When you said:

I took this to mean that you are targeting the people who have more straightforward redemption needs than the sometimes extremely complex and time-consuming ones Gary handles. That's why I said "low-end" - I was referring more to the simplicity of the booking rather than the income of the customer. No offense meant - I could have used a better choice of words.

If a $50 price point results in a good enough $/hour income for you to continue the service - more power to ya. I think that several of us are just expressing the belief that it might be hard to maintain at that price point *unless* you are focused on the less-complex niche, as this would greatly reduce the time divisor of the ratio.

mooper- sorry for misunderstanding your comment.

As far as my business model- trust me, its not based solely on doing mass $50 consultations. There's a lot more to come, so stay tuned :D

[QUOTE=pitbrian;14105201As far as my business model- trust me, its not based solely on doing mass $50 consultations. There's a lot more to come, so stay tuned :D[/QUOTE]

And absolutely the best of luck creating a win-win for yourself and your clients. Hope it goes well.

The value of this service is obvious for people that have waaaay to much money and not enough time to work the system. My personal problem with this business model is the fact that I don't have too much money. Besides that minor problem, $50 to find the right deal sounds like a great thing.

I am wondering, since I usually have the time, what are these "tools" that the "general public doesn't have"?

paying some guy $50 for his (presumed) expertise is "people that have waaaay to much money" ? seems like a very reasonable price if the guy is good at what he does, especially if he has various subscription-based tools (expert flyer etc) at his disposal which you may not purchase.

Used him to book 2 tickets to Europe. Not a super complex booking, but brought up the amex MR => delta transfer and 25% bonus I did not realize existed.

Would say the $100 spent was well worth the help.

I agree, the price is well worth it. My joke (obviously a poor one) is that I'm not a person with ridiculous wealth. Although I don't have a lot of spare time, I like the challenge of finding the deal. The cost of my time would far exceed $50, but I would still rather do it myself (even if I'm not as good at it).

I'm still curious what these "tools" are. Anyone?

ExpertFlyer and KVS primarily- along with a bunch of foreign carrier websites that show different levels of partner award availability. What I've encountered is that your everyday flyer does not know about these services and even if they did, they wouldn't want to spend the time and/or money learning how to use them.

Beginner Who Needs Immediate Help
 

I'm new to the frequent points game. I'm taking my family (4) to Lake Tahoe from Dec 20-26, 2012. We are planning on staying at the Marriott Timber Lodge. I'd like to fly us on Delta 1st class but only 3 tickets left? The Marriott is going to be over $5,000 for 2 villa rooms. What is the best way to get the most points. I have AMEX Platinum, Amex Gold Premier, Citi Thank You Premier, Chase Sapphire & Chase Ink. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.