I've got mixed feelings about wading in on this thread. On one hand, I don't want to add fuel to the fire. On the other hand, I'd like to explain my position and hopefully allay some of your fears about FTers profiteering from information on FT.

When I was initially approached about this opportunity, I had to think long and hard about whether it was a worthwhile use of my time and energy. I have to admit, I was very reluctant to market the information that I had gained on Flyertalk. It seemed to go against the community spirit that exists on this board.

I rationalised my decision in several ways:

• I decided that this information was readily available and published in several places on Flyertalk. Both the MilesBuzz board and the Radisson board have extensive coverage of this promotion. We weren't keeping this knowledge from the FT community and exploiting it for personal gain.
• FT wasn't our target audience. A vast majority of Webflyer subscribers to not read FT regularly, if at all.
• Full details of how this program works were published in last week's edition of WebFlyer. Those who wanted to undertake the work involved themselves had an opportunity.
• There are people out there who don't want to invest the effort/research or don't want to risk "getting it wrong" and are happy to pay a premium for the service.
• At 1.5 cents per mile, the deal still represents excellent value. Not as excellent as if you did it yourself, but it represents a lot less work.

We discussed this with Randy before going forward with it -- both from an ethical and legal standpoint. He concluded that our decision to go ahead was the right one.

I suspect those of you who think we're making enormous profits haven't examined our true cost base. Much more than $35 to register a website, the costs we must cover are:

• Travel to coordinate the deal
• Significant investment of time (to prepare the website, identify worthy causes prepared to take large volumes of magazines and to administer the deal), for which we should be compensated. Despite how "rough and ready" the website looks, it's a pretty robust, fully-secure website. It's not a few web pages which were quickly slapped together.
• Financial risk
• Credit card fees
• Tax

When all this is taken into account, the profit margin isn't as big as it appears. Remember, we only have an 11-day window to recover all of the costs we've incurred to set this thing up.

I don't think this is quite fair. We're offering this deal to an audience who might never have noticed it before. We're covering our costs to provide the administrative service to set everything up. We're not ripping off the customer -- they're still getting a great deal. And probably a much better deal than if they never contacted us.

So while I'm sorry this deal has obviously rubbed some people the wrong way, I stand behind what we've done. We're offering an added-value service -- whether you think the value-added service is worth the price is another question. As educated consumers, you've concluded you can do it more cheaply yourself. Good for you.

On the face of it, when I pay $90 per hour to get my car fixed, I'm getting ripped off. I could certainly do it more cheaply myself. But I'm prepared to pay the premium because 1) I minimise my risk; 2) the mechanic has knowledge which, though I could acquire, I've chosen not to (because of time constraints, ability, whatever); and 3)there's some recourse if it all goes wrong. The value you place on these three elements determines whether this is a good deal for you or not.

For most FTers, working this deal is probably not too complicated or involved. By all means, do it yourself. You'll get a fantastic deal.

But if you're not an FTer, or are not comfortable doing this yourself, 1.5 cents per mile is still a great deal.

Finally, I don't feel like I'm a lurker who is stealing things off FT without giving anything in return. I hope I've contributed valuable tips to the board over time; I run the mileagerunner.com website and the Unofficial United Guide for FTers out of my own pocket with no personal benefit as my contribution to this community.

Doubtless some of you will disagree, but I've at least stated my case.

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Please visit The Mileage Runner's Toolkit and Unofficial United Airlines Guide


[This message has been edited by MatthewClement (edited 12-21-2001).]