What You DON'T Know About The Points Guy and Similar Brands

The insider scoop on what's REALLY going on from someone who wrote for them...

Before I fill you in on the real truth you did not know about The Points Guy (and other miles and points sites), I want to remind you that your opportunity to secure my special BONUS of 5,000 Southwest Airlines points when you join Families Fly Free ends TONIGHT at midnight ET, 11pm CT, 10pm MT, 9pm Pacific.

The price to join is going up SOON, so this is your chance to get in at the lower price AND get enough Southwest points for one flight from many destinations.

Who Owns The Points Guy?

First thing: Did you know The Points Guy and Million Mile Secrets are NOT owned by their original owners?

They're owned by a corporation: Red Ventures. (You'll see this at the very bottom of both sites)

Red Ventures also owns search-driven sites like Bankrate.com, CNET.com and Healthline.com among many others. 

According to the New York Times, Bankrate aquired The Points Guy from Brian Kelly in 2012 for $20 million and Red Ventures aquired Bankrate several years later. During that time, The Points Guy also acquired Million Miles Secrets, Mommy Points and Travel Is Free. 

I was the “Southwest expert” for Million Miles Secrets for several years, while it was still owned by Daraius Dubash and Emily Jablon, both of whom were delightful to work with. That also resulted in some crossover with The Points Guy, as well. I can tell you from the inside, things were NO GOOD with decisions made on profit alone after Red Ventures took over, and I stopped writing for them shortly thereafter even though they reposted my content for many years afterward.

Who Is Red Ventures?

The Verge said of Red Ventures that “it publishes content designed to rank highly in Google search for ‘high-intent’ queries and then monetizes that traffic with lucrative affiliate links. Specifically, Red Ventures has found a major niche in credit cards and other finance products.”

And the site Futurism found that for their CNET brand, they had entire articles written by AI that were filled with errors and a lot of plagiarism.

Accountable.us, a federal nonprofit dedicated to exposing conflicts of interest in business politics and beyond says the following about The Points Guy...

I say all this to let you know the truth of who you're dealing with and consider if they really have your best interests in mind. It’s not a small business owner, or even a large business owner; it’s a corporation. That’s all fine and good, but…

Really stop to think about if they're giving you the BEST and the RIGHT information to fly and travel for free.

My business is owned by ME and always will be. My success depends on YOUR success, and to me, that's how it SHOULD be.

And this not just the case for how The Points Guy, Million Mile Secrets, etc, operate, but is a reality behind many miles and points content. Buyer beware.

How Most Miles and Points Content Is Funded

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Most miles and points content is funded in 2 primary ways…

1) Card commissions when you sign up for cards through their links

2) Ad revenue (driven by Google search)

3) Or BOTH

In full transparency, I want you to know, I, too, earn card commissions, but as I'm going to explain, my business is funded primarily by my Families Fly Free membership program (owned, created and run BY ME), which allows me to instead ONLY recommend the cards that work well with my program and that I feel are right for you.

Within my membership, I am able to work personally with my members and look closely at their unique situations, including what cards they have already, what their travel goals are, how many points they have, etc. to make the BEST recommendation for them. There is NO vested interest in me telling them to get a card that will not be helpful, or that even could be potentially harmful, to them.

MANY times I tell people NOT to get specific cards, because I don’t think it’s the right move or necessary to their miles and points success.

In fact, a member emailed me just last week asking about the AMEX Gold card. That is generally NOT a card I recommend for most people and I shared that with him. In my opinion, AMEX is not a great system for travel rewards.

Could I have earned a commission on that application? Yep. But it’s not the right thing for him, in my opinion, and I told him so.

Card Commission-Based Business Models

When business’ primary revenue comes from card commissions, it's in their interest to promote EVERY possible card, which is what we see these brands doing. Because they sink or swim based on these commissions, even entrepreneurs feel like they need to keep promoting them to make ends meet.

For major corporations like The Points Guy, they have to meet MAJOR revenue goals to be profitable. And you’ll find every page on their site is designed to get you to click on ANY and EVERY card application.

Accountable.us even questions the validity of the annual TPG (The Points Guy) awards, which “often go to companies with which TPG has established business relationships, such as Chase, Capital One, and American Express.”

Brands primarily monetized by card commissions promote EVERY airline, hotel and travel card that they can earn a commission on. That is NOT in your best interest and is why SO many of you come to me completely overwhelmed after opening so many travel cards and thinking that collecting and using travel rewards is difficult, or worse: a scam, when it actually can be EASY.

