Originally Posted by
oliver2002
While it is laudable that a blogger managed to build a sellable business out of nothing, lets not forget what the mission of the new owners is: plug selected financial products to potential customers:
From red ventures:
from Bankrate:
So its a bit of a ethical topic what is happening here. AFAIR Summer mentioned that her family had issues with debt in the past... it is sad that there are companies that exist to drive consumers into making decisions that may not be in their interest.
I suspect the demographic that reads MP is probably better off takiing a bank loan to visit Grandma in KS or do a trip to the mouse in FL instead of applying for 5 credit cards and potentially making atrocious APR interest payments because they can't pay off the required spend in time.
Possibly so, but I think the problems Summer mentioned were not strictly credit card related but instead the kind of bad investment situation that if it paid off makes a lot of money and if it doesn't, causes bankruptcy. Happy to stand corrected on this, but I don't think their personal financial problems arose over the kind of credit card debt that plagues millions.
I think she's stuck to her original aim of trying to make good travel available for families by using credit card strategies, such as taking credit cards where you just put the spend you'd do in cash on a credit card and then converting to multiple economy seats on the right routes, rather than solely "aspirational" travel. I suspect her mission no longer fit BA, which seems oriented to a younger, more single demographic, which is mostly solos trying to leverage a credit card to one single "aspirational" trip rather than the current roster at TPG, which seems to accept that there could be situations where it's smarter to spend your miles/points for four economy seats and seven nights at a Hampton Inn outside the main gate at Disney over one business class seat and five nights in the Maldives for those who travel solo. That Orlando trip could easily cost a family of four almost $4000 in airline and hotel fees that credit cards could cover with maybe four $100 annual fees--which might be waived the first year.
I know there are others at BA who have focused on family travel, but I don't think any of them have made the impression Summer has. Now, they have an opportunity.