hobo13

Ironically, we're told that 'our credit is our most important asset'. That would imply that the credit card bombardment could have a much more significant negative effect than most 'benign' commercials on TV.

I think the big difference for me is this -- most commercial companies don't claim to be helping people. They are out to make a profit and pretty much everybody understands that. You shouldn't trust Verizon or McDonald's to look out for your best interest. Yet many of these blogs proclaim to want to help people and try to convince you of why you should trust them. And to be fair, many of them once did help people. But lately I wish they would just say, 'I'm in it for the money' and leave it at that. I'd respect some of these guys a lot more if they were just honest with themselves and with us. The end of CC affiliate money is not far away, I predict, and then we'll see who REALLY just wants to help people travel better / cheaper.

hobo13

I've helped a lot of people on FT for free. My guess is that koko has too.

gpapadop

Over the years if I got paid for every card that was opened for so many people I have helped (after confirming they can really deal with it!!) I could afford to really travel for free

Canarsie

...as have I.

lwildernorva

There are lots of people who work for free to build housing for the poor with Habitat for Humanity. Admirable work, and we need more of it.

That doesn't mean I'll criticize those construction companies who build homes for profit.

mnscout

Hobo13, I'm not looking to start something, but I believe you're wrong on both counts.

First, and most importantly, churning does not negatively affect people with good credit. Not if you know what you're doing and not in the long run. You've been on this board long enough to already know that. When Rick says that your credit is your most important asset, I don't see a contradiction. I consider it a fair warning not to mess up your credit for little things including a few free tickets.

Second, every single commercial company claims to help people. Come on, maybe you've just stopped hearing the message, so try to tune in for the next commercial and just listen. This is how stuff gets sold!

Third, I personally do help people for free to the point that they tell me I've gotta charge for it. I'm sure many bloggers do too. I've spent more time with one of my clients for free helping with credit cards than I charged her on unrelated matter (and I charge by the hour). I love this stuff! However, I would not maintain a blog without the light at the end of the tunnel. To me it means to sell books, to others--monetize their work with other methods. It's a hard freaking job. Writing original content takes time. Marketing takes enormous time. It's a time-sucking vortex. I can't imagine that anyone would be willing to spend so much time on something like that without any financial incentives.

fishdance

No-one here says anything about working for free. There's thing called ethics.
9 ref links in one sentence? Nope, note it.
The guy who gets paid cool 50 for his articles is a sucker (in a good meaning of it). Great writing skills butchered by ref collector.

amolkold

Heads-up -- if your blog is going to do churning challenges, you probably shouldn't recommend a redemption that gets you <1.25cpm value out of Ultimate Rewards points .... *facepalm*

oliver2002

People, blogs are just amateur attempts to share thoughts... they are by far not even close to any classic medium like news channels, print media etc. There is no journalistic principle, hence there is no ethical limit to keep.

Just like 'Diaries of a ...' gets stale after the first episode, bloggers also have to spice it up and provide content people want to read. Hence gleff will add some ads free industry 'analysis', lucky9876coins will write about entertaining clients, sbm12 will write about an awesome sandwich.

And then there are those who want to have their 15 minutes of fame because they uncoded the barcode on a boarding pass to figure out where the TSA stores their precheck info or get thrown off an UA flight because they talk funny to a FA.

Bloggers are not journalists, they are just normal people who use the internet to share their thoughts. If people are so stupid to click on ads and trust what is supposedly offered to them, then thats life.

hsilman

It's funny you guys mention churning challenges.

I think Rick's churning challenge posts are the best. When it comes to introducing new people to "the game", for the most part I find they don't care a whit about "making the most of their miles". They aren't considering CPM or any of that. All they see is "I want to go to hawaii, how can I do it for practically nothing?"

here comes Rick to show you how. Maybe it isn't the most efficient way, and hell maybe there's even a slightly cheaper way(I only remember one ridiculous one like 4 days in switzerland for over a grand. Most cost $300 or less, which I find acceptable), but it shows "regular people" that it's possible and doesn't take 15 credit cards and a whole huge plan that lasts 18 months to get it.

