The Points Guy: We never accept free flights [merged TPG discussions]
 

The points guy has an app (iOS, Android) called "TPG To Go", that supposedly tracks your credit card promo spending, expiration dates, etc and gives info as to which card is best to use in a given situation to maximize point/promotion value. https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...sguy.tpg&hl=en

That sounds potentially useful, supposedly it does not require one providing any credit card numbers, and the Android version got good reviews from a handful of people, but I am skeptical for the following reasons:

1. Last I checked only 26 people reviewed it- thus I consider reviews meaningless.

2. It requires an email address/password to sign in, and it is supported by ads from affiliates. Thus I am concerned about potential invasiveness and spamming via phone and email.

3. I started to sign up and then changed my mind when I got to the "disclaimer" and read about the ad support. For some bizarre reason it was impossible to stop the app at that point by any means including turning my phone off and back on. I had to uninstall the app to stop it.

Do any users have any experience with this app and care to comment on it regarding safety, usefulness, spamming, etc? Are there others that provide the same kind of function that are better?

Thanks.

You know that TPG is owned by Bankrate, the credit card affiliate people?

It is VERY unlikely that you will ever be offered any cards which do not pay a big fee to Bankrate. Ever seen the IHG credit card reviewed on a blog? Thought not.

I also suggest it is unlikely that, given a high non-affiliate bonus and a lower affiliate bonus on a card, you would be offered the link for the higher bonus.

Source?

Records here and here show that the trademark "THE POINTS GUY", once owned by Brian Kelly, is now the property of Bankrate, Inc.

Knowing that doesn't tell us much about the business(-es) behind thepointsguy.com, however, or the arrangements between Mr Kelly and Bankrate. So unless Raffles has knowledge beyond what is in the public domain he may have misspoken.

That would not be an issue, Raffles, since I can't imagine ordering cards from them. My main interest would be to track promos, spending, expirations, get quick info on best card to use in a particular situation, and perhaps learn about new deals. It would be an additional source, not a sole source. This is my primary source, and I really like it, though I find it very hard, and sometimes nearly impossible, to navigate at times (eg hundreds of pages of responses to posts). That said, no, I don't think I have seen IHG reviewed in a blog. Interesting.

Can't believe he sold it i wonder what kind of deal he got on it

Sold it in 2012. Shocked I didn't know this. [Just posted a Skift article a thread or two above this one.]

TPG is Owned by BankRate???
 

Someone on the Amex forum mentioned the TPG was actually owned by BANKRATE INC. A quick internet searched revealed the following;

On Tuesday, June 21, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for THE POINTS GUY by BANKRATE, INC., NORTH PALM BEACH, FL 33408. The USPTO has given the THE POINTS GUY trademark serial number of 85351809. The current federal status of this trademark filing is REGISTERED. The correspondent listed for THE POINTS GUY is Carl J. Spagnuolo of McHale & Slavin, P.A., 2855 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens FL 33410-2910 . The THE POINTS GUY trademark is filed in the category of Computer & Software Products & Electrical & Scientific Products , Advertising, Business & Retail Services , Transportation & Storage Services . The description provided to the USPTO for THE POINTS GUY is Promoting the goods and services of others by providing a website featuring price-comparison information and discount information


I had always thought most bloggers were independent operators. So, is corporate ownership common in the blogging world? What other blogs are actually owned by corporations?

Most bloggers that sell ads have a LLC or other corporate entity to cover liability. TPG and FTG are one of the few who sold their shop entirely.

Do you have a source for this?

We've seen evidence for ownership of the trademark having been transferred. I'm not aware of any evidence that a business was "sold" or about any agreements between Mr Kelly and Bankrate (e.g. who provides what services for/to whom; who licenses what from whom).

Check out the Skift article that is the subject of this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exter...l-writers.html

It's all over the place....

Where, for example? I've seen the claim repeated in several places but no evidence of an outright sale (which is what oliver2002's "sold the shop entirely" would require).

Not many facts there, unfortunately. It claims that "Mr. Kelly sold The Points Guy" but doesn't tell us what "The Points Guy" denotes: the trademark (which we already knew had been sold) or a business entity?

Mr Kelly is quoted as saying that he still has "“a vested ownership interest in TPG". That's rather vague and could mean any number of things -- but probably a little less than the "entire shop".

Only hearsay from HOM staffer this summer shortly after the last BAcon. My take is he is stil running the show, but the shop is owned by someone else.

Thanks for the clarification. I also think it's likely that the business was sold, but we should not report that speculation as fact.

Jason Steele confirmed it in TBB comments.
I'm sure Brian still gets paid based on performance.

Not quite.

On this page Mr Steele commented: 'Common knowledge. Brian has been on TV for years where the screen shows "The Points Guy presented by Bankrate"'. That only confirmed ownership of the trademark (which is a matter of public record and didn't require confirmation).

Never knew this - Good for him.

TPG: United should take one for the team, it's karma
 

Do Airlines Have to Honor Mistake Fares?

YouTube Link

I am curious what the potential is for bloggers to get sued for claiming price mistakes are actually flight "deals"?

Promoting the mistakes as deals and then saying that airline companies make billions of dollars... and personally they have been screwed by the airline (even though they give them my business to maintain top loyalty status...), so it is okay for them to screw them in return. Then attempting (poorly) to read legal jargon as if they are one to be giving legal advice.

"I'm not going to sue, but..."

I get the impression that TPG is trying to persuade his readers to get passionate about this "cause" and sue an airline over a "deal". Pretty pathetic!

