Originally Posted by
NickB
The fact that Sharon and Spiff do not agree what the proper home for Ryanair/Easyjet (or other LCCs) is speaks volumes about the nature of the problem.
If those that you would expect to know FT better than the back of their hands disagree, what chance is there for us mere mortals to reliably identify where we are supposed to post?
The reality is that post on Ryanair and Easyjet are posted all over the place in European fora: BA, Flying Blue, OEFFP, Budget travel, related geographical fora such as UK&I, Europe,...
I have suggested to people in the past to post Easyjet-related questions in the Budget travel forum, only to see their questions left unanswered and less answered than in a far less appropriate place, like Flying Blue for instance. I'll think twice in the future about doing the same because it is ridiculous to direct people to post their questions in a forum which is supposed to be the proper forum if their questions are likely to elicit less useful answers than in a forum which is supposed not to be the proper one.
Now, perhaps that this would make Spiff very happy; perhaps nothing would delight him more than seeing questions about Ryanair/Easyjet unanswered since he seems to despise those airlines and ooze contempt about them through every pore of his body. I am not sure, though, that from perspective of the average FT reader, this is a particular helpful position. After all, FT is not supposed to be a beauty contest in which "good" airlines are rewarded with a forum and "bad" airlines are punished by making it difficult for FTers to find information about them.
Disagree a bit. Obviously I don't know FT like the back of my hand or I would have realized initially that the Budget Travel forum actually includes LCCs in its forum description.
And it's obvious that neither EasyJet nor RyanAir are high-end carriers, so the best spot for discussions is probably that forum.
There are posts re: RA/EJ in the OEFFP forum, probably more than in Budget Travel from what I've seen. My guess, and it's only that, is that those who are UK/Europe base think of that forum first or just haven't perused all the forums that FT offers & discovered Budget Travel.
If there are indeed posts re: EJ/RA (or any LCC; let's not be myopic) in forums you think are inappropriate, you can PM the mod of said forum(s) & suggest the threads get moved to Budget Travel.
BTW - I just went back for a year in the Budget Travel forum & there are very few threads that have 0 replies & none (maybe 1) had to do w/ RyanAir/EasyJet, so I'm a bit perplexed by your saying that your friends questions were left unanswered. Seems to me based on my quick view of threads is that people do answer those who post in that forum. There's also a LCC sticky in Budget Travel forum.
Spiff has made clear his disdain for EJ/RA is simply a personal opinion & his opposition to them getting their own forum has more to do w/ their lack of FF programs. I don't have strong feelings one way or another re: EJ/RA, but am inclined to agree w/ him re: why they don't deserve their own forum based on lack of FF program.
Originally Posted by
Spiff
What do you mean by "doesn't work"?
Are there dozens of posts straying outside the Budget Travel forum? Or are a small number of people refusing to use this forum for RyanAir, EasyJet, Spirit, etc?
Responding to "I want!" is not how TB should be making decisions and changes. Educating and directing traffic may be a better solution going forward than just making changes and adding forums based on "I want!".
Some might not know Budget Travel forum exists or some may think that the Europe forums are the place for EJ/RA because that's where they live. The solution could be as simple as having mods move the threads to BTF if they think it's in the wrong place.
I don't think (and won't vote for one at this stage) it requires a forum just for EJ/RA - one reason being in that the forums where I do see them, threads re: them still aren't a majority of the threads in the forums where they do exist.
Originally Posted by
tcook052
Gotta agree as the answer to every supposed need isn't IMHO to create a new forum.
Agree.
Originally Posted by
Spiff
RyanAir has no FF program. Therefore OEFFP doesn't make much sense.
EasyJet and Spirit barely have FF programs.
As for organization - easily fixed with a forum header description change, if appropriate. I still think RyanAir, EasyJet, and Spirit belong in Budget Travel. They certainly don't deserve a forum of their own to discuss their small to non-existent FF programs and what little there is to discuss about these airlines themselves is appropriate for Budget Travel. I'm sorry if that offends some people's sensibilities, but that's where I believe they belong.
This sounds more like getting the mods to move the threads in other forums to Budget Travel. The BTF already mentions LCC in the forum description.
Originally Posted by
kipper
I have no interest in any of these airlines, but what about splitting Budget Travel into subforums, including one for Budget Airlines?
Having just scanned the thread titles in the Budget Travel forum, the threads are quite varied & not enough to justify sub-forums. The forum description already mentions LCC.
BTW - I had no idea there were so many LCC worldwide until I read this post in the LCC sticky
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/4549539-post2.html
Cheers.