Mileage Run Deals - MR Forum cluttered with advertisement fares

Lately, I noticed that the MR forum seems to become more and more of a place for people and businesses to post their "fare sales" instead of posting true mileage runs.
In many cases, taxes and surcharges are conveniently excluded which make headlines like " $400+ to Europe!" sound enticing but in reality it is a scam. :td:

Please, find out first if a good-looking fare is a true MR, then post it!

Agreed (that means you NW people).

Lately, I noticed that the MR forum seems to become more and more of a place for people and businesses to post their "fare sales" instead of posting true mileage runs. In many cases, taxes and surcharges are conveniently excluded which make headlines like " $400+ to Europe!" sound enticing but in reality it is a scam. :td:

Please, find out first if a good-looking fare is a true MR, then post it!

I agree that there's no use in posting a fare if it is simply the normal fare from a market, but taxes and surcharges are generally excluded from postings in MR since they will vary greatly (esp. w/ an int'l itin) depending on the routing of the run and the number and location of your transfers. By listing the base fare, you're giving everyone the basis. I always appreciate when someone says "it was $xxx all-in for aaa-bbb-ccc-aaa" too and wish that happened in more posts, but you know what they say: "sh*t in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up faster" ;)

If there's a "normal" fare out there, but someone figured out a lucrative EQM routing on it, then I want to hear about it!!! That belongs here.

With those caveats, I guess I agree, but I think this has gotten a lot less cluttered in here with the new Hotel sub-forum. I like seeing all of the activity and discussion even if the fares aren't *always* stellar.

Do you guys think the airlines are really advertising on here? :rolleyes: It'd be a lot worse if they were.

peace,
~Ben~

With the dearth of legitimate mileage runs lately, reading these fare posts helps pass the time......

Suggested Format:

Airline - From - To - RT All in price - EQS/EQM - (*special stuff)

(*not in Y, fare class, book by date, not upgradable, NOT a zero day minimum).

Go into the routing in the message.
We can all pretty much figure out our own RDM based on the EQM.
Again, the assumption is a no minimum, no saturday night stay.
If it is a 3 or 6 day, it should be a REALLY REALLY good fare.

For example (and this is an example that DOES NOT EXIST):

UA: IAD-SIN $543.00 All in / 22K EQM / 3 days / K fare

Lately, I noticed that the MR forum seems to become more and more of a place for people and businesses to post their "fare sales" instead of posting true mileage runs.
In many cases, taxes and surcharges are conveniently excluded which make headlines like " $400+ to Europe!" sound enticing but in reality it is a scam. :td:

Please, find out first if a good-looking fare is a true MR, then post it!

This is coming from me as a member, not me as a moderator...no offense intended, but what threads have you started & contributed to for others to benefit from before you start casting stones?

I haven't seen anything really that classifies as advertising - just the usual misunderstandings about LH fares (and the way european carriers hide part of the fare in a stiff fuel surcharge)

NW's taxes are fixed internationally, and they never run a fuel surcharge, - its 55 each way for the UK (and are quite reasonable) so not sure about the reference to NW up top....

Not trying to incite anything to anyone, just posting my views here:
I find it worthwhile the posts that members make regarding airfare offers. Not everyone is going to have a clear idea on what is considered "cheap". We could try and have all OP's calculate what is the CPM before posting or as part of the post, but that may deter some who would just like to post a fare and be done with it (besides, do they calculate CPM based on regular status, elite, bonus, etc?) :p

To be truthful, many times even the fares that are not ultra low will pique my curiosity simply because it may fit within my travel requirements or interest. I have certainly benefitted from some of these, while a majority of them I just take a quick glance at the title and think, "not applicable".

I think an offshoot of posting airfares that may not seem that great is that some other member may be able to take advantage of it, or even tweak it to a better MR than what was originally suggested. The recent NWA HNL $100 deal was a direct result of another FTer's effort built from someone else's post.

I agree the misposts and those who post obvious questions or requests without paying attention to the stickies or appropriate forum are annoying, but those are bound to occur as our community expands, and I'll thank in advance our mods for being diligent and swift at doing their jobs ^

Lately, I noticed that the MR forum seems to become more and more of a place for people and businesses to post their "fare sales" instead of posting true mileage runs.
In many cases, taxes and surcharges are conveniently excluded which make headlines like " $400+ to Europe!" sound enticing but in reality it is a scam. :td:

Please, find out first if a good-looking fare is a true MR, then post it!

Personally... I find threads that clutter up the MR forum that don't even show fares (eg complaints) hint hint

I have found some excellent fares on this forum, and although not GREAT MRs most of them are quite excellent - definately not a scam

Cheers

Unless it seems like an awesome deal, I don't typically read threads without 'all in' in the title. Not that there has been much lately anyway.

Lately, I noticed that the MR forum seems to become more and more of a place for people and businesses to post their "fare sales" instead of posting true mileage runs.

