A very good point FCTSY - and my apologies for not offering a viable alternative. I do agree with you in that FT is to gather and share knowledge, but in my short tenure here - which is far less than yours - I've noticed the "deals" that linger are the ones mentioned discreetly.

For example, there use to be a really good intra-Texas deal (you know where chasbondy keeps bemoaning Plat status for less than $1,300 (exactly $1,236.16) - this is where he got the number) but someone then spilled the beans and posted it... a deal which had been around for a long time suddenly disappeared. Yet, even before CO axed - ahem "fixed" - the loophole information was distributed about the deal privately. This is how I found out about it (and thanks again to the person who PM'd me) and in turn I passed it on to others who were in need of it. Flyertalk got to keep it's cake and eat it too -- that is until some well intentioned poster slapped it up on the MR forum and then would not remove it.

Okay. Whatever. What are you trying to say J.Edward?

Well, I too applaud the OP for posting his findings but mentioned that in doing so the viable life of said findings would be greatly reduced. While I don't think I have a good answer on what one should do next time (if such an answer can even exist), if it were me I'd simply post something along the lines "Has anyone else see the Hold Button". Within this post I'd mention that I've had spotty availability with the hold button and if anyone was interested in exactly what I was doing, PM me. That way the information can still be distributed to you, the good folks of FT, and perhaps the lifespan of the offer will linger for a little longer. Win/win all around.

In no way, shape or form am I trying to say that people should not post deals – my point is that there are different ways to go about posting such things.