May 23, 2015, 2:24 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
"
Voting Ended - Motion Passed:
"Return Budget Airline Forums Back to Their Respective Other Airlines Forums"
(Thread title shortened due to title length limitations.)
""Return Budget Airline Forums Back to Their Respective Other Airlines Forums"
(Thread title shortened due to title length limitations.)
Voting Ended - Motion Passed: Return Budget Airline forums to Their Prior airline for
May 20, 2015, 11:08 pm
#16
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Please note the following edit
EDIT:
May 19, 2015 1:07AM - Due to a clear copy/paste error in the original motion (Budget European Airlines, with its content to return to the Other Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines forum instead of Budget European Airlines, with its content to return to the Other European Airlines), the fix was motioned by the original TB member and seconded.
EDIT:
May 19, 2015 1:07AM - Due to a clear copy/paste error in the original motion (Budget European Airlines, with its content to return to the Other Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines forum instead of Budget European Airlines, with its content to return to the Other European Airlines), the fix was motioned by the original TB member and seconded.
May 20, 2015, 11:29 pm
#17
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May 21, 2015, 7:27 am
#18
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Eyeballing the activity in the relevant forums, my feel is the following:
(1) European Budget Airlines should probably remain separate. There are about 3-4 carriers (RyanAir, EasyJet, etc.) that have at least a modest flow of traffic in there and the forum is more active than others.
(2) Spirit should be broken off of the North American Budget forum. Around 3/5 of the activity on the NA forum (31 of the last 50 threads and 56 of the last 100 threads) are about Spirit. At least at a glance, Spirit seems to be generating more traffic than any airline in any of the "other" categories. Merge the rest into the North American "Other" forum.
(3) The other two "Budget" forums don't make any sense to keep around...the traffic loads are extraordinarily light (particularly the ME/Africa forum). Merge them.
Just my $.02 (plus $50 in random fees).
(1) European Budget Airlines should probably remain separate. There are about 3-4 carriers (RyanAir, EasyJet, etc.) that have at least a modest flow of traffic in there and the forum is more active than others.
(2) Spirit should be broken off of the North American Budget forum. Around 3/5 of the activity on the NA forum (31 of the last 50 threads and 56 of the last 100 threads) are about Spirit. At least at a glance, Spirit seems to be generating more traffic than any airline in any of the "other" categories. Merge the rest into the North American "Other" forum.
(3) The other two "Budget" forums don't make any sense to keep around...the traffic loads are extraordinarily light (particularly the ME/Africa forum). Merge them.
Just my $.02 (plus $50 in random fees).
May 21, 2015, 1:21 pm
#19
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
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My observations, reviewed as pairings
Other Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines and Budget Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines
15 active threads in the Budget forum during the last month
69 active threads in the Other forum during the same period
Interest in China based airlines is growing slowly. Growth is steady though and if it increases at the current rate there may be sufficient demand to carve China based Airlines into its own forum sometime in the next few years. EVA, Malaysia Airlines, SriLanka topics seem to generate healthy discussions.
Other European Airlines and European Budget Airlines
The Other European Airlines forum used to be a busy/vibrant forum but has quietened in recent years, quite significantly so. This downturn in traffic levels coincided with the creation of standalone forums for AB, IB, AY plus the expansion of Miles&More and FlyingBlue. It is still the home to regular TAP and Icelandair topics. In the last month, there were 19 active threads but several threads have gone without comment. This forum badly needs a critical mass to maintain good health
The Budget European Airlines has had 18 active threads in the last month. Discussions on Norwegian, Easyjet, and Ryanair seem healthy but otherwise it is a very quite forum.
As a general observation, the LCCs have carved a significant presence within Europe and now offer travel options beyond what I would class as a two dimensional low cost proposition. For example Easyjet and Ryanair both have extensive networks spanning across the continent offering a vast array of point to point options. The distinction between LCCs, independent regional carriers and legacy carriers has become clouded so it makes sense to remove this division and combine the two forums.
Other Middle East and African Airlines and Budget Middle East and Africa Airlines
The budget forum is extremely quiet with only one active thread in the last month. The “Other” forum is faring better with 32 active threads
Other North and South American Airlines and Budget North and South American Airlines
The budget forum is quiet with only 14 active threads in the last month. The “Other” forum fared slightly better with 24 active threads. Porter and Copa attract healthy discussion.
Misplaced posts
Worth a mention as a litmus test to how the separate forums are perceived by our members. When the Budget Airlines forums were created, the Senior Moderators observed misplaced threads with some regularity. A common example being threads placed in the Budget forum when the subject matter was better suited to the sister forum, and vice versa. The number of misplaced threads has reduced during the last year though.
