IBAngel

You are correct. The Top Flyer program is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 21 years of age or older.

tom911

This sounds more like a contest now limited to a specific target group and not a quest to elicit the best travel tips from across FT. Besides not letting our members from outside the U.S. participate, you're not letting our U.S. members under 21 participate at all. Are their travel tips not as valuable as mine (I do meet the requirements for the target group)?

FlyerTalk is, and always has been, since Randy Petersen founded it, about inclusion, not exclusion. Everyone is welcome to FT events and on the forums of FlyerTalk.

That will not be welcome news to a sizable group of FT members. One of our New Zealand members is the most-traveled persons I've ever met on FT. He will not be allowed to participate.

Well, at least he can still contribute to FlyerTalk as long as you're not placing similar restrictions there.

lin821

Do you know you already effectively exclude lucky9876coins, one of our savvy & expert FTers by this age cutoff "restriction?"

ps. I have no idea if lucky9876coins had or would volunteer(ed) to be a beta tester or not....

SkiAdcock

Well said Tom.

And a HUGE to IB for even suggesting this is something that's to benefit FTers when you exclude most from participating - or being eligible.

BTW IB, if you're throwing in exclusions & limitations such as has been mentioned, it does sound like it's more of a contest/sweeps, so I'm assuming if that's the case, you're checking to make sure you comply w/ all applicable US laws re: contests/sweeps. If not, attorney generals of states like to look into such things.

But the bottom line is - the way this was presented & is being touted at the top of FT is totally misleading. And you need to amend your stickey/post w/ that info.

Cheers.

itsaboutthejourney

Is AMEX allowed to use/reuse (ie: advertising, it's own travel products) any posts in this Top Flyer thing?

OR anything we post on FlyerTalk for that matter? If so, can we "opt out"?

bconver

Am/Ex is required to gain specific consent from the original creator to repost or publicize any piece of content.

brent

lin821

(emphasis mine)

Who is the original creator? Is the original creator the same as the original poster?

SkiAdcock

Well this is sounding less & less like it's for the benefit of FTers & more to the benefit of Amex or IB.

Cheers.

obscure2k

I wish that I could articulate why this makes me unhappy. It just does.

obscure2k

Upsetting.

IB-Dick

Anyone with concerns about dubious intentions may abstain from playing. Our intent is to offer a new method of sharing knowledge that some users might find engaging. For those who don't find it engaging, your Flyertalk experience should remain mostly unaffected.

I assure you that there is nothing nefarious going on.

SkiAdcock

And you're also assuring us that you're not allowing a # of FTers to participate in this thing (no int'l, must be 21+) that is to the 'benefit of all'.

It's not that it's not engaging - it's a bit of false pretenses (understatement).

So when you have something that's to the benefit of all & is open to all, you'll probably get people willing to open up & share. Oh wait we already have something like that - it's called Flyertalk. And no contests required to enter.

IB's post # 1 is misleading & needs to be updated to mention that FTers outside of the US & younger than 21 are not allowed to participate. While it's fine (not really) cuz this is beta, it needs to be made perfectly clear if this thing formally launches that it's only for a subset of FTers.

Cheers.

Dovster

I am considerably older than 21, but while I am an American citizen, I am neither a legal nor an illegal resident of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia.

Come to think of it, is it even legal to be a legal resident "of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia "? Don't you have to chose one of those 50 states or the district?

I did consider taking up residency in Alaska, but a guy named Tod refused to move out and allowing me to shack up with his wife, Sarah.

I can't understand his obstinacy -- after all, I offered to share the $25 gift card with him if I won.

PhlyingRPh

While I find the manner in which this program works to merely perpetuate the "good old boy club" which is as palpable here as it is at any mainstream american country club, I am a little surprised that you did not choose to rewards the FT member that made it to the top of the month's popularity contest with the most obvious token of appreciation... 10,000 - 20,000 miles/points in the program of the winners choice. I mean, a gift card is a nice neutral idea, but a $25 gift card doesn't even get close to "it's the thought that counts" territory.