Miles and Points, My Affiliate Program Quirks

1) United will copy Delta and move to a revenue program in 2015. This is a non-event for me, as I don’t get my miles through flying. The redemption side should stay the same for now, with some new options added. Read the whole story HERE

2) 3,000 bonus miles from Rocketmiles (my link) for your first booking made by July 4th. Can be a good deal for 1 night stay.

3) Activate Chase Freedom’s bonus categories by tomorrow to get 5 percent back through the end of June on Lowe’s purchases and restaurants. The bonus is retroactive.

4) You can get 4 percent cash back on Amex gift cards by going through BeFrugal (my link). No purchase fees with the code FPDAD through June 16th.

5) You can get 9 points per dollar on Sears purchases by going through Southwest shopping portal. Gift cards qualify, so you could buy the card, then go through the same portal to make a purchase, getting 18 points total per dollar. (h/t Big Habitat blog)

6) Be careful when using Evolve service, as the company started closing accounts for abuse. For more details and new policy, read the post HERE

7) An incredibly useful post on Milenomics containing tips on booking award tickets on all major alliances. Print it or bookmark it HERE

8) Check out this site, called Vouchercloud It displays coupon offers for various sites and attractions, like Sea World and Busch Gardens. I get no referral commission for recommending it.

On my mind

In the last few weeks I’ve  gotten several emails from readers who wanted to support the blog by clicking my affiliate links, but were confused on how to do it. First, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to check on these things. You could have just gone to another blogger’s site, but chose to email me instead. I am so flattered!

So, here is the thing. I am only allowed to display direct links for Barclay’s bank. You can find them in my “Best credit card deals for family” page, with additional links in my secondary list of bonuses. I’ve also put the best Barclay’s offers in my “Support Me” page. I am allowed to insert them in my blog posts as well, but have chosen not to.

When you  see an offer listed that says “Pays me commission”,  but has no affiliate link next to it, it’s because I’m not allowed to display it. If I did, I would be kicked out of the program. The way you can find that card is by clicking my link in “Support Me” page and searching for it on that site. Sounds complicated? You bet!

I wish, I could simplify this whole process, but unfortunately, I don’t make the rules. I do my best to comply, and even that’s not enough sometimes. For example: My “Support Me” page was checked  and approved by my rep. A month later, I got an email that I was out of compliance, even though I made no changes to it whatsoever. I was given 12 hours to fix it, or I would be kicked out of the program. Sometimes I only get 5 hours to update the credit card info.

You may be wondering: Why do I put up with this nuisance? Simple: The money! To me, the amount is substantial enough to justify the inconvenience. The affiliate company does not dictate my content, and I don’t have a quota to meet, or at least wasn’t told of the amount.

Those two things are critical to me. As long as they stay that way, my blog and my affiliate company can coexist in relative harmony. I’ve said before that technically, I am their contractor. But  I am by no means their employee.

The affiliate commission is my only way to generate any profit. So far, the video ads only cover my running costs. The book gets downloaded occasionally, but at 30 cents royalty per download, it will take me 5 years to break even. It is a useful marketing tool, and I have no regrets on publishing it. But I won’t be getting rich from it, that’s for sure.

So, I hope it clarifies some things. I truly appreciate all of you reading my blog. That to me is the most important thing. But I am  very  grateful when you click my links, so thank you for that as well!

Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses