Bob and others,

Randy's decision to be non-responsive is probably rooted in the dichotomy of his business relationships.

On one side is FlyerTalk and it's adherents. While FlyerTalk is provided at no cost, it enhances Randy's position as the guru of frequent travelers. The same group that participates in FT are probably the largest users of Randy's consumer products (magazine, award guard, award planner, mileage manager, FT merchandise). In fact, I would be willing to bet significant $$ that >70% of the users of Randy's consumer products are active members of FT.

On the other side is Randy's relationship with travel suppliers, including airlines. He always has had/currently does have a relationship with many in this group including US. He does consulting work for them among other things. Does anyone remember his mega-mileage run on US a couple of years ago? I believe he visited every US station within a 30 day span. I know he didn't pay for those tix (though he probably got to keep the miles). So remember that part of his income comes from those that the general public thinks he is the watchdog of (note my English teacher is upset with me about ending a sentence in a preposition).

The other part of Randy's business is the media side. He is paid for writing columns about freqent travellers in various publications which enhances his image as FF'er guru.

So you can see Randy's business relationships can be rather complex. At times, it is best for him to say/do nothing. However, I am surprised and disappointed that he failed to even respond to an event for a whole airline group on FT.

So please don't hold not responding against Randy. Of course, if we do this again and he doesn't respond, I will just HAVE to tell that story about him at PIP II.