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Originally Posted by RTW1
(Post 21112037)
I guess people start caring when they start endorsing instead of just slinging it a (paid) advert....but hey, no need for any ethics here.
Due diligence applies here. disclosure: Ethics was my core profession....and I see no ethical dilemma here. You attribute too much power to the endorsement.....one is ultimately responsible for decisions made. Endorsements are a genre and should be read as such |
I agree this endorsement does not go to ethics.
But it does go to credibility. This offer is far from 'a must buy for any savvy traveler.' It certainly is surprising that a 'frequent flyer guru' would sell their credibility for a sponsorship. :( ETA: Hack My Trip finds the offer 'overpriced.' |
Originally Posted by kokonutz
(Post 21112339)
I agree this endorsement does not go to ethics.
But it does go to credibility. This offer is far from 'a must buy for any savvy traveler.' It certainly is surprising that a 'frequent flyer guru' would sell their credibility for a sponsorship. :( ETA: Hack My Trip finds the offer 'overpriced.' Promotions are also a genre and should be understood as such...the use of hyperbole is often present in adverts. a must" As for credibility....it depends. |
Originally Posted by airbus320
(Post 21112521)
Savvy traveler is perhaps a poor choice of words in the advert....and so are the words " a must "
Promotions are also a genre and should be understood as such...the use of hyperbole is often present in adverts. a must" As for credibility....it depends. |
I wonder how many people have bought packages....
actually i think it is a very smart idea, i should have come up with it earlier :D:p:rolleyes: |
Speaking of Randy and his 'endorsements'....
I read a blurb in Money mag the other week which was Best Advice now for saving and spending (Also featured TPG) Fly coach in comfort Flights are always full nowadays, so when I book a long flight, I check to see what type of aircraft I'll be on. Given the option, I choose a Boeing 767, which has fewer middle seats. I try to get an A or a B seat for more elbow room. I wait until the last minute to board and gate-check my bag. I don't have to search for overhead space or get jostled, and I spend less time in a stuffy plane -- the AC usually isn't hooked up on the ground. -- Randy Petersen, editor of InsideFlyer Magazine But the second tip.... that just makes no sense. If you gate-check your bag, you get it back at baggage claim (not plane-side), except for RJ's. So if you KNOW you are going to gate check your bag, why carry it through security? Why wouldn't you just go to the counter and check it immediately? Now maybe Randy really does this. I have no idea. But I'll be honest, my first thought was that he wanted to tell everybody else to do this, so it would reduce the scrum during boarding and create more space for HIS bag on the flight. The fact that this was my first reaction to his advice is rather telling of the perception problem I think he faces by 'endorsing' deals such as this Wall & Main. Many of us know longer believe he is one of us, sad to say. |
Originally Posted by hobo13
(Post 21114493)
Speaking of Randy and his 'endorsements'....
I read a blurb in Money mag the other week which was Best Advice now for saving and spending (Also featured TPG) I don't understand the first tip about A/B but I'll assume the writer got mixed up. (And being based in COS, just how many 767's does Randy see???) But the second tip.... that just makes no sense. If you gate-check your bag, you get it back at baggage claim (not plane-side), except for RJ's. So if you KNOW you are going to gate check your bag, why carry it through security? Why wouldn't you just go to the counter and check it immediately? Now maybe Randy really does this. I have no idea. But I'll be honest, my first thought was that he wanted to tell everybody else to do this, so it would reduce the scrum during boarding and create more space for HIS bag on the flight. The fact that this was my first reaction to his advice is rather telling of the perception problem I think he faces by 'endorsing' deals such as this Wall & Main. Many of us know longer believe he is one of us, sad to say. Re: gate checking a bag, my guess is Randy is trying to write to the "masses" who, if they checked the luggage at the ticketing counter, would have to pay for the checked bag. By gate checking it, they avoid the checked bag fee. Not that I agree with this Wall&Main promo (I don't), but I can understand Randy's tips in the Money mag article you quoted. |
Originally Posted by hobo13
(Post 21114493)
Many of us know longer believe he is one of us, sad to say. FT and MP are businesses. |
Originally Posted by hobo13
(Post 21114493)
The fact that this was my first reaction to his advice is rather telling of the perception problem I think he faces by 'endorsing' deals such as this Wall & Main. Many of us know longer believe he is one of us, sad to say.
