Remember, in this hobby, every one of us has a different goal and things that are important to them. Some folks want to learn about First Class cabins. Some care about locations, and others still, are into reselling or maybe it’s manufactured spending. Here’s where I go for information every day.
Email updates
The first site I check every morning is my email for the email subscriptions I get.
My primary subscription is Frequent Miler. I’ve known Greg for years, and he and Nick cover a well-rounded set of topics.
I get emails from Staples as well. I have a 5X INK card and with all the gift cards I buy there, they are always sending me $5 and $10 off rewards on in-store purchases. We haven’t paid for coffee in years I get so many and my Staples sells my wife’s favorite Dunkin Donuts coffee.
Katy and I have over 12 active Amex charge and credit cards between us so like hearing from them as well, and news of any new Amex Offers or bonuses.
Points and miles websites
Once Gmail has been scoped out it’s on to Doctor of Credit for his always insightful look at deals. He talks about new credit card deals, new bank account bonuses (and keeps great monthly updates on those topics). They also cover Amex and Amazon deals, some of which I could care less about, but others that fit right into my frugal ways.
DansDeals is next for more of the same and Danny the Deal Guru comes up with a unique one that the first two deal sites have missed sometimes.
I scan BoardingArea once or twice a day, usually later in the morning as those guys sleep in and I don’t get much from the posts in foreign languages.
The two I like best on BA are Frequent Miler and Miles to Memories. They’ve got the news I need to know and quite frankly, other than those two and One Mile at a Time, I fall prey to clickbait titles just like all the rest of you and will “bite” if the title grabs me.
As I breeze through Facebook, I catch up with Ariana and manufactured spending topics, see FB posts by TravelCodex and for some reason, Frugal Travel with Holly Johnson pops up as well.
I don’t understand the Facebook thing very well but assume I joined the groups Frequent Miler Insiders, Award Travel 101 and Travel Grumps 101.
In addition, I belong to a closed group that has been an invaluable resource of old-timers info and tips. I am always grateful for their help and all of you in the hobby, no matter what level you play at. Find your niche and join it. Quit trying to do this alone.
My key takeaway
Here is my key takeaway. You’ll be way more productive and time-efficient with the help of others. Just a week ago, Ariana put me back onto Be Frugal, which I had used years ago and forgot about.
The site increased my return on buying gift cards online and steered me away from a site she has had trouble with. I was losing out because it took me a while to ask for help in that one area.
There is just too much information. And I’ve found you have to be willing to give a little help to get any in return in the long run.
Network, Network, Network. And in particular, for you new to the game, go to an event or two and introduce yourself around. You’ll learn plenty and make like-minded friends you’ll have for years.
So NOW, help me out: What sites do you look at on a daily basis? We’ll all learn from what works for you.
Thanks
All of the above (which made me happy), along with thepointsguy.com.
You forgot Travelbloggerbuzz where you troll every day Rick!
TBB. The post is about sites I go to for miles and points news. When I visit TBB it’s for comic relief and gratitude I’m not that “angry” and negative
I don’t care to defend TBB but Rick’s comment above is false: the vast majority of his posts there are very angry. (Don’t believe me or him: visit for yourself and see). I wish he would not post there.
Just taking a page out of George’s book.
Ariana, looking for info on references to BeFrugal 1% on VGC. Any non-FB links available?
Can you clarify what you mean by “FB”?
That was B-R-U-T-A-L……
millionmilesecrets.com take a lot of heat for retreading other sites posts, but I still like their content and they stay current. They do some good educational posts, success stories and guest posts.
I lost interest in ThePointsGuy. Just did not find his content relevant to me anymore.
One more . . . milestomemories.com is good
MTM (Shawn) censors your comments if you are critical of what is written. But I do think they do a better job than most bloggers.
Really? I’m not an “old timer” but I’ve subscribed to a lot of their comments sections in the past year or so, and I’ve never seen an appropriate comment removed.
How would you know when they’re only up 5 minutes and taken down. Mine was not inappropriate. Just critical.
@Kirk – because in my experience, comments get posted instantly, the timestamp matches the time of posting, and the timestamp on the emails (from Gmail) is within 3 minutes of the timestamp on the comments. Also in my experience, plenty of critical comments stay, including my own.
Well, your system is flawed because you’re not seeing the ones he deleted.
freefrequentflyermiles.com This one is also very good and different. He keeps an ongoing list of all relevant deals. A different format. organized so you can find what you are looking for quickly.
