A reader comment yesterday really reminded me that I need to speak to this. In a word, up to this point and for the immediate future, I have not accepted any kind of credit card referral income. Yesterday, I posted 2 paragraphs about how much I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, and in that post I included a link to the application for the card. A fellow BA blogger emailed me that he noticed that I was apparently not participating in any referral program, and would I mind including his link. I didn’t mind, and I added it. In retrospect, I should have added a note to the post that I had done so.
In my reply to the reader comment (which I really appreciated) about referrals, I stated that “every word ever written here has been my unvarnished, unpaid for, honest opinion which everyone is welcome to agree or disagree with at their leisure.” That remains the case this morning, and will continue to be what I do as long as I blog. I do want you to know that at some point in the not too distant future, I will begin accepting referral income for credit card applications. When I do, this will be fully disclosed. Additionally, I’m going to talk to the folks at Boardingarea about helping me set up an “ethics” page if you will where each credit card referral link that might pay me will be listed along with any gifts I might receive from travel providers. Further, if I become aware of any richer offers than the link that I have listed, I will disclose it on the blog.
I doubt that I will get rich by doing this as you are probably aware that I’m not nearly as much of a credit card flipping enthusiast as many….but I’m learning. đŸ™‚ In any event, I wanted to get this out there so you’ll know where I stand and what’s coming in the future.
Been coming back for the follow-up as well…
No follow-up?
” I will have more to say after my workday when I have some more time to ponder.”
In truth, between traveling home, unpacking, one day in the office, and packing for a road trip for the holiday, today was the first time I’ve returned to the blog. But given the level of interest in this subject, believe me, it’s been on my mind, I just needed to think about what I was going to say. After reflecting on it, I don’t see what good dwelling on my error in judgement of inserting someone else’s link in my post will accomplish. Further, while I do not believe that properly disclosed credit card referrals are a problem, I do… Read more »
The outcry about a different blogger asking to be indirectly compensated via referral links from this blog is justified. It’s in extremely poor taste, very tacky. That person should be identified so that everyone can decide for themself whether that person is worth reading any more. My second point is similar to what @Sam said earlier, this episode shows that all these bloggers are on the verge of peddling credit cards above all else. On BoardingArea but also elsewhere, the amount of noise from consistently promoting credit cards, shopping malls, Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards, is out of control. The… Read more »
This to me does not pass the smell test.
The post looked like an ad, and read like an ad. But there was a hidden referral for “a friend” … but we are supposed to trust you, and you won’t disclose who that friend was…
Its your reputation on the line here. If it was someone else’s link, say whose it was. Come clean (you’ve apologized already) and we can move on. don’t half *** it. You are protecting someone at the expense of your readers and your creditability
@Sara
We dont know whether that blogger’s site has a lot of traffic unless we know who that person is. He/she can very well want to make MORE money.
@Peter,
The point that most of here are incensed about is that some other blogger had the BALLS to ask this blogger to put in his affiliate link for the Sapphire card. MJ agreed he erred on doing so. Apparently, the other blogger doesn’t get a lot of traffic to their site, so they’re desperately trying to get their link out there as much as possible in order to garner as much affiliate commissions as possible…even if it’s not through traffic on their own site!
I have been reading all the blogs for a couple months now. The following is what I notice:- 1) There are only a few whom I feel to have a deep knowledge and they are creative. I can only name a few. They are Ben (one mile at a time), Hillary Stockton (travelsort), loyalty traveler, and frugal traveller. Thepointsguy’s site does have a good interface for people to visit. The REST of the bunch are COPYING other’s ideas and REGURGITATE them. You will notice when one came up with a new idea. The other bloggers will write a SIMILAR posts… Read more »
I think all of this is a “red herring”. It doesn’t matter to me whether you get 5 cents or $5000 for providing me a link. My only concern is getting the credit card I need with the best offer. It is common sense as a consumer that my responsibility is to visit a VARIETY of sites to do my research and then compile information to make an informed decision. I consider any incentive provided to a blogger along the way as irrelevant.
I don’t know why would protect them. If they ask for your referrals, they should have no problem with identifying themselves. Besides you owe it to the ppl who clicked thru the link to know who they supported. It’s your reputation and your readers. If its not a big deal (as that blogger prob thought) it should come clean. If it is a big deal, even more the reason. These blogs with the CCs are getting a bit out of hand. How much is made off each referral? Have you seen frugaltravelguy recently? It’s nothing but a big ad. It… Read more »
The only part about referrals that bothers me is that bloggers have to disclose, but TV doesn’t.
When you see the TV “on-air-talent” (I refuse to call them reporters or journalists) loving a product, there’s a very likely chance they were paid for it or at least got the product free, such as a night in an inn.
The only limit on US TV is that a public company has to disclose a report on its related companies, so ABC News will always mention that they’re owned by Disney if they mention Disney, etc.
Most of the Travel Bloggers if not all have become credit card bloggers – peddling credit cards in each and every blog post. All travel content ends up into a push for credit card applications. Looks like the credit card companies have upped the referral fee all of a sudden…
Agree with all the other commenters. If you use a referral link, I think your readers deserve to know who they are financially supporting.
I for one will not follow any referral links for my occasional credit card applications anymore as this credit card hype frenzy is getting really tiring and I have no desire to contribute to feeding it.
Lynch! Lynch! Lol
It’s only fair if you’ve disclosed this much to disclose it all… Who was it?
Yes, please let us know. This is going overboard.
All,
Please know all of your comments are being read, and considered. I will have more to say after my workday when I have some more time to ponder.
In all sincerity, I had no idea this would be an issue. I will blame my youthful ignorance. In retrospect, it should have been obvious to me, but I digress. And I apologize. It won’t happen again.
I completely agree with Phil. Please let us know who it was. You owe it to your readers to let us know.
Good grief what kind of greedy blogger goes around asking OTHER bloggers to capture their referal links? Name and shame so I can remove from my google reader subscription. Tells me all I need to know about them.
Taking it for yourself, fully disclosed, is absolutely acceptable. Going round asking other to take theirs is outright greed