Can you trust bloggers to give you the best offer?
Feb 29, 2012, 1:10 pm
#91
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 152
I think we all need to take a step back and look at things. Why these blogs are here (business or fun) we need to realize they provide free information for us. They are not here to baby or hand hold people. They are a resource of information. To support their sites which cost them money, they must rely on revenue from their site.
Now if you dont believe they are reliable for sources of information, the best thing to do is not read their site. We are here as points addicts and we want the best deals and the most points. One person cannot always offer the best deals and most points.
If you believe these guys can help you and you have benefit from them, then by all means please help them out. At what expense are you willing to give for the benefit you received? Im willing to lose a little as I feel like they have provided for me. We cannot expect one site to be perfect.
What I think is worse than credit card links with lower points or not the best deal is all the reposting of information from website to website or forum to blog. I feel like I should start my own blog and summarize daily flyertalk posts.
Now if you dont believe they are reliable for sources of information, the best thing to do is not read their site. We are here as points addicts and we want the best deals and the most points. One person cannot always offer the best deals and most points.
If you believe these guys can help you and you have benefit from them, then by all means please help them out. At what expense are you willing to give for the benefit you received? Im willing to lose a little as I feel like they have provided for me. We cannot expect one site to be perfect.
What I think is worse than credit card links with lower points or not the best deal is all the reposting of information from website to website or forum to blog. I feel like I should start my own blog and summarize daily flyertalk posts.
Feb 29, 2012, 1:15 pm
#92
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 769
That the post was written by my daughter who is a Rookie and did make a mistake. As for the location of the link in the post, you forgot to mention that we pulled the dispaly ad entirely and switched to a CreditSesame ad as soon as we found the error. And if the location of the one affiliate link in amongst three links is in your eyes more prominent and an indication of our intent to deceive than a single statement indicating an UPDATE, than I suggest you sir have way too much time on your hands.
Maybe instead of criticizing, you'd like to become a blogger as well and try your hand at it???? But I do appreciate you at least acknowledging we did attempt to fix the error. Maybe not to your satisfaction, but we always do try when we find them.
Maybe instead of criticizing, you'd like to become a blogger as well and try your hand at it???? But I do appreciate you at least acknowledging we did attempt to fix the error. Maybe not to your satisfaction, but we always do try when we find them.
If I said that to my boss, I would lose a lot of trust.
Feb 29, 2012, 5:07 pm
#93
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 2,505
In my experience, perhaps all three. I started my website below, I believe before the word blog existed. I did it and am still doing it as my retirement project, because I believe travel is the key to intercultural understanding, and perhaps eventually world peace. I want people to travel. Relatively recently I discovered that card issuers will actually pay me to list with banners the cards I would list anyway. No brainer. But I am discovering financial success from my website that I never initially anticipated, I believe this is because my readers trust me. They know that my top listing in any category is the best one I know about. I may list lower down lesser offers for which I get paid, but only in case the better one(s) disappear before I can remove them.
The newly discovered money is nice. It makes me feel good. But it does not change my life style. I already have more money that I will spend in my remaining life. I would never screw my readers by advocating a lesser offer just for a few extra bucks. I believe that Darius of Million Mile Secrets feels the same way.
The newly discovered money is nice. It makes me feel good. But it does not change my life style. I already have more money that I will spend in my remaining life. I would never screw my readers by advocating a lesser offer just for a few extra bucks. I believe that Darius of Million Mile Secrets feels the same way.
Feb 29, 2012, 8:01 pm
#94
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,632
I think this thread is much ado about nothing, in a sense. As people have said, if you don't like it, don't read. No one owes you anything.
That said, I think most people who run the blogs initially started them because they thought it would be a good way to share their knowledge with people. Then, whadaya know, it turns out you can monetize that and now everyone wants a piece of the pie.
pgary, God bless you that you have more money than you can spend and aren't affected by affiliate links/fees (kind of reminds me about what someone said about Jon Corzine, that he was so rich that no one could bribe him). But lots of people do this as their full time job and, I assume, rely on the money. Nothing wrong with that either. I have a blog on the side (a vegetarian food blog! check it out!), and if suddenly it turned out I could make money off it it, why wouldn't I?
