What is the most useful frequent flyer blog?
Apr 11, 2012, 9:22 pm
#616
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 130
There is already a huge thread about this topic: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...lyer-blog.html
Why starting a new one?
Why starting a new one?
Apr 11, 2012, 9:31 pm
#617
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: HNL
Posts: 781
By the way, I see nothing of value in these "attack the blogs" posts that seems to be worthy of a new MilesBuzz thread. Is this thread telling me something new about a credit card? Is it telling me how to earn miles faster? Or is it telling me that somebody else is just fed up with a blog?
The bloggers I read all posted about it when the offer came out and followed with a detailed write up today. Sure, the reason for the detailed write-up is the affiliate link but I know Gary, Brian and Lucky all posted about the positives of this card when it came out last week.
Apr 11, 2012, 9:35 pm
#618
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: North America
Posts: 2,265
The bloggers I read all posted about it when the offer came out and followed with a detailed write up today. Sure, the reason for the detailed write-up is the affiliate link but I know Gary, Brian and Lucky all posted about the positives of this card when it came out last week.
Apr 11, 2012, 9:41 pm
#619
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
And then, when the affiliate links came, all of the other bloggers who didn't think the card was worthy of their time at the beginning suddenly all started singing its praises...
Apr 11, 2012, 9:56 pm
#620
Join Date: Oct 2010
Programs: SPG Plat, MR Plat, DM Silver, RR, AA, US, BA
Posts: 226
Personally, I get much value in reading the Boarding Area blogs. I read several of them daily and get a lot of good advice out of them. True, many of them push the the products that provide the most profit to them. But, hey, that's what most well run businesses do.
Pushing high profit products doesn't make their advice wrong. If you don't like reading the blogs, just say no and stop reading them.
As far as the Chase BA Visa goes, this year's offer is just as good as last years IF your intent is to get two business class tickets to Europe by spending 30k on the card and getting the 2 for 1 offer.
I got the Chase BA Visa last May and spent $30k on it (did some major home improvements). By doing this I earned 137,500 Avios. My fiancee and I are going to Europe for our honeymoon this fall in Business class on BA. DEN-LHR-CDG-LHR-DEN These two tickets cost us a total of 118,000 Avios and $2000 in fees. In return, we got business class tickets valued at a minimum of $6k and I still have 19,500 Avios in my account Not bad for one card signup and $30k in spend. Try to match that with any other current card offer!
Pushing high profit products doesn't make their advice wrong. If you don't like reading the blogs, just say no and stop reading them.
As far as the Chase BA Visa goes, this year's offer is just as good as last years IF your intent is to get two business class tickets to Europe by spending 30k on the card and getting the 2 for 1 offer.
I got the Chase BA Visa last May and spent $30k on it (did some major home improvements). By doing this I earned 137,500 Avios. My fiancee and I are going to Europe for our honeymoon this fall in Business class on BA. DEN-LHR-CDG-LHR-DEN These two tickets cost us a total of 118,000 Avios and $2000 in fees. In return, we got business class tickets valued at a minimum of $6k and I still have 19,500 Avios in my account Not bad for one card signup and $30k in spend. Try to match that with any other current card offer!
Apr 11, 2012, 10:37 pm
#621
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA/AA
Posts: 1,741
Actually, I've found there are some very good BA Avios hotel deals out there. Most of the best are in Europe, but some bargains are to be found in the US, like Las Vegas.
Apr 11, 2012, 11:02 pm
#622
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
What annoys me isn't that they are using affiliate links, but they are misleading their readers to gain said referrals. One BA blog I just read recommended putting all their gas/groceries spend onto the Chase BA card for a year. Hello? I could also put it onto the Chase Sapphire Preferred, gaining TWO Chase UR points per dollar spent. And Chase points are arguably worth a lot more than Avios points- and that's not considering the ridiculous fuel surcharges they levy.
My view of the Chase BA card is muddied only because I got in on the much better 100K offer last year ... but it's time to accept that the old BA program is gone. Avios are still useful for plenty of things. Not all my flights are going to be in A380 First Class from the U.S. to Asia via Europe ... sometimes I just want to go to Hawaii in coach for cheap or to New York in business class at the last minute. Avios are set up well for an LAX person like me.
