The Points Guy
 

Just read about him on Jaunted - http://www.thepointsguy.com/index.html, Im assuming he is definitely a FT member, what do others think of his "service"?

Please follow the thread as it moves to MilesBuzz as it appears more mileage related than travel related. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

I also take 5,000 American Express Membership Rewards points as a form of payment (per $50 in service)

I can't imagine that being allowed as per the Amex MR T&C. lol

Any FT member who knows anything is a POINTS GUY.

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

If you don't have the time to do your own bookings, or have extremely complex bookings, I would imagine such a service would be beneficial.

I don't know the link offhand, but someone had compared milemanager vs another award search engine vs one of the award booking agencies (such as the service you mention), and the service came out ahead almost every time.

Booking complex award itineraries can take hours on the phone over the course of multiple days in order to see success. For my recent booking from US to EU/Asia, I probably spent 5 hours on the phone with various airlines checking availability and making reservations (and that's for a total of 3 tickets, if it were for multiple people, on an even more complex, longer itinerary, I don't know that I could've done it without help.

If you do have the time, the interest, the miles, and the motivation, then ft is really all you need, post the right questions here, do your research, and you don't need to pay anyone else.

If you are someone with millions of unused miles gathering dust and want to burn through them quickly and easily without any effort, an award booking service may be right up your alley.

I have no problem with what this guy is doing. Many people, especially those who rack up points from CCs alone, don't have time to understand the nuances of each FFP/codeshare agreement/fare buckets and whatnot. If it's easier for them to pay some guy 50 bucks to sort it out, power to them.

his service is like taking the fun out of planing a trip...
But on the other hand, if you really dont have time for this or hate planing/booking a trip this could be very useful.
Only the payment via Amex Bonus Points doesnt look so serious...

I agree his service is useful, many of us sometimes forget that we only make up a minuscule amount of the population and that most "normal" people do not know the first think about booking a reward ticket.

I'm by no means an expert but I know much more than many of my friends and family.

I think its a pretty cool service. Before I found FT I was, and really still am unsure of the most efficient ways to put my miles and points to work for me.

Sure, why not...

How many of us have had friends say -
"You spend so much time on this stuff, why don't you start a business?"

This guy did. Why not make a few bucks on his obsession...
^

5k AMEX MR>>$50.


{Off topic commentary redacted by moderator}

Wow, don't know how I missed this thread. This is actually my little side venture, which has been a lot of fun. As many have pointed out, this service is not aimed at your savvy FlyerTalker who enjoys booking complex awards. It's much more targeted at the business traveler who doesn't have time to figure it all out, but still wants to leverage the value of their points.

The initial response has been overwhelming and the testimonials on my site are all real feedback from clients. So many people face roadblocks when trying to book awards, so I offer a service that helps them realize their travel dreams (at a relatively cheap price).

I always appreciate feedback so feel free to PM. Even you big pimpin';)

Good for you, I figured it had to be someone who frequents this board.

With the addition of The Points Guy it appears there are at least (4) Flyertalkers offering a paid award booking service.

We may have to start offering award booking certification programs!

* How many segments are permitted on an Aeroplan award?
* What North American gateways are permissable for American Airlines redemption on British Airways to London?
* What program should you transfer SPG points to for business class redemption East Coast to London? Coach East Coast to Israel?
* What gateways give you the best chance of finding four premium class seats transatlantic during the summer?

As some examples ;)

Nothing wrong with competition, I'm sure one's competence will either show or not during the process. All who have ventured into this, as you have, can concentrate on simply doing what you advertise and your business with take care of itself. If this new poster doesn't provide what is advertised he won't be your competition very long.

Nothing wrong with competition at all!

I genuinely want to provide folks with the best possible awards, if someone else can do it better or faster in a given instance then I'm happy for them to handle it.

I've also personally enjoyed a nice mini-community with the couple of other folks doing this, swapping stories and suggestions.

Not sure the full details of what The Points Guy is offering, but whatever it is he's doing it at the lowest price point of any of us, so for the price sensistive that might be a place to start.

I often encourage folks who contact me to try ringing up their airline first, especially with easy awards, if they can get their trip sans fee so much the better (and if they can't, they appreciate my service all the more). So if you can get an award put together for you for $50 (not clear how 'full service' the offering is), I'd highly encouraage it ^

To be quite candid I would never take on a project at that price, I put too much into each award for it to be worthwhile to me.

At least he is not "pushing" his services here as you do. :td: :td:

Genuinely confused, please shoot me a PM with the threads where I've even mentioned my service on Flyertalk, it's pretty darned limited.

Even show me the number of posts on my own blog where I mention the service, you can count it on one hand over the course of a year.

And you quoted me in the post above suggesting that folks check with this other guy first!

So I genuinely don't 'get' the criticism/concern. I'd love to hear more and better understand, I certainly invite a PM on the subject.

