oliver2002

Ths morning it was at 1.4 cents per mile... Zach has already written a piece on the new policy, Summer is also cranking out blog posts on the new regime. At the same time the 60k offer for united MP is out which surely pays extra for TPG...

Adam1222

Surprised Zach has the time!!
He also posted about his exclusive pre-opening look and tour of a Marriott property. Guess what he thought about his " chance to step beyond the pre-opening barricades for a private tour with the staff"? Shock of all shocks, even though it wasn't open and he didnt actually stay there, it's AMAZING.

"even the ground-floor lobby felt like a sanctuary compared to the commotion just a few feet away."
"I thought the St. Regis was stunning."
"From the marble floors to the grand elevated lobby and the thoughtful light fixtures — inspired by “old Hong Kong” street lamps I’m told — it’s clear that no expense was spared here."
"I could picture this space being tranquil in the evenings, with its traditional moon gate and a long centerpiece water feature."

But perhaps the piece de resistance which pushes this into deceptive and misleading beyond the fact that it is an advertisement, not an objective article:
"I also had a few minutes to explore a St. Regis Suite — this is the base suite, so Bonvoy Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador guests may be upgraded here, assuming one of the 10 is available upon check-in. There are also four nearly identical suites on higher floors with harbor views, in the “Metropolitan” category, and complimentary upgrades may be available there as well."

Want to bet how many Bonvoy Platinum members get complimentary upgrades to a St. Regis Suite in the next 10 years? I'm guessing between zero and zero. (Unless they work for Bankrate)

"Given how beautiful the property is, in fact, I could even see getting carried away."

Well, I agree on that Zach Honig, you certainly did get 'carried away' in your attempt to please corporate.

gpapadop

Yeah....Mommy Points is sure busy with

>>>>>>Why the Capital One Venture Rewards Card now has a front spot in our wallets

Amazing what exclusive partnerships scan do hey!

itsaboutthejourney

Sheesh, what a shill he's become. I assume he's in HKG with Bonvoid, agreeing to write 1-2 pieces as an 'influencer' for Marriott. So this is 1 piece down.

diburning

https://thepointsguy.com/news/5-thin...-needs-to-fix/

Oh Zach, you do realize that you're not a journalist if you're selling something, right?

Silver Fox

Do they have any credibility to people with more than one brain cell? I know it's not restricted to travel, but the schilling is just so darn obvious that I cannot believe that anyone buys into it. Good luck to them for working out how to manipulate the media, corporations, but they know they are tainted.

Adam1222

They've spent so much time money on SEO churning out incessant conflicted content, which often steals from other blogs or posts the same info hours/days later, that it has crowded out legitimate nondeceptive conduct. They also have paid people like Scott Mayerowitz to make a deal with the devil and give up legitimate journalism careers to lend a patina of credibility and pretend/mislead consumers to believe they are a news outlet. I am shocked by how many bright people I know ask me questions saying "Well I read on the Points Guy that [Marriott points are great for families, United cares about the customer experience, 8 ways to redeem Chase points by clicking on "redeem points" and summarizing the 8 things listed]. And don't realize the actual relationship between the marketing site and the products it sells, given how vague and inadequate (and probably illegal) its disclosures are.

84fiero

You have to wonder. Is their prime readership just newbies who don't know any better yet? Even then, though, most people surely can see through the blatant sell-out nature of most of their content?

flashware

It's a shame, some of the better writers they had don't seem to post much anymore so you have to wonder what is going on. Either that or they're in the 20 to 30 posts a day I just skip over because the post title is enough to make you not want to read.

diburning

Probably the same type of people who swear by politically leaning news. They can't see it for what it is once they drink the kool aid.

bthotugigem05

They're getting 3 million uniques/month, they're doing something right.

Raffles

Worth noting that Alexa - which can't be fudged easily - only has TPG as the 753rd biggest website in the US. By contrast, I am listed at the 801st biggest website in the UK. Whilst there are many reasons to argue against Alexa's methodology, the bigger you are the more likely it is to be accurate.

It is also worth noting that, last year, an identical competition to win free transatlantic flights ran on Head for Points (to target the UK) and TPG (to target the US). The promotion got twice as many responses from HFP than it did from TPG, but I 'only' have 350,000 uniques per month.

bthotugigem05

Of course, uniques do not equal engagement. Would love to see his bounce rate metrics and average session time, but do not have much room to say anything because my bounce rate and average session time are both atrocious.

His ad sales probably start a little higher simply because of that figure though. It's interesting to imagine just how much cash he's going through with the hires and offices he's invested in recently.

Adam1222

I don't think anyone is disputing that they're getting lots of traffic. We have explained that they have done so by publishing garbage, stealing from other blogs, posting ads masquerading as content, and spending money on SEO. Whether it's "right" depends on whether one thinks simply getting traffic makes a blog worthwhile. I can think of many publications that get a lot of readers that I find morally repugnant.

gpapadop

Me too