My posting above was in error. The issue that I had received was December 2001. The issue for January 2002, full of exciting, but expired, offers arrived today, March 7th. At least it's the same year!

Thanks, Randy, for the response.

I didn't start this thread as a sounding board for complainers...only wanted to know if I was the only one with a problem. I will continue to subscribe even if you only send the cover!!

But I would rather not be tortured with the knowledge of all the 'tips' I'm late for.

I say "stop the presses" until you know the problem is solved. We'll understand.

Aren't there ads for this from cover to cover? Literally?

Yes, from inside front cover to inside rear cover.

The publication as a whole seems to be about 30-40% ads, which is quite substantial given that the whole magazine is generally less than 50 pages.

Craig6z:

How about locking this thread before the comments get out of hand?

I only inquired about the lateness of delivery and did not mean to open the steam vents for everyone with a problem with the publication.

Let them start thier own thread, or simply stop subscribing.

I don't mind the ads at all in the magazine...in fact I find them informative and interesting. My point was just the the price of subscription shouldn't be construed as support for this board or a generous contribution to a pot 'o resources.

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Jim

Just to add some clarification. In the publishing business among travel magazines, the goal of ads to editorial is 60-70% (30-40% being editorial). You can see that easily by looking at Conde Naste Traveler as a comparison mark. Same is true of National Geographic Traveler and Travel + Leisure. The truth is that IF runs somewhere about half of that number, meaning that we provide a higher editorial to ads than others in the category.

dbaker - I'm not aware of any industry study that considers 30-40% to be substantial. Could you share your resources with me, I'd be interested since I am active with Folio: magazine, an industry guideline for the publishing industry and they indicate somewhat a different story on this.

Anyway, thanks for your interest and I've got to return to wrestling with getting a magazine back on track.

To provide a diverse opinion, I find Inside Flyer to be the only magazine I read cover to cover, with many learning opportunities spread throughout it. When it is used in conjunction with "The FrequentFlier Crier" e-mail update, there is significantly more value than the small subscription fee that is charged. Many thanks, Randy!

[This message has been edited by FFlyCatcher (edited 03-14-2002).]

I'm not in the industry and I never claimed to be. However, from a consumer and reader standpoint, receiving a 35-50 page publication that's ~40% ads offers far less content than most magazines that I receive, which are 200 pages and have a comparable percentage of ads throughout.

It's just the perception as a result of a small publication, that's all.

[This message has been edited by dbaker (edited 03-13-2002).]

dbaker:

This may come as something of a shock to you but 30-40% of a 40 page publication is exatly the same percentage as 30-40% of a 200 page issue. They both leave 60-70% for non-ad content.

I still just want the content to be current, whatever its percentage.

why don't you do an on line mag option?

Actually over the last 5-6 months we've worked pretty diligently on developing the infrastruture for launching a true online addition for the magazine, ala Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, etc. Technology for that is fairly expensive (think $200,000 plus for stuff like Vingette or $75,000 for TeamSite) But we've invested in it and now the gang is just waiting for me to getr the time to do a final review, load up all the content we have and launch. The cool thing is that behind this is new content developed just for the Web which we can't seem to fit in the magazine and plenty of interactive polls, reader comments and other research for back up. Included is a new way to distribute 'Partners and Programs' via Web phones and PDAs. Anyway, we are really trying and again, while no excuse, since 9/11, Travelocity, Travel Loyalty and Expedia all folded their magazines and Travel Weekly cut in half their circulation distribution. By April we intend to be back to normal and would love to see your continued support.

As always, if i can assist any reader personally, you can always call me direct 719-572-2735 or email me.

That's really interesting. Try counting the number of pages of content and compare the figures, okay?

I'd be interested in hearing your results!

Either stay on topic or take a time out. This is not a member-to-member thread. It started with a question which most people seem acceptable of the answers. This content to ad ratio crap is nice noice, but not the topic. I counted our January issue - and there are 9.5 pages of ads to the 48 pages of content - equaling only 20% of ads to content. Now, either return to the topic, though i think i've made it easy to contact me personally or take a time out. We will have no member-to-member discussions here, you can do that in the chat area.