HikerT

Who will hold them accountable then? If you see a blogger push a sub-par offer because of a referral would you look the other way speak up? I don't necessarily tune out certain bloggers as much as I lose respect for them. When it comes time to apply, I give referrals to the ones that have earned it.

RewardTraveler

+1 I treat blogs as just another source of information.

tjbrooks

+1 - and correct the bloggers (in their comments section and in threads like these) when they give bad/self-serving advice.

craz

Sorrty to disagree with You. I do believe that a few yrs ago the site owners or bloggers, were there to help people and hopefully cover their expenses.I Dont believe that is the case today. If say bank Pan came out with a CC that was the BEST however they wont pay a single dime for referrels I believe that many sties or bloggers wont make mention of it least a person apply for and get that CC and not 1 where they would have made some $$. Im not saying all of them but over the yrs I did post about some CCs and the posts were Deleted. Simple reason if they cant make a buck off it then they wont have it on their site/blog

So are you saying once you get in enough referrels to cover your costs that you give everything else away to a Charity other then your own pocket?

HikerT

Just my two cents but you shouldn't have a page of "top deals" if you're going to abdicate responsibility to others to email you of better offers.

http://thepointsguy.com/top-deals/

For starters, Chase Freedom is a fairly popular card right now. Why does your "top deals" page link to the 20K offer for Chase Freedom when there is a 30K offer?

Similarly, I don't see the 40K USAirways listed. Strange how this card doesn't make the "top deals" while the 10K Capital One Venture card does!

CodeAdam10

Since when did we become the jury for the monetizing bloggers case? Or heck, why are they on trial anyways? For making $$ in corporate America?

I can't help but think a lot of the feedback here is due to (some) level of jealousy.

The same people who post about keeping miles-earning "tricks" a secret (don't let the cat out of the bag crowd) worrying about the general public not getting the "best" offer? Seems like double standards to me.

tjbrooks

These bloggers (MommyPoints especially, IMO) supply a ton of useful/thoughtful/entertaining content besides just links to credit cards. I think that's being mostly ignored here. Clicking on their link for a credit card gives me the same exact deal, but nets them some payment for all of the other content they've generated. Why should they have to give all profits back to charity?
Almost all of them use some of that money to purchase giveaways to their readers, redirects freebies to them, TPG pays guest posters, FTG donates his book profits to Wounded Warrior...

HikerT

Well, that's the key, whether or not their link in fact gets you to the best offer. From what I've seen mommypoints highlights the best offer up front, even if it doesn't get her a referral. Compare her "top offers" page with TPG:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mommyp...it-card-deals/

http://thepointsguy.com/top-deals/

mrredskin

i check rick and brian's blog daily. they provide/consolidate a lot of useful info that i find worthwhile for me. rick's seems to be more geared toward the average traveler. i think brian's can be a bit out of touch with a lot of us, tho, since he often seems to book $1000+ tix what seems to be every few weeks. also, since it is his business, i assume the vast majority of it is a tax write-off. a lot of his pricy "deals" are even cheaper for him since he will get a portion of it back as a business expense. he does, however, provide a wealth of knowledge when it comes to booking award and partner tix.

i have noticed that often times another blogger is referenced for one of the tips or hints referenced in another blogger's post that was actually discovered or discussed on here, first.

mrredskin

i would disagree with the Chase SW card. there is currently a 50k mile promo going on that trumps the 25k post on hers...

craz

I wasnt saying they arent entitled to make any $$, its just they should have been up front about it and many arent.they wanted everyone to think they found a linkand as a Favor they are posting it. Some wont even mention hey Dont use my link since theres a better one out there that they wont let me use, or Bank Pan has a great CC for those who want rebate $$ instead of Mile sor pts. They simply want what will put teh most $$ into their pockets

I can say I never read MPs blog and I firmly believe that as each day passes theres another site or blogger that opened up their business, that few if any new sites/blogs will offer anything that those who have been around dont

Havent read FTG in along time, and once it was sold I heard it got worse. At 1 time he was way above all the $$ stuff then he changed and bingo I found although hes better then the avg site, its now a for business site where making $$ is the main object. What he once had is now gone and was sold out for the $.

DD forget about it IMO 1 of the Worst sites where all that matters is getting as much $$ into the owners pocket, and is a combo of anything and everything as long as a Buck can be made. Hed be pushing Buggy Whips if he thought he could get his followers to buy them, yep anything for a Buck

Its very different today then it was say 10 yrs ago, yea people were making a few bucks back then but I do feel their main concern was getting the info out rather then making as much as they could. Today I feel its the complete opposite and simply Spin the " Hey Im here for You and Looking Out for You" as a means to increase their readership so as to rack in the $$

HikerT

She is linking to the 50K southwest offer. She highlights the better offer first (before her link). She does the same with the Chase Freedom offer, highlighting the better 30K offer first.

mrredskin

the title showed 25k. i didn't look at the update in italics, as it brought the least amount of attention to my eye, so my mistake.

however, that link "still seems to be working" because it hasn't stopped working for the past month or two. the 25k shouldn't even be referenced.

ramalama8

Just curious for those who know...

How much does a blogger make off of a referral anyway? $20? $200? That probably makes a significant difference in which cards they might push...

HikerT

There can be a good reason to put up both links. You can apply for a lower Chase offer and get matched to the higher offer (as long as it's not a targeted offer). So you have the choice to give your favorite blogger a referral while still getting the better offer. In fact, I'd advise the OP to do that if they got shortchanged.