+1 on freefrequentflyermiles. That was one of the most useful resources for me when I started out. Poured through every single page and learned so much.
dealswelike.com
I feel MMS has totally gone downhill since Darius left. Some of their posts give out really bad info.
I use Feedly and am subscribed to all of the following:
AwardWallet Blog – usually late
Danny The Deal Guru
Deals We Like
Doctor of Credit
Frequent Flyer Bonuses
Frequent Miler
Frugal Travel Guy
God Save The Points
Johnny Jet
Live And Let’s Fly
Loyalty Traveler
LoyaltyLobby
Middle Age Miles
Miles For Family
Miles Per Day
Miles To Memories
MileValue
Million Mile Secrets
Monkey Miles
One Mile At A Time
Point Me To The Plane
PointChaser
Points To Be Made
Points With A Crew
Running With Miles
Seat 31B
Simple Flying – new and sometimes amateurish, but improving
The Free-quent Flyer
The Flight Deal
The Points Guy – they have their issues
Travel Codex
Traveling For Miles
TravelUpdate
Upgraded Points
View From The Wing
Will Run For Miles
Missed one – Secret Flying. Good one to track along with The Flight Deal.
I wish the other sites (e.g. TPG) had a dedicated feed for flight deals. That way, I could add all “flight deal” feeds to a separate feed that I could check in preparation for a trip.
nice alphabetical list!
i also have specific flyertalk forums it frequent from time to time…
Thanks for the great feedback. I have been doing this since February – so about six months. Actually I started following MilesHusband and that is how I got interested. At the same time, a person on twitter who follows the same baseball team talked I liked also talked about miles so I listened to his podcasts. I will put a few of these on my favorites list daily to peruse. Always looking for new techniques as part of what I call my “side hustle”. Glad to see SM extend the Visa GC program. Good way to get cash back and Chase UR miles.
I’ve been reading the same travel blogs discussed in the article for a long time and have benefitted from doing so. Very grateful to each one. In addition to the sites already referenced in this discussion, I like reading Summer Hull, aka, mommypoints, who recently shifted her career to become part of ThePointsGuy. I don’t have children still in the nest as she does, but I enjoy her posts because she’s an excellent writer with a talent for explaining travel intricacies clearly. She thoroughly reviews her experiences aboard planes, at hotel stays, dining while traveling, and can navigate the points/miles world with a lot of expertise. Yes, she’s focused on travel for families, however, there’s always much to be gleaned from her writings even if you are someone like me whose children are grown.
I second that! My kids are grown now and I still enjoy reading her posts!!
That’s interesting because I found Summer Hull to be the most whiny miserable writer I’ve ever encountered. I even stopped reading The Points Guy because her posts annoyed me so much. Like they say different strokes for different folks. We are lucky to have so many choices.
+1. Agreed. Summer a good writer? C’mon. Some people have low standards I guess.
Stopped reading TPG and MMS long ago. Tired of the prostitution.
Really tired of the mass posting of the same thing on Boarding Area every day.
DOC is king.
I go to milesfeed.com, scan the topics and read the ones that are interesting.
When Drew is fully committed, Travelisfree.com is the best resource for original content. His thought exercises are unmatched IMO.
agree
Twitter is the way to roll for these sites. Short sweet and to the point.
Thanks for all the feedback. Yes we all have favorites. A poster mentioned “freefrequentflyermiles”
That was my Google search back in 2001 and Gary Steiger’s site was the one that got me started. He has had an amazing run of content.
As always, I enjoyed reading your post. Lots of good information.
“You’ll be way more productive and time-efficient with the help of others.”
I agree with this. My two go-tos don’t post everyday. One of them only posts once a month. But I still rely on them both for valuable info.
The first is milenerd. His monthly credit card list is a thing of beauty. And he has no affiliate links, so there’s no prostitution involved.
The second is travelbloggerbuzz. TBB not only gives me links to breaking news in the points-and-miles world, he also has links to articles/photos/charts that I might not come across on my own…he’s an aggregator which saves me lots of time and still keeps me abreast of interesting stuff.
I use uscreditcardguide.com for CC info.
Closed/Private Groups:
Not asking for info on ‘your’ closed/private groups – and would like to learn the methods or ways you found them.
We have been in this hobby for quiet some time, even attend seminars and yet not coming across closed/private groups for the more experienced.
To track reply.,.missed the notify option when posting.