Kagehitokiri

unintentionally i think, attempting to be humorous etc

davie355

Anybody sense hypocrisy in the latest running theme: Chinese tourists have bad manners, but a boorish American harassing a Chinese FA is presented as laudable because the pilots allegedly smoke.

cruisr

He has no self awareness.

FallenPlat

Now that's funny. Sometimes the comments here are so off base that they just kill me.

There are lots of rocks -- many, many rocks -- that you can throw at Ben, but "no self-awareness" simply isn't one of them. Anyone who really reads the blog can see this on every page, every day. In fact, it's the self-awareness that goes far to give this blog the edge in readability over the likes of, say, TPG.

(Ok, it's a bit more than just an edge; maybe more like the Grand Canyon. But you get the point.)

So let's talk rocks that are actually legitimate since this is, after all, the place for criticism, right? I'd start with wondering about Ben's approval for the newest and hottest Chase card. He says it's on account of being a Private Client with a long history of loyalty to Chase. Checking, savings, credit cards, multi-year history -- the whole shebang.

Care to speculate about what role, if any, the whole blogging/CC marketing thing played in the decision?

Nice going, by the way, getting to be a private client account holder at 24.

TheBOSman

Possibly not much. TPG blog is even more in bed with Chase, but Brian Kelly (using his name here only to separate him from the blog momentarily) claimed his personal app for CSP went to pending from what I've read.

cruisr

You actually think he has any self awareness? Some of his statements are absurd. He rags on others for doing insensitive things and he's the king of culturally inappropriate behavior. How about the pictures of the prayer room on Saudi Airlines and his comments about that. Maybe I should have used the word. as davie355, hypocrite but in my reading of Ben's post he just doesn't seem to see that he is guilty of the same types of behavior he looks down on others for.

I actually would pick TPG and his staff any day over OMAAT but that's just me.

AAExPlat

Agreed. TPG just doesn't come off as naive as Ben and his staff is head and shoulders above Ben's ragtag team (I will exclude Tiffany from these comments).

FallenPlat

Culturally insensitive, my friend, is not the same thing as having no (or little) self-awareness. I don't think many of us here read One Mile at a Time for the culture. I certainly don't.

I also made it quite clear that I was talking about Ben, not his staff. Ex Tiffany, I truly think his staff constitutes a hard lot to defend.

(Yeah, if you're counting, that's two paragraphs in a row with understatement.)

I've further made clear, as I hope you remember, that I don't care what Ben says or doesn't say about the Middle East. I skip all those posts. For a reason.

To repeat what I said above, there are lots of rocks you can throw at Ben, legitimately. The one you threw just isn't one of them.

I'm still curious about that Chase card thing, though. Anyone have any insight?

kmersh

Preface, I do not know Ben the way you all clearly do, I just read his blog from time to time and use his pictures to show the wife as a way to gauge her interest in going to a specific place or flying a specific airline.

Ben impresses me as basically a kid, a smart kid who has parlayed a hobby into a business, but a kid none the less.

As he grows, he might become more culturally sensitive, there is very little way to determine that today. From when I started in medicine to today, my bedside manner has improved over time as I have matured and very possibly Ben might mature as he grows older and becomes more culturally sensitive and more self aware, or he may not.

What is of interest to me is that he really seems to amp up people's emotions regarding his behavior.

This is a dude on the internet, he means nothing to me, I have never met him, probably will never meet him, if he wants to act like a complete jerk, I may not act the same way, but it is his right to act in whatever way he wants. Further more I can only speak for myself, but I honestly do not care how he makes his money. I realized early on that he is sponsored or in some way supported by the Credit Card companies and I go in with eyes wide open armed with that knowledge.

Being a Physician as a whole we are notoriously bad at business, but the one lesson I learned many years ago is simple and is especially true in 2016 and beyond, caveat emptor, buyer beware or as my Wife corrects me, human beware, as very little is as it seems anymore.

Adam1222

No one is questioning his "right" to be a jerk. The right to be a jerk doesn't give you freedom from being called a jerk though.

I also find him to be mindbogglingly self-unaware, as I don't think he realizes often how privileged/entitled his self-reported conduct comes off. His post about how he sees himself as an emissary of gay America to the people of the Maldives shows a lack of self awareness to me.

The fact that you consider him a "kid" is hardly a ringing endorsement. Some may say that's pejorative. He's an adult who makes a ton of money and has traveled the world. If he and Ryan Lochte are kids, than man I've been missing out on my childhood the past 15 years. "As he grows"? He's been at this quite awhile already. Even when I was a kid, probably by age 8, I didn't find it awesome for a person to berate a flight attendant. And I hadn't even flown first class or interationally at all at the time!

As for the caveat emptor stuff, that assumes information symmetry. You may not care how he makes his money, but other readers might. A lot of readers of these blogs know nothing about China other than what Ben blogs about China, for example. They know nothing about Chase cards other than what Ben tells them about Chase cards. There is a reasonable argument that people are responsible for their ignorance, but there's also an entirely reasonable argument that the marketplace only works because people (or a government regulator) call out bad behavior.

If you get called before the Medical Licensing Board, I assume your response will not be "buyer beware."

gpapadop

The CSR is the new CSP

$$$$$$

"It's all about conversions" - Old sell out

ingy

"its all about conversions" - profitable, well timed, retired sell out

FallenPlat

So I give up. You very clearly know something I don't.

I'm not interested in credit cards -- hence my relative ignorance -- but surely a card with a 100,000 point sign-up bonus and only a $150 (net) fee makes a lot of sense, right?

Care to fill me in on what I'm not seeing here?

(Disclaimer: In the past three years, I've pocketed two 100K bonuses.)

jspira

The relationship required for Chase Private Client is not very high, and some bankers will establish accounts with $100,000 although it's supposed to be $250,000.

CPC has nothing to do with the JP Morgan Private Bank, which is an entirely separate operation with a significantly higher relationship requirement. As a JPM PB client, I am not charged any incidental or nuisance fees by the bank and even get a free safe deposit box at a branch. It's a very different banking relationship.

MatthewLAX

I'm so happy for you.