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Originally Posted by farwest101
(Post 24109509)
I find it a bit ludicrous to be criticizing a bunch of CC shills who masquerade as "experts" and pimp CC links all day long. They compete with banksters, financial advisors, lawyers and used car salesmen for the bottom of the ethical hierarchy.
On another note, fraud is fraud. Should not matter if it "less serious". I was on hold for 1 hour and 59 minutes last night calling AAdvantage. I would probably make a post about this and try to pump some AA cards but...I won't. :cool: |
[QUOTE=gpapadop;24110640]Do not generalize please :D
/QUOTE] Lol. Need to edit to add "commission-based financial advisors" to the list of predatory vermin preying on noobs and the incompetent. |
Originally Posted by Astrophsx
(Post 24102969)
This is going off topic. The thread is about bloggers posting wrong or misleading advice. There is always going to be a group on Flyertalk critical of bloggers.. which is why they pushed these conversations to an "external miles" section. I would say a majority of readers have no clue these conversations even exist, hence why they get so upset when people point out wrong/misleading information, click bait, killing deals, or pushing links. I would think that out of the most popular bloggers that Ben posts the most accurate information. He may have his own style of writing and opinions, but I think in this thread we should focus in on the actual posting of wrong or misleading information.
Perhaps we can take the general OMMAAT discussion to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exter...aat-stuff.html |
First MileCards posts totally wrong information in the post Southwest Points Are Now Worth MORE Than Before – Here’s When and then VFTW picks it up and spouts the inaccuracy further with this post Are Southwest Points Sometimes Worth Even More Post-Devaluation?
For the correct information, where else to turn? FT, of course! :D Here: Reload this Page Post Your POINTS PER DOLLAR (Pts/$1) Rapid Rewards Award Booking Ratios Here Their errors lie in failing to look only at BASE fare (as described in the linked FT thread). If they did, they would see that, prior to the recent devaluation, all award flights were priced at 70 points per $1 of base fare and afterwards, the absolute best one could hope for is 70 points per $1 of base fare but many flights cost 74, 76, 78, or 80 points per base fare now. Since, it'll probably be deleted/modified once they actually realize their errors, here are the incorrect blog posts for posterity. MileCards: Southwest Points Are Now Worth MORE Than Before – Here’s When Earlier this month, Southwest completely changed the way it values your points. Instead of every Wanna Get Away fare being for sale at the fixed exchange rate of 70 points for a dollar of airfare, it decided to let that exchange rate vary. Some flights it could be higher (more expensive), others would stay at the usual 70 point per dollar rate. When we looked at prices just after the change, it was generally bad news. Many flights went up in price to 75 or 80 points needed per dollar of airfare, while the rest stayed at the 70 point per dollar rate. But there is some good news to report…. Southwest just announced a nationwide fare sale that’s open until May 7th, and we were surprised to see the marketing explicitly mention how low the fares are IN POINTS, and not just the cash prices. Which got us to double checking the point exchange rates being offered. And looking at the prices, it appears Southwest now offers some flights at a BETTER point exchange rate of 65 points per dollar. Here are some examples from the current fare sale, with the prices before taxes: http://milecards.com/wordpress/wp-co...2.24.30-PM.png So the lesson is… Save your Southwest points for flights that are on sale. Southwest wants you to use points during times when it’s having a harder time filling planes, so it’s willing to give a better price in cash, and now, it’s willing to give you an even better deal in value for your points, by stretching them further. You can see destinations that are on sale here. Not all sale priced flights offer the good 65 point per dollar rate, but many do. And some that aren’t on sale do as well. In some ways, this is like the way JetBlue handles its mileage program, with less expensive flights generally available at a more favorable point exchange rate. In 2013 Southwest proved that even revenue-based programs devalue. Just two years into their new program they reduced the value of points on Wanna Get Away fares from 1.67 cents apiece to 1.43 cents apiece. Then mid-April they devalued again, breaking away from having a fixed value for points. Instead of being revenue-based where points are worth a certain amount period, or a certain amount for certain types of fares, they now have a value which changes — and is unpublished. It appeared initially as though it cost 70 to 80 points per dollar for ‘Wanna Get Away’ fares — the more expensive the fare, the more you need your points, the less valuable they become. It does appear though that it’s possible to do better than 70 points per dollar now. It’s not possible to do as well as prior to the 2013 devaluation, but as MileCards noted you may be able to get 65 points per dollar when redeeming for certain sale fares. So they’re making your points worth a little more than before (but not as much as they used to be worth) when planes are empty enough to warrant a sale. That makes sense. On the absolute cheapest fares, when you’d otherwise just pay cash, you can get a better value for your points. |
LOL - MileCards.com still doesn't get it after my explanation (at least not yet).