I think there are bloggers, like Darius and Lucky (I'm not as familiar with FTG or TPG), who will link to an offer and say "I make money off of this, but it is the best offer out there" or "I don't get a referral from this, but it's better than the ones that do pay me". I like that. It's honest and up front. Where it gets dicier, and I've noticed this a couple of times, are blogs that make it seem like they're just providing travel tips but hey, did you notice that every post just so happens to recommend that you sign up for the US Airways Barclays Mastercard? (or whatever. that's a fake example).
So do the bloggers owe you anything? Of course not. (With limits, like the FTC's disclosure laws, though they're pretty minimal.) And as people have said, you can always read FT.
But let's be honest, "cracking into" FT can be hard. Post a question in the wrong forum and you get vilified. Ask for basic information and you'll get "read ____ thread" replies. Of course people here are friendly and helpful, but come on, there's quite a degree of clique-ish-ness too.
And that's where the blogs come in. They (purport to) summarize all of this information, sometimes dense and impenetrable information, for the newbies. And that is where I think the blogs do "owe" their readers something. If you hold yourself out as a resource for the relatively-casual traveler, and the information you're providing them is not complete (or is in some way misleading) then I think you're doing a disservice. It's certainly not illegal or maybe not even unethical, but it's taking advantage of someone who isn't acting with full information.
That's why I think this discussion, on FlyerTalk, is much ado about nothing. The people who are regularly on here are probably going to be on top of the offers, etc., regardless of any blog. But I suspect that we're not the target audience of the blogs.
/ramble
That said, I think most people who run the blogs initially started them because they thought it would be a good way to share their knowledge with people. Then, whadaya know, it turns out you can monetize that and now everyone wants a piece of the pie.
pgary, God bless you that you have more money than you can spend and aren't affected by affiliate links/fees (kind of reminds me about what someone said about Jon Corzine, that he was so rich that no one could bribe him). But lots of people do this as their full time job and, I assume, rely on the money. Nothing wrong with that either. I have a blog on the side (a vegetarian food blog! check it out!), and if suddenly it turned out I could make money off it it, why wouldn't I?
I think there are bloggers, like Darius and Lucky (I'm not as familiar with FTG or TPG), who will link to an offer and say "I make money off of this, but it is the best offer out there" or "I don't get a referral from this, but it's better than the ones that do pay me". I like that. It's honest and up front. Where it gets dicier, and I've noticed this a couple of times, are blogs that make it seem like they're just providing travel tips but hey, did you notice that every post just so happens to recommend that you sign up for the US Airways Barclays Mastercard? (or whatever. that's a fake example).
So do the bloggers owe you anything? Of course not. (With limits, like the FTC's disclosure laws, though they're pretty minimal.) And as people have said, you can always read FT.
But let's be honest, "cracking into" FT can be hard. Post a question in the wrong forum and you get vilified. Ask for basic information and you'll get "read ____ thread" replies. Of course people here are friendly and helpful, but come on, there's quite a degree of clique-ish-ness too.
And that's where the blogs come in. They (purport to) summarize all of this information, sometimes dense and impenetrable information, for the newbies. And that is where I think the blogs do "owe" their readers something. If you hold yourself out as a resource for the relatively-casual traveler, and the information you're providing them is not complete (or is in some way misleading) then I think you're doing a disservice. It's certainly not illegal or maybe not even unethical, but it's taking advantage of someone who isn't acting with full information.
That's why I think this discussion, on FlyerTalk, is much ado about nothing. The people who are regularly on here are probably going to be on top of the offers, etc., regardless of any blog. But I suspect that we're not the target audience of the blogs.
/ramble
Feb 29, 2012, 10:32 pm
#95
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Delta DM, SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond, MTA Rust, Hertz Five Star something or other
Posts: 2,858
As for my request, I only asked you to not post false information and mentioned that if you ever had a question about whether one of my links is a referral link, to feel free to email me.
PS Thanks for the constructive feedback- I added the $150 statement credit to the Citi deal. That was not an intentional omission, but I agree with others that you should always research a deal before you go for it- that's what I do at least.
Feb 29, 2012, 11:16 pm
#96
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
TPG, are you planning to add the US Airways 40K?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...5k-benies.html
BTW, the Alaska 40K is long expired - might want to clean that up.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...5k-benies.html
BTW, the Alaska 40K is long expired - might want to clean that up.
