Mary2e

What about any special treatment more of the well known bloggers might receive? For example, they may pay for a regular room and be upgraded to a view suite, etc.

sbm12

I don't know about that. Or perhaps I should say that most travel writers aren't "serious journalists" in this context. And the rates paid very much depend on the news outlet.

How are you defining inaugural flights here? I've been on a few over the past couple years and most of the intercontinental routes were quite challenging to get into a premium cabin on. More so if the plan is to buy a coach fare and upgrade into the front cabin.

Needless to say, I did most of them in economy.

A few I know from experience:

• LH 748i - C/F blocked/booked by marketing
• BA A380 LHR-LAX - C mostly booked by marketing; F available if you were willing to pay points/cash
• UA DEN-NRT - Marketing took it all; GS GPU on B fare sat in the back
• HA JFK-HNL (return inaugural) - F available for purchase

kokonutz

You are Global Services on UA!?

tcook052

Agree. Too many shades of grey to contend with.

SMK77

Wouldn't it be good to add our Senior Moderator; Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, External Miles & Points Resources to the list as well?

He received various free tickets from LH to report about Lufthansa's products here on FT with or without asking the right questions and with missing or delayed disclosure.

FT has still no code of conduct for this itself.

skywalkerLAX

You mean in contrary to the Lufthansa ./. FT/VFT Talk Session?

sbm12

No, but I was when I applied the GPU and that's what counts.

Jasper2009

As if getting a free domestic ticket to attend a LH presentation while having to take time off from work is such a huge incentive. Now if the LH mod received unlimited F travel privileges I would agree.

I know that a few mods have received freebies over the years and while the 100+ mods probably donīt agree where to draw the line exactly, Iīm fairly confident to say that most mods hold themselves to a high level of conduct. In any case the volunteer workload by far outweighs the benefits of being a mod. (And before you ask: I have never received any freebies except for a plastic FT key chain from IB.)

84fiero

Speaking in general as I know nothing about the specific situation mentioned above, I do agree there should be a code of conduct for FT's mods, and probably Community Director as well. Just to ensure consistency and disclosure.

Sure, they're volunteers but their actions and exercise of judgment impacts everyone. And they are acting in support of a for-profit business.

I'm guessing the issue has come up before, but never got anywhere?

kokonutz

Was that status comped?

Absolutely 100% agree.

And it has come up before. For example when Randy suddenly created a couple of airline forums without consulting the TalkBoard back in the day. Some questioned his motivations for doing so 'out of the blue.'

And those conversations have always been shut down quickly and harshly, ime.

Mods and the CD set their own standards. It's not allowed to be questioned or talked about (well, not on FT, anyway ).

As a TalkBoard member, I have never been offered/accepted anything not offered to the general public (ie, I took an AA comp to explat from UA 1k when the Houston boys came to Chicago). Nor would I accept anything resembling graft while serving in that capacity. It's just not right.

sbm12

In that there are no defined standards by which one earns GS, other than 4MMer, yes. If you mean did I receive a call outright offering me GS then no. I was part of a targeted group to receive it but based on my conversations with others in the group it was not tied to my status as a blogger. It was tied to my status with CO/UA at the time it was offered.

Is a status match a comp? Is a challenge? They are arguably open only to limited segments of the general population.

nsx

I agree that it's OK for any FTer to accept company payment of transportation expenses to attend a company-sponsored event on one's own time. This isn't cash in anyone's pocket. Such meetings provide an opportunity to ask questions and present FT members' opinions to company management. These frank exchanges unambiguously benefits both the company and FT. Restricting this means of communication would benefit no one.

Now if you're thinking a company might gift someone 100,000 miles in order to buy favorable posts here on FT, that sort of thing has never happened to my knowledge. Companies spend their marketing money more rationally than that. Furthermore I don't know anyone on FT whose opinion could be bought, period. A company donation to support FT as a whole would be more effective marketing IMHO.

In summary, this is a non-problem. We don't need rules to prevent something that will never happen from happening.

SMK77

Self-serving statement, isn't it? You volunteer here because you wanna volunteer and not because you wanna get rewarded with freebies every now and then.

Do you know why governance employees cannot even accept an invitation for a cup of coffee? Because bribery starts with small favors that one is likely to return in one way or the other.

Handing out a free ticket worth 400 EUR is substantial by any means. Most companies draw the line at 100 USD when it comes to accepting gifts. And even than you cannot accept a gift if there is any appearance that there is an expectation behind that gift (and appearance not just from the receiver but from a general public view).

It would be very easy for FlyerTalk to put in place such rules and a code of conduct and it is surprising that this is not happening even after people here have not shown sound judgement when accepting gifts.

84fiero

Your straw man of the 100K mile donation aside, it's not a non-issue that mods have been provided benefits due to their positions as mods on FT. Of course, we can't discuss actual specifics which would reveal it's more than just the simple scenario mentioned above, but...

- Who decided that mods should "present members' opinions" to industry and receive freebies, as opposed to any other FT member? I thought their position is just to help ensure FT ToS are followed?

- If the above does occur, what process is in place to gather member inputs and then report on discussions afterward? This was a problem in at least one instance, where an undisclosed meeting occurred and FT'ers were not provided the benefit of information obtained by the mod at the industry discussion.

- I don't think anyone is suggesting industry will woo mods as a means of marketing engagement. But mods are in a position to modify/lock threads, delete posts, suspend, and permanently ban members. A potential bias towards or against an airline, hotel, etc. could be an issue.

- The fact that no one believes any mods that they know personally would be compromised is irrelevant. My attorney and my lawyer sign up to standards of conduct, even though I don't personally feel either would do me wrong.

- It may not necessarily be the case that mods would be banned from getting freebies or comps, but at a minimum there should be disclosure of such. That doesn't seem unreasonable.

- I think the general idea is that there ought to be a known, stated standard of conduct for mods/CD - whatever details that may include - to ensure openness, fairness and consistency.

NewbieRunner

I don't know what you are referring to but if you are talking about this event all participants paid for their own transportation and accommodation but they would have asked the same right questions even if they had their fares paid by LH. The fact that they did not get the answers FTers/VFTers would have liked to hear was not for lack of trying.