PatMike

Drats !
I changed my FT subscription preferences last night, as I am getting ready for a long trip.
Just my luck, I missed Rick's blog this morning while it was up!!!

I welcome any PMs from any lodge members.

LLM

You're new here so might not realize you're dissing a speaker who is donating his time and expertise as are many other generous Flyertalkers, entirely at their own expense. The spirit of Flyertalk has always been sharing, learning and community which enriches all of us.

PatMike

I must agree - I you have a join date after 11/09, then you should probably thank "HIM" for sharing the deal with you.

QL_714

This deal predates 11/09. If you check other forums you will see it predates this thread. I just want to make sure I am thanking the right person.

mrpickles

You are absolutely right. It is going to start with "Hello, my name is Joshua Pickles and I am a shopaholic."

That will be your cue to get up and leave. I think you have a brilliant idea.

LLM

Are you indeed thankful? Sometimes it is hard to tell from some posts, but FT is a source of life-enhancing strategeries, don't you think?

QL_714

I believe in giving the proper person the credit. Don’t take my posts to seriously. My PM’s are a different story. I take them very serious. Especially the “P” in “PM”.

Anyone that speaks at the seminar deserves a TY. They should also give proper credit where it is do. It will be my first seminar so we will see.

Yankeeflyer

Checking in on you kids again, LOL. The problem is the last few pages of posts are at odds with that statement and the mission of FT. The primary message in this thread now seems to be don't share unless you're in the club (i.e., back channel communication to a select few instead of "all"), or wait to share only to those who attend a conference?

ingy

Can you imagine a non "in the know person" reading this thread? Some of the newbies have this up there on par with civil rights, abortion and Obamacare. This is miles and points folks.. Miles and points, that is all.

Walk Out?
Back Room Deals?

The thing I find so amusing is everyone is so up in arms about public knowledge being shared when the info has been in the WSJ, and other sources and is being discussed in a public forum with almost 1 million page views. Do you think people can't figure the workaround out? It is not rocket science.

Interestingly to me, the complainers on both sides primarily posted under the name 'Anonymous' on my comments section in the blog.. Nobody that commented had the common sense or guts to email me and say "hey Rick, is there someway we can come to a comprimise on this issue?" Just blow your stack without trying to come to an amicable solution.

Only one guy did. He offered to answer Private Messages, and when he confirms his willingness, I'll post his handle on the blog.

And lastly, as a guy that tries to share info with others everyday, to try to repay for the information the old timers gave me when I was a newbie, the rabid reaction of those that wanted to keep it all to themselves is sure discouraging.

jlgrandam

When you posted what? The fact that you can register authorized users to your credit cards, register new email addresses to go along with your new credit card numbers and then use them to circumvent the Mints new policy on limiting the number of coins every 10 days??

Vuelos

Of course there are... There always have been.

Some of us are too smart to let on that we know ways around systems for fear they will be abused by the masses and we'll have lost great value for ourselves and those in the know.

There's a reason the Mileage Run board is dry here.

blakeIV

Thoughts of a newbie . . .

I am torn on the issue. As a new person, it is nice to have the information spoon fed to you. But I imagine there are reasons why people just don't broadcast their methods (those methods could go away).

This forum is awesome. But you actually have to read some threads and hints are out there. People don't come out and say their methods, but allude that there are work arounds. Not that I figured out this exact method, but I was already on my way (although I don't order coins every day, I take things in moderation).

So in the end, some can say the information should be readily available. But it already was, if you put in the work. If my system for coins would have failed, I would have PM'ed someone that alluded to a system and share my story and ask for help. That seems to be how many prefer this forum to be used.

I first got into this game (outside of what I did on my own, based on common sense) by reading Ingy's blog. Really, if he wants to share this info, that is his business. I love his blog, btw.

The one exception I have to THIS blog post, is it is about BREAKING rules. Most everything else I have read is about playing within the rules to benefit yourself (sign up bonueses, business cards, coins every 10 days, etc.). But this is directly aimed at breaking the Mint's very public policy on ordering coins. If people want to break the rules, great. But I'm not sure if posting it is the best thing to do. But I'm a newbie, I'm not here to judge. I'm here for the great information. (And hopefully I can help give back, like my info post on the "dead" link for the 30k SPG AmX.)

Now, all that said. I am 5,700 points (SPG AmX) away from a free trip to Hawaii. I can kill some with coins and normal expenses. Anyone want to PM me with ideas for how I can earn an extra 3k points this month? I have about 28 days left and would like to finish off the points I need this month, before everything is booked for next summer. Thanks! (If not, I'll keep reading and hopefully I will figure something out.)

johndeere19

I too am torn on the issue because while I agree that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, this is a tragedy of the commons situation where each individual is acting independently rather than taking into consideration the collective group, eventually drying up the well that has been running smoothly and consistently for the last two years (with minor adjustments to rules).

I also knew about this work around and rather than milk it dry over the next few (fill in the blank) months or weeks I only upped my purchases a bit. I think that the larger issue here is that some people believe that all information should be available to everyone/anyone, but the problem with that mindset is that some people that have the ability to change the rules fall into that "everybody/anybody" group and have the potential to kill a lucrative deal.

Having said all that, I'd like to propose an "invite-only" or "restricted" area of FT or perhaps somewhere else where only those that pass certain requirements are allowed to access that area.

In order to preserve this forum for what it was actually meant for (coin program rather than arguing over who owns the information) I've created another thread to continue the discussion:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...l#post14577717

swintec

I have been doing this since the beginning, so no not "him" to thank, although my join date after 11/09 I suppose was to say thanks for the changes back then.

I suppose I take things to personally though. Which I should have expanded on before, in all my haste. For 5 minutes worth of attention, hundreds (thousands?) of us have to give up many miles or cash back or whatever you personally may accrue from this just so one person can have there 5 minutes of fame and can more than likely bring MORE sweeping changes to the program.

I am hoping all of the presentations wont simply be repeating stuff that is spoken about in all of the threads at FT already.

brasov02

Ahhh, the refreshing, guileless perspective of a newbie. But you're not going to convince many around here that these methods are "breaking" the rules. Rationalization is an art form in this thread. The least those with any amount of integrity should admit to is that using these "methods" of getting around the coin limits via, for instance, using the additional credit cards on the same account and changing up addresses...etc., while they may not be "technically" illegal, they are at the very least practicing deception. That's why I was rather surprised to see Ingy publish that post basically explaining in detail a deceptive practice to gain more points. I always considered him above that sort of stuff. But I'll allow him one mistake. (I wish I had only made "one" mistake!)
So for those using all these sorts of methods to "get around" the mint's explicit guidelines, have at it and rake in all those points and miles you can get while the greeding is good, but at least have the integrity to admit that deception is playing a key role in such "success" and that the upcoming portion of the upcoming miles seminar dealing with this area should be titled "Deception 101". (But I'm sure it will be titled something much more pleasant like "Creative Credit Card Uses 101". Whatever makes it more palatable.
"Oh what a tangled web we weave..."