The Points Guy (TPG) is an American travel website and blog that produces sponsored news and stories on travel, means of accumulating and using airline points and miles, politics, and credit cards - in particular, credit card reviews.[3] The site was founded in 2010[2] and was initially a blog written by founder Brian Kelly.[2] By 2017, the site employed 20 full-time staff in addition to 50 freelance contributors.[4]
 | |
| Founded | 2010 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Brian Kelly |
Key people |
|
Number of employees |  20 (2017)[2] |
| Parent | Red Ventures |
| Website | thepointsguy |
| Owner | The Points Guy |
|---|---|
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 2010 |
| Current status | live |
History
Before founding TPG, Kelly worked at Morgan Stanley as an IT recruiter and ran an informal travel agency-type operation for his colleagues aimed at helping them maximize their return on earned travel reward points.[1] While still working for Morgan Stanley, Kelly launched The Points Guy blog in 2010, where he wrote about frequent flyer miles, credit card points, and travel goals.[4][3][5] TPG began monetizing content through affiliate marketing in February 2011, which became the main source of the company's revenue.[3][5] Shortly thereafter, Kelly quit his job at Morgan Stanley.[3]
In 2012, Bankrate, a company that publishes and promotes financial content, acquired TPG.[3] In a 2014 interview, Brian Kelly stated: "I still have a vested ownership interest in TPG and I retain 100% editorial control."[6]
Between 2012 and 2017, TPG acquired three competing websites: Million Mile Secrets, Mommy Points, and Travel is Free.[2]
In 2016, TPG started Points for Peace, a partnership with the nonprofit PeaceJam Foundation, which donates frequent flyer miles to help Nobel Peace Prize winners travel to developing countries.[3][4]
In 2017, Brian Kelly was named the top influencer for travel by Forbes.[4] Bankrate was acquired by digital marketing company Red Ventures in 2017.[7] The company now operates out of offices in Austin, Charlotte, New York, and London.[2]
In 2020 Business Insider reported that multiple TPG employees had anonymously accused Kelly of fostering a toxic work environment, including drug use and abusive behavior toward staff.[8] In response to the allegations, Red Ventures said: "Mr. Kelly unequivocally denies all allegations of drug use, sexual harassment, and assault. TPG and its parent company, Red Ventures, do not tolerate any form of harassment, exploitation, or discrimination in the workplace and take seriously their responsibility to create environments where people feel safe, respected, and able to do their best work.”[8][5]
In September 2021, TPG released an app to track airline points and miles across multiple airlines.[9]
On January 11, 2022, TPG preemptively sued American Airlines, asking a Delaware court to make it legal for customers to manage their frequent flyer data on a third-party website.[10][11] The filing was in response to a cease and desist letter from American Airlines, demanding TPG not track the data of its AAdvantage members who opted-in to share their info with the TPG app.[11] On January 22, 2022, American Airlines filed suit against The Points Guy in a federal court in Texas, claiming the company's app violated its trademark and the terms of the airlines’ frequent flyer program.[10][9][11] The case was settled in November 2022, but no details of the settlement were disclosed.[12]
Products and services
The business receives revenue in the form of 'marketing fees' from credit card companies. These fees are based on traffic from the site related to credit cards participating in loyalty programs.[2] Among the company's partners are Citi, Bank of America, Chase,[2] and Capital One.[1]
Reception
The Points Guy is included on Wikipedia's spam blacklist due to having questionable relationships with the credit card companies it covers.[13]
References
Further reading
- Rodriguez, Ashley (January 13, 2017). "The 'Points Guy' made a career of gaming credit-card rewards to get luxury travel". Quartz. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.