I also hope this doesn't mean that lurkers from frequent flyer programs will view our ways to take full advantage of their offers. Example: I've earned thousands of extra miles that I wouldn never have known about if I hadn't been reading the American Airlines board. Did the AAdvantage people plan on so many people signing up for bonus miles offers--such as Sports Federation and Avon? I think not. I would never have known about the offers otherwise and would not have earned the extra miles. If the FF programs monitor their boards, will they see that many people are sharing this info and will they make the bonus miles harder to get? Possibly.
Being of a suspicious nature, I think the frequent flyer programs do not make offers that they think everyone will participate in. If they see on these boards that many people can participate in an offer when they see how easy it is to fulfill the requirements, will they change or drop the offers? This WSJ article brings the spotlight on FlyerTalk and that is good. I just hope there are no side effects to any of the FF programs.