jredknapp11

Respectfully, I and my fellow Aeroflot (SU) flyers would like to see the creation of our own forum.

Aeroflot is the largest carrier from the world's largest country and is currently expanding it'self throughout the world with it's SkyTeam partnership and newly created partnerships such as the soon to be linking of SU & Turkish Airlines.

With new Airbus planes coming in every month, a new terminal and the hopeful relaunching of it's Miami flights, there is no better time then now to give FT Aeroflot travelers the wings they need to soar through the internet and beyond.

For now, those of you looking to discuss all things Aeroflot are invited to click on the link below.....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...l#post13257124


Thank you and may the skies be as friendly to you as your pillow is to your head......

безопасная и быстрая поездка ! ^

luitje

To support jredknapp11's request - there are currently over 270 threads with Aeroflot in their title scattered around the forum. If you factor in threads discussing SU but not mentioning it in their title, and posts re this airline posted to other threads that will add up to a much bigger amount. Isn't it time to clean this mess and bring all Aeroflot threads into one place?

jredknapp11

I was misinformed about posting within this forum, my apologies for placing this request within Support & Services, moderators you are welcome to delete that post if you feel it is warranted.

Without trying to clamor to the powers that be, I will simply repost my initial request from the Support & Services forum.

On behalf of the world wide travelers of Aeroflot and those who are associated with SU here on FT, I thank you for your considerations.



Respectfully, I and my fellow Aeroflot (SU) flyers would like to see the creation of our own forum.

Aeroflot (SU) is the largest carrier from the world's largest country. SU is currently expanding it's global footprint throughout the entire global aviation sector, thanks in part to it's Sky Team partnership and newly created affiliates such as the soon to be linking of SU & Turkish Airlines.

With new Airbus planes coming in every month, a new terminal in Moscow and the hopeful relaunching of it's Miami flights amongst many others, there is no better time then now to give FT Aeroflot travelers the wings they need to soar through the internet and beyond.

For now, those of you looking to discuss all things Aeroflot are invited to click on the link below.....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...l#post13257124


Thank you and may the skies be as friendly to you as your pillow is to your head......

безопасная и быстрая поездка ! ^

Spiff

I'm sorry, but I see very few threads (15 in 6 months) in the Other European Airlines forum. Is there some demonstrated need elsewhere on FlyerTalk that would justify the creation of such a forum?

I'm really not all that interested in "if you build it, they will come" arguments, though feel free to make them as other FlyerTalkers may feel differently. I just don't see much demand for an SU forum at the moment.

NickB

I wish people would focus on the size of FT traffic rather than the size of the airline when making proposals for new forums.

A quick look suggests that there were 28 live threads on SU in the last year in OEFFP. By way of comparison in the same period, there were 56 live threads related to EI in the same forum (By way of further comparison, there were 36 live threads on Accor in just the last two months... ). I am not sure that we are quite there yet as far as an SU forum is concerned...

jredknapp11

Nick, thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate it.

If one were to look up threads that have Aeroflot questions or comments, you would be suprised to know that the amount is well above the quoted total of 28. I do agree that size alone does not constitute a need for an individual forum, however I do firmly believe that current and future posters will indeed post frequently.

Safe and Quick travels to you

skchin

FT only saw 28 posts regarding Aeroflot because most of the internet users looking for Aeroflot went to some other websource. I think if you build the Aeroflot forum, people searching on the internet will drive in the traffic. Give 6 months time and let the 28 people start building a stable forum that can be a foundation for the Russian Airline.

NickB

Maybe, maybe not. Anyway good luck to y'all but, judging by recent and not so recent discussions on TB topics, I would not rank the chances of an SU forum appearing at this juncture very high and, if I were you, I would not hold my breath...

B747-437B

As a subscriber to the "build it and they will come" point of view, I am curious whether an English language forum for Aeroflot is really fit for purpose? Does FT have a sizeable footprint in Aeroflot's major markets (Russia/CIS)? Will the new forum help FT develop a larger userbase from those markets? Are there alternative fora (perhaps in Russian) that already cater to this?

The answers to the above will largely shape the position I will take if this matter came to a vote at TB level.

jredknapp11

There is not a dedicated forum such as FT in Russian. There are your normal blogs and such but nothing in depth like this site.

As to language, my friend most of the RU who travel have a good understanding of English. We are bi-lingual ... Спасибо за ваш интерес !

woody125

All fair questions for sure and as one would rather have one single Aeroflot Forum to go to instead of the current Other European Frequent Flyer Programs/Delta SkyMiles/Delta SkyMiles Pre Merger/SkyTeam/Russia/Eastern Europe/Mileage Run Forums all where SU news, tips, and insights appear, I'll do my best to answer your concerns .

