a few points: OMNI was never part of the original FlyerTalk and really, we didn't suffer for members sticking to the topic of miles and points. Compromise? There may be additional things you are not aware of. Compromise becomes the new rules, and the next compromise the new rules beyond that and at the end of the day, there are no rules, only the next compromise, but sincerely, this is not about that. The managing threads, etc. Do you know how many hours are currently devoted to just the maintenance of things the way they are? My guess is that there are 200 weekly hours already. Adding to this burden would really be unappreciated by those who already give their personal time on FT to help others.
It really boils down to reality. The purpose of having limits to the benefit of OMNI is the ease it was formerly to create new user name after new user name by a growing number of members who simply created new user names to flame someone in OMNI for their views of sex, religion and politics. You have no idea if how many thousands of secondary user names we have deleted over time to try and make FlyerTalk a pleasant experience for all. You have no idea how many thousands of hours have been spent trying to clean up these messes. Well, I do.
The fact is, limits to OMNI were never introduced to keep members out - they were introduced to help manage a situation that is common on most Internet bulletin boards in which part of their content is the freedom to express their thoughts about world events. Until you'd had to pick up the doo-do, day after day after day, you may try and fully appreciate how much volunteer work goes into making FlyerTalk available for you and others to talk about miles and points.
Again, FlyerTalk works wonders when members appreciate why it was created in the first place.
Originally Posted by Cargo Cult
You could argue that as the OP's dilemma was in part caused by their extensive travelling, so their choice of original forum to post in was understandable to an extent. I think it's a harsh response to just say "just stick to miles and points" - while this may be strictly correct, is there really any harm in a little compromise? I know it disappoints many of us when airlines stick rigidly to the letter of the rules when they could so easily be a little flexible and help us out, for example.
Surely in a situation like this, where the OP cannot access OMNI, an appropriate compromise would be to close the thread with an explanation that it is OT and will shortly be moved to OMNI. Then, after a suitable grace period, do the move. This would allow the OP to read all the responses without it bothering anyone by hanging around the top of the forum.
If the thread remains closed in OMNI, people will be prevented from responding with advice that they do not realise that the OP cannot see (of course, they can still PM them with it).