Originally Posted by
bconver
Thank for the feedback on the gift card, I can't do too much about it immediately but I will take a hard look at it mid term.
Top Flyer will exist completely outside the forum. There are several reasons for this but one is to address the last point. We are aware of the impact of reputation points on the forum and spent a lot of time thinking about how to avoid the problems that came with it. I would say that what happens in Top Flyer does not change a members reputation in the forum.
brent
1. I'm confused. Will Top Flyer be a separate place (perhaps a separate forum) where people go to post their tips, or will it be a place where "the Top Flyer Community" will recognize tips made in the individual airline, hotel, car rental, etc. forums?
2. Watching the implementation of this will be interesting, to say the least. As an AA flyer, I know absolutely nothing about the Thai Airlines program or the Alatalia program. If I were presented with tips for each program, I would find it very difficult to appreciate more expert tips, but I could probably understand the most basic tips (the ones that all regular members of those forums know by heart). If the very basic tips are the ones that win, that will send a signal to the more expert members that their contributions are not valued, and will accellerate the trend of those members leaving for other sites, accelerating FT's march to be the go-to site for people who have never flown before. If the more expert tips are the ones that win, it seems to me that selection would be pretty arbitrary, because there would likely not be many members of the Top Flyer community that could appreciate the value of one vs. another. It seems like a difficult problem to me, and I will be interested to see if it can be solved.
2. IB can't do anything to change a "members
(sic) reputation" in a forum. Members with a posting history already have a reputation for giving solid information or a reputation for posting in an authoritative manner misinformation that is worth less than nothing. If one of the latter gets a Top Flyer award, it won't change that member's reputation, it will change FT's reputation (but not by much, I grant you).