QL_714

You can say it all you want but it does not make it so. How about we use a little common sense? If fraud is the issue why wasn’t Amex/VS/MC GC’s pulled also. Can’t these be bought with stolen credit cards?

haydensydney

I try to take a light hearted approach on my blog and it seems to be working well so far. My most visited stories are my 'Whingers of the Week' column which pokes fun at some of the weeks worst travel complaints. Some even come from FT

If you're bored, check it out.

http://flymefunky.com/

Randy Petersen

There seems to be some questions here and while unfortunate that all of the "information" being offered is actually false, I'll try and provide the fine members of FlyerTalk with a few of the facts.

Likely you did not know that the first blog ever for the frequent flyer was created by FlyerTalk in 1999 (before the term blog was ever invented) and was created to pass along information and advice for the first ever "massive DO" when members showed up in Hawaii for a really well planned and wonderful 'Party In Paradise'. Just another thing to be proud of.

So let's get to answering questions about BoardingArea since mnscout asked a question.

First of all, contrary to what "was told" to both HikerT and elBulli and likely others, BoardingArea itself has never considered or part of any affiliate program. It doesn't not belong to any credit card affiliates and the website made a conscious decision when it began a few years ago to stay independent of any influences when choosing to host various bloggers. Anything you see as an affiliate is a decision solely made by the independent blogger without any tutoring for such. They make their decisions just as they likely would if they were hosted on any of the hundreds of independent or dependent hosting platforms. So when you have any observation in this area, balance these facts against each and every other bloggers in the universe because it may be a little known fact but bloggers outside of the area of rewards credit card also belong to and support affiliate programs. Because of the way BoardingArea is structured, BoardingArea does not and never has received any affiliate style income and that earned by the independent bloggers is a direct relationship they enjoy without any contact with BoardingArea directly or indirectly. Looks like Urban Myth #1 has now been put to bed. So, let's move on to Urban Myth #2 .... "HikerT: Yes, my understanding is every blogger on BA is automatically approved." This could be read two different ways. First, any blogger looking to find a blogging host on BoardingArea is not automatically approved. We currently have a list exceeding 80 bloggers who have applied to be hosted on BoardingArea so it's not about quantity but rather we strike to blend quality. I think you'll find some unique blogs such as ModHop that we feel are very different and yet valuable to the sub-sets of travelers who find value in reading blogs. And we host one of the only true Chinese language blogs about miles + points here:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/tmtravelworldcn/

But, we're pretty picky and actually we have fewer blogs being hosted today than we had one year ago. As well, one might read the above quote and understand it is referring that if a blogger is hosted on BoardingArea they automatically are approved for an affiliate program. Frankly I can't answer that since we are not participants in these programs, have never been asked and actually would refuse to serve as a sponsor to an affiliate approval. I think that answer lies in the actual facts that there are thousands of bloggers outside of rewards cards that have ben approved into affiliate programs even when being hosted independently on their own. Again, another Urban Myth is laid to rest.

In fact, BoardingArea operates on a reverse of what the other Urban Myths that are presented here as information. We only earn revenue based on several differing scales from the income that the bloggers of BoardingArea earn from the general, not affiliate, advertising campaigns that are run across the main pages of the website, similar to the ads you see here on FlyerTalk and almost all other websites you might visit. So there goes Urban Myth #3.

Anyway, i hope this helps those who have been given incorrect information about BoardingArea and as well maybe steer things back on topic which I thought was about valuable blogs rather than how bloggers are compensated for their efforts if they personally chose so.

One lasting thing about blogs, and I'm pretty comfortable discussing their invent and application in and amongst the frequent flyer crowd .... I wrote that first blog for FlyerTalk in 1999! Anyway, there is a trend that blogs are really not about the affiliate programs some belong to as suggested in some posts. In fact it would appear that bloggers serve an important and growing role in the information choice of the frequent flyer. Because of the time it takes to read thread after thread and post after post, many are opting more and more to read blogs as a recap of likely what they really need to know. I think this might be best illustrated by this generalized traffic graphic from Alexa.com which would seem to indicate that general traffic trends for online frequent flyer readers is to the blogs:
http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/...readers.52923/

Anyway, appreciate the opportunity to correct a few things and as well, try to make FlyerTalk more useful in the factual information that its readers are seeking. All good and best of all the holidays to all my fellow members of FlyerTalk.

