Now, having said that, I can't agree with his/her reasoning, though it is well laid out here for discussion. I begin with recognizing that CC is the most difficult forum on FlyerTalk to moderate. For those members who wonder where this all started, it actually came from InsideFlyer magazine which for many years offered to its readers a sort of printed Coupon Connection. We would list various coupons that readers contributed and then gratis mail these coupons back out to other readers who requested them via mail, phone call or fax. I spent plenty of money in those days on postage and envelopes but it was all for a good reason - giving back to our readers. During all the years this went on, there was no dialogue among readers - it was before the Internet and what you read and requested, was what you read ... only.

Along came the Internet and then FlyerTalk (I forgot which came first!!!). Thus Coupon Connection was ported over from InsideFlyer magazine to this wonderful new medium of the Internet. History aside, it was always the goal of Coupon Connection to play as close to the printed rules of these coupons and certificates as possible. Sure, there's the argument that rules governing these coupons are meant to be broken and since the robber barons of airlines and hotels are greedy enough to the frequent flyer, ignoring the rules is pay back. I've heard it all and apologize to some of our members if I can't walk along that same road. We can all do well with our collective knowledge even by staying within the rules of these items. I say that CC is easily the most difficult to moderate because the potential of fraud and damage to both the member and the programs is present in every exchange. Potential, not necessarily actual. By using the interpretation of the current rules, it makes it easier to moderate. I can't imagine the number of additional hours that those who already volunteer the most would have to put in to accommodate this suggestion. At what point am I asking far too much of these members? It's very, very easy for the regular member to forget about these members and their personal giveback to FlyerTalk.

It's for these and other reasons I don't think an expansion of the current rules is reasonable. CC is not like other forums and that is the danger of any comparison. By expanding the role of anyone to "interpret" the risks of information or to even know which members haven't answered a PM or have acted behind the scenes in a manner that was not courteous to another member is simply trying to expand the powers of the volunteer Moderators into an area i simply could not endorse FlyerTalk taking. Almost immediately members would be intruded upon with more inspection of their actions and their analysis. I see many a problem even with the idea of more information about the value of a trade. It already exists when members see different value in the benefits currently offered by these programs and in some instances are ridiculed for seeing things of less or more value by others. That is not a particularly bright spot on flyerTalk or its future and at the end of the day, Coupon Connection should continue to be seen as simply a privilege, not a benefit designed to make greater value in the membership of FlyerTalk.

I'm all for leaving things just the way they are - we do not need more regulation or even less regulation.

I think in some ways, your approach is flawed. I have no doubt that if you contacted a moderator with the respect of their task on FlyerTalk and asked with reason of the inclusion of a post that would add value to any thread on FlyerTalk, in some, perhaps not all instances you would gain a partner for that possible situation. Asking to expand to a more gray area in Coupon Connection - not of the types of trades, but of the rating of members, etc. would be the end of Coupon Connection. While I did champion the idea at InsideFlyer, I still see it as a simple privilege.