QL_714

Who is this Leff guy? How about I take on FTG since we are both over the hill.

skywalkerLAX

There won't be an ultimate determination if a deal indeed was killed by overexposure on one's blog, but one thing is for certain: It is NEVER a good idea to distribute sensitive information to the broad public.

And even if airlines know about a certain loophole, they might be ok with it until people decide to rub it in their faces and make a mockery out of it.

@ OP: I think you can add the recent RGN Round three to the list of whoever blogged about it (I know Gary did but there may be others) because that was most certainly the wake up call.

On the matter of credit cards... There are always ways to apply in some way to have a friend refer you and that s/he get's some points. Never saw the point why someone applies through a blog or commercial link anywhere. YMMV.

mile ho

Both statements here get my +1.

It's what we've been saying all along. Overexposure of the deals get them killed. Can we ever say one particular blog killed this deal or that? No, of course not. That can't be proved (and I don't believe the OP is trying to prove that). But the VR deal? The multitude of bloggers hammering it every day just before it was killed? Seems really simple; really clear to me. And I don't need any PROOF at all. I've seen this happen before.

My one and only point - which I wish would be heeded by bloggers such as MMS,

OVEREXPOSURE KILLS DEALS.

The freakin VR fiasco is only the latest example of this simple truth.

AlohaDaveKennedy

Paint a target on your back, wear a sign that says "Kick Me!" and provide us in the 47th percentile with cheap entertainment! Weez entitled!

Meanwhile use my referral link at www.durianstothrow.com to pick up ripe fruit to throw at your favorite evil blogger. Durians are perfect because, well, durians smell like sun ripened road kill wrapped in sweaty socks left overnight in a diaper genie. We accept all cards - Visa, Mastercard, AMEX Social Security, Food Stamp, Green Cards, forged Mossad identity cards, even Teamster Union Membership Cards (for the Ding Dongs at Hostess).

hobo13

Here's an interesting thought, and admittedly controversial.

FT has kicked around a minimum post count threshold for Mileage Run Deals for years. Perhaps it is time to just start a 'sensitive' information forum, where you need to have >1000 posts and >1 year of FT membership to view it.

This is surely not going to solve all of our problems. But personally, I find it very interesting that some of the bloggers defending themselves in this thread have been FTers for so little time, and have so few 'contributions' to the community. (And by 'contributions', I'm just talking about saying SOMETHING, not even something useful!)

nittany987

This makes sense to me, but how much is too much dissemination? Is 1 post per blogger okay? Are posts that hint at it, but aren't explicit with arrows and circles okay? Are only flyertalk threads okay? PMs only? Where is the line drawn, and who draws it? Who can enforce it? What consequences are there if the 'rules' are ignored?

Bloggers are striving for readership counts and referrals, and the best way to get both, is to aggressively educate and encourage exploitation of deals, so that potential refer-ees see the value in XXX card, and open it accordingly.

The only way this is going to change is if none of these 'loopholes' or tricks are ever publicized. In which case, the bloggers will be limited to publishing only those they discover on their own. Additionally, flyertalk as a resource for tricks/points hoarding will be decimated for new members, as no one will be willing to share the information out of suspicion.

This thread is not going to change anything, and will only serve as a venting spot, which is fine I guess. But, the indignation expressed, while real, isn't going to be an impetus for <blog y> to stop posting about using Ink to get 5x points on surgical supplies through some obscure route.

snugglening

First

jstn

I honestly don't see the point of this post. The majority of the people in this thread are not the same people reading the blogs. They have a very loyal following because they have introduced the miles world to many people who otherwise would not have never discovered flyertalk.

hobo13

Does that mean they would have discovered FT?

Getiton

My stash of millions of Points and Miles are attributable to the Blogs.
So to the Bloggers keep on Blogging and ignore the virulent comments raging throughout this thread.
As always,for some they know not what they say.
I check Flyertalk only to see if a gimmick/scheme is still viable or dead as its the place the crying seems to be most prevalent.

longhorn11

Exactly and they make all of us who read, know the ins and outs, etc. educate the newer members who then reward the bloggers with a referral. The bloggers take information from FT, count on FT to educate them on the concept in question, then sit back and wait for the cc kickback to finish the cycle. Where's our cut?

ingy

Ray, U B Da Man


on a side note, we actually considered a blogger dunk tank for the Chicago Seminars and I had plenty of blogger volunteers to help support charity. So how much would you pay for the opportunity to dunk a blogger with all proceeds going to charity.

BTW it would only be approved flying objects

ukguy78

Until now I haven't really waded into this discussion. However, Rick's head-in-the-sand rant last night really stood out to me.

Perhaps this has been posted before, but in any case this was pulled from a post on FTG on 11/6, precisely four days before the OD deal was pulled:

With four Ink cards between us we can buy a little over $4,000 in Vanilla Reloads per card, per month. The cost to us is our time and $3.95 per $500 reload card. Let’s keep the number round and assume $16,000 of reload card purchases per month generating 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points per month or 960,000 Ultimate Rewards points per year.


The thing I find most amusing is that he often alludes to using deals in moderation by saying something to the effect of pigs getting fat while hogs get slaughtered. However, he then offers up the aforementioned quote basically throwing this in Chase's face.

Personally, I think it would be much easier if many of the bloggers, including FTG, would simply be transparent about there true motivations. Just be honest and say that you want to drive as much traffic to the blog in hopes that individuals will elect to use your particular cc referral link when applying for a card. Just don't hide behind the guise of helping people see the world at prices they can afford. That's a great tagline, and perhaps that was the initial motivation for that particular blog many moons ago. But motivations have shifted, and that's fine. Just be honest about it.

sonit

How much do the bloggers receive for each affiliate CC referral? Just curious. Hehe.

mile ho

I understand your points. They are valid. I too doubt anything will change because of this thread.

I am glad the OP is bringing more attention to the problem though. At this point it's prob the only thing that can be done.

Furthermore, I don't think anyone can moderate the overexposure of deals. And I agree it can happen anywhere, FT included. But I am asking that the bloggers think before they beat a deal to death. I copied a section from a post Frequent Miler made on his blog back on Nov 12 that intimates he knows and understands the spoon-feeding of the masses had a very large role to play in the demise of the VR. I believe other bloggers know he is right whether they will admit it or not.

Those of us who have been in the game for a while just don't like seeing deals destroyed by bloggers who are trying to drive page counts - and who will do it at the expense of deals.

As long as they are doing this, I will refuse to share anything I know with anyone I don't know (on FT) because I'm convinced many of the bloggers would x and o it to death if they thought it would drive people to their sites. And believe me, those who think like me are growing in number, day by day, killed deal by deal.

I'm ever so glad to share what I know with people who are trying to play our beloved game. I've been educated and have educated. But I refuse to give my ideas to anyone who I think might DESTROY them for their own personal gain.

Currently, I know at least three geese that have never seen the light of day on FT or the blogs, that is, AFAIK. But I feel quite certain if these three ever were introduced they'd be hunted down and the life x'ed and o'ed out of them in a very short amt of time.