Feb 29, 2012, 11:51 pm
#97
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Boston
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum, AA 1MM Lifetime Gold, JetBlue Mosaic (sometimes)
Posts: 138
So after digesting the last 7 pages, I thought I would comment.
I do believe that us bloggers owe our readers honesty. If you claim something is the best, it should be the best. I believe that most bloggers attempt to be honest. Once the pure honesty test is passed, I think we should all allow room for diversity in approach. Some people want a more focused blog, others want a lot of personal touch and others may want lots of pictures. That is why there is more than 1 blog.
I believe there is NEVER an excuse to knowingly claim an offer is the best when you know it is not and are hiding the best offer. I agree with mommy points and others that it is ok to include information on an inferior offer as long as you are clear what is best. I do the same sometimes. To be honest, it allows for a modicum of laziness on my part. I include a section called "Details from the Issuer" that is a bit of web code that hardwires in the issuer's description of the card. This allows me to use short hand and focus on the key benefits without listing all the small stuff. It also automatically updates saving me some time.
There are also cases where the difference to me may be more than the difference to the reader. These could be where a match request would be expected to work or the point differential is much smaller than the potential commission. In such cases, I always post the best offer but let the reader know that it would be helpful to me if they choose the other one. I don't actually expect my readers to do so, I largely keep that information there as a reminder to myself. This way, when a family member wants a card, I can tell them, actually, you should get the card that gives you x-y since it pays me y*2.
I have considered doing what Darius does religiously and let the reader know for each link if it is paid or not. I would like opinions on if I should. I worry that it would hurt the flow and may confuse newbies. Unfortunately for me, many (probably most) of my links are not paid referrals, so it may help me for people to know that.
I also would encourage everyone to call me out when I make a mistake. As someone getting paid for this, you should expect very high standards from me. When I mess up, I deserve to be called on it. I will attempt to fix the error asap (and I won't delete your comments informing me of such error - please keep them civil).
I do believe that us bloggers owe our readers honesty. If you claim something is the best, it should be the best. I believe that most bloggers attempt to be honest. Once the pure honesty test is passed, I think we should all allow room for diversity in approach. Some people want a more focused blog, others want a lot of personal touch and others may want lots of pictures. That is why there is more than 1 blog.
There are also cases where the difference to me may be more than the difference to the reader. These could be where a match request would be expected to work or the point differential is much smaller than the potential commission. In such cases, I always post the best offer but let the reader know that it would be helpful to me if they choose the other one. I don't actually expect my readers to do so, I largely keep that information there as a reminder to myself. This way, when a family member wants a card, I can tell them, actually, you should get the card that gives you x-y since it pays me y*2.
I have considered doing what Darius does religiously and let the reader know for each link if it is paid or not. I would like opinions on if I should. I worry that it would hurt the flow and may confuse newbies. Unfortunately for me, many (probably most) of my links are not paid referrals, so it may help me for people to know that.
I also would encourage everyone to call me out when I make a mistake. As someone getting paid for this, you should expect very high standards from me. When I mess up, I deserve to be called on it. I will attempt to fix the error asap (and I won't delete your comments informing me of such error - please keep them civil).
Mar 1, 2012, 10:51 pm
#98
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
I have a personal short list of blogs I read regularly, though not always daily. I trust each one on this list not to deceive me and to give me the best information they have. I have never had any reason to even question that.
However, I trust none of them to have all the information all the time! That's precisely why I read all of them, otherwise one or two would have sufficed.
I understand that it is humanly impossible to have complete up to date information all the time, especially when it doesn't remain still. Otherwise I wouldn't have needed any blogger---my computer, internet connection, and basic analytical skills (like 75K miles are better than 25K, 5% APR better than 15%, etc) are as good as theirs and I could have found out everything on my own! I can't and I extend the same benefit of doubt to each blogger. As a group they are much more reliable.
However, I trust none of them to have all the information all the time! That's precisely why I read all of them, otherwise one or two would have sufficed.
I understand that it is humanly impossible to have complete up to date information all the time, especially when it doesn't remain still. Otherwise I wouldn't have needed any blogger---my computer, internet connection, and basic analytical skills (like 75K miles are better than 25K, 5% APR better than 15%, etc) are as good as theirs and I could have found out everything on my own! I can't and I extend the same benefit of doubt to each blogger. As a group they are much more reliable.