As a bi-lingual member I know I am always ready to help non Russian speakers/readers with help. I've translated correspondence that has been emailed to the quite helpful "Help Line" and has gotten the intended results. I know native Russian speakers whose English is "spotty" have found FT a safe place to ask and contribute. If there were one place though they could go for SU specific help it would ease their experience greatly. We're a pretty open and helpful group...Russia is hard enough without having a FT Forum beat you down too! In other words, an Aeroflot Bonus Forum would be a safe place for people to post in broken English or in perfect Russian!

As has already been mentioned, a good number of SU passengers are not headed to SVO as a final destination. The UAE and India from the US are regular routes for a good number of SU passengers for sure. My company regularly flies people through SVO to KBP now that Delta has gone seasonal from JFK to KBP. I and my team have found LAX to SVO to be workable now that ATL to SVO is seasonal as well.

As for FT's footprint in Russia/CIS. Novosibirsk (OVB) is represented by at least 4 regular, informed posters. SVO and LED have both regulars and many occasional visitors as those are major markets which SU serves and which first time visitors normally demand help regarding. From the US, again due to price, a new SVO terminal and no transit visa needed, getting to the oil rich national capitals of the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, etc. is made much easier by SU.

With US consulates in Ekaterinburg and Vladivostok, SU is an option, though not without a connection, for Americans getting to Europe or the US on a SkyTeam carrier. I started flying SU in Russia exclusively only once they entered SkyTeam a few years back. Many contract workers in Moscow who must make visa runs every 90 days consider SU as a good way to get to Berlin or London or a host of other countries to process new visas. That information comes from www.expat.ru.

As for existing fora, there is www.expat.ru and their Travel section though it is a far cry from what a SU dedicated site on FT would offer. Some of their more highly informed members would surely find the new Aeroflot Forum at FT a welcomed destination indeed. Most all of the people on expat.ru actually live in Russia in as of yet untapped FT markets like Barnaul, Ekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Samara, Sochi, Togliatti, Volgograd, and Voronezh. Those sub forums represent a possible group of future FT members that could help develop and deepen relevant, helpful SU information. As a member on that site, I'll gladly point them this way.

Finally, I don't know what all the causes of it are (the 4th qtr status match might be a reason) but there has been a recent influx of new members, Silver and Gold Elite (even a few PRIMEs) included, that have added depth and quality to our "all over FT SU club". jredknapp11, ELITEGOLDTRAVELLER, toyotaboy95, luitje, paulmoscow, keter, EYKD, Squerez, as well as others are largely active and extremely helpful. What used to be an already active party of 7 (asnovici, medic1, apoivre, JBLUA320, chalf, xyzzy, and myself) has now turned into my first stop at FT each day. The 4 or 5 forums I have to visit to gather my daily SU news, help, and tips though is quite bothersome. The point is that interest in SU is only growing. The airline is getting bigger, better, with newer planes, improved service, and a new main airport to boot.

As no *A or OW carriers serve SVO (maybe the most longed for airport over the last 15 years with apologies to those who have not experienced it on a regular basis), most SVO talk is SU talk. For quite a while, the two will go hand in hand.

I know others will chime in and I might come back later to add more as well.

Thank you for your consideration!

lin821

FT is organized in such way that each section/forum serves its distinctive purpose. For everything about the airlines' FFPs or discussion, there are airline fora. For travel, dining and even airports, destination forums await. For mileage runs, you know where to visit on FT.

Currently, our existing Russia Forum seems to house good traffic for Russia inquiries. In Other European Frequent Flyer Programs Forum, "Aeroflot" yields 138 threads from a single key word search. That is far less than CA (Air China, a *A partner) in Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs Forum ( btw, 273 threads contain "CA" there). Please take into account Aeroflot is Skyteam partner since 2006 while Air China joined *A in 2007, according to Wikipedia.

I don't know if it's a fair comparison between China/Air China and Russia/Aeroflot in terms of FT traffic. But I recall a proposal for "airlines of greater China forum" didn't even make it to the floor last time around. For various reasons and concerns, of course. I, for one, didn't think it was a well thought-through proposal.

Aeroflot may have its own market niche. But can the advocates show the unmet FT demands? That may help TBers make up their mind.

ps. Bi-lingual may not be a strong selling point for this proposal. Among FT population, about 80% are English speakers (by inference: English is the official language in the top 4 unique cookies originating countries). FWIW, I am not a native English speaker but I consider myself bi-lingual, maybe even trilingual, but that's besides the point.

skchin

I dont' know where you get the 80% English speaker stats but, there are original, Talkboard, evengalist, and regular members who considers English as their 2nd language.

lin821

Yes, but do all of them fly Aeroflot and support Aeroflot Forum?

THAT is what to be factored in w/r/t forum creation, not the native language spoken.

ps. I didn't infer 80% FTers were native English speakers either.

jredknapp11

I was referring to the flip side of your statement. Very often when I talk about Aeroflot I get comments that the airline is flown only by Russian's... so in keeping with that thought I wanted to mention that many Russian's speak English, meaning if the gateway were opened for potential posters, the cabin would be a lot fuller then expected.