Here was my explanation: This post is wrong. Look at the FT and maybe you’ll understand that pre-devaluation ratios were based on BASE fares. You are comparing apples and oranges in this post. @FindAWay – All the calculations above use base fares. The latest FT calculations weren’t made while the current fare sale is in effect. Take a look at LAX-MDW on 5/23. The 5:10pm is pricing at $149.90 base fare ($164 all in). Southwest is asking for 9,761 points. That’s 65 points per dollar off the $149.90 base fare. Other flights and times vary, but 65 point per dollar ratios do now exist. Question is will they disappear when the fare sale ends. Base Fare $139.44 + Excise Taxes $10.46 SUBTOTAL $149.90 + Segment Fee $4.00 + Passenger Facility Charge $4.50 + Security Fee $5.60 Total per Passenger $164.00 x 1 Passenger(s) Total $164.00 So, I posted (as it is awaiting moderation...I bet it'll never see the light of day): @MileCards.com. NOPE! You’re Wrong. Base Fare on those flights is $139.44. Excise Taxes are $10.46….you’re adding the two. Please see this post on FT to understand the error of your ways: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...tios-here.html Let’s do some math: 9,761/$139.44 = 70 points per $1 of base fare. Do you understand yet? |
At least MileCards has now corrected/updated, which is refreshing to see: Southwest Points Are (Not) Worth More Than Before
Update – Ignore our speculation. Thanks to FindAWay and William for pointing out we were using the wrong base fare – 70 points per dollar is still the lowest ratio available. Earlier this month, Southwest completely changed the way it values your points. Instead of every Wanna Get Away fare being for sale at the fixed exchange rate of 70 points for a dollar of airfare, it decided to let that exchange rate vary. Some flights it could be higher (more expensive), others would stay at the usual 70 point per dollar rate. When we analyzed prices and ratios just after the change, it was generally bad news. Many flights went up in price to 75 or 80 points needed per dollar of airfare, while the rest stayed at the 70 point per dollar rate. Southwest just announced a nationwide fare sale that’s open until May 7th, and we were surprised to see the marketing explicitly mention how low the fares are IN POINTS, and not just the cash prices. Which got us to double checking the point exchange rates being offered. So the lesson is..save your Southwest points for flights that are on sale. Southwest wants you to use points during times when it’s having a harder time filling planes, so it’s willing to give a better price in cash, and its variable pricing sometimes gives you a better deal in value for your points on cheaper flights, by stretching them further. You can see destinations that are on sale here. In some ways, this is like the way JetBlue handles its mileage program, with less expensive flights generally available at a more favorable point exchange rate. As for VFTW, nearly 3 hours later and my comments remain awaiting moderation and Gary has not changed anything in the post. |
Originally Posted by FindAWay
(Post 24745203)
As for VFTW, nearly 3 hours later and my comments remain awaiting moderation and Gary has not changed anything in the post.
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Originally Posted by eponymous_coward
(Post 24745735)
Originally Posted by FindAWay
(Post 24745203)
As for VFTW, nearly 3 hours later and my comments remain awaiting moderation and Gary has not changed anything in the post.
As Joe Friday would say, these are just the facts. You added "whole". Not me.. Reread what you quoted with that in mind. Or not, because you seem to attribute opinion where none was. |
Originally Posted by FindAWay
(Post 24745936)
Also, VFTW had made 2 additional new blog posts in the interim.
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Originally Posted by eponymous_coward
(Post 24746003)
You do know you can queue blog posts in publishing systems to publish at specific times, right? So I wouldn't impute anything by that fact, if we're going to strictly discuss facts.
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Gary is one of the founders of the Freddie Awards, which take place tonight in Atlanta. He's a bit busy at the moment I'd bet.
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Originally Posted by bthotugigem05
(Post 24746244)
Gary is one of the founders of the Freddie Awards, which take place tonight in Atlanta. He's a bit busy at the moment I'd bet.
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Thanks Find A Way for taking up the cause, I tried to explain in my original comment that his calculations were wrong and was told I was wrong so I just gave up. Glad to see that MileCards has updated the post, I'm sure Gary will do the same soon.
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Glad to see both corrected their posts. For bloggers that hold themselves out as experts*, mistakes on such a basic thing as the WN RapidRewards points calculation shouldn't really be happening. Particularly when it was quite easy to quickly fact check (on the FT thread or independently) and when it took more than one try by commenters to point out their errors.
*MileCards: Experts In The Loyalty Field, With MileCards.Com Analysis and Insight Cited In Dozens Of Publications |
Originally Posted by Doctor of Credit
(Post 24747654)
Thanks FindAWay for taking up the cause, I tried to explain in my original comment that his calculations were wrong and was told I was wrong so I just gave up. Glad to see that MileCards has updated the post, I'm sure Gary will do the same soon.
Yes, I definitely appreciate how quickly MileCards reacted. No one is perfect and errors are made by all of us - it is part of being human. VFTW updated his post within the past hour (so, a bit more than a full day after several comments to the post noted that it was erroneous) with the following at the top: Update: Sadly no such bargains to be found, I reported on this without checking the math. Still just 70 points per dollar the best you can do. |
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