I don't find the credit card pushing from Rick to be that bad.(caveat, he's the only blog I follow regularly). While there are occasionally better options/offers, he rarely pushes a card that is complete crap. Since he's actively pursuing newbies, I think it's a good approach. Again, most new people aren't concerned about "efficiency". They just see the credit card, the "cost" in generating spend, and the destination. As long as they get there, they can tell their friends they spent a week in Rio for only $200. That's all that matters.

My experience is that once you start spending time on FT, or want to really start getting involved in the FF game, you'll end up on a thread like this anyways. So basically as soon as you start getting to the point where you're making big decisions, you'll do your own research. If you're only applying to 2 cards a year for that one trip, it probably doesn't matter to you that you could apply for this one different card and get there with 10k less points or something.

Mile-a-holic

Agreed...I think that the purpose of this thread should be to comment on how well blogs suit their intended audiences given that purpose.

So, for example from a cusory review it seems that TPG and FTG would really help a newbie. TPG lays out a good strategy - could a newbie do better by learning on his/her own? Maybe...but would they? So, if they "lose" points by signing up for different offers, that's the cost of having it spoon fed - and I think that's fair.

Conversely, there are bloggers who provide shoddy products. "Hey, just get points with me, then worry about redeeming them elsewhere...see how easy it is?? I'm in first class." Or those that use FT as a trolling place by responding "helpfully" to newbies with recommendatons for their affiliate cards without any analysis - conveniently with a link to their blog in their signature.

I'd rather direct traffic toward those bloggers (construction companies) that provide value, than the ones that are constructing cardboard boxes under freeway onramps. The latter are the ones that drive people here saying "I have these points, and now don't know what to do" or "I thought that I could..."

sbm12

Not much at all. At the same time, I accept the ads there just like I accept the "ancillary" ads on most websites. And I have them on my sites. It isn't advertising I find ugly; it is the pathetic, invasive and egregious advertising that is so bad, particularly when it skews the content in terms of topics covered, frequency or tone.

Correct. Most TV shows do these days. But you don't hear the characters talking about how awesome their new car is and then see a cut to the logo. It is a very different style. I suppose there's a claim to be made that the up-front brashness is more appropriate than subtlety as at least the CC links are obvious and they aren't trying to hide it. I can appreciate that, but I think that it makes the overall product quality much worse on average.

This also made me think of the Jim Carey move, The Truman Show. They did a great job demonstrating how product placement works and mocking it, all at the same time.

And they also adjust your content to ensure maximum link placement/revenue, right?

I write for a few outlets beyond my personal site. None of them adjust my content to increase ad click revenue or to insert in-line revenue links. I much prefer that approach.

So have I. And I still do.
I'm not so sure this is 100% true. The line between journalist and blogger is blurring and, depending on the tone and focus of the site, can easily veer one way or the other on any given day. Many blogs are simple travelogues or diaries. Others are breaking news stories and building "news" content. It is not reasonable to say that all fit into any single category.

It was delicious.

Everyone has to choose how they are going to earn a living and what they feel comfortable with. To me the ultimate hypocritical position is those who insist the content/tone/focus is the same as it was a year before they got CC link obsessed.

kokonutz

So my deja vu continues: the bloggers are like the formerly homeless people you see in airline terminals hawking airline-branded credit cards. I can only assume they are working on commission?

And the USAir flight attendants who hawk the 40k mile USAir Visa 'in-flight-only offer' who I assume also get a bounty for sign-ups?

EVERYwhere I look, people are pumping credit cards!

On one blog (VFtW) that I have feed to my the face book wall's last three blog posts: two promoting credit card offers and one advertising a commercial venture he is affiliated with. It's like reading QVC!

kokonutz

I think there should be a sub-forum for that kind of helpful and interesting discussion.

Alternately, I suppose we could just open a thread about each points and miles blog in this forum and discuss what audience that blog is good for and that blog's posts in those threads. But that would tend to clutter up MilesBuzz, imho.

oliver2002

Well, when a journalist writes something he fact checks before its added to an article. See how Scott from the WSJ heard about the mint story on SMD1 and months later managed to pull all the strings together before breaking the news. A blogger could have had the liberty to publish it instantly without giving it much thought, since its (just) a web log of his thoughts.