21st century ponzi scheme!

There is no one in the US happier about the imminent demise of the CFPB than Randy Petersen. Ok, maybe Gary because libertarianism.

Is Randy Petersen really opposed to the existence of the CFPB, or is that just speculation about his thinking?

VFWT’s principal being against the CFPB for ideological reasons doesn’t surprise me. BA’s principal being against the CFPB would be news to me.

I love that God Save the Points is acting like NH serving Hibiki 21 in F is new information. They've been doing it since 2014 (and probably before that but that was the first time I flew them in F). The only thing that has changed is the underlying price of Hibiki 21.

http://www.godsavethepoints.com/2017...ey-first-class

Yeah, I got a bottle of Hibiki 17 in HND duty free for $85 USD in 2014. It's about $200 or more now. :(

For those of us who only read Boarding Area via the Apple News app, is there a way to filer out specific blogs? When you subscribe to the Frequent Flyer topic, you get a bunch of Boarding Area ones such OMaaT, VFTW, etc. but also pure garbage (redundant given we're talking about credit card shills, I know) like the race-baiting No Mas Coach and the how to [redacted] on other people Mommy Points. You can swipe to "dislike" but does that reduce the "type" of stories, stories from Boarding Area in general, or the Frequent Flyer topic as a whole?

Pretty sure you have to switch to subscribing to individual blogs, unfortunately.

I know this is a very weird thing to get emotional about, but a small sense of anger arises whenever I see a link for The Gate appear on screen. Is it just me, or do other people find the branding over the top ridiculous? A beyond cheesy close-up glamour shot of his face that takes up more than half of the logo and throwing his name inside the blog title. I admit that I never once opened any article of his, simply based on principle.

Yeah...that's pretty silly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Doesn't seem that silly to me. To the extent all of these blogs are branded marketing devices for credit cards and hotels, gut reactions to images by consumers matter.

"I won't read any of the stories because I don't like the logo," is pretty silly. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it is incredibly irrational and likely self-defeating if one cares about learning more in general. Doesn't mean Brian's work will appeal to everyone, but if you see an interesting headline then choose to not click it because of the logo that's a pretty strange choice IMO.

I thought about this for a few hours, and decided to respond as a member and not as community director. Of course you are free to your opinion, but to judge content based on the author's picture is a statement about the superficiality of our social media age. The author is a solid active member of FlyerTalk and has been for many years. I know his picture was discussed a few years back; I tried to find the specific post without success. I did find some active conversation about his blog in 2015. I remember Brian coming on here and good naturedly explaining why he uses that head shot. I find it unattractive to be dismissive of his work while freely admitting no knowledge of it.

I remember reading that post as well, and him being self deprecating about the high forehead. I enjoy his blog and his style of writing. I don't read it a lot but like it when I do. He had a wonderful trip report to Muscat and surrounding areas that I just loved. He did probably the most comprehensive review of Tru by Hilton I have read. I find his writing style often warm and engaging with more substance and less flash than many of the blogs in Boarding Area.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exte...l#post27008639 :-:

My point is regardless of whether you think it's silly, if you want people to read your content, it's beneficial for you to know if there's something that's provoking a gut negative reaction and leading someone not to read it. You may dismiss it as meaningless, and surely if it's only one person it won't effect your bottom line. But if 100 people do?

It's weird for people in this forum to all of a sudden suggest that quality of content is the only thing that matters. Consciously or subconsciously, other things drive readers towards or away from particular sites.

Since Boarding Area is a commercial venture, the suggestion that criticism of a blogs logo is somehow inappropriate seems off. The business decision made there is no more out of bounds than the criticism of airline personnel that fills these boards. Note, that's entirely different from saying you disagree with a criticism or think it's silly. I am responding to the post that seemed to suggest this was a wrongful personal attack. It is not. Plenty lovely people have terrible logos and plenty of garbage people have great ones.

it has nothing to do with superficiality of social media. Photos on book jacket covers have been around for decades. It's no different. Boarding Area aims to make each blogger a brand, and the blogs sell a lifestyle and a character just as much as they sell content and credit cards. Maybe we could all agree that all written material would be judged on the quality of its content alone, but then several of the most popular blogs would never have lasted. Indeed, the amount of high quality content on Boarding Area that isn't recycled/stolen from elsewhere would not sustain the number of blogs it has.