Apr 11, 2012, 11:02 pm
#623
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 167
What annoys me isn't that they are using affiliate links, but they are misleading their readers to gain said referrals. One BA blog I just read recommended putting all their gas/groceries spend onto the Chase BA card for a year. Hello? I could also put it onto the Chase Sapphire Preferred, gaining TWO Chase UR points per dollar spent. And Chase points are arguably worth a lot more than Avios points- and that's not considering the ridiculous fuel surcharges they levy.
EDIT: I see poster above beat me to it. :-)
Apr 12, 2012, 12:09 am
#624
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Oops, silly me... My point still stands though.
Apr 12, 2012, 12:17 am
#625
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 44
I can tell you that the vast majority of bloggers make less than minimum wage if they were going to track hours. Most do it for fun, but kudos to them for trying to make a few bucks. It's not that hard to estimate how much a website is making (or blog) based on traffic estimates (e.g., Alexa, compete.com etc) and some standard benchmarks.
Flyertalk, for example, is owned by internet brands, inc. a company that has several different websites and forums (and blogs) and has millions of visitors per month. And yeah, their ads are in your face, but I don't mind because they're providing a good service at a low... make that no... cost to end users.
Apr 12, 2012, 1:00 am
#626
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
Seems like everyone and their brother decided to blog about the 100K BA card on Wednesday. I can't imagine what the driving factor was since the card has been out for almost a week.
Apr 12, 2012, 1:26 am
#627
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
No it doesn't ... your point stood on the false pretense that a popular Chase card earns more than the British Airways card does on certain purchases, while I (and other poster) clearly showed it doesn't.
I haven't read the blogs today, but I'm guessing that the argument for using the card for purchases like that is that it'll help reach $20K spending if that's the goal, which will ultimate earn an additional 75K Avios on top of the signup bonus, reaching a 3.75 Avios/$ rate. If you have a card that does better than that, then by all means, use that card; if not, why not use the BA card?
As for fuel surcharges ... I've used my Avios for AA and LAN, what fuel surcharges?
I haven't read the blogs today, but I'm guessing that the argument for using the card for purchases like that is that it'll help reach $20K spending if that's the goal, which will ultimate earn an additional 75K Avios on top of the signup bonus, reaching a 3.75 Avios/$ rate. If you have a card that does better than that, then by all means, use that card; if not, why not use the BA card?
As for fuel surcharges ... I've used my Avios for AA and LAN, what fuel surcharges?
Apr 12, 2012, 1:42 am
#628
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Sorry, I was thinking about the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card which gives 2x on gas and groceries. My mistake.
The thing with Avios is that they are often misrepresented by bloggers who are looking to promote the card. For example- many bloggers downplay or omit entirely that Avios has literally no flexibility in routing whatsoever- you are paying for every segment you fly, literally. So saying that an award from DFW to Sydney costs 200k Avios in J (already way way way overpriced) and $1000 in taxes (!!)- unless you live in DFW and are looking to go to Sydney (or v.v.), you are paying more on top of that. So what if your itinerary is actually Mildura to Marquette? You'd have to then fly MQL-MEL, then MEL-SYD, then SYD-DFW then DFW-ORD then ORD-MQT (or MQL-MEL-LAX-ORD-MQT). With any other program it's one award, but with Avios it's five (four) awards- and no other non-oneworld program penalises connecting flights in this manner. So your 200K award is suddenly looking a lot steeper.
And that's assuming there's award space on your desired flights. With any other normal program, if there isn't award space on a given flight one simply has to look for alternate routings- with Avios, you can be prepared to pay through the roof- in conjunction with your $1000+ in fuel surcharges. Don't forget your$1000 additional ticket companion pass as well. But there are no close-in award ticketing fees, so you're saving me $70???? How generous... 
So, in conclusion, unless your lifelong dream is to fly from DFW to Wichita in coach, no, it's not a good deal.
