Flyertalk has grown and become very well respected over time. There are many signs of this. I won't mention all of them but a few are:
*Posters to this board are contacted by members of the media for opinions on travel related subjects;
*Executives of loyalty programs recognize Flyertalk, and some have been willing to chat with us on the boards or in chat sessions;
*At the PIP, airlines provided gift bags to attendees?;
*Flyertalk receives a large number of hits, has grown, and receives posts from all around the world;
*etc.

This is all good in a way. We can share ideas, experiences, and information with each other. Consumers become more empowered, and we can compare our experiences with others. Many experiences, for sure. Did you get that unpublished targetted promotion? Do you usually have to pay the change fee? Do you get "double upgraded?"

Yet does this have a darker side, from the perspective of the consumer / frequent flyer? Do the airlines and other programs monitor these boards, and use the vast information we provide them at no cost to take action against agents who do us favors?

There have been many hints of this posibility:
*Someone writes a trip report, and mentions that the airline agent did not collect an upgrade cert on an international trip. Someone then warns them to edit the post.

*Someone starts a thread to talk about experiences they have had at different airline facilities. They mention that certain people waive rules, and certain people are more by the book. They too are warned to edit the post for fear that the "nice agents" will get in trouble.

*How about if a passenger reports that an agent waived the Saturday night stay rule for them?

*What if a passenger reports that a certain hub airline club almost always waives the change fee, where as the club on the adjacent concourse always collects it. Would the airline use this to "correct" the situation? (This has not happened, but its a good hypothetical)
*There was a situation where NW sent out an unmarked post card to get Platinum status. A Flyertalker scanned in the card, and many people faxed it into NW in hopes of that ever ellusive Platinum card. NW called your organization, and a staff member posted that NW would not be honoring these Platinum post cards.

Do you have any inside information as to how the airlines use these boards to close loopholes, and elliminate certain passenger friendly practices which the airlines accountants may frown on? Perhaps there is no way to know the extent that this happens. I mean the airlines don't care about one change fee, or a missed domestic upgrade. But what about those pax who were not asked for an international upgrade coupon? Or the pax who was protected on another airline because they themselves missed a flight on a restricted ticket?

A second question is what should we do about this. We could all stop posting our real world experiences, so that the airline bean counters don't put a stop to some of the few good things people may have. Or we could continue to post and tell each other what really happens, but never know if we are shooting ourselves and those agents that help us in the foot?

These questions seem to apply more to airlines rather than other kinds of loyalty programs. E.g. more discretionary situations seem to involve flights, rather than hotels, credit cards, etc. I'm interested in both Randy's opinion, as well as other posters to this board.

Perhaps the answer is that we must be vague in our reports and accounts. Perhaps not mentioning cities, airline, flight#, etc. But the more we do this, the less helpful the board is to other travelers and the programs alike.