gregorygrady

Because it's like flushing $10 or $15 down the toilet everytime you use that "free" link. How about each and every time you use that link from now on you send me $10. Then we'll see how long it takes for you to begin to "understand".

Analise

Really? How does it end up costing the user extra money?

Analise

He is an incredibly nice man. I guess you've never met him? If all you see are small ads, then you must have some blocker on. FT has all kinds of advertising yet there isn't any bullying from the owner....now imagine that.

mapsgl

It doesn't literally cost extra.

However if you click a different "free link" it's 1,000 - 1,500 anything points ($10 or $15 ).

It's like having a $10 or $15 rebate that you don't send in. The product doesn't cost extra, but you are forgoing $15.

So it's not money out of your pockect to use the A-B link, but it is preventing money in your pocket. I have booked about 30 PL trips in the past year or so. I recently used $250 worth of Anything points for a nice eBay purchase.

My new rule is every fourth PL purchase I will send a PayPal to betterbidding.

The data on BFT or BB is rarely worth $10 - $15 per bid. Any seasoned bidder is not going to pay too much over the bottom rate in a zone.

et415

I haven't met him. How do people meet him? In fact, I haven't met any FTers.

I'm using Firefox, which has a popup blocker...are the FT ads in the form of popups? Usually Firefox notifies when it blocks something, but I don't notice much going on on FT. I just seen an occasional Google sponsored link.

mapsgl

I never read in the rules/posting guidelines that I "must" or "should" use the AB link. I saw it was encouraged, and I did use it from time to time.

Most people make a calculation of the value of the information. If I bid for a 4 Star hotel. I have several options which includes getting what is in essence a $10 rebate.

I may check on or all of the following public free sites: BB, FT, BFT, Some location specific travel sites, as well as some other private boards I belong to.

Make my bid(s) and get my anything points. I support those sites that I get information from and my presense is welcomed.

I "resist" because I use multiple sources to glean infomation, and It is rare that I get a single piece of information that is worth me forgoing $10 to $15 per booking.

You may feel that it is worth forgoing the money. I will do about 20 PL hotel stays this year -- I'll share the info on BB. I don't think I should ignore a $200 - $300 rebate. I could use it to send $50 to BB, BFT and FT to support the sites and still possibly have $150 cash in my pocket that I would have by using the "free link".

It seems we may have to agree to disagree.

et415

OK...so it IS a freeloader/freerider problem. People use the valuable free data on BFT to get an optimal bidding strategy, and then use other links that save them even more money. This is the arguably unethical situation that I mentioned earlier. When there are lots of people who do this and violate the implied honor system, then can you really blame the BFT admin from being a bit (or even very) snippy?

If BFT did switch to a subscription model, how much would you be willing to pay to gain access to the data? $10/mo reasonable? I hope BFT doesn't switch to a paid model...or worse, disappear altogether....I hope enough people follow the honor system, realize that the data is valuable, and do bid through a-b. Or maybe betterbidding.com should purchase BFT (give Sheryl a lump sum in cash) since betterbidding seems to be able to run a similar operation without relying too much on their related link.

BTW, even though I'm quoting your post, gregorygrady, these questions aren't directed to you personally. I think a lot of people do this.....

gregorygrady

OK, whatever Sheryl. You just keep on paying into BFT so it can keep running and I'll freeload my a$$ off. If BFT went to a pay system, I hate to tell you but somebody else would start up a new website where people could share their data. I remember a while back it was even discussed if this forum (even by Randy if I'm not mistaken) about starting a PL database here on FT. The only time I would ever feel the slightest bit bad for Sheryl is if she devised a bidding strategy for a newbie and then they didn't bid thru the her link (and even that I wouldn't feel that sorry for her). It takes (almost) nothing to start up a database with datapoints. Now her bidding advice definitely does take up a lot of her time. For the record, I have NEVER asked her for bidding advice. And I previously posted my winning bids there until I got a nastygram from her for not using her link. Now I just use her info. I don't owe her a thing. And you should also note that people would probably see it slightly more in her light if she was a tad bit nicer. But either way, you should definitely keep going thru her link, after all somebody has to support all those sushi binges.

BEAV

BFT management's gruff nature didn't materialize with the advent of the link to Amazing Bargains. It's curt treatment of community members was firmly in place long before it's need to have Priceline bids placed through a 3rd party link. With that in mind, perhaps there are those who aren't interested in "rewarding" such behavior by accessing Priceline through their link. If BFT Management style conducted business by the Golden Rule, perhaps the discussion of "to bid or not bid through the link" wouldn't be so hotly contested.

holtju2

IMHO BFT has become less useful than it used to be due to the lack of fresh bidding date.

holtju2

BFT would get maybe $1 commission of my 4* bid. Does it make sense to trade $15 worth of eBay anything points for $1 worth of comission.

For the record I contributed my share to the "communicuty chest" before I was banned from the "community".

Non-NonRev

Yes, in a way .... the BFT Administratrix freeloads by paying back the people who build and update the BFT database with 'tsuris'.....

Analise

I met him at the Freddie Awards. There are kinds of FT get togethers. Just visit the Community forum.

I have popup blockers too but right now, when I scroll up to the top, there is an ad for Marriott Rewards Visa. To the right there is an ad for the University of Phoenix.

dhuey

That is so true. Imagine if Randy made a plea to use a link to Orbiz or Expedia when you use those sites. There might be a little complaining (this is FT, after all), but the bulk of this place would gladly honor his request.

AinA

Precisely! I did send a direct PayPal donation to BB which seems appropriate considering the balance of my PayPal acct is augmented by my PL bids. I really enjoy the information and atmosphere at the BB board and I would love to see it grow even more. In that light, I try to add my bidding experiences to BB.

Alison