flying for free everytime??
Mar 2, 2016, 5:36 pm
#17
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All the bloggers have credit card links with referrals, they get commission (points) when readers apply to new CC with their own links, that's why many of them can flight for free in First Class seats. As long a half percent of their readers use their links, they can make a lot of points per month.
Mar 7, 2016, 8:40 pm
#18
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What I really hate about such a claim is even if you're on an award ticket, you're not "flying for free". Miles are a commodity and they have a value. You may not be paying cash, but you're not flying for free either.
Mar 9, 2016, 10:19 am
#19
Join Date: May 2012
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Also, it can't be, by literal definition -- "free" -- as nearly every redemption I have seen requires some amount of money to be completed -- as low as $5.60 and as high as $1,000+.
Then you figure in transportation to the airport, your living expenses, things that cannot be redeemed for points (How exactly do you buy a tourist visa to gain entry to a country with credit card points? How do you renew your passport with points? How do you pay your rent with points? The light bill?), etc., and it turns out it's not even cheap, much less free.
Of course, the credit card salespeople masquerading as travel bloggers don't tell you that. They're just concerned with earning as much as they can on credit card commissions.
-LPDAL
Then you figure in transportation to the airport, your living expenses, things that cannot be redeemed for points (How exactly do you buy a tourist visa to gain entry to a country with credit card points? How do you renew your passport with points? How do you pay your rent with points? The light bill?), etc., and it turns out it's not even cheap, much less free.
Of course, the credit card salespeople masquerading as travel bloggers don't tell you that. They're just concerned with earning as much as they can on credit card commissions.
-LPDAL
Mar 9, 2016, 1:25 pm
#20
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: TXL
Posts: 19
I don't think there are actually that many well-known blogs out there that promote 'free travel'. OMAAT definitely doesn't do that and clearly states that travel isn't free on his 'about me' page. I think last year he or his contributors wrote several posts about the concept of miles not being free (which you may or may not agree with). And then there's the fact that he pays cash for a lot of flights.
I believe you're going to have a hard time if you want to promote 'free travel'. Pushing certain credit cards with benefits like 5th night free etc. requires a different approach and I think that's what we're seeing from most bloggers: "Luxury travel, economy prices", "fly flatbed biz class for the price of an economy ticket" etc.
If the readership of those big blogs thinks that travelling on miles and points is free, then I don't think it's due to the blogs actively promoting that idea but rather because nobody corrects them. I just took a look at the beginner tutorials at TPG.com and couldn't find a 'travel is free' quote. But I couldn't find a 'travel is not free, not even if you're using miles, but it's cheaper/cooler/etc' quote either. Actually, I couldn't find anything useful on the whole site.
Over at OMAAT it's made a bit clearer in the tutorial and he also mentions the cash price or the amount of points/miles + taxes in each review. Still, a lot of his readers and followers seem to be just as uninformed. I think the problems are:
What does that have to do with free travel?
I believe you're going to have a hard time if you want to promote 'free travel'. Pushing certain credit cards with benefits like 5th night free etc. requires a different approach and I think that's what we're seeing from most bloggers: "Luxury travel, economy prices", "fly flatbed biz class for the price of an economy ticket" etc.
If the readership of those big blogs thinks that travelling on miles and points is free, then I don't think it's due to the blogs actively promoting that idea but rather because nobody corrects them. I just took a look at the beginner tutorials at TPG.com and couldn't find a 'travel is free' quote. But I couldn't find a 'travel is not free, not even if you're using miles, but it's cheaper/cooler/etc' quote either. Actually, I couldn't find anything useful on the whole site.
Over at OMAAT it's made a bit clearer in the tutorial and he also mentions the cash price or the amount of points/miles + taxes in each review. Still, a lot of his readers and followers seem to be just as uninformed. I think the problems are:
What does that have to do with free travel?
Mar 9, 2016, 9:40 pm
#21
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
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The OMaaT has so many disclaimers that 'travel is not free' is because he had so much media coverage citing he travelled for free. 
