I was going to place this at the bottom of the "If we deny CO the Freddie, who should get it?" thread, but this point is important... FOR CONTINENTAL TO LOSE THE FREDDIE, ONE HAS TO VOTE FOR CONTINENTAL! This is due to the fact that Freddie voting involves two-part balloting. To prevent a program from receiving the Freddie based purely upon the number of votes, the quantity of votes merely opens the door for consideration. (Otherwise, UA, AA and DL would be the only ones battling for consideration.) The most important feature is the "value vote" score that each of the programs receive!

Here are the awarding procedures pulled directly from the www.freddieawards.com site with my emphasis supplied:
Freddie voting focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined not by how many votes a program receives, but by the overall merits of each program as reflected in "Value Voting." Value Voting asks voters to assign a number between 1 and 10 for each program in addition to simply ranking programs according to the voter's preference. The program receiving the highest average Value Vote with at least 10 percent of the overall popular vote in a category wins that category. In some categories, results are so close that Value Votes have to be tallied to four decimal numbers.

Continental will likely get the requisite 10% of the total number of votes. Moving a vote to another carrier's program will not alter the outcome in a significant manner. The goal is not to reduce the total number votes, rather it is to reduce the "value voting score" as much as possible.

Here is a simple example. There are three people in FT World (A,B,&C) and two airline programs (CO&UA). The CO program is marginally better than the UA program. A & B are going to vote for CO and give CO 9 value votes each. C will vote for UA but give it only 8 value points. Here is the result:

CO Wins - CO has an average value vote of 9 vs. UA's 8.

Option 1 - B gets mad at CO and changes vote to UA Here is the result:

CO Still Wins - Even though person B moved his vote and his 9 value votes to UA, CO wins because its value vote is still 9 while UA has only increased from 8 to 8.5 [(8+9)/2].

Option 2 - B gets mad at CO, votes for CO but reduces value vote to 5 Here is the result:

UA Wins! - By voting for CO and slashing his value vote, B has actually changed the result. UA's value vote is still 8 while CO's has slid to 7 [(9+5)/2].

As one can see with this simple example, there is more power in the value vote than in the total number of votes. In addition, since votes are often so close and calculated to 4 decimal places, a few well placed "protest value votes" can bring the desired result.

I still love CO, but as others have said, CO has become a little too full of itself and has stopped working to stay ahead. I still think that OnePass is a very good program, but my perception of OnePass' value relative to other programs has changed from last year. My three main OnePass issues are: 30 day int'l upgrades (continuing problem), the lack of current account information on the OnePass site (should have been solved ages ago), and the phone call prohibition on EUA (new issue for 2000). Since the value vote is subjective, OnePass will receive a lower value vote from me.

If others plan to vote similarly, please do so only if you think that CO deserves the scores. That way, the legitimacy of the Freddie ballot will not be cast in doubt. Remember, the results have been tight in the past. If a number of other voters feel that OnePass has decreased in value, and the vote reflects this, then a new FF program king may be crowned.

CWPFLY



[This message has been edited by cwpfly (edited 12-30-2000).]