Other Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines and Budget Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines
15 active threads in the Budget forum during the last month
69 active threads in the Other forum during the same period
Interest in China based airlines is growing slowly. Growth is steady though and if it increases at the current rate there may be sufficient demand to carve China based Airlines into its own forum sometime in the next few years. EVA, Malaysia Airlines, SriLanka topics seem to generate healthy discussions.
Other European Airlines and European Budget Airlines
The Other European Airlines forum used to be a busy/vibrant forum but has quietened in recent years, quite significantly so. This downturn in traffic levels coincided with the creation of standalone forums for AB, IB, AY plus the expansion of Miles&More and FlyingBlue. It is still the home to regular TAP and Icelandair topics. In the last month, there were 19 active threads but several threads have gone without comment. This forum badly needs a critical mass to maintain good health
The Budget European Airlines has had 18 active threads in the last month. Discussions on Norwegian, Easyjet, and Ryanair seem healthy but otherwise it is a very quite forum.
As a general observation, the LCCs have carved a significant presence within Europe and now offer travel options beyond what I would class as a two dimensional low cost proposition. For example Easyjet and Ryanair both have extensive networks spanning across the continent offering a vast array of point to point options. The distinction between LCCs, independent regional carriers and legacy carriers has become clouded so it makes sense to remove this division and combine the two forums.
Other Middle East and African Airlines and Budget Middle East and Africa Airlines
The budget forum is extremely quiet with only one active thread in the last month. The “Other” forum is faring better with 32 active threads
Other North and South American Airlines and Budget North and South American Airlines
The budget forum is quiet with only 14 active threads in the last month. The “Other” forum fared slightly better with 24 active threads. Porter and Copa attract healthy discussion.
Misplaced posts
Worth a mention as a litmus test to how the separate forums are perceived by our members. When the Budget Airlines forums were created, the Senior Moderators observed misplaced threads with some regularity. A common example being threads placed in the Budget forum when the subject matter was better suited to the sister forum, and vice versa. The number of misplaced threads has reduced during the last year though.
May 22, 2015, 2:55 am
#20
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Personally I would consider splitting this into two or more seperate votes - even if that means ultimately ending up with a mixed forum structure.
I think that the Middle East/Africa and Asia/Australian budget forums should comprise one motion - the traffic levels in them do not justify keeping them open.
Europe - with the budget and non-budget forums similarly busy you can't argue that the budget forum isn't attracting it's fair share of posters. However I think Prospero is probably right and that combining the forums would increase the overall activity level.
Americas - Traffic levels in the budget forum are low enough to question whether it should be kept open. As with Europe, combining the forums might result in an increased overall level of traffic.
Some consideration should be given to creating a forum for Spirit - there are quite a lot of threads about it even though they don't attract huge numbers of posters. Also there appears to be some official Spirit lurkers around the board (judging by the recent thread requesting a Spirit forum) and hopefully they would make an effort to grow the forum. However I don't think that the creation of a Spirit forum needs to co-incide with the closure of the budget Americas forum - I would suggest the motion to be: close budget forum and initiate process/discussion (I don't know what you'd properly call it) for creation of a Spirit forum.
I think that the Middle East/Africa and Asia/Australian budget forums should comprise one motion - the traffic levels in them do not justify keeping them open.
Europe - with the budget and non-budget forums similarly busy you can't argue that the budget forum isn't attracting it's fair share of posters. However I think Prospero is probably right and that combining the forums would increase the overall activity level.
Americas - Traffic levels in the budget forum are low enough to question whether it should be kept open. As with Europe, combining the forums might result in an increased overall level of traffic.
Some consideration should be given to creating a forum for Spirit - there are quite a lot of threads about it even though they don't attract huge numbers of posters. Also there appears to be some official Spirit lurkers around the board (judging by the recent thread requesting a Spirit forum) and hopefully they would make an effort to grow the forum. However I don't think that the creation of a Spirit forum needs to co-incide with the closure of the budget Americas forum - I would suggest the motion to be: close budget forum and initiate process/discussion (I don't know what you'd properly call it) for creation of a Spirit forum.
May 22, 2015, 7:09 am
#21
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Personally I would consider splitting this into two or more seperate votes - even if that means ultimately ending up with a mixed forum structure.
I think that the Middle East/Africa and Asia/Australian budget forums should comprise one motion - the traffic levels in them do not justify keeping them open.
Europe - with the budget and non-budget forums similarly busy you can't argue that the budget forum isn't attracting it's fair share of posters. However I think Prospero is probably right and that combining the forums would increase the overall activity level.
Americas - Traffic levels in the budget forum are low enough to question whether it should be kept open. As with Europe, combining the forums might result in an increased overall level of traffic.