Falsified billing addresses could invite a vindictive UA to seek fraud charges from a willing federal prosecutor...

Let it go

On that score, the most intelligent post I've seen on this topic was the one yesterday by Mommy Points.

And though I haven't researched the issue specifically, yes, lying to obtain services most definitely and assuredly raises a fraud issue both under federal and under most state laws, at least the ones I've looked at. Given the context, my very offhand guess would be that state-law civil (rather than criminal) fraud would be the practical concern. I'm frankly shocked at all those folks -- other than Mommy Points -- who glossed over all that in their posts yesterday.

^

I've taken part in mistake fares before and will again. I look at it as a fun gamble and if it ends up being honored, cool...if not, oh well - on to the next deal.

I wouldn't partake if it meant I had to enter false information in order to book the ticket. Even if it wasn't something that would expose me to legal action, I just don't think it's right...and is bad karma.

Looks like thepointsguy.com has been offline the whole night..... Karma??

Seth/Wandering Aramean had a thoughtful post on this as well. ^^

I didn't partake -- was off-line until well after it had been pulled but reading the need to "fudge" the billing address gave immediate thought to: "what a great way for UA to shut down accounts".

He said in his video that he's not going to sue and not lose sleep over this and states to his readers that they should do the same, but then the following day he writes:

"It may be some time before this all gets sorted out, but in the meantime, there’s action you can take now that will help inform the DOT and add weight to the complaints against United. It took me just 4 minutes to file a DOT complaint thanks to the info in this FlyerTalk thread, which offers the following tips:"


http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/unit...ations-update/

Wow... What a [redacted]

We'll just turn this thread into Discussion on the UA currency conversion ticketing issue and subsequent blogger reaction.

TPG was interviewed on Fox:
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/40492...#sp=show-clips

The initial question was essentially "They posted tickets, London to Australia in First Class, tickets that usually go for thousands of dollars, and it was up there for 50 bucks? Is that right?"

TPG: Exactly. (and then continued in to currency issue)

No mention of how it had to bet set up (Danish currency) in order to get the fare. And United most certainly did not just post tickets (or fares) for $50. A specific scenario screwed up the final ticket price calculation.

Which was detailed by:
http://blog.wandr.me/2015/02/methinks-i-am-a-hypocrite/

Agree, this is a good post and different than the "They better honor it, I have a ticket! Write the DOT!" echo chamber.

But let's try and make a good blog better:
This is an incorrect interpretation of the Fare Construction. There are clearly 2 fares here:
LON-FRA J77 for 981.90 NUC
FRA-DFW F77OW for 10517.68 NUC

LON-FRA J77 LH is filed at 627 GBP
FRA-DFW F77OW UA is filed at 8526 EUR

Converting the GBP to NUC is 627 / 0.638555 = 981.90
Converting the EUR to NUC is 8526 / EURtoNUC rate = 10517.68, which puts the EUR to NUC rate around .81, which seems a bit low but was the rate back in December.

Either way, the conclusion is correct that the fare construction supports properly filed fares.

This is not true and I am not sure where it came from. The fares are filed in real currency (mentioned above) and then converted to NUCs during the fare construction process.

[redacted]

He glossed over the fact that he filed a DOT complaint. I know that there has been a lawsuit who writes about hidden city ticketing and things of that nature.. any chance TPG could get sued for detailing how to book mistake fares and then complain to the DOT when they get canceled? Seems like he has a bigger audience than the other blogger that got sued.

My understanding is that fares are filed in NUCs and converted dynamically to show correctly across various Points of Sale. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it was explained to me previously.

And I never claimed there was only a single fare in my booked itinerary. Clearly there are two and the combined total price is 11499.

Whoever explained it to you was wrong, or at a minimum have a different interpretation of what "filed fare" means.

DOT decision update posted, and he's still bitter about it while claiming a "you win some, you lose some" I-don't-really-care attitude. It's pretty obvious though he's not happy with the decision.

So many of these bloggers are coming across as outright entitled and giving barely concealed advice on "here's how to break the rules," then whining to their masses about spilled milk when it backfires. :td:

http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/the-...fare-mistakes/

TPG: We never accept free flights [merged discussions]
 

Are You a Writer or Editor with a Points and Miles Obsession? Join TPG!

Wondering if TPG will start having as many writers as BA? The comments of this post are quickly pointing out that even though they are looking for someone has a love for "points and grammar" there seem to be a lot of typos in the ad/article.

which would be why they are looking for editors?

heh - see if applicants include edited TPG posts?

I know people at Buzzfeed pretty much get paid to surf Reddit all day and steal content. Maybe this job would be to surf the blogs and Flyertalk, steal/borrow/enhance content, and then post it to TPG?

corrected that for you :p

"We pay very well..." Hm, wonder what TPG (or his corporate owner, more like it) thinks is a "well-paid" salary for a blog site?

Disclaimer: I have zero interest in any of these jobs, nor do I personally know anyone who would. I am just being nosy. ;)

It is part of the application process

You can't apply as it appears you didn't bother to read the entire article:

10. A list of three typos in this post

#fail

Even his comments have typos, but you are correct I did not bother to read the whole thing =)

In London, you would be looking at around £28-£30,000 ($45,000) for a 'press release re-writing' journalist job on a small trade magazine.

(Full free healthcare and a guarantee that no-one in your office is carrying a gun is of course part of the Uk package too :-) We also promise that our policemen won't kill you, even if you're not white.)

Not sure if you can command a premium for having miles and points knowledge!

In general travel writing, in fact any sort of trade magazine journalism, is a poorly paid sector, we pay our nanny far more than that.