vortix

There are currently two growing threads under the "Mileage Run Deals" forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...rs-2012-a.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...es-2012-a.html

Within each respective thread, it is common for discussions to stray off-topic. The off-topic discussions, along with the number of non-Mileage Run-quality "good deals" that are posted in these threads makes it very difficult to locate and discuss deals.

I would like to propose replacing the two "Good Deals" threads above with two new sub-forums (just like the "Mileage Run Discussion" forum) under the "Mileage Run Deals" forum:
1) "Good Deals - Economy Fares" -and-
2) "Good Deals - Premium Fares"

--- edited on 8/17/12 to add the following alternative option....please provide feedback on which of the two options are preferred:
Replace the "Good Deals - Premium Fares" thread with a "Good Deals - Premium Fares" sub-forum under the "Mileage Run Deals" forum. Eliminate the "Good Deals - Economy Fares" thread, which will require all economy fare deals (regardless of CPM) to be posted in the "Mileage Run Deals" forum.
---

This will allow for much improved and efficient organization of "good deals" that are not quite mileage run material. Threads within these new forums could easily be moved over to the Mileage Run Deals forum if they reach a certain cpm (and vice versa).

This idea has been discussed at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...l#post19130703, and I am posting this new Talkboard thread per the request of others in the thread above.

vortix

If this is approved, I'd also like to get feedback on whether it would make sense to publish a specific cpm number (3cpm, 4cpm, 5cpm?) that would determine whether a particular thread should reside in the "Mileage Run Deals" forum or one of the new "Good Deals" forums. Publishing a specific cpm standard for Mileage Runs (which could be modified periodically based on current airfare trends!) will make it very cut and try for people to understand where threads should reside. Currently, there is much confusion and unnecessary arguing between people believing certain threads should or should not be classified as a true Mileage Run.

IAN-UK

If you get cpm in the heading - why bother with separate threads for "good deals"?? Ditch the current set up and simply have one forum for low fares: with cpm and class of travel in the header, readers can click on to any thread that attracts them - for whatever reason (MR or cheap trip).

The current set-up isn't at all helpful for quick scanning, and what is proosed would be even more cumbersome.

fozziedoggie

Okay, this may not be practical, but however the new thread(s) are created, it would be nice to find a way to sort the airport code of origin for the deal, eg, SFO, LAX, etc.

I'm not a business traveler, but I do like a good deal. Some of the jargon used in the good deals thread is above my limited traveler's knowledge. Like, what's a x-CPM?

Be gentle.

vortix

Good idea. However, I was under the impression that some FT'ers get frustrated when deals are posted in the MR forum that are not "true MR's" (whatever that means ). I also like the idea of having a single forum for good deals and MR deals, though I'm concerned that others may become upset because "their" MR forum (again.... ) is cluttered with non-MR deals. Also, the Good Deals - Premium Fares forum may need to be separate anyway, as that really is in a category of its own most of the time.

However, perhaps if it was easier to sort through the good fare deals, people wouldn't complain as much about seeing deals that don't meet their personal requirements for a MR.

If you look at a "hot deals" forum like http://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9 , you will see that their format is quite easy to use, and the quick/convenient access to the 1-thumb to 5-thumb rating scale and tagging of threads makes it very easy to locate the best deals. Slickdeals also supports deal alerts, which users can use to send an e-mail alert when certain parameters are met (specific text in thread title, categories, certain number of "thumbs up", etc.)

Adding all that functionality is likely outside the scope of this Talkboard thread (though it does deserve consideration IMO). However it would at least be helpful to have a field in the title for CPM (or fields for "cost" and "miles", and the software could auto-calculate the CPM). Allow that field to be sortable somehow, and as suggested above, allow fields for airport codes which can be sorted as well. Again, not sure how difficult that would be to set up, but it would be a HUGE help.

I personally believe the Mileage Run Deals forum has HUGE potential to gain additional FT users. Though for it to get to the next level of success, it really needs to have easy-to-use features/functionality specifically designed for the general purpose of finding good deals.

evoG

a "good" CPM is extremely subjective here, as premium products differ so widely. Posters including route, carrier, cabin, and CPM in their thread titles is proper form and posters will have to decide what's post-worthy.

in general I support this push for separate fora or sub-fora for good deals. Most of the posts on the good deals threads are chatter related to particular deals; it's really inefficient to wade through this when scouting for fares. A risk in making these deals easier to see is, as in the trick it thread, increased exposure is perceived to cause deals to dry up more quickly.

crimson12

I don't feel strongly about thread vs. forum, but posting CPM seems difficult. What if routing rules make something a great deal from the west coast but less so from the east? Etc. Plus you may think x CPM is a bad deal but I may take it because it's enough to requalify me for elite status (or whatever).

goalie

My two hockey pucks are to say no and leave things as they are (for now ) simply because cpm is totally subjective in terms of what is a good cpm for one may not be a good cpm for another and if the current threads "stray", then it is up to the moderators to keep things flowing

armagebedar

I agree that categorizing threads based on CPM is not going to be easy. Living in TYO and accruing with NH, I have a much higher threshold for what is an acceptable CPM for a particular fare, especially if it is on NH metal (e.g. 6-8 JPY per mile, or 7.5-10 US cents per mile). I do think a separate subforum specifically for premium (F/C, maybe PY?) fares would be a good idea.

ToneDaBass

I would welcome the proposed change

PV_Premier

proposed change would be beneficial to more easily find applicable good deal fares rather than having to scan thru all unread posts in the confines of a thread. would also make it possible to track deals without logging into website by utilizing RSS feed, which is how many users currently monitor MR thread. i see the addition of two new threads for good deals economy/premium as a welcome possibility.

JDiver

This may (or not) be a good idea. In order to sway TalkBoard, you should also review the criteria for the consideration of new fora, as quoted elsewhere by TalkBoard Vice President SkiAdcock:

vortix

Thanks for pointing this out. FWIW, I personally believe this idea passes most of the criteria.

Based on feedback so far, it seems that there are 3 options that are easy to implement:
1) Leave everything as-is, leaving the current two "Good Deals" threads within the "Mileage Run Deals" forum.
-or-
2) Replace the two "Good Deals" threads with new "Good Deals" sub-forums under the "Mileage Run Deals" forum. (Though it is still unclear to me how people would know whether to post a deal in the "Mileage Run Deals" forum, or in the "Good Deals - Economy Fares" sub-forum without specific cpm or other standards for users to follow.)
-or-
3) Replace the "Good Deals - Premium Fares" thread with a "Good Deals - Premium Fares" sub-forum under the "Mileage Run Deals" forum. Eliminate the "Good Deals - Economy Fares" thread, which will require all economy fare deals (regardless of CPM) to be posted in the "Mileage Run Deals" forum.

Any additional feedback/comments? Am I missing any other options?

OverThereTooMuch

I like the idea of a forum for these posts. ^^^ A single thread isn't very useful.

Similar to other forums, it might be nice to see a post count rule applied to access. Primary reason there is to stop new(er) members from posting stuff that doesn't belong.

German Expat

I like the idea of 2 new forums. I would also not like to limit the deals to CPM since especially on the premium fares it is very subjective.
For people that are used to pay 5k+ to fly rFom the US to Asia a good deal might already be 3.5k which for other people that are more flexible where they go to this is way too high.
Same if you are locked into a high priced departure airport where a good deal threshold can be a lot higher then the generally accepted CPM's that are discussed a lot of times.
Just make sure the header contains the key information (departure airport, CPM, , total costs, airline etc.) so people don't need to spend time too much time reading if it won't hit their criteria.