JCary

Well said. Thank you Randy!

Tiki

Getting back to the topic of "What is the most useful frequent flyer blog?" it's going to be a different answer for everyone depending on what you are looking for.

People wanting to know the best info on mileage runs, getting status or Vanilla cards will have no interest in my blog, but someone who has 200,000 miles on a major airline and wants to do something different like fly to Peru and stay at a jungle lodge and see wild birds would find value.

I don't seek elite status, am not within physical proximity of an OD store (or similar) so there are some blogs which won't have value for me. I do want to know which airlines have a first or business class that is worth the extra miles and which hotels provide a good redemption value so certain other blogs will have value.

I can scan the headlines of about 80 blogs in a few minutes via Google reader so I don't need a blog which aggregates other blogs. I do see value on learning what "deals" are being widely discussed as it impacts on everyone in certain ways. The deal may be on its way to being killed, or over-utilization of the deal may lead to scarcity of award space.

HikerT

Randy, thanks for the clarification but I was told by one of your bloggers that bloggers on BoardingArea are automatically approved for credit card affiliate links by one of the affiliate programs. While this may not be a specific agreement BoardingArea has with the affiliate, I would be surprised if you were not aware of this, or if the blogger gave me bad information.

As far as high standards for BoardingArea, I disagree. There are several bloggers who add little to no value and are nothing more than shills. I won't name them specifically as the mods here seem quite sensitive to that.

As far as who created the first travel blog, who invented what, etc, lol! Reminds me of the mileage manager comments here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...h-award-walle/

Tiki

I don't think it is so much an agreement the banks have with Boarding Area rather than the exposure and Google rankings enjoyed by BA. The banks are probably more likely to do business with a BA blogger because of all the cross-promotion between them and hat-tipping. There seems to be a definite pecking order with certain BA blogs getting promoted over other ones and mandatory links to the "top ten" on all BA blogs with no reciprocity requirements on the part of the "top ten" to link back to newbie BA bloggers or less popular ones.

And I agree with you about the "high standards". Some of the BA bloggers do have a high standard, others seem to be there to prop each other up.

yerffej201

True. Niche blogs are very important too. Like mine!

I'm pretty sure that they're not automatically approved, but the page views they get from being under the "BoardingArea" Banner will definitely meet the requirements for affiliates.

Tiki

LOL, I've been picking up very few readers from FT, most of my hits are coming from search engines. If only I could persuade the major eco-lodges to form an alliance, create elite levels and bonus points for each bird species spotted, I'd be cleaning up! Anyone want to be a Platinum Birdwatcher?

The Weekly Flyer

This is not the case HikerT. Incorrect information.

The Weekly Flyer

I generally concur. But what about the Points, Miles & Martinis guys?

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/pointsmilesandmartinis/

HikerT

Are you saying there are bloggers on BoardingArea that have been denied by FlexOffers?

I recall ScottRick could only post Chase links for a while, due to his blog name, but not sure if he was using FlexOffers at the time. Recently he blogged that he is using a different affiliate manager than everyone else.

http://hackmytrip.com/2012/05/my-nam...ard-affiliate/

http://hackmytrip.com/2012/12/the-links-are-back/

gpapadop

Thanks Randy for the very useful response!

So, Mr Original Blogger, who do YOU think is the most useful frequent flyer blog so we can finally wrap up this thread?

MileageUpdate

We try to leave out the blog posts that offer multiple CC links and focus on the articles that have some meat in them.

Mountain Trader

What a trivial complaint. She made the choice obvious and provided reasons for going either way.