Cheers,
Gary

Wish you the best of luck. Still think you should change your picture though ;)

gleff, I'd be glad to participate in any accreditation courses you'd like to start! :D

I'm not trying to be the foremost expert on every single type of award, but I do know that I know how to get the right information and walk people through getting the best possible award. My clients have been extremely satisfied so far and that's all that matters to me. As far as my services, I'm not trying to be a miracle worker and make awards happen for every single person that approaches me. I have turned away potential clients whose expectations are unrealistic. I also don't charge a fee if I can't end up helping a client.

In all reality, there may be a handful of people doing this, but there are millions of people who are downright confused with points and miles. I'm not trying to steal anyone's business and I'd be open to discussing my experiences with the others who are doing this.

I don't think anyone feels like anything is being stolen from them, I fully encourage this, good quality help for members seeking the best use of miles is in short supply.

Indeed. I recently redeemed my own miles to get my pastor and his wife to Europe. The time I poured over the ANA tool, the time I spent on the phone with Dividend Miles, first with a clueless agent, then with a helpful one to achieve a pretty cool itinerary, and the time I spent interfacing with my pastor (my theoretical "client") as to his travel preferences to ensure he was pleased with what I put together was significant.

I think the legwork I did for my pastor was pretty comprehensive, but with a "paying client", I'd never deem $50 sufficient to justify the time I spent on this transaction, much less the time I have spent developing basic miles-redeeming skills.

Gleff and The Points Guy likely have the experience to make these transactions a bit more efficient than mine was. And, outside of inferences that arise from the price being charged, I have NO basis to say that The Points Guy's service is not comprehensive. But I know I ain't providing complete strangers the kind of service I would expect for $50.

Having learned a ton about awards from his blog, as a newbie here, I at least dont have a problem with that. If someone without the same record of giving back to the community were to FT to advertise his/her services it would be different - at least IMHO.

Ive never seen gleff "pushing" his service here, nor do I think the people on this board are his intended demo.

Just curious, gleff, how much do you charge?

As stated before, I know very little compared to others here but I know quite a bit more than my friends and over the last few months Ive been approached by several people to help them using their points. I didnt charge a fee because they were my friends, but I think what I did was worth at least $50.

pitbrian, how do you deal with the friends and family issue?

I generally hook up friends/family for easy trips, but wouldn't have an issue charging for a complex award. IME my service gives people a value many times my fee (in time saved and value received), so they have no problem paying.

I agree my $50 fee is probably below market value, but I'm really just trying to build my clientele and reputation.

I paid something like $60 for KVS tool to help with a booking this year - it was a big help, but going forward I'd be just as likely to pay someone else to deal with it.

Honestly I'd be more likely to go with a person charging $50 than a higher rate, but I would also completely understand when the price goes up...

But I would warn you that Gleff is high on my list due to me knowing of his service via his blog posts and (regular) valuable content found there, so keep that in mind when you do start to raise your rates.

I don't think you're pricing is too low, nor Gary's too high. It seems like a simple case where you are targeting the simpler/lower-end client and Gary the more complex/expensive/upper-end. Pricing logically would differ. I do something different from both of you guys, though not formally and not as my primary job. I advise a couple of fellow business owners who spend millions on credit cards per year how to optimize the spending for their specific needs, as I have a solid background on this niche because of my history of spending millions on my cards through my business and utilizing the benefits for travel.

How do you figure I am targeting a simple or low-end client? I'm Manhattan based and most of my original clients are bankers/lawyers who have accrued tons of points, but don't have the time to figure them all out.

As far as me targeting "simple awards"- I'll try not to take this comment seriously, but FYI I book people on multi-destination/RTW J/F awards every day on every alliance/carrier.

Well, as I discussed above, your relatively low fee gives rise to an inference that the time and level of service is limited. A terrible irony indeed if you are providing service "worth" $500 for $50, as providing a bargain should never give rise to an inference that your service is limited. The Manhattan lawyers who you serve likely have billable rates of $500, or even more - $50 is six minutes of their time. Assisting with award seat bookings, of course. will never command the same rates as Manhattan lawyers.

Given that you are Manhattan based and have a scarce skill which requires some thoughtful creativity, insight, the development of knowledge, constant updating and monitoring of the market in which you work, and (hopfully little) time at $0 when you do not succeed in a booking, I would hope you view your effective billable rate as about $200/hr or that this is otherwise something that brings you non-monetary satisfaction.

I'm a lawyer myself, and work in the public sector. My friends think of me as Ryan Bingham (little do they know that, chez FT, I am a sorry piker). I stay on top of the "miles industry", and they appreciate the bycatch I generate. I actually have a buddy to whom I refer as my status sponge. And at times I advise them on how to score deals whose availability requires particularized knowledge - they reciprocate in kind when I need their skills. But the handholding I provide is at a level which I would never provide a complete stranger for $50.

Pitbrian, what you charge is your business, but please do not be surprised when one infers lesser service from the price you charge. Odd, I know, but this service is far more complex than booking a flight from JFK to LAX, which a moron travel agent charges $25. If you must charge $50 to build the business and develop clientele, I understand, but don't seel yourself short!

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.