One of my BIGGEST missions is to upend this method of earning miles and points: through constant opening of new cards. It’s NOT necessary despite what they’ve trained you to do! I now have nearly a thousand families who've used my system successfully to prove it.

YOU CAN FLY FOR FREE WITH 2-4 TRAVEL CARDS MAX! And you DO NOT need to constantly open and close cards. My system shows you how to fly for free simply and EASILY without all these unnecessary cards, focusing primarily on putting your everyday spending on the CORRECT card for your family’s goals.

Ad-Based Revenue Models

When their primary revenue comes from ads, the game is to get as many eyeballs on their pages as possible (the more eyes, the more money they make).

This can result in a lot of clickbait content, AI-generated articles to continue to provide new information for yet another click and inaccurate information just so you’ll click through, and then, better yet, sign up for a card.

I have completely removed ads from my site, because that is NOT my business model AND because I find ads on sites utterly annoying.

What These Content Creators Are NOT Telling You

OK think about it... Has The Points Guy (or any other miles and points person) ever told you...

✅ NOT to apply for the current Southwest personal card 85,000-point offer YET

✅ NOT to buy a discounted Southwest gift card from Costco, BJs or any store for that matter

✅ NOT to ever buy a Southwest flight in cash UNLESS your employer is paying for it

✅ NOT to book Southwest flights in the Chase Travel Portal

✅ NOT to get MANY different travel cards

✅ NOT to get an American or United card

No.

In fact, I see MANY articles on these sites telling you to do the EXACT opposite.

But you’ve heard all these things from me. Because they are in YOUR best interest.

Why don’t they tell you not to do these things?

No. 1 I think many of them just don’t understand why these things are not a good idea. That’s because they’re focused on generating content and not with working personally with people to help them be successful. They don’t ever stop to think about what really IS or IS NOT a good idea, not to mention put together a step-by-step process to follow like I teach. They just want another article up for more ad revenue or more opportunities to promote another card.

No. 2 It’s not in their best interest to tell you this. Some may have cozy relationships with these companies who don’t want you to know the real truth about how to maximize earning miles and points. Plus, it might decrease cards applications or views on their pages.

How I Monetize My Business

I have primarily monetized my business through a program, Families Fly Free, that lives or dies by the success of my members. This program teaches you MY simple proven system to ALWAYS fly your whole family for free, using miles and points. It’s content I control that is beholden to NO ONE else.

I decided to do something DIFFERENT than the rest of the industry, because I saw a BETTER WAY.

Because my business is funded by my members, I don’t have to worry about losing revenue if I don’t promote a certain card or if I don’t get enough eyeballs on my site. My business is sustained by the membership.

And if my membership doesn’t work, people aren’t going to stay, and they are not going to say great things about it which you can see over and over in these countless success stories or simply by Googling “Families Fly Free” review.

If my system doesn’t work, my members fail and I don’t have a business. MY vested interest is in my members’ success, and that is where I spend the MAJORITY of my time: working with them, creating content for them, answering their questions, hosting live Zooms with them, updating them on changing travel news and how it affects their ability to fly and travel for free.

And, not just that, but I consider myself a highly ethical person who lives by Christian morals, and while I'm not perfect, I strive to ALWAYS tell you the truth as I see it and what's best for YOU.

I truly want as many families as is humanly possible to learn how EASY it can be to fly for free to bring more families together through travel in this day and age where the family institution is coming unglued in so many ways.

It’s not just me saying this about myself. My members agree, as you can see below…

Who Do You Trust?

I hope you'll consider supporting my business and letting me show you an AMAZING and SIMPLE system that's WOWed almost a thousand families, including those already using travel rewards and those entirely new to it.

Through TODAY, September 30, when you join Families Fly Free, you can get a special BONUS of 5,000 Southwest Airlines points, enough for a free flight on Southwest using the tricks and hacks you’ll learn inside the program.

The price of membership is increasing SOON, as well, so it’s a great time to join at the lower price AND get 5,000 Southwest points.

Email me at info AT familiesflyfree.com with ANY questions you have.

Bottom Line

Think twice the next time you’re getting miles and points advice. Whose interest are they serving and is that the best thing for your family? Just be aware and make informed choices. And please know, I am ALWAYS here for you!