sbm12

Is there a collection of these?

My favorite today is a handful of claims for "A $100 ticket to Tahiti" or "$100 Tickets to Tahiti, Anyone?" The actual cost is closer to $150 and that's before taking in to account that it only works if you start in Hawaii.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

tjbrooks

There's about one per page on First2Board.
When I saw that $100 Tahiti headline I knew what was coming. Although I thought it would be the $49 annual fee for the card + $50 taxes. No mention/research that its a once-weekly service, what's avalilability like, card sign-up bonus offers, Amex transfers....
"Deals in Action: July 4th week in Ireland for less than Ocean City MD? I’m not taking the piss out of ya!" A typical application of selective mathematics from DealMommy. Considers 100K Avios to have $0 value, requires credit cards with $95-450 annual fees (bonus bad car rental advice!)
"Trip Report: Everything You Need To Know About Israel" based on a four night (first-time?) trip to the major tourist sites.

Each of these could have been a good article, but instead each was oversold with the headline. Do they think that strategy works in the long-term?

oliver2002

I Germany we have an innovative guy posting how to get to the middle east for 95€ (plus taxes) each month: http://www.first-class-and-more.de/

This months calculation is:
Get a DKB checkin account for 10k M&M, have your monthly salary go there for another 10k, apply for a M&M CC (95€ annual fee) for 20k. Bingo, enough miles for a C round trip to AUH/MCT/DOH/DXB (olus about 340€ in taxes and YQ...)

84fiero

There was one on BoardingArea not long ago, can't remember which blog, but the headline was something to the effect of travel to Tahiti or Fiji (forgot which) in a premium cabin, for some super low mileage amount. Well turns out it was true, if you were originating from New Zealand. Unless s/he has a lot of kiwi readers, wasn't very cool to do.

The comments really called the person out on it as misleading. To the blogger's credit, they did later edit the title, though after some initial protesting.

Also, frequently when a mega deal has come and gone, and later comes back with a sort-of-similar bonus, but harder to meet (much bigger minimum spend, bonus spread over 12 months, etc), we'll see blog posts such as "AMEX 75K Business Gold Offer is BACK!" only now requires $10K spend instead of $5K, just as an example.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs on semantics but to state that a popular big bonus offer "is back" implies to me that the same exact offer (including T&Cs) is once again live. You can usually see some comments to the post from people who were excited and ready to jump on it, and turned off when the terms have changed making it no longer so appealing.

I get that there is only so much space for a headline or whatever, but there are other ways of conveying it that aren't so misleading, IMHO

hulagrrl210

The whole Tahiti thing was meant to be a fun, thought-provoking look at what I thought were some of the better redemptions with Virgin America. I absolutely did mention the AMEX transfer and if $100 is too rich for your blood you could easily get the same ticket for cheaper with something like the 75k AMEX offer that I've seen whored all over the internet. Similarly the price point would be different if you went about manufacturing spend with gift cards instead of vanilla. The point was to tip people off to what I thought is a great program (elevate) and to hopefully inspire people to take it further and find what they may find valuable from it. Apparently, not everyone wants to go to Tahiti.

If you don't like, don't read, but please don't go flaming people behind their backs. It's rude and unprofessional.

sbm12

I didn't. I told you to your twitter "face" that it was ludicrous. And somehow that was taken as a compliment.

The sad irony is that it was actually a very informative post. It stands up well on its merits without needing the BS tease associated with it.

I could write a post titled "Flights to HNL for $75" and it would be more accurate.



It just wouldn't apply to most people and certainly doesn't rate the excitement. Similarly, this one is very limited in its applicability and the number isn't actually accurate once the final tally is run.

mrpickles

Normally one would post a link to the site so the readers could decide for themselves or determine if this is just nit picking, again. So, I fixed it for you.

The Deal Mommy

Hi TJBrooks, nice to see you again!

It's great to see so many flyertalkers reading my posts, but this post was written (and I put it right at the top) for a very different audience...those who have never even considered credit card signup bonuses part of their travel strategy. So yes, to those people, 100k avios have no value as they have no idea what avios even are!

And about the rental car insurance...agreed. After phone calls to AMEX and Citi today, I have a post scheduled over the weekend with credit to rapid travel chai. Have already thanked him on twitter.

sbm12

Would it not be more appropriate to send a link to the misleading tease rather than the post, particularly when I've acknowledged that the post actually was reasonably informative, once you get past the part where the tease was so misleading.

https://twitter.com/hulagrrl210/stat...68535829094400
or
https://twitter.com/VeryGoodPoints/s...16510009806850
or
https://twitter.com/FrugalTravelGuy/...30638305857536

Like I said above, advertising a "$75 fare to HNL" would be more accurate.

kokonutz

Oh. Yeah. Misleading as hell.

tjbrooks

Looking forward to the update. Do the math right and I'll post it on the helpful posts thread.

The Deal Mommy

You got it. Here's the original post with the math updated...same post, just edited to reflect the $95 BA fee. Took out the Plat entirely and replaced with rewards gold, which which is free first year. Citi thank you is free always, so no change there.

New one just about rental cars going up Sat.

http://first2board.com/thedealmommy/...ocean-city-md/

dgxoxo

Most posts by deltapoints, where he insists THAT YOU MUST HAVE THE DELTA RESERVE CARD (with an affiliate link, of course). Of course, I stopped reading his blog a long time ago, so perhaps this conduct has changed.

gpapadop

Title: 100,000 business Platinum amex (targeted offer).

Halfway into the post...it turns to a mega Chase Ink Bold and Plus affiliate link orgy. Twelve of them (six of each).

Featured in my blog today...well, when I finish the darn post. These type of post should never see the light of the day!

In my humble opinion as always.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz

kokonutz

Title: United Airlines Has Bed Bugs.

Truth: the Willis Tower has bed bugs

A very misleading UA bash by VFTW.


ETA: Now with new title and mea culpa in comments.