What is the most useful frequent flyer blog?
#31
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: BUF
Programs: SPG Plt, HHonors Gold, UA Gold, PC Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 880
count me as someone who has grown tired of the frugaltravelguy blog. and i used to be a huge fan
it seems as if the vast majority of the posts are filler... how many did we get over the last month promoting the chase offering (that was a total dud)? or how about the multiple posts he did about $450 AMEX card that really isn't "frugal", no matter how he tried to spin it?
Toss in the useless rookie tips, andrew's photos, and unisipired trip reports, a nd i'll get MAYBE one relevant post a week. and usually that revolves around something he gets a referral for. And I find his self-titling as the "World's Expert on Flying Free" a bit pretenous
Though most offensive is blatent comment editing that goes on. Post something moderately negative - and it won't be approved. kudos to ben, brian, and gary (and darius) who welcome critiques.
For points blogs - thepointsguy and millionmilesecrets. for general travel stuff - ben and gary.
it seems as if the vast majority of the posts are filler... how many did we get over the last month promoting the chase offering (that was a total dud)? or how about the multiple posts he did about $450 AMEX card that really isn't "frugal", no matter how he tried to spin it?
Toss in the useless rookie tips, andrew's photos, and unisipired trip reports, a nd i'll get MAYBE one relevant post a week. and usually that revolves around something he gets a referral for. And I find his self-titling as the "World's Expert on Flying Free" a bit pretenous
Though most offensive is blatent comment editing that goes on. Post something moderately negative - and it won't be approved. kudos to ben, brian, and gary (and darius) who welcome critiques.
For points blogs - thepointsguy and millionmilesecrets. for general travel stuff - ben and gary.
#32
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 212
The points guy #1 by a mile. ^
I used to follow FTG - got turned off after Rick raised issue with TPG accepting a comp (with full disclosure). Would have loved to see Rick follow it up with a post disclosing how much he is comped for each referral and how many referrals he gets each month.
I used to follow FTG - got turned off after Rick raised issue with TPG accepting a comp (with full disclosure). Would have loved to see Rick follow it up with a post disclosing how much he is comped for each referral and how many referrals he gets each month.
I do think Rick provides some valuable information every once in a while but IMO he goes completely overboard with the referrals. His site recently changed to have less focus on ads but it's clearly what it's all about. Lastly, no offense to the FTG but he should really brush up on his writing skills.
I'll add one more that I find to be useful....Dan's Deals.
http://www.dansdeals.com/
His blog can go weeks without a travel deal announcement, but it's worth keeping an eye on. He gives excellent step-by-step instructions on how to best secure a deal.
http://www.dansdeals.com/
His blog can go weeks without a travel deal announcement, but it's worth keeping an eye on. He gives excellent step-by-step instructions on how to best secure a deal.
#33
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 453
Haha.
Everyday, frugal travel guy first; then the others.
Everyday, frugal travel guy first; then the others.
#35
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: Whatever's Cheapest, Accruing Miles, Redeeming for Premium Cabins, Not Chasing Status Unnecessarily
Posts: 2,264
TPG is hands down best and gets better each and every time I read it.
Keep it up.
Keep it up.
#37
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 879
MillionMileSecrets - If 5 different blogs all mention the same deal, this blog is most likely to have the clearest explanation. Also, if there is some deal the veterans are all keeping quiet to themselves, this is the blog that's most likely to share with his readers. Throughout the history of the publishing industry, the publications that don't censor are the ones that eventually win.
#38
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Programs: USAirways CP
Posts: 712
count me as someone who has grown tired of the frugaltravelguy blog. and i used to be a huge fan
it seems as if the vast majority of the posts are filler... how many did we get over the last month promoting the chase offering (that was a total dud)? or how about the multiple posts he did about $450 AMEX card that really isn't "frugal", no matter how he tried to spin it?
Toss in the useless rookie tips, andrew's photos, and unisipired trip reports, a nd i'll get MAYBE one relevant post a week. and usually that revolves around something he gets a referral for. And I find his self-titling as the "World's Expert on Flying Free" a bit pretenous
Though most offensive is blatent comment editing that goes on. Post something moderately negative - and it won't be approved. kudos to ben, brian, and gary (and darius) who welcome critiques.
For points blogs - thepointsguy and millionmilesecrets. for general travel stuff - ben and gary.
it seems as if the vast majority of the posts are filler... how many did we get over the last month promoting the chase offering (that was a total dud)? or how about the multiple posts he did about $450 AMEX card that really isn't "frugal", no matter how he tried to spin it?
Toss in the useless rookie tips, andrew's photos, and unisipired trip reports, a nd i'll get MAYBE one relevant post a week. and usually that revolves around something he gets a referral for. And I find his self-titling as the "World's Expert on Flying Free" a bit pretenous
Though most offensive is blatent comment editing that goes on. Post something moderately negative - and it won't be approved. kudos to ben, brian, and gary (and darius) who welcome critiques.
