Variable load gift cards to be pulled by Office Depot 2.4.2013
Feb 3, 2013, 5:51 am
#107
formerly known as Frugal Travel Guy
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Programs: UA Gold, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Marriott Silver, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 1,925
Your Right Boca, pcharles and others
At some point hopefully the "angries" will realize that it is NOT all about the money and referral links with some of us bloggers. We love the game just like you do.
More clues? Nah, just doesn't seem worth it. Another deal dives underground.
Feb 3, 2013, 6:25 am
#108
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 639
But still LOVE playing the game. Loved playing the game 6 years before starting the blog. Loved the game when writing the blog for three years before affiliate links. Indeed loved the game while being paid well from affiliate links and now, after selling, still Love playing the game.
I'm sure for thousands of others like me you were the gateway to this (hobby, addiction) and you were personally responsible for me getting my credit act together in order to share in the spoils.
So, on many levels, thank you for everything you did and continue to do, whether your motivation is altruistic or money makes no difference.
Scoreboard baby!
Feb 3, 2013, 6:39 am
#109
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Wyndham Diamond, IHG Diamond, Omni Platinum
Posts: 197
Good riddance.
Manufactured spending was being abused with everyone racking up 5x with Ink or 6x with Hilton and the like. We are already seeing the results of this with so many Airline and Hotel program devaluations. If everyone is generating tens of thousands of miles a month it cannon be sustainable. It had to end at some point.
I think gift cards/BB needs to be at a price point where the cpm is too high for people to just keep on buying this till they max out their monthly limits. It should still be an option though for those who need to meet minimum spend but nothing more.
Manufactured spending was being abused with everyone racking up 5x with Ink or 6x with Hilton and the like. We are already seeing the results of this with so many Airline and Hotel program devaluations. If everyone is generating tens of thousands of miles a month it cannon be sustainable. It had to end at some point.
I think gift cards/BB needs to be at a price point where the cpm is too high for people to just keep on buying this till they max out their monthly limits. It should still be an option though for those who need to meet minimum spend but nothing more.
I'd be in favor of getting rid of all bonus pts and just earning 1 pt per $1 if it meant that redemptions would stay static.
Last edited by drod; Feb 3, 2013 at 6:58 am
Feb 3, 2013, 6:40 am
#110
formerly known as Frugal Travel Guy
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Programs: UA Gold, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Marriott Silver, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 1,925
Thank you
Rick-
I'm sure for thousands of others like me you were the gateway to this (hobby, addiction) and you were personally responsible for me getting my credit act together in order to share in the spoils.
So, on many levels, thank you for everything you did and continue to do, whether your motivation is altruistic or money makes no difference.
Scoreboard baby!
I'm sure for thousands of others like me you were the gateway to this (hobby, addiction) and you were personally responsible for me getting my credit act together in order to share in the spoils.
So, on many levels, thank you for everything you did and continue to do, whether your motivation is altruistic or money makes no difference.
Scoreboard baby!
Rick
Feb 3, 2013, 6:42 am
#111
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Columbus, OH
Programs: *Gold, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold, Club Carlson Gold,
Posts: 69
Which 2 Cincy stores did you try perchance? They must have yanked them quick 
@sam_goh: I live in Columbus but have friends in Fairborn. Had one stop in to the OD there to see if anything remained, and as of about 830pm last night they were empty. *womp womp*
I didn't want to make that drive either!
Feb 3, 2013, 6:46 am
#113
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
Sometimes people are so obnoxious. Get over it, and move along. So the game has changed again. The steps will change and another new deal will come along soon.
Personal attacks are so unbecoming and most often, unwarranted.
There are still many ways that exist to accomplish your goal. It's those that set fire to the bridge as they run across and leave the ruins behind (consistently over doing it), that kill the deals.
Hence, those with the slow and steady mentality just keeping moving along to the next deal, while those who continue this mentality just keep crying.
Personal attacks are so unbecoming and most often, unwarranted.
There are still many ways that exist to accomplish your goal. It's those that set fire to the bridge as they run across and leave the ruins behind (consistently over doing it), that kill the deals.
Hence, those with the slow and steady mentality just keeping moving along to the next deal, while those who continue this mentality just keep crying.
Feb 3, 2013, 6:51 am
#114
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
Then why use them? Sounds like you don't like them, so just ignore them and move along to something that interest you (if these do not).
You know it is a choice.
Many people are not a member of rewards programs.
Last edited by shoreline; Feb 3, 2013 at 7:00 am Reason: typo
Feb 3, 2013, 7:22 am
#115
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 164
ok, so lets think of alternatives...
Do any other office supply stores sell variable cards or something for say $300 or $500? If the best option we have is $200 at a $7 cost (on top of the VR cost of $3.95) the Ink deal will come to an end. I guess I should be happy I got the Ink Bold a little while ago and hit the 5K mark.
Do any other office supply stores sell variable cards or something for say $300 or $500? If the best option we have is $200 at a $7 cost (on top of the VR cost of $3.95) the Ink deal will come to an end. I guess I should be happy I got the Ink Bold a little while ago and hit the 5K mark.
Feb 3, 2013, 7:28 am
#117
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 5
I think you are giving way too much credence to "the bloggers". I doubt any one of them, or even the bunch of them combined, has the number of page views that FT generates.
Feb 3, 2013, 9:35 am
#118
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: CVG
Programs: AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, CapOne Venture, Citi ThankYou
Posts: 486
This is the most ridiculous contention, and it keeps getting made. Chase had nothing to do with getting gift cards pulled. If those cards were profitable, OD wouldn't have cared one bit if Chase called and said to pull them. I can guarantee you their merchant agreement didn't have a "you can run our business for us" clause in it. OD killed VR for the same reason they're killing variable load cards--THEY LOSE MONEY ON THEM.
Can you spell ANTI TRUST? Can you imagine a Mastercard issuer (Chase) demanding another issuers product (Vanilla) be removed from retail?
This thread is hilarious.
Last edited by CVG_Kid; Feb 3, 2013 at 9:44 am
Feb 3, 2013, 10:32 am
#119
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 676
Also, I don't get why Chase doesn't just shut down the whole thing by telling the bloggers to stop posting about it. Heck, they could make an example of out one blogger by shutting off the affiliate feeding trough for a week -- vanilla reload would become a forbidden word overnight.
Feb 3, 2013, 10:46 am
#120
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: Landry's President's Club, Marriott Silver, Awesomeness EXPLT
Posts: 20,420
Cheers
Howie