Mileage Run Deals - PLEASE Search BEFORE Posting, Newbie's

Enough said.

What about people that post threads in the wrong forum? And how new is a "newbie"? To some, a member with only one year is considered "n00b"...

I'm a newbie for life :rolleyes:

EmailKid

Ok. I should be saying "Everyone Please Search BEFORE Posting"

But it has gotten much worse in the last month, with allot of the new threads being redundant.

ja_user I'm not wanting to start a war here but did you do a search before you posted this? The reason I asked is because it has been posted before. In fact the sticky states:

"We expect you utilize the search function – whether you’re new or old to Flyertalk, everyone has questions sometime or another. As said above, chances are its been asked before. Try using the search function first. It only takes a few moments."

I think it would be be best to move this topic to the suggestion forum as it has nothing to do with mileage runs.

I think it would be be best to move this topic to the suggestion forum as it has nothing to do with mileage runs.
100% agree. The OP obviously complains about search function not utilized by certain members, but him/herself does not know how to post topic threads in the appropriate forum. :rolleyes:

I have been a member longer than many of you (I think about 5 years longer). I have used search less than 10 times in 6 years. It is a matter of style. I personally read the threads that interest me (even if it has been posted before) and I don't read the ones that don't interest me (even if the subject has *not* been discussed before).

So, as a general proposition (there are exceptions to everything), I don't think "Please search" is the right response.

I have been a member longer than many of you (I think about 5 years longer). I have used search less than 10 times in 6 years. It is a matter of style. I personally read the threads that interest me (even if it has been posted before) and I don't read the ones that don't interest me (even if the subject has *not* been discussed before).

So, as a general proposition (there are exceptions to everything), I don't think "Please search" is the right response.

This topic has been posted literally thousands of times. I'm sure a quick search would demonstrate that nearly every forum on FT has a topic in which this message was delivered, in the past week!

I'm with sbrower, though I will normally do a quick search to see if there is any RECENT and RELEVANT discussion. However, the search function hear is not great, and you often wind up with thousands of posts to sift through that have absolutely nothing to do with what you're really looking for. Then you do stumble across one that is relevant, but 3 years old.

So, my plea to everyone would be: please be descriptive in your thread title! Try to make it clear what you are looking for or want to discuss. Then we can all just browse over it, and think "Oh lord, that was just discussed last week..." or "gee, I really don't care about..." and move on! Please, no more thread titles like "You're not going to believe this!", etc.

Unfortunately, people don't read that sticky before posting their questions. This is appropriate in this form as it has received so much publicity in the past months. I do now how to search, and I do all the time. Bumping an old thread fails to be productive. May I suggest a more prominent statement at the top of this forum?

"Damn you people. Go back to your shanties."

-'Shooter' McGavin, Happy Gilmore

:D

"Damn you people. Go back to your shanties."

-'Shooter' McGavin, Happy Gilmore

:D


:) Off topic.

Seriously, can we just get a bolder sticky. I know some won't get it, even if the search field took up half of the string, maybe new people cannot post unless they have searched a few times. :) Course, you cannot force them to read.

I'm with sbrower, though I will normally do a quick search to see if there is any RECENT and RELEVANT discussion. However, the search function hear is not great, and you often wind up with thousands of posts to sift through that have absolutely nothing to do with what you're really looking for. Then you do stumble across one that is relevant, but 3 years old.

I couldn't agree more. When I joined FT and I saw how many "Did you do a search?" posts there were. Not wanting to incur the wrath of experienced FTers and instead wanting to feel welcome (those posts don't feel too welcoming to a newbie), I searched before I EVER posted. But even still, like johnp012001 said, I often ended up with old search results or results that didn't seem very relevant to my particular dilemma.

For example, I searched for hotel reviews of a particular property in SF. I found some older comments, but I really wanted to know the CURRENT status of the hotel. Comments from early 2004 or even earlier just didn't help me. So I posted.

