I think Wingnut's suggestion makes sense because the reasoning is the same as with, e.g., the CouponConnection - restrict the benefits of Flyertalk somewhat to those members of the community who have shown over a period of time that they have contributed to it. This goal cannot be reached as well if more people (who might not even be registered at Flyertalk) have access to these error fares/extraordinarily low fares - either by being lurkers or mailing list members. Another argument in favor of Wingnut's suggestion is that airline/hotel lurkers might take longer to spot the error fares, so that more members of the community who have contributed might benefit from them.