecting miles.

My best TRUE earning rate on a card has been around 15%. Using an Amex PRG at my grocery store earning 3x membership rewards. Those rewards were then converted to BA Avios at 1.5x rate. And then I redeem 9000 Avios for a coach flight RDU-NYC roundtrip. Actual cost would be $300 on average. So 3.33cpm redemption, times the 4.5x earning rate, equates to an effective and true 14.985% rebate. I am sure other better ones are available but this one is highly scalable and the flights in my case are actually required and would otherwise be met with cash spending.

So for me when bloggers bang on inanely about Chase Sapphire being wonderful because you can get 2x on dining and travel, I find that a bit galling as it is not only uneducated but it also spreads the same level of mis-education. This is where Frequent Miler excels in really trying to find the max way of earning (his 5x earner on all spend could replace my pattern above)

Now to the OP does this ruin flyertalk? I don't think so. You just can't put a lid on it. Deals will get killed "quicker" but more people will get in on them. Is is fair that one small group gets to enjoy a deal say 100,000 times before it gets closed off or is it better that 100,000 people get to enjoy it once? I don't buy the "lazy" argument as many of those who are defending the old closed network are frankly just as lazy and just hoping they get in on someone else's less publicized deal

Also I will add that all of my favorite deals I learned from a blog and did not get shut down that quickly:

* AA Citi card churning (thanks Rick)
* The Mint (thanks Rick)
* Expedia.ca $300 rebates (thanks Gary Leff)

The latter got HAMMERED by everyone and still lasted a full weekend