But I do have to agree with you - his adivie is geared toward the newbie users and not the old-timers on FT. |
Originally Posted by Mary2e
(Post 21118883)
Flyertalk was a labor of love.
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Originally Posted by kokonutz
(Post 21112339)
I agree this endorsement does not go to ethics.
But it does go to credibility. This offer is far from 'a must buy for any savvy traveler.' It certainly is surprising that a 'frequent flyer guru' would sell their credibility for a sponsorship. :( ETA: Hack My Trip finds the offer 'overpriced.' Here’s an example, one of our fellow road warriors took advantage of an early “friends and family” offer and knew how to leverage these sorts of offers and “invested” $15,000 for 500,000 bonus miles and promptly turned just 240,000 of those miles into two round trip tickets on MileagePlus partner US Airways to Beijing in premium cabins which when priced out would have cost the road warrior $18,704. This person obviously knows how to leverage the miles... Really? That must be news to USAirways that they fly to Beijing! I'm not clear who wrote the email text (someone at MP I assume?) but if the frequent flyer "gurus" are using a supposedly real-life example that doesn't exist in reality, to plug this...then maybe MP is of even less value than I thought! Of course, this whole discussion, and the apparently fictional example above, all hinges on the old argument about how to value miles (what one would have been willing to pay, market price cash ticket at the time, etc). As for the "any savvy traveler" bit - that's a load of BS of course. Sure, advertisements use big exaggerated words, but when the source of that ad quote is also soliciting members of a forum that he heads up, don't be surprised when they get called on it. On MP, they're defending it by downplaying..."hey this only applies to a very few select folks, we know that, etc" Which is true. But knowing your members will see the quote you made on the W&M website when the click to it...not sure why they're surprised at some of the reactions. |
I was wondering on whether this was a scam or not. It seems like a good way to attract frequent fliers.
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Not a scam but imo bad deal.
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Came across Wall&Main.com in an unrelated matter today and found this:
FINALLY!!!!! Thank you for your interest in Wall&Main. After being 32 months late, on November 30, 2015, the SEC finally approved the Title III Crowdfunding rules. It has been 24 months since we delayed Wall & Main’s Phase Two launch scheduled for November 2013. We are eager to continue our quest to provide entrepreneurs with great potential, and individuals with the desire to help them reach that potential, with the most efficient and effective platform to meet and grow their businesses but it is not clear whether these new rules will enable us to do so. We will be studying the rules closely and talking to our attorney’s and advisors over the next few weeks to determine if these rules truly provide the opportunities Congress and the Jobs Act intended for Investors, entrepreneurs, and the crowdfunding portals like Wall&Main, who provide the platform for the two to meet. Our original plan was to begin to crowdfund businesses with two campaign alternatives... a donation/reward platform and an equity/debt platform for accredited investors, and to add the third and most important leg of the stool, an unaccredited investor campaign platform as soon as it was legal. While we believe the first two are both significant opportunities; we formed our business to provide every person, not just the wealthy, the opportunity to invest in quality startups and existing companies looking to expand. Therefore, it is this final piece of the puzzle, at least for Wall&Main, that is critical to our vision. We hope finally that the rules provide the legal framework that will facilitate equity crowdfunding for all investors, big and small…for entrepreneurs start up and established….and for Wall & Main’s investors and team. We hope our initial concerns have been rectified in the approved rules. If they do, it is our intention to bring Wall&Main out of hibernation and continue to pursue our vision that crowdfunding is uniquely suited to help both investors and entrepreneurs ultimately succeed ….in capital, company and job formation. As soon as we make a final determination, we will announce it here at wallandmain.com. Michael D London Chairman/CEO |
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