Another example, I searched for tips for Mileage Runs- specifically what to take on the plane to make the flight in coach more comfortable for my SO, who is generously doing MRs with me so we both make Platinum with enough miles to have some fun with. I apparently didn't search the right terms, or maybe my internal synonym generator wasn't working well enough to think of all the right terms. But anyway, I didn't quite find what I was looking for and I posted. A very interesting discussion ensued, and I got many useful comments. Of course there were the "did you search?" comments, but beyond that, a few FTers were kind enough to post links to similar threads, which is how I realized I hadn't searched exactly the right words in the first place. That was actually quite helpful to me, even though the threads I was directed to were about something slightly different, because there were some excellent suggestions for long flights.

Perhaps instead of jumping on people for not searching, it might be nice to consider that maybe newbies have searched before posting, but that we sometimes find info that's old and outdated or that doesn't apply. Maybe there was a time when you were a newbie and found it challenging to sift through years and years of posts to find the answer to a simple question that could easily be answered in a few words. Maybe you could even post a helpful post about HOW to improve search results.

Bottom line for me: If being an experienced FTer means demanding that every newbie master the art of FT search (and I don't think that it does), I hope I stay a mid-newbie for a very long time. :)

GG

dmfriedman, bhatnasx, DLSIZE

Is there a way to restrict who can post in this forum based on join date / # of posts? I think what would be ideal would be to let everyone read and search the forum until some arbitrary time limit / post count is met, then allow posting. Although I've only been registered for a relatively short period of time, it seems like in the last few months there have been an ever increasing number of "find me the lowest fare" type posts as well as borderline "help me get from A to B for less than $ on this day" posts. I'm all for people asking questions and learning, but it seems that inexperienced posters aren't showing much reserve any more. Perhaps I'm just jaded, but it seems like MR is becoming more OMNI like everyday. I'd rather see less posts here (but more informative and thought out) than we currently seem to be getting here.

As for searching, I think there are times when people obviously don't search and it shows in their question. If people would spend a couple minutes to search, post that they didn't find anything useful or found something close but out-dated, i think people would be more inclined to help. Plus, we must remember that not everyone has the same "search skills", as easy as searching may seem to some of us.

I do tons of searching; here are some tips
I find searching for a term in the title instead of the entire post works better
Starting a search and then going to refill your coffee makes the FT search function seem faster
I use google frequently to search FT; include site:www.flyertalk.com in your query (tho Google has far from complete coverage of FT threads)

I've still ended up missing a relevant thread and posting, only to be referred (politely) to an older thread. But most of the time I find a wealth of knowledge on the (for example) obscure standby rules on UA.

In fact, I think my post count is quite low even after a year of membership because while I'm searching and finding my answers other people are posting replies like "Yeah!". Or "Sounds good." Or "BUMP!"

Ironically, I'm restricted from viewing various parts of FT because my post-count is too low... Ugh! :rolleyes:

Is there a way to restrict who can post in this forum based on join date / # of posts?

I recall at least one post where OP had less than 10 to his/her credit, and didn't ask for advice but offered an excellent MR (ya, ya, I'd actually have to do a search to find it :rolleyes: ).

Just a thought .....

And I my own self posted a CO MR (that no one commented on I might add :( ), but found out at the CO IAH DO at least one person who took advantage of it ^

EmailKid

SchmutzigMSP - there is currently no posting or minimum time length to be a participant in the Mileage Run forum. This is something that inevitably gets discussed almost every time there is a mistake or 0.00 fare and there is a large rush of new members to Flyertalk because of e-mail lists and publicity. Every time that this has been suggested, which it has been before (feel free to search the ORP forum ;) ), it's not been done. The CC, SPAM, & OMNI forums, which are not forums that discuss points & miles, are forums that are masked to newer users & have minimum requirements in order to actively view. As mileage run has to do with the discussion of points & miles, there is no minimum, currently - and as far as I know, there is no plan to introduce a minimum posting.

As this thread is not a mileage run specific thread & there is mention of the search function and a request for members to use it in the Welcome to the Mileage Run thread, I am closing this thread.

Thanks!

bhatnasx
Mileage Run Moderator