tjbrooks

There's no sky is falling mentality. Chase is upping the minimum spend, so they're giving advance notice. They're pretty clear about that, plus they also note that the $75 statement credit offer appears dead too. For someone like myself that struggles to meet ever growing minimum spends, the advance notice is useful. It's a solid card, the only one I keep paying the annual fee for. Dedicating more than one post would be getting into shameless territory though IMO.

GoGreen

Second on his award travel booking - great job and price -- $149 total for two travelers.

GuyverII

Yeah, this kid is good. Sad to say I've left some of the older bloggers by the road due to the credit card groveling.

And the award to most foul-mouthed travel blog goes to this person.

flyerfrog

Nice blog, no affiliate links yet.

mnscout

And I would argue that that particular post is a good reason why bloggers must sensor some comments. Coming to one's house and trashing the host is not something that anyone would tolerate. Why do some folks believe that with internet anything goes?

FAllWay

I find it funny that the bloggers on Boardingarea spam the crap out of their sites. Seriously, do they need to continously repeat the same info over and over?
On top of that it's so annoying when all they do is copy thing off FT or slickdeals/dans deal.

Also, the new bloggers there are noobs that havent even been in the game long.

Useful blogger milevalue.

mnscout

And you're right, it doesn't! I'm just saying that as long as this particular card is not offering a better publicly available bonus right now it's not misleading to post it, especially considering small spend, because there are some folks who are dependent on Delta for one reason or another.

HikerT

As far as whether it's misleading to post, it depends. I don't see how anyone could promote the 30K DL AMEX Gold as one of the best points cards, much less put it near the top of their list. That's a real stretch! In contrast, MMS recommends folks login to their DL account to see if they have a better offer, and doesn't recommend they sign up unless the offer is 40K or more.

gregorygrady

So let me get this straight: If 1 post is OK, and 2 posts is getting into shameless territory, then is 3 posts (in 5 days) definitely into shameless territory?

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...g-requirement/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...ding-required/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...ill-available/

Based on all the pathetic moneygrab attempts, I'd say he needs some money to send the kids off to college, but as far as I know he doesn't have kids. So I guess Momma must need a new pair (or 1000 new pair) of shoes.

I'm sorry to inform you that milevalue is now a sellout like most of the rest of the bloggers (except Loyalty Traveler, Wandering Aramean, and to a lesser extent FrequentMiler). Another one biites the dust:

http://milevalue.com/milevalue-com-w...filiate-links/

Expect another crappy blog in the near future doing nearly nothing but pushing the current credit card that offers the biggest affiliate referral to pad his pocket the most.

BQatWSU

Wow, with all the proof you just provided, how can anyone disagree...? Overreacting much?

Over the next 3 months, we will see if Milevalue continues to be a great blog or not. Just relax and stop being so cynical. Let's see if it's possible to have a top-notch blog that doesn't "sell out"

HikerT

I'd give milevalue the benefit of the doubt. That said, it is interesting that the next post after accepting affiliate links was to increase his valuation of UR, and the next post was an affiliate link for Sapphire Preferred. Coincidence? I would say yes, but it's a lot easier to say with a straight face that a credit card sign up is worth $800 when you aren't getting paid to sell it. I don't think his relatively high point valuations work in his favor in this regard.

edotzaue

Personally, I think Mile Value has done a fantastic job with his blog and am happy to see him finally earning some of the referral dollars.

However I do question his recent valuation of the CSP - notably that because you connect directly to a customer service rep instead of a machine, that makes the signup bonus worth an additional $10? Think about how much time this community wastes on the phone, filling out surveys for 50 points and hours spent chasing a deal that ultimately gets cancelled days later... My suggestion to him would be to stick with the nuts and bolts and leave the subjective valuations to his audience.

LKF

I will say this about a lot of the bloggers, yes, they do get an incentive to pump credit cards but like any job you want bonuses on top of getting to do what you love.
I have known one blogger (Mommy Points) for 17 years, which is a LONG, LONG, LONG time before she had a blog. She started her blog because she was seriously passionate about points and LOVED helping others. It has nothing to do with incentive for her. She would, and did, do it for free. She will sit down and talk points and miles with strangers for hours - directing them on how to become familiar with programs and then how to use and earn miles and points. And the fact that she gets to do it for a living and help people is a dream come true for her. She has always been like this, before, during and will be after, her blogging days are over.
Now, this is just one blogger and I am sure this type of ethics and care is not shown by all bloggers. But I do wish before we judge, that maybe we realize some of these bloggers have the passion for this and really want to direct and help us.

HikerT

Is this the same MommyPoints that came up with one of the lamest excuses ever to encourage readers to use her affiliate link for Ink Plus offer over the non-affiliate offer just to make a referral?

boardingarea.com/blogs/mommypoints/2012/11/11/unique-opportunity-to-choose-between-ink-sign-up-bonuses/

I have no doubt she started out with a passion to help others, but like many bloggers, her advice is tainted by referrals. With Ink Plus offering 0% interest for 6 months ANYONE can meet $5K of spend. Just buy $5K of gift cards at OD, liquidate via Amazon Payments over 5 months. No reason to give up 25K UR or be stuck with 10K spend just to give a blogger a $150 referral.

oneworld82

www.airwaysandtravels.com - great trip reports!