Canarsie

Well, technically, FlyerTalk is limited to the amount of hard disk drive space — or “shelf” space — available to it; but that is not really the main topic of this discussion...

...and speaking for myself as a member of TalkBoard, I am always open to considering any improvement to the organization of FlyerTalk if anyone has any ideas — but, of course, that is for a separate discussion...

dchristiva

This summarizes my thoughts on the topic nicely. ^

SkiAdcock

I tend to agree w/ mia and oenophilist on this one.

Cheers.

MSPeconomist

In the example of Delta Private Jets, there's certainly an argument that this information should remain in the DL forum since it's part of DL's FF program (in fact, signing a contract for enough money with DL Private Jets results in DL status) and DL sometimes offers relatively cheap paid upgrades from its regular service to DL Private Jets flights.

Does anyone know whether the LH version has similar features?

jackal

I'm generally of the mind that we should do what is best for whatever furthers the most productive discussion.

In some cases, that means opening a new forum that either fulfills a currently un-filled need or reduces the dilution of discussion in existing forums and draws a significant audience to sustain vigorous discussion.

In other cases, that means keeping discussion in existing well-trafficked forums where eyeballs will notice and respond accordingly.

What I don't support is opening a forum that sequesters discussion on the topic away in a place where no one will see it, which is, overall, more harmful than keeping the topic mixed in with other discussion.

That is, it does no good to host discussion on Delta Private Jets in a Private Jet Travel forum if only 3 people a week bother to stop by that forum. In that case, it would be pretty unlikely for there to be many answers to questions about Delta Private Jets posed there, much less the kind of intense, vigorous discussion that is a hallmark of FlyerTalk--we love to analyze and pick apart every possible angle of a topic, but you can't do that without a healthy amount of traffic. It's far better for that topic to be put in front of the 30,000 (or whatever) people who currently read the Delta forum each day--chances are that far more than 3 of those 30,000 people will be interested enough in the topic that they would click on it and potentially be able to provide cogent reponses to threads on Delta Private Jets.

On the other hand, if a significant number of posts in the Delta forum were on Delta Private Jets such that it was distracting the forum from the main point of discussing regular travel on Delta Airlines and it were clear that the volume of discussion on Delta Private Jets could easily sustain a new forum, then it is virtually a no-brainer to create the new forum and move discussion there.

Note: I'm not arguing that no one would read a Private Jet Travel forum. I'm simply illustrating my perspective on forum creation. I bias all forum creation requests through this window: what will create the best experience of vigorous discussion for the most number of our members? While the questionnaire posted at the top of the TalkBoard Topics forum is not a mandatory thing, advocates for forum creation usually do well to use it to attempt to illustrate to the TalkBoard (or, at the very least, to me) that the forum has enough draw to sustain itself and not let discussion on the topic wither and die.

So, with that said, while I always keep a pretty open mind about all topics, I tend to think that there isn't a large market for vigorous discussion about private jet travel--sure, it's within the reach of some of our membership, but it's very likely far out of the reach of the vast, vast majority of our membership, so very, very few people are likely to hunt around for and click on a forum dedicated to discussion about something they would never consider as being within their reach. As such, at least if they would like me to vote "yes" on this topic, the proponents of this idea would do well to illustrate that there are enough people passionately interested in the topic to sustain productive discussion on it.

That's the $64,000 question. For me, it isn't a specific volume--it's whether there will be enough people passionate about the topic to sustain vigorous discussion and prevent the forum from becoming a ghost town. Sometimes that's a small number of super-passionate people talking about a fascinating topic with lots of angles. Sometimes it's a large number of people each posting a little less often. I don't know what the exact number is, but like Justice Potter Stewart said, "I know it when I see it."

returnoftheyeti

I think an Alternate Air Travel forum is a good idea. I would love to know more about the small airlines that fly between city pairs that generally do not show on the OTAs, such as JetSuiteX, Botique Air, Great Lakes (?), and Surf Air.

nsx

I'm leaning in favor of giving Alternate Air Travel a tryout. It should include shared ride private plane travel as well. This information currently does not have a logical home on FT.

Kagehitokiri

indeed. there is a list of one kind here >

although surf air is one of the memberships

TravelinWilly

Let's add a forum for alternative/private.

It's a pity that after all these years the search functionality here still sucks, but fixing search + adding a forum for alternative travel would be great in terms of consolidating private travel and enhancing member ability to find relevant discussions for how it impacts miles and points.

A double threat. A win-win. A win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win. 😄

DErg

I completely agree a new forum for alternative air travel is needed. Personally I'm considering subscribing to jetsmarter or another alternative option and would love a forum to hear other members candid thoughts and discuss the pros and cons. Frankly the reason I haven't pulled the trigger so far is because I'm skeptical of all they offer being sustainable and normally I would refer to FT but haven't had a good venue to do so.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

I'll start a discussion in the private TB forum. You & others have made some valid points in this thread.


Cheers.

whitewater2277

I support an Alternate Air Travel forum.
Flyer Talk readers are savvy travelers, and savvy travelers know ALL their options.

here on the East Coast of the USA we have NetJets, Ultimate Air Shuttle, Executive Jet, Private Fly to name a few.

I know families w small children who sometimes take the option of private jets over commercial travel using their miles.

Even though the initial ticket price may be more, for some travelers the benefits may outweigh a cheaper/mileage use commercial flight. (avoid long lines, commute, duration of travel door to door, flight times, etc)

Knowledge is power.

txviking

I think a forum for this is a good idea. Even if I don't see myself being able to make use of such services anytime soon, there are people who do, and a separate forum for it would be both appropriate and educational.

MaldivesFreak

Exactly.

True. You will find that sites like this take up far less hard disk space than you'd imagine. There are gigs and gigs of free space on most servers that you could host another hundred sites like this on before there'd be any constraint or complaint. In a similar vein, that's how Gmail can boast so much storage space and actually get away with providing it if needed.


Agreed. And re the search function, I have searched for the word 'balloon' in this thread (yes, sorry, in a hurry so skim reading here) and not found it so sorry if it has already been mentioned. I would like to suggest balloon rides could be added as a subcategory/thread with prices listed, services reviewed, etc. I personally have wanted to take a balloon ride in Africa and I'm sure there would be a few thousand members here who would find it interesting. It seems it would certainly fit into this new 'alternative air travel' category.

chx1975

Well. I just took a helicopter ride to see more of my now forever home (I became a Canadian citizen three weeks ago) and would love to have a place to discuss air sightseeing. My next dream is a several hour air trip over Israel. So yes to alternative air travel even if the two ends of the travel is the same

And, I would love to know whether there are helicopter rides between close cities. Would be very interesting alternatives going from downtown to downtown in close by places esp Europe.