Once Upon A Time...
#1
Original Poster




Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Santa Cruz, CA USA
Programs: AA, UA, WN, HH, Marriott
Posts: 7,293
Once Upon A Time...
... this forum was filled with clever ideas on how to earn as many miles as possible and use them in the most efficient manner. That was really very helpful to most readers and even if you couldn't use a particular strategy, it made for interesting reading. Perhaps one of the best examples was Pudding Guy.
Now, most of the posts are from folks asking for advice or help either a) what airline should I use for my primary flying, or b) how can I get miles to go from XXX to YYY. Most of these threads are not very useful to most readers nor are they very interesting.
Sorry to be so negative, and I am not sure if anything could, or should, be done to change that.
It is just a personal statement of how boring I am finding this forum, which used to be, for me at least, one of the most interesting in FT. I know, if I am not interested, I can skip reading here, and I do much of the time, but it just makes me a little sad. Maybe it's just a function of the FF business.
Now, most of the posts are from folks asking for advice or help either a) what airline should I use for my primary flying, or b) how can I get miles to go from XXX to YYY. Most of these threads are not very useful to most readers nor are they very interesting.
Sorry to be so negative, and I am not sure if anything could, or should, be done to change that.
It is just a personal statement of how boring I am finding this forum, which used to be, for me at least, one of the most interesting in FT. I know, if I am not interested, I can skip reading here, and I do much of the time, but it just makes me a little sad. Maybe it's just a function of the FF business.
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist




Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 26,115
Back then, there were few blogs, so most of it had to be here.
Now, every time I visit FT (at least on weekdays), there's several new blogs rotating on the front (and more listed below), many of which seem to cover much of the territory once only found here.
Another factor is that the stragecies that are possible have gotten fewer and at the same time much more complicated. The US coins strategy seemed complicated when it was around in comparison to some that came before, but that was nothing compared to the latest buzz of manufactured spending.
So with specialized and more complicated strategies, you need lots of threads and thus a separate per-strategy forum. And thus you can no longer count on just forum to sanely contain it all.
The other part, which did the last piece of "stripping" this forum, is that almost the only strategies of late were with credit cards, but there were forums already for that, and it was just "littering" this forum in a sense. So it moved. If that's what still excites you, move along with it.
Now, every time I visit FT (at least on weekdays), there's several new blogs rotating on the front (and more listed below), many of which seem to cover much of the territory once only found here.
Another factor is that the stragecies that are possible have gotten fewer and at the same time much more complicated. The US coins strategy seemed complicated when it was around in comparison to some that came before, but that was nothing compared to the latest buzz of manufactured spending.
So with specialized and more complicated strategies, you need lots of threads and thus a separate per-strategy forum. And thus you can no longer count on just forum to sanely contain it all.
The other part, which did the last piece of "stripping" this forum, is that almost the only strategies of late were with credit cards, but there were forums already for that, and it was just "littering" this forum in a sense. So it moved. If that's what still excites you, move along with it.
#3




Join Date: Nov 2002
Programs: MTD pass holder
Posts: 1,144
... this forum was filled with clever ideas on how to earn as many miles as possible and use them in the most efficient manner. That was really very helpful to most readers and even if you couldn't use a particular strategy, it made for interesting reading. Perhaps one of the best examples was Pudding Guy.
Now, most of the posts are from folks asking for advice or help either a) what airline should I use for my primary flying, or b) how can I get miles to go from XXX to YYY. Most of these threads are not very useful to most readers nor are they very interesting.
Sorry to be so negative, and I am not sure if anything could, or should, be done to change that.
It is just a personal statement of how boring I am finding this forum, which used to be, for me at least, one of the most interesting in FT. I know, if I am not interested, I can skip reading here, and I do much of the time, but it just makes me a little sad. Maybe it's just a function of the FF business.
Now, most of the posts are from folks asking for advice or help either a) what airline should I use for my primary flying, or b) how can I get miles to go from XXX to YYY. Most of these threads are not very useful to most readers nor are they very interesting.
Sorry to be so negative, and I am not sure if anything could, or should, be done to change that.
It is just a personal statement of how boring I am finding this forum, which used to be, for me at least, one of the most interesting in FT. I know, if I am not interested, I can skip reading here, and I do much of the time, but it just makes me a little sad. Maybe it's just a function of the FF business.
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist




Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Madison, WI, USA
Posts: 14,167
...So with specialized and more complicated strategies, you need lots of threads and thus a separate per-strategy forum. And thus you can no longer count on just forum to sanely contain it all.
The other part, which did the last piece of "stripping" this forum, is that almost the only strategies of late were with credit cards, but there were forums already for that, and it was just "littering" this forum in a sense. So it moved. If that's what still excites you, move along with it.
The other part, which did the last piece of "stripping" this forum, is that almost the only strategies of late were with credit cards, but there were forums already for that, and it was just "littering" this forum in a sense. So it moved. If that's what still excites you, move along with it.
#5
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Benicia CA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K, AA 3.8MM, UA 1.1MM, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 31,849
WTH is this? A "how can I travel for free" forum?
What good is MilesBuzz! if .... [Legacy card threads moved to Credit Card Programs]
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist


Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Intermountain West
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 12,755
Might want to check out the threads that were moved to the Talk Board forum:
WTH is this? A "how can I travel for free" forum?
What good is MilesBuzz! if .... [Legacy card threads moved to Credit Card Programs]
WTH is this? A "how can I travel for free" forum?
What good is MilesBuzz! if .... [Legacy card threads moved to Credit Card Programs]

