AlohaDaveKennedy

Ha, ha! (DIABOLICAL LAUGHTER)

Despite the best efforts of the cardinals the game is still on and enjoyable (read profitable). The issue is just that the game is not being played in the public eye.

Just as the cardinals have their trinity of weapons - surprize, fear and a fanatical devotion to the pope, the heretics have their own trinity concerning the only three things certain in life - death, taxes and that internal controls degrade over time. That last certainty assures the game will never end, despite the cardinals' best efforts.

Ken in Phx

Sorry but I view anyone who spills the secrets of FT as detrimental to the cause. The less people who collect and wheel and deal the better it is. Same for anything else that is exhaustable. I dont want it to be easy for people to find deals or discover ways to earn miles. Easy means that the masses will pile into it. Who wants someone who just surfs the Bloggers to be able to quickly implement a strategy that can kill a deal someone has worked to mine. Overpopulation in the mileage community will eventually starve us all of deals.

RetiredRoadWarrior

I have nothing new to contribute since my earlier post. But I'm going to stalk AlohaDaveKennedy because his posts are so entertaining. And often enlightening.

^

YouDontKnowMe

Oh Boy, here we go. I know I’m new: Join Date this month; number of posts < 10, but “Ken in Phx” raises a good point. What is FlyerTalk? A simple chat room where people talk about delayed flights; lousy service; new plane configurations or how to rent a car in NYC? I would like to think it’s a lot more but the existing legacy members are making it difficult. I have read all 19k+mposts in the “trick it” thread ( Hi, WWE ) and the 2k+ posts in ‘getting Spending up without the Mint” ( Hi ADK and MM ) and I have to say, that if you miss a few days, your are hopelessly lost. I joined FT because I was hoping to find ways to save a few bucks on my next family trip. If FD’s are the answers, great; but don’t tell me about “pineapple poke” or “13 miler” That doesn’t help me at all and with a family and job, I don’t have the time to solve the puzzles. The same process applies using CC’s to generate the miles you need for a “free” ticket. While I appreciate the information about getting this CC or that, I again, don’t have the time to “buy this GC from this web site, then ….” How about some simple answers to frustrated consumers who are looking ton save a few bucks. It would certainly reduce the number of new threads.

84fiero

I do agree the MilesBuzz forum is anything but. Even when there are some interesting "buzzy" threads they quickly get buried under all of the kinds of individual help threads. Sometimes I'll offer an answer or assistance in a thread (as do others), seems like frequently the OP never comes back and posts again in the thread or elsewhere.

Maybe it's time for a "Newbie Lounge" type forum to both clear up MB and probably get better answers for folks who are looking for help.

I think the reason for the change isn't anything to do with moderators but a sign that so many more fly-by-night newbies are landing here via google or news articles or blogs, or all of the above. And apparently some are too lazy to click a few links (or scroll down) and voila! actual forums devoted to the particular questions.

3recondoc

"Sorry but I view anyone who spills the secrets of FT as detrimental to the cause."



Easy fix. Have a private forum. Not an open one.

Besides I doubt very little if any of the really good offers comes from FT.

They come from somewhere else.

United, Hilton, Marriott, etc.

Those good offers are just taken by someone and posted on FT.

Heck I have posted offers on FT that came from a different forum.

I am assuming that if United or Marriott wanted their offers here they would have posted them here themselves.

I use FT. I also use TA. And other sites. For me FT is hardly a religion who has inside secrets the rest of the world should not know about.

Too bad for some here that it is an open forum and an open internet.

CodeAdam10

FlyerTalk should entertain a paid membership.

- Access to a private forum.
- Make Coupon Connection part of the Membership.
- Offer exclusive assistance with planning / booking complicated award travel. They can hire some of the known market experts for this on some type of a profit sharing from the membership proceedings.

The membership should have a probation period for new members (ie: 90 days) before they can 'apply' and even then all applications should be reviewed before granting access to see if the member has been helpful to the community vs posting-runs.

Let's say $9.95/month or $89.95 per year.

Most regulars will probably not mind supporting FlyerTalk in such way and will help weed out some of the 'problems'. Thoughts?

LIH Prem

I disagree with the premise of the thread and the need for private forums.

The point of all this is to share information and empower people to better use their points and miles. That's why FT was started and that's why it continues and thrives.

If you disagree with that premise, then go somewhere else, start your own little private forum and only invite those you deem worthy to admit. FT is all about freely sharing information with everybody.

But again, this isn't the first time this debate has come up. It's come up in the past about slightly different things (this time it's about bloggers, in the past I remember it being about mistake fares and there's always a huge debate about FD) and I'm sure many other times. I'm sure it won't be the last.

-David

ingy

+1 ^

QL_714

While that was the purpose when it first started that is no longer the case. The sole purpose of FT (many bloggers) is to make money. It is a business plain and simple and they can care less about sharing information!!!

Dreading

I really appreciate the comments people have made on both sides of this issue. I check several blogs daily, starting with just a quick skim of the newest post title to see if it interests me. I have received some great tips on available point promotions and strategies (I tend not to look for exploits as much as promotions and strategies that the companies are willing to give out to as many people as who want them.). I had noticed that many bloggers, and MMS especially, are good about saying "I get a fee for this, but I think this option is better," so I was pretty complacent in my reading.

After reading comments here however, I think I will be more cautious and critical in reading the blogs. I did think it was weird that so many bloggers brought up the BA deal, when it didn't seem that great to me. So, I understand that I still need to do much of my own homework, but appreciate the work the bloggers do as well. And I think the exploits will ultimately always get shut down if they are made public, whether they are posted here or on the blogs. So, it's really just a matter of who is first in line.

eponymous_coward

Why would people continue to read blogs that don't have useful information? Credit card links and aspirational travel porn ("here's some cabin shots from my trip on SQ to MLE") only go so far...

Majikow

In the end, there's going to be no end to this argument and no "right answer".

Some bloggers provide valuable info and do research of their own, and therefore people will become loyal readers. If those people who read the blog want to throw the writer a bone and use his/her credit card referral link, so be it.

Other bloggers probably do rehash a lot of info found elsewhere (and therefore should give credit) and push credit cards that aren't really all that great. That's why the ones who are upfront and post links to ones that are a better deal even if they don't make any money off of it will gain the respect and trust of their readers, and they'll stay around. The ones that don't bring anything to the table will fade away.

Let the market speak. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time, so eventually natural selection will send some of the blogs out to pasture.

Do the people who write need to practice discretion? Sure. Do most of them probably try? I would imagine. Are things going to slip out sometimes? Of course.

Regardless, the bloggers will never be able to please everyone, so like many above me said, this argument will go on forever.

It's probably good to just sit back, take a breath, not get so worked up, and realize that you are having a prime example of a first world problem.

Ken in Phx

Thats not true at all most of the best offers and deals have come from here. There are still plenty of offers here. You just have to dig for them.

I also find it somewhat humorous that some other grizzled vets here clamor for open and free flowing ideas when they take advantage of deals that arent sent to the unwashed masses. Its happening right now and these fantastic deals arent being talked about in any threads. I can think of 3 or 4 that are going on now that have no info when searched in the FT search box. So the strategy for some is loudly proclaim "Im here to help the masses" all while quietly cashing in on the masses and keeping the best deals quietly for themselves. Why are they doing this? Because if you make some of these deals public and show step by step how to do them - they'll be dead deals in less than a week.

Everyone cant be helped. It has to be somewhat difficult to learn otherwise everyone piles in and its not meant for everyone. If everyone collects and redeems mileage the way we do it would be ruined and be a shell of what it is today.

xerenthar

this thread made me nostalgic for the Mint.