bthotugigem05

Same, 100%.

That said, I do enjoy researching the idea of audience/community building, though, and it's fascinating that TPG is the "winner" (from a purely financial/viewership perspective) of the titan loyalty blogs. I'm not sure that Gary nor Ben ever thought as big as TPG did, nor do I think they're as comfortable being the main character in their blogs, but TPG clearly took some risks (and continues to as the line between editorial and marketing is muddied in all industries, not just this one) and they've paid off.

It's the same as me not necessarily agreeing with certain US presidents but can remain impressed with their capacity for building an audience.

Adam1222

I guess, except at this point TPG the blog was sold so many years ago that I'm not sure how much of the current direction of the blog is attributable to Brian versus the people who bought it from him (recognizing that entity has since been sold itself).

sbm12

Lots.

beyounged

surprised that nobody mentioned that horrible collab Brian did with Vox, this one 2 months back. I like Vox's certain series and I choked on my tea when I saw TPG's face popped up on my screen. The video is absolutely garbage and has a very "smug" feel to it, disgusted me to the bones. It is like a textbook tale for anyone who fails to understand TPG's moral degeneracy. (they also put a more awful video behind a paywall)
anyone can recommend any super small blogs that deserves my reading time more? I love Seat31B and would love other more hardcore/creative points/miles read even if they update once yearly or so, beats the digital diarrhea oozing out the TPG "outlet". (but also also do recommend comedy gold ones like the one about dumping your partner at an aiport, that stuff cures depression)

gpapadop

moral degeneracy LOL

there is not much "hardcore" knowledge left in this space, we have all been Bonvoyed dude. With AA about to go dynamic...and then foreign airlines about to go down this path...future is so dark you don't need shades!

84fiero

Milenerd.com was a favorite - absolutely no commercial content or affiliate links - quite trustworthy; he's "semi-retired", but does still post some CC updates about once a month...and his old stuff still has a lot of good info. Travelisfree.com is great, though his posting and updates are pretty infrequent these days as he's busy with some other things, I believe...but again, still a lot of great info in the archives, even if some of it has become outdated with the constant program devaluations.

beyounged

what TPG is, is nothing different than a virus or a tumour in my nihilistic view. They feed on new, fresh readers nonstop while completely abandoning anyone else, without a sense of how to sustain itself. Just reading some titles made me wonder: who is even in charge of approving these stuffs? They lie to the readers, the very core of the business, so they lose them fast, so instead of fixing the lies they simply succ in more new fresh meat to grind and churn. Can't count how many times my amateur friends recommended me this "points dude" (if I kept a count I would probably have weeks to live), and then proceeded to find out themselves unable to read anything after a month. Very few sites with 3 million uniques can have next to 0 comments on 50% of the fresh posts daily. In the video people could see the worst side of their, and sometimes any point/mile enthusiast's darkest side: I am better than you so I can abuse the system. The Youtube comments simply did not allow it to slip. Some call it hyper-capitalistic, I call it degeneracy.

But yeah maybe sub 65k EK first may became a history, it does not mean other useful info cannot be learned about the hundreds of programs out there. I learned so much from those smaller blogs about how OK's program works, OZ's sweetspots, using miles to XCH, how to run JL clubs and get 5-6 years of OWE in 1 month, etc. These info do not push clicks or sell cards, but is so cool and interesting. No matter how the value of systems depreciate, there is always some new trick, as obscure as it may be, in a clever blogger's mind. That is why I love the game.

TBD

Brian standing in the a380 bar in his PJs is the perfect image for "degeneracy". If it's not appropriate to do on the ground, then it's not appropriate to do in the air.

sbm12

All sorts of pax on U/LH flights switch to PJs at some point and then visit the bar. Pretending that's not a common thing is stupid.

Hate the TPC content all you want if that's your jam, but this seems a stupid nit to pick.

gpapadop

There is sooooo much fresh meat apparently and they do this very well...apparently.

Expanding to UK...that Head for Points dude should be scared

Adam1222

Yah I think wearing a jacket made of credit cards you sell while purporting to objecticely review is far more degenerate than any pjs.

flashware

I don't think so, the quality of content I suspect will be quite different.

Raffles

It's not a major concern :-)

There is very little money in pushing credit cards in the UK following the recent Amex changes, which basically restrict you to one bonus every 24 months. Cuts to sign-up bonuses last week mean that the cards are less attractive to the general public too.

Amex pays me £10 for every free BA Amex taken out a reader. No-one is getting rich on that.

There is actually upside for me, because we write about stuff that interests me without going to the company first and demanding a large pile of money in return. If TPG manages to persuade a few companies that they should be writing big checks for blogs to write about stuff they would be writing about anyway, I'm sorted :-)

gpapadop

What if TPG Inc. expands the market and tricks WAY too many consumers to pick up that first credit card to...fly for free? And then starts cutting exclusive deals and, you know, attempts to...slowly drown you...they still have lots of money to throw around...expensive strategy but as long as the money availability/pool is out there...I see no stopping.

Don't be shy if the price is right Rob....We understand

84fiero

Or what if TPG seduces them with his stylish credit-card jacket??