Why Travel Is Free’s Drew Was Right

Drew from Travel Is Free is somebody I respect highly. When it comes to redeeming airline miles Drew is the best and most thorough blogger there is. He doesn’t often write about earning airline miles (either through credit card sign up bonuses or manufactured spending) but recently he wrote a post titled “Please, Stop Listening to Bloggers and Getting Crappy Rewards Cards!“. It sparked a lot of conversation and the comments on that post are well worth reading. It also sparked a number of blog posts from other bloggers which are also worth reading:

I disagree (and still disagree) with a lot of what Drew said and voiced those disagreements in the comments. I think the disagreements we have are relatively minor and I agree with the crux of his message. Rather than nitpicking on the certain words Drew used (e.g “suck”) I decided to look at what Drew got spot on:

You should be aware when somebody has an invested financial interest in a decision that affects you. If a blogger is earning a commission on a product, then there is an incentive for them to overstate how good the product actually is. Not all bloggers do this and some are better than others. One good litmus test is to see if they promote the best offer when there is a higher bonus for a link they don’t earn commission on.
If you’re a newbie starting out then you have a lot more choice than is usually presented to you. Most bloggers usually post about increased sign up bonuses, rather than the sign up bonuses that have stayed the same (even if those bonuses are actually better). If you’re just getting into travel hacking these might not be the best deals for you. I’d recommend finding a blogger you trust/respect and then having a look at their newbie section/best travel section.
Everybody has their own goals, limitations and opinions. Just because somebody says that XYZ is the best credit card offer since sliced bread, doesn’t make it so. If you like to stay at budget properties, then an IHG card with a 70k point sign up bonus offer is likely more valuable than the Chase Hyatt with two free night certificates. If you value premium night stays, the inverse is true. You should always stay educated about redemption rates and keep in mind your travel plans, goals and limitations (e.g if an airline rarely has more than two award seats for a various route that you want to travel and your a family of four then that option isn’t much good).

Both of the above should be used not only for points & miles, but also every day life. For example if you go to a no fee financial advisor you should be aware that they get paid commission for suggesting certain products, this gives them an incentive to suggest these products when there might be a better alternative available. A fee only financial advisor that doesn’t receive commission does not have that conflict of interest. At the end of the day, which advisor is more likely to give you the better advice?

At the end of the day what I’m trying to get at is that you need to educate yourself as much as possible and make the right choices for your own situation. An educated consumer is a powerful thing and something that most financial institutions don’t particularly like, because the more you educate yourself on the different products the less likely you are to fall for their bullshit traps and tricks.

When it comes to credit cards, one thing that I think a lot of people don’t put a lot of thought into is managing their retention bonuses and card downgrades. This is something that I haven’t really put a lot of thought into either until recently and now that I’ve started I always try to think about my exit plan. I hate cancelling cards outright because it reduces your average age of accounts (and thus your FICO score), I also flat out refuse to pay annual fees unless the anniversary bonus/card benefits are greater than the annual fee. This is something I’m going to give considerable more attention to on the blog in the near future.

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