If I were to build a “Dream Team” of the miles and points game, I think this is who I’d want on the team:
Point Accumulation Team
Credit Card Expert
Need to know the Citi rules on personal/business applications? Need to know that Chase and Citi are clamping down of late on applications? Need to know the current retention offers? Talk to this person.
FBA/Ebay/Paypal Reseller
This person knows all the ins and outs of FBA – how to save on shipping, how to ungate categories, and how to estimate fees in their head! Should also have done some business on Ebay and Paypal to know their silly rules too. This might be 2 people, but it could be one.
Deals Scout – Electronics and Miscellaneous
This is the person that’s watching Slickdeals to see when Staples has a good deal on an iPad that can be flipped for a profit. Also notifies the group when there is an AMEX offer that comes up and how to maximize it.
Deals Scout – Clothings expert
I break this person out because when Saks has a 15X sale, I need this person to tell me that the Valentino Rock Studs are the hot items right now and would bring in the highest margin. Applies to Niemans/Bloomingdales/Macys/Kohls/etc. You can’t really find this on Slickdeals. The reason why I put 3 resellers on the team because reselling brings in much higher margins and points than normal MS.
GC Churner
Hey, there’s a 20% sale on Gap gift cards. You want to maximize the deal. You ask the clothings expert if there is anything you can resell on Gap and they tell you NO. You talk to the GC churner and they tell you that you can sell for 85% on the dollar to giftcardhousezenraisebin!
Unicorn Wrangler x 2
You need 2 of these people because there is too much ground to cover with 1 person. Ideally, both of these people are in the private forums and chats along with other unicorn wranglers. They’re reading Reddit and scouring the internet for information. Their sole purpose is to find hidden deals before the hogs do.
Point Remption Team
Award Booking Expert x 2
Have a lot of points, but don’t know which alliance or routes will get you from Seattle to Johannesburg? Talk to this person. This may require 2 people; one to break out Star Alliance and the other one takes on OneWorld and Skyteam.
Airline Programs Expert
Need to know it takes 50K miles to make Gold? Need to know what the same day cancellation fees are for Alaska Airlines? This is your person.
Hotel Loyalty Programs Expert
Need to know about Diamond challenges or whether you should Vendome or not? Need to know if a Club Carlson point is worth more than a Hilton point? Step on up.
Mistake Fares / Fuel Dumper
This person is on the lookout for mistake fares and notifies the group when there is a HOT deal. They would also be an expert on fuel dumps, so if you need to go somewhere but don’t have the miles, this is who you talk to. Almost like the unicorn wrangler up above.
Conclusion
So there you go, if I were to build a “dream team” of the miles and points world, this would be it. I think the problem is that most people try to be a jack-of-all-trades since they are working solo and want to learn everything (me included). I think if people could specialize instead, that team would be unstoppable! A team of all Michael Jordans is impossible. The best you could do would be a team of Scottie Pippens if you just gathered up a lot of people who knew a lot of everything. However, if you had a Pippen, a Bird, a Magic, etc, you could see how that team would beat a team of Pippens. I salivate just thinking of this dream team of the miles and points world.
I think a Dream Team is a great idea. I think some of these ideas might make it even better:
1. Once assembled, the common knowledge pool is available only to people who apply to be in the group, AND PAY to be in the group. Make it worthwhile to the members. Any group that would have “me” (any person) as a member for free, is just not selective enough.
2. Anyone in the group signs a (likely meaningless but still…) agreement to keep all knowledge and new info IN the group. No blogging, Reddit, Sharing with Uncle Bucky, etc. People that do get caught divulging are banned. First time. No exceptions.
3. Dream Team members that LEAVE the group would also swear to keep the group’s infor priovate including who is in the group, etc.
4. The numbers of the group to be limited to a reasonable and working number and once full, people can be on a wait list but only let on as other leave. This keeps the good deals from getting overwhelmed.
Just some thoughts to kick it off. I’d be interested to read what others think.
Too much dedication. How many hour/week are you talking about CEO? I guess if they are already experts, they would spend less time. How’s the profit will be split?