Credit-card-rewards guru Brian Kelly says we’re in a “golden age” of travel
[Most] credit card bloggers like The Points Guy are shills, don&#x27;t listen to them. They make their money from affiliate marketing so they&#x27;ll pimp the cards that make them the most (like Chase cards) and ignore deals that are good for you but bad for them. The Points Guy&#x27;s website is owned by Bankrate.<p>Here&#x27;s him getting called out on Reddit for some practices: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;IAmA&#x2F;comments&#x2F;471yey&#x2F;im_the_points_guy_aka_brian_kelly_ama&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;IAmA&#x2F;comments&#x2F;471yey&#x2F;im_the_points_...</a><p>The Points Guy and other credit card bloggers are like the people who hold &quot;I Will Teach You To Get Rich&quot; seminars at the Holiday Inn. He never answered when asked how much his salary he makes from his blog is but it&#x27;s reported to be 7 figures.<p>This is not the golden age, it&#x27;s pretty mainstream. Card issues are cracking down on gamers. AMEX just started putting terms about gaming in their application. Citi merged limits on sign up bonuses across their cards. Chase doesn&#x27;t even approve you if you&#x27;ve opened too many credit cards in the last 24 months (5) and has long called out gaming as against their T&amp;C.<p>Even if you get a million miles it&#x27;s a chore to redeem them for something worthwhile. You also have to worry about keeping them from expiring.<p>I still collect points and miles but don&#x27;t kid yourself that it&#x27;s not a commitment. Most people who are serious in the miles&#x2F;points game go out buying gift cards and then using ever closing loopholes to liquidate the gift cards. It&#x27;s just crazy some of the time, money, and effort people put into it. Might as well get a part time job at that point.<p>Personally, in two years, between credit cards and bank accounts I&#x27;ve gotten $6,000 in realized worth (that is redeemed) and at least as much in unrealized worth. I&#x27;ve got my first rejection a few weeks ago.<p>This is a credit card blog that is independent, the only blog I look at: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.doctorofcredit.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.doctorofcredit.com</a>