I’ve been reading a few posts recently and trying to figure out what makes an ‘Approved’ blogger vs a yellow rat bastard who is trying to ruin our lives. A key thing seems to be intent, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions….Let’s look at a couple of posts that have surfaced […]
Thoughts on The Points Guy AMA on @reddit
So it happened. The clusterf*ck that is Reddit hosted Brian, The Points Guy, and it got run over by a steamroller. Ultimately, I’m somewhat happy about the end result. I don’t like bullying, and I feel that the AMA (Ask me anything) may have crossed that line, but I do like that there is a […]
Can you handle getting detained?
Depending on which blogs you read, you might be committing crimes, or not, in the pursuit of points. But in either case does that actually matter if you get detained?An important consideration for the masses who are swarming into the land of manufactured spending is that the exact same event can create different outcomes. This […]
Blogger Guide: How to score big with eBates!
As a seasoned blogger, I like to help out the newbies every now and then and create guides on how to make more cash $$$ from your readers (I mean your family, who you started blogging to help…)Ebates is a shopping portal that pays out both the reader and the blogger for their affiliate link. […]
Gift Card Affiliate Money 101
Just a quick ‘how the world works’ post since many people seem to not understand. Yesterday, TopCashBack (TCB) dropped cashback from $2000 cards to $200 denom cards only. The reaction from many was to chase around other portals.That’s not how it works. This is how it works: Amex pays Cashback site X Cashback site passes […]
Should you use your superpowers for good?
Chasing the Points just wrote how to convince a cashier to allow credit, and I just received my Global Entry card for the little one in the mail. But just because you can talk your way into a beneficial situation, or out of a bad one, should you do so, and should you encourage others […]
Should he write it, and can I do any better?
I noticed a tweet yesterday from esteemed travel hacker Robert Dwyer, asking whether FQF thought that spending $40K to earn Hilton Honors Diamond was worth it…. I thought this a great subject to write about, but I had one real problem.I’ve never been HHonors Diamond, so I don’t know what the heck I am talking […]
Risks and Rewards of dummy bookings
I procrastinated so much on my recent award booking. My heart said JFK-LAX on a fancy plane, my head said take the crappy plane and waste less time. I found myself going through the booking process online and getting to check out, then bailing out as this conflict ensued. After my final ‘checkout page’ bailout I realized […]
A/B Testing Credit Card Offers
In my running battles with the affiliate company we have lost and gained links on a weekly basis. The present state of affairs is that we had our last bastion of Direct Links (the mighty Barclays) pulled, but in tandem with that now can offer what is called ‘banner’ links that offer cards from Chase, […]
Game Everything, but not Everyone
I like to flip between talking about matters of finance and travel. Life is a bitch, and we have to figure out how to get through it. In the past I have talked about ‘game everything’. The idea is to move beyond the world of ‘points and miles’ to expand the philosophy into all aspects […]