There is plenty to 'like' about the MP platform and management. (pun clearly intended)
I do think that the 4 co-founders sincerely thought they had a better mousetrap with the newer software platform.
According to co-founder Gary Leff, the value proposition for MP was "bringing live chats with heads of programs to members, sponsoring frequent flyer activities, supporting the charitable efforts of members (the Kiva team on Milepoint has lent out over $1 million! the site has donated thousands to Komen, etc)… plus the effort to build a friendly and welcoming community."
According to co-founder Randy Petersen, here was the value proposition:
"• Milepoint was able to start with a newer technology platform, while FlyerTalk, with its millions of users and gigantic archive, is less nimble and has to retool to make changes.
• Milepoint is easier to search and often displays newer threads than FlyerTalk, which sometimes answers queries with threads from 2007.
• While FlyerTalk enables you to subscribe to a thread and receive e-mail notifications instantly, daily or weekly when someone replies to the thread, Milepoint, which also has e-mail notifications, goes a step further. It optionally displays a red flag above "Alerts" on the top right of the page when someone updates the discussion.
• With its massive community, FlyerTalk defined "social media" before anyone knew the term. But Milepoint has become a bit more social, installing a "like" button. This enables users to highlight useful posts and Milepoint to show the most relevant content as judged by the crowd."
But, for me, their management stumbled badly out of the gate with a lack of transparency that left me cold (as the linked thread spells out). You never get a second chance to make a first impression and all that.
The fact is that there have been several attempts to replicate/improve upon FlyerTalk. Most fail. I was involved with one in 2005 or 2006 or so (moremiles.org) that petered out (the idea was FT without oppressive moderators).
But none have had Randy and his resources behind them.
In the end, the market decides.