I know that previous posts have created huge debates on whether or not to charge a premium to be a member of Flyertalk and that a lot of people would be willing to pay that premium, but a lot of potential new members wouldn't be interested in paying that premium b/c they wouldn't know what kind of content they'd be getting. So, here's a proposition that could conceiveably make Flyertalk some money.

Before I say it, I'd like to just say that I don't know anything about internet logistics or costs or anything like that, so this may not even be a cost effective measure for Flyertalk, but I have a feeling that it may be. Here it is:

Introduce Flyertalk E-mail.

If there were some way that members could pay about 10.00/year to have a Flyertalk e-mail address, that could raise money and reduce the expenses of Flyertalk. I'm sure that a lot of people would be willing to spend 10/year to have an FT e-mail account (given the fact that other threads strongly suggest that you don't have your FT account be the same one that you have registered with airlines/hotels, etc.) and the majority of people here are already using internet based free e-mail accounts (i.e. yahoo & hotmail, etc).

Of course, I'm sure some sort of feasibility study would have to be done which would have to determine the number of annual e-mail accounts needed to break even and then how many of those would be required to turn a profit which can be applied to the Flyertalk operating budget, but I'm sure it's possible - if Flyertalkers are willing to spend the extra couple of hundred it costs to buy an upgradeable fare, I'm sure they're also willing to spend 10.00 to support the source that helped them get there, namely FT.

Just an idea - don't know if its been presented before, but I think that it's a good idea and I think that having an FT e-mail addy would be a good thing - usernames wouldn't be a challenge - it'd be [email protected] or something...

and I suspect it would rid FT of some of the more undesirable, unsincere posters (see travel safety/security forum for examples of some of the the "newest" registerees)...

I believe Randy used to offer a product called MileMail which was something like you describe.

Yes as gleff says, all users were once offered an individual FT styled email address.

Right now if folks buy product from the Flyertalk store some of that presumably helps fund Flyertalk. Not to mention many of the products are very neat.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/003997.html

Oz - that post that you have is kind of what prompted me to write this. Also, another board I used to post on had free mail service, so I figured if they could support that for free, then FT could support it at cost & make some money.

I think that if there were more items at the shop, that things may sell better. I wouldn't mind seeing an FT ticket holder or something or personalized luggage tags.

I believe FlyerTalk makes plenty O' Money already

yes, nice personalized luggage tags that hold a long time.

I suspect that Randy may make "plenty O' Money" from his various enterprises. He seems a rather savvy small businessman.

The question of whether Flyertalk makes money, on the other hand, is likely a different matter. IIRC, Randy has said Now, I don't know how the accounting on this works. I suspect that separating costs out for Flyertalk versus the rest of Webflyer (which presumably is much smaller, pushes far less data) is not an easy task. And I don't know whether the cost figures include staff time, allocated overhead, etc. So the "real" costs could be far higher or far lower. However, I don't think there's any reasonable way to suggest that Flyertalk.com makes money.

On the other hand, Flyertalk is likely a win-win proposition for Randy and for us. It's a great gift for the community. It no doubt also raises Randy's profile and stature in the community of frequent flyers. And the information we all share certainly is helpful to Randy in his businesses. Inside Flyer staff regularly solicit our input for upcoming articles, for instance. And clearly Randy enjoys what he does, and that includes Flyertalk (member bickering notwithstanding). Lots of synergies here.

Like I said, Randy is a pretty shrewd small businessman. He's also very generous.

Randy has also said (same referenced thread) So when folks feel that they want to share back with Randy in some mutually beneficial way I think it's an admirable impulse.

Of course, Randy is also welcome not to take folks up on the offer. And he hasn't asked for this kind of support. Personally, I believe his motives are good and genuine though goodness sakes it would be wonderful, I think, if he could make some money off of this enterprise!

Oh well. Rambling without a point I guess. But off the cuff comments like the above seem to imply something disingenuous of our host, and I guess that bothers me a little.

Well outlined gleff - and what you post is as I broadly understand it too. I too was surprised at the comment above.

I do not profess to have any inside info other than what Randy told me at dinner here a fair while ago now, but even at that time IIRC FlyerTalk COST him $40,000 or so nett a year to provide. And that did not seem to bother him one jot.

It gives him and his staff a sounding board, and of course a research tool whose immediacy and accuracy are second to none when needed to be initiated.

IIRC a good part of Randy's business is paid consulting to all kinds of travel and aviation and lodging groups and entities.

To be able to say with pinpoint ACCURACY: "this is what your customers are saying/think of this right NOW" is pretty powerful mojo. And is not able to be duplicated by anyone else I can think of.

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~ Glen ~ sipping bubbly from UA 747-400 exit row 15A near you SOON!


[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited Nov 24, 2003).]

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting anything negative towards Flyertalk - I was merely suggesting that this seems like it would be an fairly expensive annual website to run (which Gleff showed above) and I was suggesting a way to lower overall costs by providing something that would be an optional thing. I understand that Randy & his company have invested a lot of time/money into this community, but as it is a community, I'm just stating that I wouldn't mind giving back to it and if there was a service such as 10/yr e-mail or something, that it may be able to help reduce net costs. Subscriptions to Inside Flyer and purchasing things from the FT store are also great ways too.

My best guess is you could always send Randy a check if you feel he and/or FT is underfunded or in financial difficulty. I hear it is a common thing to do around this time of the year (actually I do it every year to three deserving charities and to some other causes too).

MisterNice