Mar 9, 2016, 11:37 pm
#22
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 243
I just took a look at the beginner tutorials at TPG.com and couldn't find a 'travel is free' quote. But I couldn't find a 'travel is not free, not even if you're using miles, but it's cheaper/cooler/etc' quote either. Actually, I couldn't find anything useful on the whole site.
Zach Honig sums up the latest points/miles news very effectively in an easy to read writing style. He should break off on his own
Mar 10, 2016, 8:12 am
#23
Join Date: May 2012
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How surprising, another person trying to sucker punch me by trying to disclaim my argument by classifying it as irrelevant. 
I'm assuming you agree with the rest of my post considering you only quoted that one cherrypicked portion.
Unless you plan on living in hotel rooms and first class airplane cabins, you're going to have to come home one day, and living somewhere costs money. If you have to pay money to live somewhere that almost by definition means that less money is going towards travel that was instead spent on living expenses.
TL;DR: Nothing in life is free, and all of these claims of "free travel" are all, at best, misleading information, and at worst, outright lies.
-LPDAL
I'm assuming you agree with the rest of my post considering you only quoted that one cherrypicked portion.Unless you plan on living in hotel rooms and first class airplane cabins, you're going to have to come home one day, and living somewhere costs money. If you have to pay money to live somewhere that almost by definition means that less money is going towards travel that was instead spent on living expenses.
TL;DR: Nothing in life is free, and all of these claims of "free travel" are all, at best, misleading information, and at worst, outright lies.
-LPDAL
Mar 10, 2016, 11:13 am
#24
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Mar 10, 2016, 9:10 pm
#25
formerly known as daveland
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All the bloggers have credit card links with referrals, they get commission (points) when readers apply to new CC with their own links, that's why many of them can flight for free in First Class seats. As long a half percent of their readers use their links, they can make a lot of points per month.
Mar 11, 2016, 12:53 pm
#26
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: TXL
Posts: 19
How surprising, another person trying to sucker punch me by trying to disclaim my argument by classifying it as irrelevant. I'm assuming you agree with the rest of my post considering you only quoted that one cherrypicked portion.
Unless you plan on living in hotel rooms and first class airplane cabins, you're going to have to come home one day, and living somewhere costs money. If you have to pay money to live somewhere that almost by definition means that less money is going towards travel that was instead spent on living expenses.
-LPDAL
I'm assuming you agree with the rest of my post considering you only quoted that one cherrypicked portion.Unless you plan on living in hotel rooms and first class airplane cabins, you're going to have to come home one day, and living somewhere costs money. If you have to pay money to live somewhere that almost by definition means that less money is going towards travel that was instead spent on living expenses.
-LPDAL
When planning your travel budget you should account for living expenses etc. I still fail to see how you could possibly find a connection between 'redeem miles to fly SQ Suites for free' and 'Help! I've got the 60k miles for the flight, but how is that going to pay my rent? Travel isn't free!'
Of course travel is not free and there are a number of good examples in this thread (like the other ones you mentioned: visa, passport, taxes on awards etc.), but rent?
And there's really no need to be aggressive.
Mar 11, 2016, 2:29 pm
#27
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I wasn't even trying to "disclaim your argument" and if you read my post you'll see that I did in fact not argue against you.
When planning your travel budget you should account for living expenses etc. I still fail to see how you could possibly find a connection between 'redeem miles to fly SQ Suites for free' and 'Help! I've got the 60k miles for the flight, but how is that going to pay my rent? Travel isn't free!'
Of course travel is not free and there are a number of good examples in this thread (like the other ones you mentioned: visa, passport, taxes on awards etc.), but rent?
And there's really no need to be aggressive.
When planning your travel budget you should account for living expenses etc. I still fail to see how you could possibly find a connection between 'redeem miles to fly SQ Suites for free' and 'Help! I've got the 60k miles for the flight, but how is that going to pay my rent? Travel isn't free!'
Of course travel is not free and there are a number of good examples in this thread (like the other ones you mentioned: visa, passport, taxes on awards etc.), but rent?
And there's really no need to be aggressive.