DavidAL

[Moderator edit] If it was fraud, why didn't every other retailer pull them also? Do you really think that OD managers have all the info? The deal got too much exposure in a matter of a week thanks to hundreds of blog posts from MMS, TPG, FTG, and every BA blogger under the sun. The next week (on a Saturday mind you) the deal was dead. Not because of fraud, but over exposure. My OD managers told me they were just getting in new VR's and the batch was loaded improperly. But I guess I should believe them because their name tag says "Manager" on it.

mnscout

I don't know how the boarding area operates. Are you saying that every blogger gets the same cut from the CC affiliate links regardless of their actual contribution and the following? I seriously doubt that's the case. Maybe some folks with a better knowledge can enlighten us as to how Boarding Area affiliate program works

Secondly, have you ever thought why "pimping" credit cards, as you put it, works wonders? Like it or not--and I understand you don't--but there is absolutely nothing in the whole flyertalk arsenal that could bring results even nearly as spectacular as a few good CC sign up bonuses. These are facts even if they are hard to swallow.

JSteele

I am not saying the mgr word is authoritative, but I would take his word over the preposterous assumption that I killed VR at OD. There are 1,100 OD stores in the US and Canada. Do you really think my purchase of 40 VRs, (which happened months before the shutdown) showed up on anyone's radar?

You could perhaps speculate (with scant evidence) that people who purchased VRs at OD, like me and others, shut down the deal, but don't go calling me the OD Slayer with a serious face.

DavidAL

Reread my post. I never said you were the OD Slayer. I said the bloggers were. But the "fraud" excuse is lame, and I hope you don't seriously believe that.

JSteele

Fraud makes sense actually.Why else would they pull all cards at once? Why not just wait until they sell out. What I was told by the OD mgr was that several stores here in Denver were hit by people who purchased VRs with stolen cards. This happened elsewhere and OD then took immediate action to pull them.

Sounds totally plausible to me, although you could also be right. My evidence supports the fraud theory. Do you have any evidence supporting yours?

Sorry if you thought I was accusing you of accusing me of being the VR slayer.

DavidAL

And while we're discussing deals being killed for various reasons, of which we disagree, JSteele, do you think you're contributing to deals potentially being killed by your recent blog posts via TPG? Just not sure what your intentions are by doing math for people that can't do math themselves.

If the deals you're blogging about do die soon, it will be pretty obvious why they died, so you will have fingers pointing at you, as well as all the other bloggers that have discussed it.

Edit to add response:
My 3 OD's all said they had no problems with fraud. In fact, they were sad they couldn't sell me anymore. In a previous thread that got closed I stated my evidence. The deal lasted for months, with no problem. Less than 10 days after the first blogger exposed it, followed by every other blogger exposing it, it was shut down. So you think it's just "coincidence" that fraud shut it down the same week every blogger discussed it?

JSteele

Finally, we've reached the heart of the secret formula here, MATH. From now on I will only write that you could have made 2,500 UR by buying one VR. But I will never say that you could have made 25,000 UR with 10 VRs, or 250,000 UR with 100 VRs, etc.

As long as we keep this multiplication stuff under wraps, the deals will never die and all the points and miles will be ours.

JSteele

FM wrote about VR at OD in May, it got shut down in November. I don't follow?

gpapadop

Jason:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Do you really think that others are not maxing out 50k on their Ink Bold and Ink Plus cards?

Of course not. But I don't know anyone who did it at a $20k pop at a time!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Is it the fact that I did it in one trip? Would you feel better if I went to OD 40 times?

Yes No one is accusing YOU for shutting the deal of course. All we are saying that blogs constantly writing about these deals, $20k at a pop, well, increases attention & brings in the cardinals sooner rather than (much) later.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>VR at OD got shut down for fraud. I was told that directly from OD managers. People bought VR on stolen credit cards.

I am not so sure about that! Why haven't they been pulled from other places and only OD?? Was it because you did NOT buy anything else and OD was losing money every time? We may never know.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>For me, I will try to find as many points and miles as I can for me and my family.

Yep. The whole game has changed from a "let's all take it easy, milk the deals slowly, don't draw up too much attention, yes a few greedy ones will ALWAYS be present" to a freaking fest for all "blogs are posting it now, let's just all go for the kill, maximize all u can get asap....as it is going to get killed shortly"...It is a new paradigm

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Finally, I am a freelancer, I don't personally make money from affiliate links, I just enjoy writing.

Dude, you write very well! Why don't you start your own blog and bang this stuff out, get aff cc links soon, and u will be amazed how many points and miles you can BUY for you and your family. Then you can hire contributing editors while you roam the world in luxury

I think I am the only blogger who reviews other bloggers and rants about them....This thread is starting to resemble the "blogs killing deals" thread now. oh oh I feel a moderator intervention coming

JSteele

Hey man, I love your blog and what you write as well. Trust me, I have thought about starting my own (money making) blog and probably will some day. But for now, there are plenty of people who will actually pay me good money to write about credit cards, travel, points and miles, etc. I don't have to worry about coding, links, social media, monitization, and other non-fun stuff. I just write and have fun doing it!

DavidAL

So I'm assuming the bolded above was your intention for talking so much about VR's via TPG? Just as long as you admit that, I'm fine with that. You can't just say if it also dies a quick death that you weren't involved in bringing about that death.

As to FM in May, he used this crazy tactic that I think he's in the minority camp, which is called discretion. FTG "hinted" at in May also, but didn't post it with bells and whistles until every other blog did when it died.

JSteele

What was discrete about "One card to rule them all?" I'd say it pretty much laid out everything there is to know about VR at OD. But I don't blame him, I have personally thanked him.

I don't think VR will die. Frankly, it is almost dead already. It is very hard to to buy VR with a CC anywhere you go. It was like that before I wrote about it.

I write for a living, so that is my motive. I do math, but I don't try to kill deals.

QL_714

When he posted back in May about VR’s he completely missed the boat on how to exploit these. This is the same for almost all bloggers. Take away the forums and they have no ideas of there own. Do you follow NOW?

HikerT

Yes, my understanding is every blogger on BA is automatically approved. I would venture to guess everyone gets the same payout since BA probably gets a cut.

I was responding to your claim that bloggers needed to add value to post referral links. I pointed out you were mistaken. Now you respond with a another assertion, state it as fact, infer there is disagreement, and claim it's something that's hard to swallow? Hilarious.

As far as pimping working wonders, I agree! Why do you think bloggers go out of their way to draw in as many noobs as they can? It's not just about helping noobs, it's about making their readership as large as possible for the monetization potential, whether that be affiliate links or selling and cashing out the future income stream. It's somewhat ironic that those who lobby for discretion tend to be depicted as selfish.

gpapadop

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>HikerT said: "Why do you think bloggers go out of their way to draw in as many noobs as they can? It's not just about helping noobs, it's about making their readership as large as possible for the monetization potential, whether that be affiliate links or selling and cashing out the future income stream."

Bingo!^ This is what it's all about these days.

My blog is about picking through all that and serving my reader the best and the worst posts of the day, hopefully with some humor. One thing for sure, the bills for my therapist sessions has gone way down since I started blogging