Edit: The guys over on the BA board did teach me a good use for Avios points as being Premium Economy to Business class upgrades- which funnily enough none of the blogs have picked up on...
The thing with Avios is that they are often misrepresented by bloggers who are looking to promote the card. For example- many bloggers downplay or omit entirely that Avios has literally no flexibility in routing whatsoever- you are paying for every segment you fly, literally. So saying that an award from DFW to Sydney costs 200k Avios in J (already way way way overpriced) and $1000 in taxes (!!)- unless you live in DFW and are looking to go to Sydney (or v.v.), you are paying more on top of that. So what if your itinerary is actually Mildura to Marquette? You'd have to then fly MQL-MEL, then MEL-SYD, then SYD-DFW then DFW-ORD then ORD-MQT (or MQL-MEL-LAX-ORD-MQT). With any other program it's one award, but with Avios it's five (four) awards- and no other non-oneworld program penalises connecting flights in this manner. So your 200K award is suddenly looking a lot steeper.
And that's assuming there's award space on your desired flights. With any other normal program, if there isn't award space on a given flight one simply has to look for alternate routings- with Avios, you can be prepared to pay through the roof- in conjunction with your $1000+ in fuel surcharges. Don't forget your
So, in conclusion, unless your lifelong dream is to fly from DFW to Wichita in coach, no, it's not a good deal.
Edit: The guys over on the BA board did teach me a good use for Avios points as being Premium Economy to Business class upgrades- which funnily enough none of the blogs have picked up on...
Apr 12, 2012, 2:22 am
#629
Join Date: Apr 2001
Programs: Delta Diamond, UAL 1K, AA Exec Plat, Starwood Lifetime Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 220
In my eyes the blogs need you to keep coming back based on them looking out for you, instead of themselves. I never begrudge them making money but it has to be somewhat transparent.
The Points Guy, for example, has turned into a major sellout for Delta airlines, here is a guy who takes free Business Class trips to Asia from Delta and then soft shoes every Delta change that results in the customers getting basically screwed. Last week he was saying how he did not mind spending 50k for a coach class seat in US to see a relative. He should be fuming as a Platinum member he has to spend 50k for a ticket, but no...I give Delta credit for turning a good guy into one of their own...they must love this guy. Delta may have the Points Guy start writing internal blogs since they screw their own employees as well as their customers.
The Points Guy, for example, has turned into a major sellout for Delta airlines, here is a guy who takes free Business Class trips to Asia from Delta and then soft shoes every Delta change that results in the customers getting basically screwed. Last week he was saying how he did not mind spending 50k for a coach class seat in US to see a relative. He should be fuming as a Platinum member he has to spend 50k for a ticket, but no...I give Delta credit for turning a good guy into one of their own...they must love this guy. Delta may have the Points Guy start writing internal blogs since they screw their own employees as well as their customers.
Apr 12, 2012, 2:25 am
#630
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
In my eyes the blogs need you to keep coming back based on them looking out for you, instead of themselves. I never begrudge them making money but it has to be somewhat transparent.
The Points Guy, for example, has turned into a major sellout for Delta airlines, here is a guy who takes free Business Class trips to Asia from Delta and then soft shoes every Delta change that results in the customers getting basically screwed. Last week he was saying how he did not mind spending 50k for a coach class seat in US to see a relative. He should be fuming as a Platinum member he has to spend 50k for a ticket, but no...I give Delta credit for turning a good guy into one of their own...they must love this guy. Delta may have the Points Guy start writing internal blogs since they screw their own employees as well as their customers.
The Points Guy, for example, has turned into a major sellout for Delta airlines, here is a guy who takes free Business Class trips to Asia from Delta and then soft shoes every Delta change that results in the customers getting basically screwed. Last week he was saying how he did not mind spending 50k for a coach class seat in US to see a relative. He should be fuming as a Platinum member he has to spend 50k for a ticket, but no...I give Delta credit for turning a good guy into one of their own...they must love this guy. Delta may have the Points Guy start writing internal blogs since they screw their own employees as well as their customers.