Some consideration should be given to creating a forum for Spirit - there are quite a lot of threads about it even though they don't attract huge numbers of posters. Also there appears to be some official Spirit lurkers around the board (judging by the recent thread requesting a Spirit forum) and hopefully they would make an effort to grow the forum. However I don't think that the creation of a Spirit forum needs to co-incide with the closure of the budget Americas forum - I would suggest the motion to be: close budget forum and initiate process/discussion (I don't know what you'd properly call it) for creation of a Spirit forum.
I think that the Middle East/Africa and Asia/Australian budget forums should comprise one motion - the traffic levels in them do not justify keeping them open.
Europe - with the budget and non-budget forums similarly busy you can't argue that the budget forum isn't attracting it's fair share of posters. However I think Prospero is probably right and that combining the forums would increase the overall activity level.
Americas - Traffic levels in the budget forum are low enough to question whether it should be kept open. As with Europe, combining the forums might result in an increased overall level of traffic.
Some consideration should be given to creating a forum for Spirit - there are quite a lot of threads about it even though they don't attract huge numbers of posters. Also there appears to be some official Spirit lurkers around the board (judging by the recent thread requesting a Spirit forum) and hopefully they would make an effort to grow the forum. However I don't think that the creation of a Spirit forum needs to co-incide with the closure of the budget Americas forum - I would suggest the motion to be: close budget forum and initiate process/discussion (I don't know what you'd properly call it) for creation of a Spirit forum.
May 22, 2015, 2:46 pm
#22
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What's your rationale for wanting to close the Budget Americas forum as opposed to merging it into Other Americas? Don't you want any discussion of Americas-based LCCs anywhere on FT? It's hard for me to see any benefit from such an action since these airlines are clearly a travel-related topic area appropriate for FT.
May 23, 2015, 3:04 am
#23
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I've gone ahead and suggested giving Spirit its own forum separate from this thread...and then noticed the old thread suggesting this on-and-off for the last few years. As I noted (both here and there), Spirit has basically dominated the NA Budget forum (Allegiant gets some activity and everyone else has scattered one-off threads).
I think exilencfc has a pretty good suggestion. Basically, IMHO the strongest case is for:
(1) A Spirit forum, with Americas Budget getting merged with Americas Other.
(2) Europe Budget remaining independent (or at least having its merger handled separately).
(3) Asia Budget and Middle East/Africa Budget being merged with their respective "Other" fora, with a possible eye towards a China-based airlines forum should that traffic keep growing.
I think exilencfc has a pretty good suggestion. Basically, IMHO the strongest case is for:
(1) A Spirit forum, with Americas Budget getting merged with Americas Other.
(2) Europe Budget remaining independent (or at least having its merger handled separately).
(3) Asia Budget and Middle East/Africa Budget being merged with their respective "Other" fora, with a possible eye towards a China-based airlines forum should that traffic keep growing.
May 23, 2015, 8:00 am
#24
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It seems to make sense, to me, to merge them back in.
May 23, 2015, 4:01 pm
#25
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As Spirit (currently without a forum) and Frontier (currently with a forum) are essentially like-kind ULCCs these days, they should be treated the same. Either eliminate the Frontier forum and fold it into Other; or create a new Spirit forum.
May 25, 2015, 1:55 pm
#26
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Frontier is a strange creature. Even though it is a ULCC, it does still have a Frequent Flyer Program with an elite level. Also, the forum does see a fair amount of traffic. I actually disagree with eliminating F9.
May 25, 2015, 4:10 pm
#27
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Seems like an easy task - too little traffic to a forum -> merge with others in the same geographical category.
Who decides what "too little traffic" is ? I thought that's one of the reasons we elected Talkboard members for
Who decides what "too little traffic" is ? I thought that's one of the reasons we elected Talkboard members for
May 25, 2015, 8:59 pm
#28
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I'm in favor of this motion, as mentioned previously in the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...l#post24169650 discussion:
Hopefully the TB will pass this one.
...it would appear sensible to roll each of the four Budget Airline forums into the related Other Airlines forums... Also, as has been already been mentioned, the distinctions between LCCs and "full-service" carriers are becoming less and less clear. Is there really any value to discussing them separately from the other "other airlines"?
May 26, 2015, 4:51 pm
#29
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I am in favor of this proposal on the assumption that it will result in more useful search results and eventually more postings on the topics. Last fall I did numerous searches on potential travel on Wizz Air and did not find a lot in Budget Europe. This proposal is also a nice reminder that I need to go manufacture some content on that trip.
May 26, 2015, 8:22 pm
#30
Moderator: Hilton Honors forums
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I am in favor of this proposal on the assumption that it will result in more useful search results and eventually more postings on the topics. Last fall I did numerous searches on potential travel on Wizz Air and did not find a lot in Budget Europe. This proposal is also a nice reminder that I need to go manufacture some content on that trip.
Your comment alone convinces me further that this motion is worth voting in the affirmative — which I have already done...