Businesses are allowed to post on MR forum? :confused:

It's not always a wise idea to post all of the routings in the message. See examples in the past of routings that have disappeared once people started posting all the loopholes.

I think a basic point-to-point fare post with the tidbits of how many EQMs/segs are available is enough. Maybe a sample routing, but don't give out all the goods necessarily. If someone wants that MR bad enough, they know how to look up their own routings and the tools are a plenty for getting the fare, figuring out how many miles it is, getting the best miles for a particular routing rule.

Besides, even the "average" fares to you can turn into a great MR for someone else. Think outside the box a bit . . . there are a lot of tricks for creating good MRs and sometimes all you need is a kick-start of a "regular" fare to get a real MR off the ground. :cool:

I will blow the whistle on myself. I am sorry, and promise to do better. Scouts Honor.

You might miss something if you assess fares by only thread titles. The OP sometimes doesn't describe it correctly unintentionally. For example, I thought this fare (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=517939) was a RT fare since the title did not say so although I believed some could use it very wisely after reading the body. BUT, IMHO, it is not necessarily to put everything on the title. I am struggling how I can tell people the fare is really good for MR without posting particular route.

This forum is cluttered with posts
about how cluttered it is :rolleyes:
....so I might as well add to it:

Can we have a new sub-forum
for discussing this clutter problem? :D

It's not always a wise idea to post all of the routings in the message. See examples in the past of routings that have disappeared once people started posting all the loopholes.

I think a basic point-to-point fare post with the tidbits of how many EQMs/segs are available is enough. Maybe a sample routing, but don't give out all the goods necessarily. If someone wants that MR bad enough, they know how to look up their own routings and the tools are a plenty for getting the fare, figuring out how many miles it is, getting the best miles for a particular routing rule.

Besides, even the "average" fares to you can turn into a great MR for someone else. Think outside the box a bit . . . there are a lot of tricks for creating good MRs and sometimes all you need is a kick-start of a "regular" fare to get a real MR off the ground. :cool:


Nicely put. :)

Some advertisement fares like the $9 fare from FLL-STT was a great find. If it is an extremely exceptional advertised fare, then that should be an exception.

I agree too many good buys have been showing up and causing clutter. Maybe at some point a non - MR "Good Buy Fare" forum might be worthwhile.

FWIW, I'd rather see advertised fares that some may find great for building a MR or holiday/pseudo MR than the endless questions about ITA, online booking engines, etc.

FWIW, I'd rather see advertised fares that some may find great for building a MR or holiday/pseudo MR than the endless questions about ITA, online booking engines, etc.

I agree; in fact, were it not for people posting fares, I think the MR forum would be kind of boring and poorly trafficked...

I don't agree with any "cluttering". The more fares the merrier, noone is forced to read any posts. Many fare posts mean many options and ideas!

Granted, many of the fares here are published fare sales (e-fares, esavers, etc. etc.) ... and the small minority are genuine rock-bottom/fare mistakes.

But it doesn't bother me. I don't like having to look through 20 e-mails a week for the specials that airlines I don't typically even fly are having. I like the fact that the best of the special offers invariably end up on this board.

Yes they are published fares ... but they're still good deals.

In my humble opinion a MR is a different thing for different people. Flying directly to KIX on a cheap fare without the rigamarole of maximum segments is a MR to me. I dont have the interest or stamina in adding thos extra segments.

If you look at the MR forum often enough to have a reasonable chance of getting a mistake fare, all the threads that have had a post since your last viewing will fit on your screen at once (maybe 6 or 8). The mistake fare will be the thread that you haven't seen before, that is at 6 pages already, and says $0 in the thread title. Not too hard to find in the clutter.

Keep it as is.

FWIW, I'd rather see advertised fares that some may find great for building a MR or holiday/pseudo MR than the endless questions about ITA, online booking engines, etc.


I also agree. Granted, some advertised fares may not be worth the while, some can really be a great find. It comes down to a judgement call perhaps? Unless its an obvious advertment like (NTR - SFO 599 + tax), I personally dont mind it.

Now the hotel 'deals' are not in view, and critical focus appears to have shifted...

Personally I don't mind seeing stuff from airlines, as long as I don't have to click and page lots of times to find the more interesting tips from fellow mRunners.

(Preceding was an actual usability recommendation from a former architect who is now a business consultant. I try to save my customers from unnecessary clicks.)

Cheers,
Rob in CSG

Seems like the biggest concern is not to put deals that really aren't that special onto a thread. Regular sale, published fares aren't interesting to most of us, but extrordinary deals, or extra-good deals have more interest. We've seen a few no big deal fares lately that have been created as new threads (and yes, it is a little annoying to see them), and that is probably what drove this thread in the first place.

I'd rather wade through the clutter, but I would like someone to make a comment that the deal really isn't that great. That educates the entire community (who reads the thread) about what is a good deal, and what isn't.

Everyone is in a different place in the MR knowledge growth, and I bet the ones posting the clutter don't realize that they really don't have a good deal. I doubt anyone wants to post junky stuff!