For points blogs - thepointsguy and millionmilesecrets. for general travel stuff - ben and gary.
The rookie tips should be a separate blog since they are useless to most people who have been reading the blog.
#39
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 904
And while we're at it, I'd like to give style points to The Points Guy for his blog masthead picture.
The boarding pass logo...From: Here To: Infinity (in First Class, no less!) always makes me smile. Very inventive.
The boarding pass logo...From: Here To: Infinity (in First Class, no less!) always makes me smile. Very inventive.
#40
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: UA Silver; Marriott Gold; Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 522
I find all of the mentioned blogs helpful and appreciate the efforts of their authors. I think it is more than fair for all of them (I guess MMS doesn't have ads, but such an addition wouldn't be objectionable) to have a commercial element so that their creators can pursue such hobbies as eating food and paying rent. I almost posted something in this vein last evening before the thread got somewhat critical: all of these bloggers read FT and are probably watching this thread quite closely. To varying degrees, they all provide some helpful information and are real people with real feelings. I'd urge the FT community to be considerate toward them. I've learned a bunch from Gary, Lucky, Rick, as well as TPG and thank them for their work.
#42
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 14
As someone who does affiliate marketing for a living, credit card signups should be around $50-200 depending on the card.
edit: I read the points guy and one mile at a time. I really like the first for tips and general info and lucky's is just fun to read.
edit: I read the points guy and one mile at a time. I really like the first for tips and general info and lucky's is just fun to read.
#43
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Michigan
Posts: 528
As someone who has only hung out at flyertalk, I find this topic very valuable!! But please don't just post the name ( Gary, Brian, Rick, Ben, etc,) but include the flyer blog associated with the name. Please
Again thanks
Again thanks
#44
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Disney World
Programs: Fairmont Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 321
count me as someone who has grown tired of the frugaltravelguy blog. and i used to be a huge fan
it seems as if the vast majority of the posts are filler... how many did we get over the last month promoting the chase offering (that was a total dud)? or how about the multiple posts he did about $450 AMEX card that really isn't "frugal", no matter how he tried to spin it?
Toss in the useless rookie tips, andrew's photos, and unisipired trip reports, a nd i'll get MAYBE one relevant post a week. and usually that revolves around something he gets a referral for. And I find his self-titling as the "World's Expert on Flying Free" a bit pretenous
Though most offensive is blatent comment editing that goes on. Post something moderately negative - and it won't be approved. kudos to ben, brian, and gary (and darius) who welcome critiques.
For points blogs - thepointsguy and millionmilesecrets. for general travel stuff - ben and gary.
it seems as if the vast majority of the posts are filler... how many did we get over the last month promoting the chase offering (that was a total dud)? or how about the multiple posts he did about $450 AMEX card that really isn't "frugal", no matter how he tried to spin it?
Toss in the useless rookie tips, andrew's photos, and unisipired trip reports, a nd i'll get MAYBE one relevant post a week. and usually that revolves around something he gets a referral for. And I find his self-titling as the "World's Expert on Flying Free" a bit pretenous
Though most offensive is blatent comment editing that goes on. Post something moderately negative - and it won't be approved. kudos to ben, brian, and gary (and darius) who welcome critiques.
For points blogs - thepointsguy and millionmilesecrets. for general travel stuff - ben and gary.
FTG seems like genuinely a nice guy and has probably accumulated a large following because he's been around so long but I think this is a case where the younger, hungrier new generation of bloggers like ThePointsGuy are willing to put in more effort, whereas the successful incumbent has grown accustomed to coasting and resting on his laurels somewhat. I also didn't love that FTG chastised MillionMileSecrets for his post on Amazon Payments. Sure, I realize the FT community is going to disagree on the appropriateness of posting precious secrets, but I found it ironic that a blogger like FTG, whose nominative mission is to show his blue collar readership the industry tricks of the trade, was trying to subtly enforce a hush protocol on a fellow member of the blogging world. Thumbs down.
#45
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Shanghai
Programs: BAEC (Gold), PC (Plat), HH (Gold), MR (Gold)
Posts: 2,729
MillionMileSecrets - If 5 different blogs all mention the same deal, this blog is most likely to have the clearest explanation. Also, if there is some deal the veterans are all keeping quiet to themselves, this is the blog that's most likely to share with his readers. Throughout the history of the publishing industry, the publications that don't censor are the ones that eventually win.
The level that MMS has gone to in order to do practically everything apart from sign up on your behalf is way, way too much. It plays straight into the hands of the companies that monitor traffic pertaining to them and all done so that the author can pamper his own ego by building traffic and appearing to play the good guy. His actions will kill deals faster and this he is fully aware of (he's no newcomer), all so he can make a name for himself. Big, big thumbs down from me.